In the second of our interviews with developers making their own way on the App Store, we've hooked up with Colin Walsh.

A programmer based in St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada, he’s operating under the moniker Celsius Game Studios.

He says if he had a garage, he'd be working out of it, but the living room will do for now.

At least, his previous computer programming experience means he's been able to transfer his OpenGL engine to iPhone; something that been put to use in his debut game, 3D match-3 game Chromodyne, which is due out sometime in October.

Why did you decide to set up as a solo iPhone developer?

Colin Walsh: I've always wanted to make my own video games, at least since my first computer sometime in the late 1980s.

Then, all of a sudden, the App Store comes along and it's this amazing opportunity for me to finally try and do something I've dreamt about. Also the platform really clicked with my skillset as I have a lot of experience with programming in OpenGL. It took an evening to port my OpenGL 3D engine to the iPhone, which was a really good learning experience.

As for why I'm doing this as a solo developer, I'd have to say it's mainly because I'm just testing the waters at this point. So the risk is a bit lower if it's just me, and it's not successful, there's not a lot of investment apart from my own time.

Despite that I don't really think of it as work, more of a labour of love, and even if this first game isn't successful I plan to keep doing my best and hoping something sticks.

What previous experience have you had in development?

I've always been into computers and learning how they work, so I've had quite a lot of experience with programming, though most of my game development has been just tinkering around trying to learn the latest concepts with game engines.

Also I have a degree in computer science and all of my jobs since I graduated have been working doing application programming. That's definitely helped me hone my skills.

How do you deal with parts of the game making process you're not an expert in?

Well, despite my technical leanings, I like to think I have a bit of an artistic side, so I've been doing all of my own 2D and 3D artwork, though I do think having someone else handle that would make the task much, much easier.

As for sound effects and music, I've found a number of sources of royalty free sound effects and music online for not a lot of money or even free. That's great for someone in this situation.

I test all my own software in my day job so generally my development process on the game involves making something new and immediately going to try and break it. I think having someone else to test is invaluable though, because as the developer you may be blind to something the average user may find or break right away, so a friend of mine with an iPod touch is doing some testing for me.

Do you have much contact with other iPhone developers?

I've met a few developers through Twitter, and they seem like really nice people. Apart from that I probably don't frequent many places online where other devs congregate. Maybe I'm a little too independent (or stubborn!) for my own good. I usually just search online when I have a problem instead of asking questions, because, almost always it seems someone else has had the same problem, which is nice.

What are the most helpful information resources you've found?

Hmm... well, I'd have to say Google first and foremost is indispensable when you have a problem or error that ends up stumping you. Garry and Ken Seto of Endloop posted a brilliant series of blog entries on how to start, build and launch your first iPhone app. I have to say that really helped me get off the ground.

Also other iPhone devs like Bolt Creative and Firemint have some good info about the market and good creative advice as well.

What are the best and worst parts of being a one-man band?

I'd say the best parts are the ability to limit your risk and start small, as well as the large amount of creative freedom this affords you.

I guess with a small handheld like the iPhone, people don't expect the same level of "This game took a team of 28 people, 2 years to complete and it cost more than the GDP of a small country" you see with big A+ titles on the consoles. So even if the game doesn't make a huge profit, because it's just you working on it, you don't have to sell millions of copies.

The worst part is you have to do all the work yourself, and sometimes that can be hard because you end up finding yourself out of your element and things end up taking longer than you expected.

Also, self-motivating myself to the point where things get done has always been a hard part of solo development for me.

I'd say my new game is the most complete of any of my previous projects to this point, by far, for example. I've definitely had to make some sacrifices in the name of actually shipping a finished project over satisfying my inner perfectionist's desire to make my code elegant and extensible.

The best, most wonderful code in the world doesn't mean anything if nobody can buy the game because it's still on my hard drive.

Are you planning to self publish on App Store?

I'm self publishing, for now, at least. I'm sure going with a thirdparty would be beneficial, with advertising and financial support and things like that.

But for now it seems like anyone still could make a splash if they have the right idea and present it well. Certainly there's nothing stopping anyone from ponying up $100 and getting started making apps and selling them.

Can you provide some details about the game you're working on?

I'd love to! The game I'm working on is a match-3 style game I'm calling Chromodyne. I'm hoping to try and set it apart from others in the genre with 3D graphics and a cylindrical play area.

The idea is that there are five rings that you have to rotate in order to make combinations of the same shape and colour to score. There's also going to be a (hopefully) amusing story to help set it apart.

I have a couple of videos and more info available on my website.

As of now I'm just putting on the finishing touches, adding some pizzazz to the graphics and finishing some 2D assets for the story mode. Fingers crossed, I'm hoping to have it in Apple's hands within a week or so.

Would you like to build up a larger company or do you think you can survive and thrive on your own?

Right now I'm just content to try and do things on my own and see where things go from there, but who knows what the future has in store!

Thanks to Colin for his time.

You can keep up to date with his progress via his blog and Twitter.