Interview with Mobo Studio and Awesome Software Developers of Colorix
by Antonio Wells
Aug 14, 2009 7:59 AM –
After seeing the Colorix Demo my eyes glazed over by the concept and amazing graphics. We’ve interviewed the creators of the Android App… a joint effort from two development firms Mobo Studio and Awesome Software. Learn more about them:
Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves?
Mobo Studio is a small startup company and Awesome Software S.A is a company that develops professional mobile applications and leads in the Bluetooth marketing. We’re experienced developers and designers with lots of ideas.
Whole Mobo team graduated from Warsaw University and our aim is to become first Polish company which succeeds on new mobile technologies markets.
Why did you create your app?
Awesome had some ideas inspired by old Amiga, Commodore etc. games and Mobo Studio had wanted to create games so we met there and here you have our first child – Colorix.
What technology did you use in creating your App and why?
We use Eclipse, because of very long experience with that IDE. We’ve been working with that tool programming in Java, C/C++ and even PHP.
About how long did it take to create your App?
It took about 3,5 months of 2-3 people work. We had a lot of problems with animations, because unfortunately Android doesn’t offer well performance animations framework.
What is a cool uncovered tip or trick you can do with the App?
When you create tower combo all the marbles from the board disappears 
What other interesting uses can come from the App?
If you are a guy then we recommend showing it to your girlfriend instead of buying her flowers.
You can leave her with your G1 and go to the drink bar, when you come back she will be still playing.
Can you tell us about future feature enhancements with your App?
We are working on creating online scoring, and maybe adding a second gameplay mode – very short and challenging with an additional special marble.
What did you really like about creating Apps on the Android platform?
Java language support and possibility to work in Eclipse is what we really love.
What are some things you would like to see improved with Android?
There is always a lot of things that you can improve, but with android there is a few that should be improved immediately. First is lack of good 2D graphics which makes development of cool designed games very hard. Second very important is Emulator speed, I can’t even imagine how long it would take to recompile and relaunch 50 MB game.
What is your opinion of the Android App Market’s distribution method? In comparison Apple’s model (strict control over the iTunes store) or the Windows Mobile model (no store at all).
Android market model is very convenient for the developers. Strict control on iTunes store leads to many disappointments, and you are always unsure if they accept the effect of your hard work.
What is your Opinion on the state of the Rating/Feedback system in the App Market?
In our opinion rating and feedback mechanisms are ok. We are getting emails from users and we can respond them quickly. Rating is also very clean and easy to track.
Do you have plans on releasing Apps for other markets (i.e. iPhone, Windows Mobile, Blackberry, etc.)?
Yes, we are currently working on iPhone version of the game, and we want to launch global scores along with releasing App Store version, to allow Android and iPhone users to compare their results.
Your app is a paid app, why did you choose this model over the free model, and how to you project its success?
We’ve published free lite version and also full one to people who like it much. We don’t think that price 1-3 USD is high to Android device owner. Sure we could make it for free but we don’t have a sponsor for that.
Must-have Android Apps?
Sky Map
What advice would you give to another aspiring mobile application developer?
Always test features on a real device before you start advanced coding, to make sure that you won’t need to change everything in your code.
Can you tell us what future Android Apps you have brewing?
We are preparing our second game. We can only say that it’s completely different from Colorix and we will provide a lot of cool graphics there.
Thank you Luis Barbosa of Awesome Software and Eryk Pastwa of Mobo Studio plus crew for a cool app! Don’t forget to check out our 4+ star Android App Review of Colorix!