Z is for Zombie - available on the App Store.
Jonathan Mulcahy’s game Z is for Zombie, a side-scrolling shoot-em-up with a fun, hand-drawn art style, has been a big hit with the GameSalad community. It was recently released to the App Store, where it was featured as a “New and Noteworthy” pick. In today’s interview, Mulcahy shares his experiences making Z is for Zombie along with some insights into his process.
So Jonathan, what’s your background? When did you start making iPhone games?
My background is all over the place. I went to school for MIS and graduated back in 2004. Since then I’ve been working in the IT field, but I’m always looking for something new to try. I’ve attempted to learn to program using Objective C, but something always came up and I never had the time to actually get the results I wanted.
Z is for Zombie: an early prototype.
GameSalad was actually what got me into making iPhone games. Last January I started making some basic iPhone Apps, but they were not that complicated at all, mostly just little fun things. Then I found GameSalad and I was able to very quickly have a prototype working. I got a working demo of Z is for Zombie completed on a lunch break.
I love horror movies, and I really love zombie movies. So I guess it started there. I wanted to make a fun, basic zombie game. Initially it was going to be just a survival game, but I ended up adding a whole storyline to the game and so the survival game because just a survival mode.
Your games have a unique art style. How did this come about? Is it fun to draw levels this way?
It started out a while ago, I would always sketch out my apps before building them, but I was never happy with them once I started mocking them up in Photoshop. For Z is for Zombie, I just decided to stick with my own artwork. It made me happier and saved me a ton of time trying to get something I’m happy with.
It’s fun to draw the levels, it’s not so much fun to then go back and ink and color them. Your hand ends up hurting pretty quick.
Z is for Zombie: drawing and coloring a level.
The finished look.
Has being featured in the App Store’s “New and Noteworthy” section affected your future plans?
It’s motivated me more to make additional games, and to improve this one. I’ve gotten a ton of great feedback, and that has driven me to make some pretty cool updates to the game. It also gave me a good idea of what to have ready upon submission, mainly the marketing materials (app and support websites). I think that delayed me getting on the front page with Z is for Zombie, so I lost a few days there.
What other projects do you have in the works?
V is for Vortex
V is for Vortex is my next game, and it will be headed to the App Store soon. I’m hoping to wrap it up by the end of next week and get it submitted, so it should be available in early December. It’s inspired by Valve’s Portal. Initially I was just playing around with different game mechanics, I wanted to make a puzzle game, so I had designed some switches, and falling blocks, and I made a teleporter. After that it wasn’t a huge jump for a teleporter gun, and then slowly V is for Vortex came into existence.
After that I’m working on S is for Santa, which is a direct sequel to Z is for Zombie, picking up where Z left off, in the mall at the Santa Photo Booth (this level is coming in version 1.3 of Z). I’m also redoing one of my other apps, HypnoPhone. It’s not a game, but the GameSalad engine will allow me to do much more with the app. That should only be a weekend project, but I gotta wrap up the other three games first! 
Can we look forward to a new game in this style for every letter of the alphabet?
I think so, I’d love to have all 26 letters represented, but that’ll take some time. I’ve got about ten games planned right now.
What’s been the most fun part of making these games? The most challenging part?
The most fun has been actually seeing the game in action. It’s so gratifying to put in a few days’ work and actually see something come together.
The most challenging has been getting my ideas on paper and into the game. I usually sketch everything in a notepad, then redraw it on graph paper, which can take multiple attempts, then inking it, coloring, scanning and touching up. It’s a long process, but worth it in the end I think.
What advice would you give to new GameSalad users?
Don’t worry about graphics or sound – get a working prototype. As you can see in the screen shot (above), Z is for Zombie started out very very basic. I didn’t even start making artwork until I had the entire first level mapped out. I even started over from scratch twice before I ended up with a complete game.
The community has been extremely helpful, I doubt I’d have finished my game so quick without them. It’s a huge complement to the application itself.
Check out more of Jonathan Mulcahy’s work on his website (currently featuring a Z is for Zombie trailer video!) or GameSalad profile page.
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