Astro Noughts

November 13, 2010

When I started porting Star Fusion to the iPad, I expected it to be just that – a port with a few tweaks. Things haven’t panned out that way though and its become a lot more than just a straight port. To mark these significant differences, the game will no longer be released as Star Fusion HD but instead will launch as Astro Noughts.

I’m currently on a final push to get Astro Noughts wrapped up and in the App store in time for Christmas. The majority of the core features are in place but as always it’s the little things required to finish a game that take up the majority of the time.

I’ve managed to keep the scope of this game under control so the feature list isn’t increasing and I am ploughing through it. This means it’s easy at this stage to confirm features. Here are the headlines…

  • A space arcade game with a strong mathematical mechanic
  • Endless wave based gameplay
  • Powerups to give you the competitive edge
  • A planetarium to view unlocked planets
  • OpenFeint integration (for leaderboards and achievements)
  • Save game system so you can drop out at any time

There are still some unknowns, mainly around content. I want to stuff the game with as many powerups and planets as I can. There are also still a few features that I will integrate if I can find the time.

I’m keen to show off some gameplay but don’t really have the time to create a video. So, for now, screenshots will have to suffice.

Star Fusion HD development update

August 14, 2010

Just a quick development update on Star Fusion HD. Overall it’s progressing well. It is however proving to be more of a challenge than I anticipated since I’m identifying and improving upon a number of weaknesses in the original game design.

I didn’t expect the addition of waves to be trivial but it’s certainly challenging me – I’ve already been through half a dozen custom systems. I messed around with the concept of a pattern creation system that enables me to manually control what you see on the screen. I’ve now scrapped this and moved back to a more dynamic system that lets the program decide what to throw at you – its currently fairly dumb but that can make for some interesting situations. I’m adding layers of complexity to this system to ensure that there is enough to keep you progressing through the waves. I’m also looking into tying wave progression to the scoring system (and therefore making progression a result of player skill).

keep reading…

Star Fusion HD

July 18, 2010

I’ve been toying with the idea of a new version of Star Fusion for quite some time. It was the first iPhone game I created (over a year ago) and, despite its simplicity, I still really like it (A slightly biased opinion I know). I always felt that its core mechanics were solid but that it didn’t quite hit the rights notes with its overall polish and depth. keep reading…