A Wing Commander clone on mobile

@Whistler: thanks.
You never really have to wait anyway, as simulator mode is always available. You can also use every equipment available in the game there.
btw, I've just given your pilot unlimited repairs ;)

Thank you for that! I hadn't had the need till my first level 3 fight and realized I had to shoot down the missiles instead of evade them. Wish that loading screen tip had appeared sooner. :rolleyes:

Thankfully, the auto-eject appears to be working fine.

I'm not one to nitpick but I do hope some of the effects get a bit more polished. Variations in explosions and hit effects like shield flare or sparks off a damaged hull. It's the little things that often sell a game best, the extra attention to detail. I can tell you have plans since there is a clear "light" flash of the target upon being hit, can't wait to see the final look. Some way to control your speed outside of boosting would be hot as well (unless there is a way to and I'm just too dumb to find it.)

The ships look interesting enough, the controls are actually intuitive (kudos to getting it right on a touchscreen setup), and I actually feel challenged. Took me a bit to figure out that the afterburner boost was a toggle, which did help paste me across an alien outpost, but I'm sure I gave the window cleaner a bad day. Correction noted.

Anyone else feel as if there's too much of a Mass Effect feel to the characters? I'll withhold final judgement till the completion of the beta. So far I'm liking what I'm seeing, mostly.

Speaking of aliens, I will say that they look a bit awkward to my eyes but I've seen eons of worse rubber suits and tin foil robots... I've seen every episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. This game is at least entertaining and I find my frustrations are more with myself then with the controls.

At least I'm not flying Supercar. :p
Supercar_titlescreen.jpg


Don't take my criticisms too harsh, the game is a blast to fly.
 
Effects are already better than before, but yeah, could still be improved. However, you can't go too crazy as the mobile hardware is much more limited than PC/console. But I'll try to give the blowing up of things a little more variety.
The characters are pretty standard SF people. Yes, the suits could be in another color then black, but otherwise, I don't see a problem here. It's how I'd imagine an armor/space suit combination even without looking at Mass Effect.
The boost can be triggered but also held down. The system recognizes both. Hey, I'm really proud of that!

Now up to my favourite topic, the constant speed. No, you haven't overlooked anything.

Let me ask you, why do you usually change the speed in a space game?
1. To get away from an enemy/missile or chase after one -> you have the boost for that

2. To slow down to match your speed with a bomber -> tedious to do without a real throttle control. Because developers know that, most games also have a match speed button. But GUI space on mobile is limited.
My approach: simplify all of that by giving all fighters the same speed. Simple, huh? And so far, no one really critisized that.
To eliminate situations where you are endless circling around your enemy and vice versa, the guys boost away when they are too close to you.
I love these low level game design tasks.

3. To stop when you are shooting a stationary target. Yeah, you cannot do that in this game. But stopping and shooting is boring anyway, and there is really only one mission type where it would be useful (blowing up outposts). When attacking a mothership which is also stationary , you would get blown up pretty fast when standing still.


The alien does look very cliché, but this is not Stanislaw Lem but the most basic science fiction premise there is. I think the guy fits in a cheesy way.

Thank you Whistler for the feedback, really appreciated.
 
Hey Mr Whistler,
if you name your new Pilot Whistler2 or whatever, I can transfer your beta data. You have played for quite some time here.
By the way, be warned that there are not a lot of changes from the beta version. I tried to add some damage effects, but stuff like this is not my strong field, so nothing new on this front.
But not all hope is lost, as frequent updates are planned.
 
First off, I'm a rather casual guy, no need for the title. :D

Whistler2 it is. I appreciate your timely assistance. Always welcome in a game developer. ;)

EDIT:
The name isn't saving. Even flew one mission to see if that would make a difference. Reloading the game still has me as Pilot.
 
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So... An app update is on the server but it can take a while before that appears in the store or your device. The names actually were saved correctly, but for some reason whitespace was attached when transfering them back and that messed up the client. Thanks alot for the heads-up Whistler.
By the way, you should have all your stuff and pilot stats back. If something's missing, drop me a note.
You will have to re-configure your ship but this should be a matter of minute(s).
 
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Sweet! As you said it's not up just yet but I'll check the market every so often. I'll report back then.
 
Looks interesting. Guess we'll have to see how long it takes me to hit my first request for money.
 
You can play for free as long as you wish. Worst thing that can happen that you wait a while when your ship gets destroyed (the timer keeps running even when you quit the app).
And even then, you can still play simulator missions. By the way, unlimited instant repairs are two dollars (special August deal lol).
You do not need to buy any credits; It can get a little tough around level 5 (but still very doable), but it takes hours to get that far.

Edit: Of course, if you want to buy something, please go ahead :cool:
 
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Heh, the new missile boats were an interesting surprise. Thankfully, I had firepower to meet it now that I'm re-geared. Everything seems to be working good so far.

I won't spoil too much, but consider the missile slowdown mod early after 4 star combat. Prioritize the death of any Wasp you see, they spit missiles like a camel. Only way to stop a missile is to shoot it.
 
Then you either only played to level 2 before, or somehow managed to overlook these bastards that are in the game since ages. They first appear at captain rank (level 3).
But good to hear that it's been a smooth ride so far. As I see from the stats, many people already quit before even finishing the first mission. I try not to imagine how many downloaders never even bothered to finish the tutorial...
 
I didn't mean the Wasps as the new missile boat. I was trying not to spoil the name Grub but now you called me out. :D
 
They are also old hats :) But not so frequent so it's possible you missed them. Now that I think about it, it's possible they only start appearing at level 4.
As we are discussing names, l am still looking for an insecto name for the Frigates (you will see them in level 5's destroyer battles)
Open for any suggestions...
 
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Without knowing what you've used so far, let me throw out a possible insecto-Frigate name: Scarab. Or go more general and simply call it Dung Beetle. Whatevs.
 
Without knowing what you've used so far, let me throw out a possible insecto-Frigate name: Scarab. Or go more general and simply call it Dung Beetle. Whatevs.
I don't know why, but Scarab popped in my head as well. Simply, Beetle also works. I was thinking of a rhinoceros beetle but that might be too much text. Rhino perhaps?

EDIT:
I didn't refresh the page and noticed the reply. Be me to it Capi. :cool:
 
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Dung beetle was my first intuition,but it's best not to follow them every time. Scarab is a fine name, even if there if not much optical similarity... But there never is :) Those are starship after all.
 
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