Being the old fart that I am, I often reach back to yesteryear’s dated music. I’m not talking about the top forty songs from the 1970s and 1980’s that are the typical association with generation X. I am talking about the odd soundtracks from B rated films not unlike the stuff from John Carpenter films. The kind of music associated with those crappy films with sub cult followings that you would find on shows such as “Up all night” on the USA network or the odd films found on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Ahh yes.. These films and soundtracks bring back some very vivid memories that the very few remember. These soundtracks bring back a very specific nostalgia that some modern kids try to reproduce as “Retro 80’s” or “Vintage Gen X” or even “80’s synth pop” but fail miserably to capture the true look and feel. Regardless, these memories are vivid and they remind me of the classic games that my childhood friends would play in the arcade or on the Atari 2600 home game systems.
Simple games such as “Star Castle,” “Sinistar,” “Gyruss,” and “Warlords” have been revisiting my memories like the ghosts of Christmas past, but not in such malicious form.
About 2 months ago is when I really started outlining a game that I would want to play… multiplayer (hopefully) and a retracing of my childhood memories of what I enjoyed. A good ole fashioned top down space shooter, but with elements of 80’s anime, lasers, missiles, shields… but it needed something different.. Gravity! Astral bodies tugging and pulling on various game objects could certainly make for some interesting game play with quick action. So I got to work.
So far, I started putting together a prototype and got the gravitational forces to work, some basic ship controls and a few basic weapons that function well. Ships would be influenced by gravitational forces, but also have the ability to repel and attract other celestial bodies. Default cannons, ballistic missiles, beam weapons, mines and a gravity drive are just some of the ideas that are timing into view. Once I get a firm handle on functionality and proof of concept, I will update with images and such..