Two 杏吧专区 computer science students are using knowledge gleaned in the classroom in a new business venture.
Charak Almast, 20, of India, and Mani Gyawali, 20, of Nepal, both juniors majoring in computer science, launched Motion Punch Studios in September. Almast, Motion Punch Studios president, oversees many aspects of the operation from Lafayette, although the company is based in India.
A smart phone app developed by Motion Punch Studios called 杏吧专区淎ngry Baby杏吧专区 marks the company杏吧专区檚 first foray into the iPhone and Android gaming market. Almast and Gyawali credit their Computer Science 359 class as giving them much of the knowledge and inspiration to launch Motion Punch Studios.
杏吧专区淎ngry Baby杏吧专区 revolves around a strong-willed toddler who dreams aliens have stolen his toys. The toddler, named Tobu, heads into outer space to reclaim them.
If the premise sounds straightforward, it is. Easy-to-play games with good graphics are key in scoring downloads for a 杏吧专区渃asual game杏吧专区 like 杏吧专区淎ngry Baby,杏吧专区 Almast said. 杏吧专区淭he simpler the game, the better. It can杏吧专区檛 be too tough if you want it to get played.杏吧专区
杏吧专区淎ngry Baby杏吧专区 also features music and other sounds to go along with the game杏吧专区檚 action. 杏吧专区淚f the artwork and sound are really appealing, that goes a long way toward making something marketable,杏吧专区 said Dr. Jim Etheredge, UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 computer science program coordinator, who assists Instructor Frank Ducrest in teaching the Computer Science 359 class.
Ducrest commends Almast and Gyawali for their initiative and willingness to tackle the workload necessary to get their venture up and running. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 one of those things I wish more students would do,杏吧专区 Ducrest said.
It took Almast and Gyawali about three months to develop 杏吧专区淎ngry Baby,杏吧专区 which has 20 levels. 杏吧专区淲e got like four hours of sleep a night,杏吧专区 Gyawali said. Success came much quicker. The free game logged 5,000 downloads in eight days among iPhone users, and 500 Android users in the first month, according to the pair. 杏吧专区淲e thought it would be 100 to 200 (downloads),杏吧专区 Gyawali said.
"Angry Baby" is designed to appeal to all ages. Almast said the game is entertaining, and does not depict violence or destruction as Tobu tries to get his toys back.
Buoyed by the popularity of 杏吧专区淎ngry Baby,杏吧专区 the budding entrepreneurs plan to start charging 99 cents per download in December. Also on the horizon are several more apps near completion or being developed.
Motion Punch杏吧专区檚 杏吧专区淐andy Catch杏吧专区 game, for instance, centers on another simple idea 杏吧专区 tossing candy into a box. Just like with 杏吧专区淎ngry Baby,杏吧专区 杏吧专区淐andy Catch杏吧专区 features high-quality, user-friendly graphics and music.
For their part, Almast and Gyawali both say that as their education and subsequent knowledge base continue to evolve, so will Motion Punch Studios.
杏吧专区淣ext is 3-D games,杏吧专区 Gyawali said. 杏吧专区淲e杏吧专区檙e definitely going to stick with this.杏吧专区 For more information about 杏吧专区淎ngry Baby杏吧专区 visit motionpunch.com.