The game jam submission of Icarus is near finished. I’m calling this submission “Icarus – Wave Attack” in order to avoid confusion later on.

Play the latest version here!

Changes since last update

There have been a lot of improvements since the last update, most notably touch-based controls that will allow the game to be played on mobile.

  • Bugfix: Explosion sound still plays when sound is turned off.
  • Highscores show only after the game is over.
  • Replaced graphical assets with new ones from the artist.
  • Ship thrusters now display when ship is slowing down.
  • Modified keyboard controls to allow reverse acceleration.
  • Added salvage system that will allow the player to collect debris from destroyed enemy ships. Once a certain number of salvage is acquired, the ship upgrades to a better version.
  • Moved power-ups spawns from enemies to asteroids because enemies now spawn debris when destroyed. This also gives the player a reason to destroy the asteroids.
  • Added a salvage sound effect that plays when the player salvages debris.
  • Added a power-up sound effect that plays when the player collects a power-up.
  • Added touch controls to make the game a dual-stick shooter on touch-based devices.
  • Enemy AI is completely redone. Instead of just going after the player, the AI ships will now occasionally fire on asteroids if they are close. They will also try to ‘strafe’ around the player instead of mindlessly chasing.
  • Lessened the chance for enemies to spawn on top of asteroids during the beginning of a wave, which immediately destroyed the enemy and the asteroid.
  • Set a maximum enemy and asteroid count to 8. Beyond wave 8, only 8 asteroids will spawn and additional enemies will spawn if the current number of enemies on-screen is less than 8.
  • Modified splash screen to accommodate touch and keyboard users.
  • Changed ‘Enemies Remaining’ counter to ‘Next Upgrade’ counter that tells the player how many salvages are left until the next upgrade.

 

The To-Do list for the final release will depend on the feedback I receive for the current version. I have finals coming up soon, so there’s not much more time I can spend on this. After school is over, I intend to fully dive into developing the full game with a story and more ships.