BugWings
BugWings was one of the only games that I could find that utilised the gyroscope for game control. You begin the game by picking your character, after that you go straight into game play. The goal is the game is to complete each level by flying around the “Great Pond”, collecting pollen balls and blue stars before finally making a precarious landing on a lily pad.
The graphics reminded me of something from the PS1 generation of games, however I think that the style of graphics used were intended to make the game have more of an arcade feel to it. Lots of bright colours are used which mixed with the audio create a very up-beat happy style of game.
Initially the control style sounded something similar to what I wanted to use, but after playing the game my opinion changed. I, along with others, found it difficult to maintain a parallel level to the water to collect the pollen balls.
The response to tilting the iPhone were a bit slow, making the controls very dull; No doubt full control of your bug avatar comes with lots of practise. In my game I want the controls to be quick and responsive, I will probably also have a section in the game options that users can tweak the sensitivity of the controls too.
1951 World War One
1951 WW1 was one of the other games that I found that used the gyroscope for game control, it also made use of the accelerometer to perform special moves. The game is pretty much a WW1 dogfighter style game, where you control a steam powered aeroplane and are tasked with shooting down enemy aeroplanes. The 1951 WW1 game is probably the closest I’ve found to what I want in my game in regards to the controls and part of the options. It uses the gyroscope feature for control of the aeroplane and the accelerometer to perform barrel-roll maneuvers to dodge your opponents bullets or to loop around behind your enemy.
There were a few faults that I found pretty quickly when playing the game, which from my understanding was down to the point of view you play from. In the game you have a 3rd person overview of your aeroplane, which makes it difficult to work out where your enemy is when you are trying to shoot them. When it looks like you are level with them you might actually be a bit above or below them, making a very frustrating game-play when you think you’ve killed them but you end up missing. For my game I will go with a 1st person view where you can see from slightly above and behind your dragon avatar, making control, aiming and altitude easier to identify.
The other aspect of the game that is similar to what I want to create is the scoring and rewards system. As you progress through the game you level up your pilot depending on the success of your air battles. For every plane you take down you receive a set amount of experience points, and at the end of the battle you can receive bonus experience points based on things such as the time it took to complete the level or how much damage you’ve taken. You can then improve your planes characteristics such as increasing your firepower, defence, speed, and health. I want to do something similar with my game where you can spend your experience points on things such as the dragons firepower, speed, agility, health and maybe even additional styles of attacks (carpet bombing?).
Glyder 2
Glyder 2 is the game that has given me the most ideas, the control system and style of movement is nearly exactly what I am looking for in my game. Just like BugWings and 1951 WW1 it uses the gyroscope and accelerometer for movement, however it differs in the fluid movements within the game. You must guide your character named Eryn, who has found herself lost in a foreign dimension, back home. You must help her by exploring the levels to find her way home, which can be achieved by collecting items and completing certain tasks in a pre-determined order set by the tasks given to you.
The control system is similar to BugWings, in that it utilises the gyroscope and accelerometer so that when you tilt or rotate the handset and your avatar responds. Similar to 1951 WW1, the altitude and speed meters are displayed on the lower screen, allowing you to have more control over your flight. The meters are defiantly something that I want in my game, however I was thinking of having some kind of bar on the left side instead of a circular dial. Something that I will need to think about further is how the speed will be controlled,
In regards to the graphics, they are remarkably good considering that the game is for a mobile phone handset. At times they can be pretty blocky, which makes it difficult when trying to pull off certain maneuvers while flying, but the sensitivity and sharp responses of the controls make up for this.
Although you can’t level up your character as such to improve the flying characteristics of your avatar, you can equip different types of clothes/gear to alter the characteristics of your avatar. For example, as you progress through the games levels you can collect different sets of wings.
GT Racing: Motor Academy
Although GTR:MR is not a flying game, I’ve looked in to it as it was voted one of the best racing games on the app market in regard to its controls by IGN.com. I managed to find someone who already had the game, so I played the game for about an hour to see how well the cars response to the users input.
I quickly noticed how easy it was to control your car, the sensitivity of the controls were on the sharp when taking on the tight corners yet soft when going around the more open bends. I found that even when taking on the chicanes that started out with a soft bend then switched to a sharp corner the controls responded well to the adjustments of the handset.
The only thing that I could find fault in is that the controls were slightly too easy, there wasn't anything to keep you on the edge while racing. The corners came too easy, almost as if you hardly needed to put any effort in to controlling the car.
Although smooth transitions from the controls is ideal, I think there needs to be something that keeps the person on edge and engaged in the game that won’t discourage them from playing because it is too hard to control, but enough to make sure that they will get bored from the flight being too easy.
N.O.V.A.: Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance
Just like GTR:MR, N.O.V.A is not a flying game, and once again it was voted one of the best 1st person shooters on the app market by IGN.com. The reason why I’m looking in to N.O.V.A is because the style of aiming system and perspective that it uses.
You control your character with a on-screen d-pad on the lower left screen and you control your cross-hair, which is always in the middle of the screen, by rotating and moving the handset around on its axises to direct where your weapon is aiming. I will not have a d-pad in my game, as you control your Dragon by rotating/tilting the handset and the cross-hair will be fixed in the middle of the screen. That way a player aims by actually flying the Dragon in the direction of the target, or perhaps even slightly below.
Another thing I’ve taken not of is the reloading time in N.O.V.A, even a great mystical dragon cannot spew out a constant stream of fire. Instead I will have some kind of cool down system to replace ammunition, where you have a total of 5 shots to use and each shot stacks up a cool-down of 1 second.
For example, when you tap the screen you fire two fireballs from your dragon, it then takes 2 seconds from the moment you take your 2nd shot for your cooldown bar to return to full. If you take 5 shots then it takes a full 5 seconds from from the moment you take your 5th shot for your cooldown bar to return to full.
The cooldown system also brought on another idea, where instead of tapping the screen to make individual shots, a player can hold their finger on the screen to perform a carpet bomb maneuver, which fires a continuous stream of fire that covers a larger area. I will gave to limit the carpet bomb maneuver, perhaps have a maximum amount it can be used per level or some kind of rage bar that fills up with the more enemies you kill.
How To Train Your Dragon: Flight of the Night Fury
I’m not going to go in to too much detail about How to train your Dragon: Flight of the Night Fury. The reason for this is simple, it is essentially a re-skin or Glyder 2. Although the scenery and storyline are different, it is tapered to the plot of the film, the game mechanics are exactly the same. The objectives are essentially the same, just re-worded to fit in with the storyline of How To Train Your Dragon. All the controls are the same, as well as the flight patterns and adjustments in the gear shop.
Game Concept
Working Title: Revenge of the Dragons
Platform: iPhone/iPad/Android Phone
Target: 10+
Genre: Flight Simulator/FPS
Overview: ROTD is a platform adventure set in a fantasy world inhabited by Dragons and Vikings. The player seeks revenge from the perspective of Erader the Dragon on the Vikings after a raid in the previous winter left it orphaned.
Story: A war has raged between two races for longer than anyone can remember, it started so long ago that even the stories told about its beginning hold little truth. This war, is the war of the dragons of Agoth and the Víkingr of the Stony Shore. Blinded hatred between the two races is at its climax and you, the Erader, are about to join the fray.
In the winter just passed, the Víkingr inflicted the most damage done for a very long time; all but a dozen nests remained intact. In the casualties, your mother Imumair and your father Wafedill perished and now is the time for you to take revenge on the Víkingr. Fly to the Stoney Shore and find the Víkingr settlements to seek revenge for the death of your kin. Destroy the settlements and kill as many Víkingr as you can.
Characters:
- Erader
- Imumair
- Wafedill
Enemies:
- Víkingr (Generic)
Collectibles:
- Awards
- Experience Points
Environments/Sets:
- Forest
- Mountain
- Lake/River
How does a level works?
- Task set of amount of enemies to kill.
- Kill the enemies in the set time frame with bonus experience points for destroyed structures and combo kills.
- If you fail, you restart the level from the beginning.
- Avoid enemies weaponry; catapults, arrows, throwing axes.
What are the goals?
- Kill enough enemies to complete the task within the time frame.
Key features:
- Physics based game.
- Unique flight simulator.
- Simple and intuitive controls
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