We have two desks coming available in January. The space includes internet connection and shared use of our kitchen, printer and boardroom. Ideal for a freelance designer, developer or other creative professional who wants a bit of work/life separation but not the headaches and cost involved in renting a full office. Cost is $300/m. We’re [...]
Here’s a problem that often crops up in our iOS projects – how do we get assets originally created as vector artwork in Flash onto an iPhone or iPad? The simple solution is to export the assets as bitmaps, but this approach has a number of issues. First, it means making and exporting multiple versions [...]
I helped run another play testing session at zinc Roe last week; so much fun! The more I do these though, the more I realize that the secret to getting great data boils down to two things: 1. Building a rapport with the kids 2. Being hyper attentive to what they’re doing I’m gonna focus [...]
How do you take a classic platform game and adapt it for 4 year olds? This was the challenge we faced in designing Justin Time Online, a joint production with Guru studios. Goal In classical platformers, like Super Mario Bros., the goal is to get to the end of each level without dying. For our [...]
zinc Roe is looking for freelance developers to work with us on upcoming projects. We develop websites, games and apps for children. We build things that we are happy to share with our kids, nieces, nephews and neighbours. Our developers are very talented and enjoy applying these talents to build games and activities that delight, [...]
From the outset we knew we wanted our Stella and Sam Apps to fully support English and French and be built in such a way that we could accommodate additional languages in the future. Colin promptly dug into Apple’s docs on how to support localization and did a survey to see how other app developers [...]
The Flash IDE has many short-comings as a code editor, but for the most part the pain is limited to the person actually using it. If, however, you’re editing ActionScript files in the Flash IDE on a Mac and then committing them to Subversion (you are using version control, right?), then you’re foisting the pain [...]
This week I gave a quick talk on user testing with kids based on our experience here at zinc Roe. I am a firm believer that good games come from good game designers. User testing helps these designers empathize with their audience by virtue of spending time with them. It is also crucial to making [...]
Are you a freelancer looking for a nice workspace to call your own? We have two desks coming available to rent to the right people. The space includes internet connection and shared use of our kitchen and boardroom. Ideal for a designer or developer who wants a bit of work/life separation but not the headaches [...]
We have really enjoyed showing off the Stella and Sam Apps these past few weeks. If you have been curious to take a look here is your chance! We have ten promo codes to give away. Please leave a comment to let people know which ones you’ve redeemed. As always, we’d love to hear your [...]