Getting To Know HeyDeck Games & Its Call Center Sim, Smooth Operators!

Posted by Jennifer Allen on July 17th, 2013
+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: NO NUISANCE CALLS :: Read Review »

With the recent iOS release of XBLIG darling, Smooth Operators!, we checked in with creator, Andreas Heydeck, to learn more about the team behind it and their inspiration.

148apps: Who makes up the Heydeck team? How many of you worked on Smooth Operators?
Andreas Heydeck (AH): The team consist of me (Andreas Heydeck), and…graphic artist Murry Lancashire. I've also [had] some help with graphics from Scott Tykoski, and music from Zack Parrish…[as well as] a couple of 'consultants' from the call center world.

148apps: Where did the inspiration for Smooth Operators come from? Why a call/contact centre?
AH: Well, I've worked as a programmer at a multinational call center for quite some years now, and I've always thought that the inner workings in a call center is a pretty good setup for a management simulation game. The mechanics and game rules are already there. But, what basically happened was that me and a couple of friends from work went for a couple of beers, and we joked about doing the game and what cool features that could be put in to it. So, the day after I started working with it.

148apps: Did any particular games inspire you while making the game?
AH: The obvious one would probably be SimTower, but also Corporation Inc. When you play the game, you will also notice some elements from your typical Tycoon type of game.

148apps: What encouraged you to port it over to iOS?
AH: The mobile gaming market it so much bigger than the XBLIG market, and so it's an attractive platform to develop for. I've also heard people say that this game would be an awesome iPad game, and it was a good challenge for me to port it.

148apps: What challenges did you come across, going from XBLIG to iOS?
AH: First, I wasn't sure what way I was going to do it…I chose to go for the Monogame framework, and it was quite easy. However, as with any new platform, there are some kinks and obstacles you need to overcome, but it wasn't anything major. The biggest ones was adapting the screen ratios of iOS devices, and also to cut down on the memory handling, which isn't really an issue when you develop for Xbox or PC (especially not with a 2D game). Oh, and changing the controllers from a pointer to a touchscreen.

Thanks to Andreas for taking the time to answer our questions. Smooth Operators! is out now as an Universal build, priced at $2.99.