Game developer based in Cornwall
As a professional game developer, Fort are able to develop 2D games. Games that can create engaging experiences with your target markets - perfect for educating, creating awareness, building in-bound links or strengthening your brand. We’re based in Cornwall but happy to work with you wherever you maybe located.
We’re a micro business so undertake games that can be created single-handed or by working with your team of illustrators and animators. We don’t have a track record in tile-based games, but we’d be happy to discuss this with you.
Depending on your requirements we can develop games that can be played via web browsers or as native apps. If you need guidance on technology and which devices to target then we can make recommendations.
Further, we have a track record in developing creative games for the primary education market - played by thousands of children everyday in the UK and overseas.
Creative ideas for your game development
We’re happy to work with your game development ideas. Equally, if you have an objective in mind, as a game developer it’s our role to support you with creating ideas that would help meet the objective(s). For example, you may need to educate your target market of a new aspect of your product, we would then orientate our game development ideas to focus on this. Through each step of our creative planning we’ll ensure we take into account the needs of the target audience, their preferences and what would engage their minds through playing the game. Ideally this would be based on research to help the game succeed but this isn’t a necessity.
For example, you may require a game to help children explore your visitor attraction based in Cornwall. We would generate ideas that would connect with the children, educating them about your many features and providing them with inspiration and tips for maximising their time with you.
Structured Development Process
As a professional game developer we prefer to follow a structured approach to developing games for you. For each game that we develop we’ll lead you through a very logical process which includes - creative planning, wireframing of screens, storyboarding (where necessary), defining functionality, screen design, character and background design, defining animation, illustrating, animating, coding, testing, debugging and deployment. We ensure that objectives are set for each stage and follow these important milestones, this ensures that you are satisfied with the end product and it is delivered on time.
Efficient code
For HTML5 web games we use the CreateJS game engine. This javascript library has a great reputation and we have used it extensively since 2015. It is a library that has been thoroughly tested across a wide range of browsers that support the HTML5 canvas tag (all modern browsers) including - Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge. It also has a vibrant community supporting its development.
For native apps we use the Starling framework (used for the Angry Birds games) as-well-as the Feathers component library. Both require the Adobe Air platform for deploying on mobile devices and utilize the devices graphics processing unit directly, which means superb performance across a wide range of mobile and tablet devices. Our game developer track record originates with developing for Flash player (since 2005). We thoroughly understand Flash, or now known as Adobe Animate, and therefore we are ideally positioned to support you with conversion of flash games to html5 or into apps. Please remember that Adobe are withdrawing support for Flash Player in 2020 and therefore we would recommend that you convert any existing flash content as soon as possible.
Excellent user experience
We aim to create an excellent user experience with an intuitive interface that makes it easy for the player to navigate through the game from beginning to end without the need for in-depth instructions, naturally this depends on the complexity of the game.
Thorough testing and debugging
Each game is thoroughly tested throughout its development stages to ensure bugs are caught and dealt with as soon as possible. We’ll also invite you and / or your team to get involved with the testing to ensure that the game is behaving as you had imagined.
Creating engaging assets
As a game developer we have a track record in creating and animating simple 2D characters, we’re equally happy to work with your preferred artists and animators; just let us know your preferences. Any animators would need to provide us with spritesheets (including retina display spritesheets) with the relevant data files in a json format.
Adding extra value to your game
You can often add extra value to a game by adding other resources to it. For example, we have created printable certificates for games that have been targeting age 5 and 6 players. We can discuss what other assets you may require when we scope the game.
Marketing your game
Fort have created games that are now widely used across the planet. We are marketing specialists and can also support you with the promotion of your games if you require our support. This can be in the form of a communications plan or hands-on support.
If you have a game idea in mind we’d love to hear from you. We’re based in Falmouth, Cornwall but happy to work with you no matter where you are based.
By: Tim Bowerbank
Role: HTML5 Game Developer