My name is Richard Davey, and Photon Storm is my place on the web where I publish my games and write about ActionScript3 and game development.

For my day job I’m the senior developer in the online department of Aardman Animations – most famously known for Wallace and Gromit, Shaun the Sheep and Creature Comforts. Part of the work our department does is to create Flash games and online experiences based around our key brands.

A typical day for me includes managing development of games for clients like Cartoon Network and Disney, and working on Flash MMOs and in-house properties.

It didn’t always use to be this way. Up until December 2007 I hadn’t touched a single line of ActionScript code in my life. But we were pushed for time on a project, and I’d always had a keen interest in making games since I was very young. So it seemed to make sense that I should try to learn AS3. Over a year later and I haven’t looked back! I now spend nearly every working hour of the day deep in FlashDevelop or FDT.

Prior to joining Aardman I spent years working in the games industry for a fine company called The Game Creators. They produce software that allows anyone to create decent games on the PC with relative ease. I’m still in close contact with the guys there, and while not AS3 based I’ll be blogging about anything exciting I see on their horizon.

I consider myself a hardcore gamer, and have always loved gaming since I saw my first ever Atari 2600. I’m also an Atari otaku. The Atari ST holding a special place in my heart, which is why I built this site dedicated to it. So if my AS3 experiments have a seriously “retro” flavour to them, that is why!

You can read an interview with me over on the excellent 8-bit Rocket web site.

Why Photon Storm?

The name comes from a lesser known Jeff Minter game released for the Atari ST. It was a great game, except very few people or magazines agreed. Even Jeff himself doesn’t rate it too highly. But it had a wonderful name, which I’ve stolen for this blog

The game was a 2D shooter. You saw your ship from above (ala Asteroids), and flew around with a combination of the mouse and keyboard. The control system was very Geometry Wars in style, in that you used the mouse to aim and the keyboard to move. It took some getting used to, but was well worth the effort. Truly innovative for 1990, and not really repeated again until everyone was using dual analog sticks.

FlashGameLicense.com

I’m a massive advocate of FlashGameLicense.com and truly appreciate what they’ve done for me:  finding great sponsors for my games, and providing a virtual home from home You’ll often find me hanging out in their forums and chat rooms. Pop in and say hi!

Who designed your site?

The artwork adorning my site comes from a variety of sources:

1) The insect flying above the logo is from Insects in Space by Hewson, drawn by Mark K. Jones.
2) Photon Storm logo created by the excellent concept artist Arthur Wang.
3) Predator is from the Atari ST Pompey Pirates crack disk 95, drawn by Sid B.
4) Small purple aliens from Bellum Internecinum, an Atari ST PD game by Paul Bocij.
5) Footer space ship from the game Outzone, drawn by Stephane Bellin.
6) Footer shooting buggy from the game SWIV, drawn by Ned Langman.

All Photoshoped together, and other bits and pieces by yours truly.

That’s all folks

Play my games, read my posts and write comments if you wish. But most of all have fun!

Feel free to contact me to discuss coding, retro gaming, the Atari, AS3 or game sponsorship.

I’m always on the look-out for quality pixel artists and designers to work with, so if you fit that bill and would like to earn some money, drop me a line.