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24/04/2002 Interview with Paul Ellams- Creator of wonderful Palm Applications and Games.
When did you start programming Palm apps/games and did you ever expect to make money out of it?
I started programming on the Palm about 2 years ago, It was my Connect 4 game which I programmed with Waba on my Palm Personal. I never really thought about making money out of it, I only write Palm software part time and my real job is programming serious PC software so it was nice to write some software that's fun for a change.
What is your most successful program to date?
Heli Rescue has been the most popular to date, people like to play games that they used to have on early PC's and Heli Rescue reminds people of game's like Choplifter. I've had emails from real life Helicopter rescue pilots saying how they enjoy playing the game, Which is nice.
Which program are you most proud of and why?
Probably my Minidisc titling software MD Titler, This uses the organizers infrared port to imitate the remote control from Sony Minidiscs systems allowing people to title their collection of discs in a fraction of the time it would normally take by twiddling knobs or fiddly keys on a remote control. Although obviously not as many people want this as my games. The people who do have a need for the software though are made up when they find it and I get loads of nice comments about the software. It actually started out as a test for my Brother who wanted to title minidiscs in an easier fasion and progressed from there.
Are you working on anything new at the moment and can you give us any hints as to what it might be?
I'm not actually working on a particular piece of software at the moment, but rather putting together some general programmers utilities which will help me write faster better games in the future. I do have a plan to write a game containing Pirates sailing the seas, Not sure where this will go yet though.
Who is your favourite music artist and what is the best song you have ever heard?
I don't really have a favourite artist, I like a wide range of music types. Some of my favourites though are Sting, Sheryl Crow, Manic Street Preachers.
What PDA do you use currently and why?
The organizer I carry around with me is a basic Palm M100, I use this because I've already made good use of it and it's becoming a little worn so I'm not worried about dropping it or breaking it. After our baby daughter smashed my Palm IIIc into a million pieces I've taken to being a little more careful with my organizers. I also have a Palm V, Palm III, Palm IIIc and an old Palm Personal, All used for testing mainly.
How long (on average) does it take you to program a game from start to finish?
It various quite a bit, If the game goes very well I can create the game in approximately one month. But at the other extreme it sometimes takes 3 months which my Agent Z game took.
Do you have any plans to enhance any of your current programs to take advantage of the Clie hi-res screens (Air Hockey 3D would look fantastic)?
I'm not sure at the moment, I have already had a look into the Clie software development kit and know how to implement the changes needed to make a Clie enhanced version. At the moment though I haven't had chance to actually do anything more, partly due to lack of spare time and partly because need to buy a Clie to actually test on (Although I already have plenty of willing Clie beta testers to help when I'm ready). The graphics used in Air Hockey 3D are all rendered in a 3D package though so increasing the resolution in the graphics should be quite straightforward. I also fancy using the sound capabilities on the new Sony organizers, Good Sound is something that's lacking on Palm organizers.
What is your favourite PDA program by another developer and why?
I don't really get much chance to play with other peoples software, But my favourite program and the last one I purchased is a piece of software called CopyWrite by Robert Crago, The software is made to help children(Or Adults) improve their handwriting skills by using the Palm screen type copy handwritten letters which are drawn on the screen. Our son has used it to help improve his handwriting, He's left handed and had problems writing correctly which has now improved with some help from the software.
If you could add one (yet to be invented) feature to a PDA what would it be?
It would be nice to have a 3D screen on the organizer, Not one where you have to wear special glasses to view but where the actual image is shown in 3D on the LCD display if you see what I mean. I think something like that is already being developed for 3D Television. Games and graphics would be amazing then. You never know it might happen one day.
Thanks to Paul for answering my questions- if you have not tried Heli Rescue or Air Hockey 3D yet I would recommend a download (his other programs are just as good) from his site.