Last December we interviewed Dave Flook about his Xbox Live Community Game Blow. With the recent release of Xbox Live Arcade game Blazing Birds I thought it would be interesting to talk with him again.

Question: How did the idea for Blazing Birds come about?
 
Dave Flook: Blazing Birds is my second game for XNA and I wanted to develop a game with a simple game mechanic. 
I have several years of Badminton experience and I noticed the sport has rarely been represented in a video game.



Question: Could you describe Blazing Birds for anyone who hasn’t seen it?

Dave Flook: Blazing Birds is a fast paced, one-on-one experience with a focus on precise control.
The game engine was designed to allow beginning players to pick up and play the game with a minimum of effort.
It also allows more advanced players to take advantage of their gaming skills without the need to handicaps or settings changes.



Question: Was Blazing Birds created by you and your brother like Blow was?

Dave Flook:  Yes,
David: Game Design, Programming, and Graphics
Jonathan: Testing and Quality Assurance
 


Question: Since it won Dream Build Play 2007 how has Blazing Birds changed?

Dave Flook: The game's graphics have been overhauled.
Several new game modes have been added.
Leaderboards and Achievements have also been included.
 


Question: How difficult was it to take Blazing Birds from a Community Game to the Xbox Live Arcade?

Dave Flook: The certification process for XBLA was quite challenging. This was due to the fact Blazing Birds needed a fair bit of "refactoring" in order to add the many features required by XBLA in addition to localizing the game in 8 additional languages.



Question: Looking back on Blazing Birds what are the things that you are most proud of?

Dave Flook: The Artificial Intelligence system I use is quite complex.
 


Question: Was there anything you were hoping to get into Blazing Birds that did not make it?

Dave Flook: The development for Blazing Birds ended up going farther than I could have imagined when I first started the project.
 


Question: You mentioned before that you were working on another game. Want to tell us a little about that yet?

Dave Flook: I can’t reveal anything just yet. I actually have several projects in the works. I need to carefully analyze the Community Games market before I make decide what to release next.



Question: How fun or challenging was it to implement the Achievements?

Dave Flook: Adding Achievements was certainly a fun and creative process.
The code for adding the Achievements in XNA is delightfully simple.
 


Question: Can you give us some tips or strategies for Blazing Birds?

Dave Flook: Learn to play with "MANUAL" aiming!