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This is a 3D space shooter that combines flight simulator style controls and fast paced arcade action. The game was inspired by the Star Fighter 3000 game on the Acorn Archimedes computer. It's programmed using the Microsoft XNA platform and works on PC & Xbox. An early demo of the game containing the 5 playable levels was developed for Microsoft’s 2011 Dream.Build.Play competition by Andrew Hutchings of FedNet Software, and he was one of Star Fighter 3000’s original authors. The levels of terrain are peppered with structures and a few aerial enemies, and the only objective is “Destroy These Targets”. No power-up system, no landscape variation outside of hills and valleys, and all enemy fire comes from laser turrets mounted on the ground, buildings, and aircraft. Despite the bare-bones package, SF4k has a strong flight model that feels great to play with. You’ve got full freedom of movement and no auto-steer trying to second guess your commands. Flying up loses momentum, while divebombing means you’ve got to check your speed because the acceleration will cheerfully see you cratering into the ground. Control is the Star Fighter roll and pitch, without a hint of yaw to be seen, but with a bit of practice it become easy enough once you learn to be careful of oversteer. Nothing is automated so it’s up to you to adjust speed, estimate where the bombs for ground targets will land based on your velocity, and keep an eye on exactly where your lasers are hitting and lightly tweak the angle of approach. It’s a system that’s surprisingly satisfying to come to grips with, and the only bit of automation that would have improved it is lock-on for the aerial missiles. You’ve got to be within a few inches of an enemy to land those. This will play on the PC and requires an Xbox style controller. |
