After our review of the hit 4 IN A 3D ROW, we were itching to pick the brain of its creator. Thankfully we were able to do just that as we now discover the inspirations behind the game and his thoughts on the gaming industry with this exclusive interview with NEONFIVE Studio’s Founder and CEO, Martin Franke.
J: What was the initial inspiration in taking Connect 4 go into the 3D realm?
M: My wife Helen gave me the idea of combining a classic Tic Tac Toe game with connect 4 when we were talking about famous puzzle games and how one could improve them.
I just thought “Wow, that is a good idea. It would be even better with 4 levels – in 3D“. From the first moment I was fascinated by the concept that started to develop rapidly in my mind. I knew immediately how the game should look like, but wasn’t so shure about the gameplay. Therefore we build a realistic model made of plastic. We kept playing for hours and even friends, visiting us, had a lot of fun playing it. The new strategie that evolved out of the new dimension made the gameplay completely adictive. So I decided to develop “4 IN A 3D ROW“ for iOS, Android and Mac. A good friend of mine, Marco Nowara, was so enthusiastic about the game, that he finally decided to program the AI. This way he became the programmer and I am very thankful for his job because he made the game the way it is now.
J: Are there any other board games that you would like to reinvent? I personally would love to see a Hungry Hungry Hippos adaption!
M: That could be a possible game idea. I have to admit that I only develop that kind of games which captivate me right away. At the moment there are a few board games I could imagine to reinvent and Hungry Hungry Hippos is probably one of them, but I am not fully committed to any of them. But if me or my wife should ever have an idea for another reinvention of a board game, that carries me away at the first glance, I will shurely implement it.
J: What got you into wanting to make games for the mobile platform?
M: That is easy to answer. I am and always have been a passionate player, which brought me directly to my job; I am a graphic designer and have been working in the game industry for half of my life. I have been part of small and big studios and a lot of interesting projects. But at some point I had so many ideas I wanted to put into reality but no time for doing so, that I decided to open my own company. „NEONFIVE STUDIO“ is my startup company and I always wanted to develop games for mobile devices because of the fantastic new Input possibilities they offer.
J: Something we mentioned in our review for the game was that unlike other developers, you haven’t forced the player to register through a bunch of loop holes just to get to the actual game. You have the login screen if you wish to have an online persona or you can just play as a guest. What do you think of the current trend for having gamers register to services just to play the games they love?
M: Personally I don’t like being forced to register somewhere to be able to play a game. In my opinion a registration should alway be only a bonus and no necessity. With “4 IN A 3D ROW“ the registration is a bonus which enables you to be part of a worldwide ranking system, which is not directly linked to the device. All registerd players of “4 IN A 3D ROW“ are part of that ranking system, no matter if they play iOS, Android or Mac. It is a great feature, which is connected to the registration. That is excactly the way a registration should be like and not for collecting data as some companies do.
J: I’m sure you have had hundreds of your own epic moments in the multiplayer portion of the game. Are there any matches you can remember that just took you by surprise?
M: I am thinking of one of the first multiplayer test games we did. I wanted the multiplayer game to work everywhere around the world with any kind of internet connection. Therefore I sent my brother, who was in the Australian Outback at that time, a testbuild and we opened our first multiplayer game within a distance of 16000 km. The response time was incredible and even the gameplay had a good perfomance. After we had a couple of multiplayer games my brother called me and he was fascinated by the gameplay. That was my epic moment, because since that moment I knew that one could play the game against each other from anywhere around the world.
J: Could we see 4 in a Row 3D hit other platforms like the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360?
M: That is hard to tell, because “4 IN A 3D ROW“ is originally developed for mobile devices. I don’t think that PS3 and XBOX360 offer a big market for puzzle games; they are rather dominated by blockbuster titles.
J: What have you learnt from the community feedback for the game?
M: The community is extremely important for us. Therefore we try to respond to every idea or improvement from the players. There are good suggestions among them. Thanks for that. We also try to solve every problem immediately.
J: Can current fans expect any expansions or differently themed versions of the current game?
M: There will be an Update soon. All the small bugs will be finally solved, but there won’t be a different themed version yet. I still think that the game design matches the look of the smartphones perfectly . But I am always open to new ideas, and if there is one improving the game I will implement it.
J: If you had any advice to give aspiring game designers, what would you say?
M: Live your dream. If you are really persuaded of an idea you should realize it, come what may. Develop your own ideas. It is a great feeling to present your games to the world and see other people like what you have created. The only thing that matters is that you are committed to it for 100%.
J: Finally are there any future projects that you would like to give a shout out for?
M: As I said before I have a bunch of ideas and right now I try to decide on my next project with NEONFIVE STUDIO. It will definitly not be a puzzle game again but rather an Arcade/Casual game. Either some kind of jungle game with monkeys or a western shooter. Stay excited, because NEONFIVE STUDIO intends to produce only high quality games that we are really committed to.
4 IN A 3D ROW is Available now for the Apple iPad and iPhone via the App Store now!
Einfo Games said in their 4 IN A 3D ROW Review “Overall you will get a great gaming experience for the price you are willing to fork over. “
