For the last couple of weeks I’ve been working on a new game for iOS. it doesn’t have a name yet (ideas are welcomed…) but it’s basically a Space War type of game where two (and maybe up to four) players fight it off with their space ships.
I know… it’s nothing new, but I wanted a few features I haven’t seen in this type of game for a while, mainly a play field which is much bigger than the screen of the device and the ability for both players to see their ship without the need of splitting the screen. This means that the camera automatically moves and zooms so that all the players’ ships are always in view. Think Super Smash Brothers in space with vector ships…
I played a similar game long ago on my first Mac (around mid 90’s), but I cannot remember its name, and although it was quite cool, it didn’t have realistic physics, instead, your ship flew like a plane. It did have a nice editor and a great variety of ships, and it was fun when the ships flew far apart, if your ship was small, it became almost invisible (you could still guess your direction thanks to the thruster smoke and bullets).
So, in my game, ships move like they would on the void of space, drifting indefinitely until you thrust in another direction. Controls are the typical from these games: rotate left/right, thrust and fire. I might add a special weapon, we’ll see… There’s also gravity for every object on the screen, so if there’s a planet or asteroid it will attract you and you will be able to enter into orbit. Your bullets will be affected as well, so it can make for some interesting strategies…
I want to make a few different ships with different characteristics, like a small light ship that accelerates and turns very fast, but it’s also weaker, and a bigger, easier to shoot at ship with more powerful weapons and slower to accelerate or turn because of its larger mass.
Although the game is mostly intended to be played by two players sitting on opposites sides of an iPad (hopefully it will work well enough on e smaller iPhone screen), I’m considering adding online multiplayer through GameCenter. I’ve never done it before and it would really add to the game…
So here’s some screenshots of the prototype in action, although at this stage, anything is subject be changed… Right now, there’s one level or playing field which is just full of asteroids. I’ll make some different ones to add variety later…
And as always with any game, but especially with vector games. it’s so much better when you see it in motion… (I’ll try to upload a video soon)
