Software lets players design own game

Wellington company Instinct Entertainment is bringing computer game creation to the masses with the launch of software this week that lets them make their own online fun.

Director Dan Milward said the Gamefroot game creator was completely web-based, so budding designers did not need to download any software to their computers.

Users could create 2-D platform games using pre-loaded and/or original tiles, objects, characters, backgrounds and music.

The software also included tools that let people create commands and rules to dictate how their game unfolded.

Once a game was created users could play it online or through an app on their iPhones, and share it with friends – including through Facebook.

Milward had the idea for Gamefroot after an unsuccessful games pitch to a Chinese firm.

"They said we were too small. They wanted 100 games a month and us to commit to a certain amount of revenue. I thought, `What if we could harness the power of everybody who wanted to make games?'."

The software, which had already been used to create games for the WotWots kids' television programme and Weta Workshop's Greg Broadmore, was free to use but the company had plans to monetise it, Milward said.

That could include converting games into iPhone apps and sharing revenues with creators.

The Dominion Post has developed a game in order to test Gamefroot. See dompost.co.nz on Monday to play Deadline.