Crayon Physics – An interview with Petri Purho
Over the weekend I was lucky enough to grab a brief interview with the creator of Crayon Physics Deluxe – Petri Purho. He very kindly answered questions about his motivation and inspiration for the game and his website Kloonigames.com, where he ran a project to develop a new game every month. Check out his site for more updates about Crayon Physics and other forthcoming games.
Games for Dads: Can you explain what Crayon Physics Deluxe is for everyone?
Petri Purho: It’s a game about being creative. You draw with crayons and then magic happens.
GFD: Did you develop every part of the game from sound to physics etc?
PP: I did most of the game, but not everything. Music is something that I cannot do and I don’t understand how people can create something so beautiful and I have nothing but respect for composer and musicians alike. So I had to ask for some help doing that. A friend of mine, Samuli, helped me with user interface graphics (editor, main menu, stuff like that). And the physics engine is by Erin Catto (it’s box2D).
GFD: It must be incredibly hard work to do everything yourself – how do you manage to motivate yourself to finish your games?
PP: I honestly don’t know. I’m a very lazy person by nature, so I’m as surprised as anyone when I look back at what I’ve created. I’m as amazed as any when I saw that I’ve actually done 24 freeware games in the last 30 months. I have no idea I did it.
GFD: Crayon Physics is such a unique gaming experience – where did you find the inspiration to create its visual style and its design elements?
PP: Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson. That was a big inspiration for the visuals and the design of the game.
GFD: Is there anything you want players to gain from playing Crayon Physics?
PP: Creativity and better understanding of the laws of physics.
GFD: Crayon Physics Deluxe came from your own project to develop a new game every month Kloonigames.com- why did you decide to develop Crayon Physics into a full game and not any of the others?
PP: I thought it was the quickest / easiest game to do. Also it was one of the most popular. So it wasn’t a difficult choice.
GFD: CPD has been very well received – did you ever expect this level of success when you first started developing?
PP: Honestly no. I’m a very pessimistic person, so I thought I would be happy if the game sold any copies at all.
GFD: I’ve been reading a lot of reviews of your game from various outlets and whilst it’s been getting favourably ratings there seems to be some criticism about whether there’s enough challenge in the game. Do you think that’s a fair comment or have people misunderstood what Crayon Physics is?
PP: I think it’s a very fair comment about the game. I didn’t want to do a challenging game or game that would cause frustration. I updated the game so that people looking for more challenge and less creativity can now play the game that way as well. I think it now has enough difficulty, solving some of the levels with one object only is extremely difficult, so there’s challenge for those looking for it.
GFD: What’s your take on the Indie scene at the moment? There seems to be a resurgence in recent times with the likes of World of Goo, Braid and Everyday Shooter coming out on a variety of platforms.
PP: I love the indie scene. It’s the most refreshing thing that’s happened in gaming in the last 10 years or so.
GFD: Part of the game allows you to create your own levels and upload them to your website – has anything totally bizarre or incredible caught your eye?
PP: There’s been a couple of totally awesome levels that I’ve been meaning to blog about. Unfortunately I’m currently been drowning in emails 
GFD: The other games on Kloonigames that you’ve developed are all pretty unique, so do you just have a disturbed imagination or do you draw inspiration from other sources?
PP: Disturbed imagination.
GFD: Many thanks Petri and good luck with your future games.
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The Core i7 effect
Intel’s brand new processors hit retail this month and their radical new design has enthusiasts salivating at the prospect of Core i7 and what it’ll be able to do. It marks a significant change in the way Intel has designed processors in the past and at its base level the Core i7 looks more akin to an Athlon 64 than a Core 2.
At launch we’ve got three new CPU’s to drool over. The Core i7-920 running at 2.66 Ghz, the Core i7-940 at 2.93 GHz and the cream of the crop, the Core i7-965 running at 3.2 GHz.
But what does this mean for PC Gamers? Are the changes that Intel are ringing mean any performance boost for games or are we only looking at multithreaded applications running away with Intel’s cream of the crop?