NosFire Helps Fast Cars Go Everywhere

The Intel® Software Partner Program helps this one-man shop meet the lofty ambitions of its mobile auto-racing game to deliver blazing performance tailored to any connected device.

Located in Ankara, Turkey, Murat Aydin has created NosFire, an online racing game for players that love cars and live for speed. As a member of the Intel Software Partner Program, Murat has successfully transitioned his game to achieve professional-quality status.

Optimizing NosFire for Every Device, Everywhere

NosFire tailors its behavior to the device it is being played on, and it’s critical to the user experience that the game can make the best possible use of the resources available. For example, resource-intensive operations are involved in the 3D parts of the user interface as well as the C++-based calculation engines used for race results, tracking damage to the cars, and many other aspects of the game.

To avoid stripping out vital features and functionality on resource-constrained devices, NosFire is optimized using Intel® VTune™ Performance Analyzer. Murat is unequivocal about the value of this tool to his efforts: “The VTune analyzer is amazing. Using it, I easily cut down memory use and improved performance by almost 20 percent. Having clear and useful documentation available helped a lot, too.”

Because cross-platform operation is so important as a strategic matter to NosFire, receiving a development platform from the program was very valuable. In fact, people looking for a casual but sophisticated and engaging game to play while travelling represent a key NosFire user demographic . Therefore, optimizing for MIDs and netbooks based on the Intel® Atom™ processor was a natural step. The Moblin Open Source project provides a high-quality software stack for NosFire to draw from. Because Moblin project code is pre-optimized for the Intel Atom processor, NosFire had an excellent starting point from which to address this growing market segment.

Extending the Reach of a Great Independent Game

A key challenge for any new piece of software is to gain visibility in a crowded marketplace. It can be daunting for even an established
company, but it’s especially so for a small start-up, let alone an individual with comparatively limited resources. Affiliation with the Intel Software Partner Program can help change the balance of power in situations like that, which has certainly been the case for NosFire. As Murat has said on this subject, “Support from the Intel Software Partner Program is a great asset. As an independent developer, I have been surprised and very pleased by the attention.” First impressions are vital for gaining traction with an end-user audience. There are so many online games to consider that yours may not get a second chance if it doesn’t immediately get a potential end user’s attention. This is another area where NosFire’s association with the program has paid off. In addition to being associated with the Moblin project, which has its own growing recognition in the industry, NosFire uses the Intel Software Partner Program badge in its marketing efforts, which immediately lends the game credibility. Of course, publicity provided by the program itself—such as this success story—complement Murat’s efforts, helping to get the game in front of more customers. Ultimately, getting more drivers into the game is the goal, and there, NosFire has been a success.