App-titude!

It’s been a long time coming, but we finally have the Milo The Cloud App for sale in iTunes.
I’ve been working with my wife and some friends to create a puzzle game to complement my webcomic, Milo The Cloud. We wanted to have a sliding tile puzzle, with characters from the webcomic, but I also wanted to branch out a bit and create some new characters, which would end up feeding into the world of the strip as well.

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I did all the art, and my wife and I collaborated with RDCG Inc. on the game design. They provided the technical know-how in coding and bringing the game aspects to life. Once we had a good solid structure in place, then I went to work on fleshing out the story and the characters that were going to live in this puzzle-version of Milo’s world. They needed to pop out on the tiny tiles, and the win screens needed to feel like you’d accomplished something.

The music was a tough nut to crack, because I wanted something that sounded fun, and belonged to a video game, but I didn’t want it to be too saccharine or shmaltzy. I decided to go with a sound that to me reminds of me and my sisters sitting on the living-room floor playing Sonic the Hedgehog. I threw in some pitch-raised singing to give Milo a voice, and allow him to sing his own theme-song.

Later, sitting in the basement with a mic and my laptop,  I did all the voices for the game, and sound effects to accompany every slide of the tiles as you worked through each puzzle. The most fun were the thunder clouds. I sat there for at least an hour trying out different crashing and rumbling sounds for all the different clouds.

Once all of the graphics and sounds were complete, we just had to wait for the developers to do their magic, and we’re so happy with the results. It’s so gratifying to have everything come together in a package you can be proud of. If you have an iPod Touch, or an iPhone, I hope you’ll give it a shot, and help Milo find a patch of clear blue sky!