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Interview

Interview with Johannes Beutel the creator of Block Builder

Block Builder may be the coolest twist on a classical game we’ve seen in a long time. This new version of tetris with a crazy twist is so amazing, we wish we had come up with the idea ourselves! It is truly brilliant!

Original Review -> Check it out!

Before we start, we’d like to thank Johannes Beutel for participating in our interview, and for spending some of his valuable time in answering our questions. Thanks Johannes.

Now without any further ado our interview begins.

 

Ok first up, why did you decide to make Block Builder?

My first computer game was Tetris on the Brick Game Console and it is still one of my favorite games. This classic has inspired me. With Block Builder I wanted to make a Tetris variant without walls. My idea was to change the target, instead of creating lines one has to create squares. So that the target does not change with the orientation. I didn’t know if I could realize this idea. But I had a confidence in me to meet the challenge. I had to do it!

 

Johannes, it’s people like you with crazy ideas no one can even imagine that end up creating the best games. So what programming language and or software did you use when making Block Builder?

I wrote the game in C++ and for a few shaders I used OpenGL.

For the first version of the game I wrote a game engine. It is one of the worst decisions you can make! I would never recommend anyone to make an own engine. It removes the focus from the actual game. So I decided to use Cocos2d-x. Despite a few shortcomings, it is very beginner friendly. It took me only two days to port my game on this engine. 

 

Ok, here is a difficult question. What was the hardest problem you needed to overcome when developing Block Builder?

The biggest challenge was the mechanism that groups the squares into larger squares. It is a search algorithm, because the solution is not always clear, as for example, is in tetris. It must be determined which constellation results in the least number of squares. This issue is explored in mathematics under the name “packing”.

 

Last question. Where do you get your inspiration or ideas from?

I get my ideas from everyday life. Problems or limitations inspire me because they lead to the question: How can it be done differently or even better? I do not get the answer immediately, it is an iterative process. Each approach has mostly a weakness that again needs a solution. It is therefore important to consider the superficial stupid solutions, because they have a weakness that is easy to solve. Step by step you get something better! Every time I start this trip I know that at the end there is something great.

 

A few words to Block Builder fans on Edamame Reviews.

I love to try something new and program games. If you like my game, get ready for more and follow me on Twitter (@fessio).

 

Lastly a few words on how you feel about Edamame Reviews and our service.

I like the Edamame team because it is fast, uncomplicated and honest!

Thank you for following Edamame Reviews!
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