Battleships Forever
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| Battleships Forever | |
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 Battleships Forever Title Screen |
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| Developer(s) | Sean "th15" Chan |
| Publisher(s) | Independent |
| Designer(s) | Sean "th15" Chan |
| License | Freeware |
| Engine | Game Maker |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Linux via Wine |
| Genre(s) | Real-time tactics[1] |
| Mode(s) | Single player |
| System requirements | 256MB RAM, 64MB Graphics Card, 1.5GHz CPU[1] |
| Input methods | Keyboard, Mouse |
Battleships Forever is an IGF award-nominated[2] freeware real-time tactics video game set in a futuristic space environment inspired by Warning Forever. It is currently in beta phase.[3] Players control a variety of spaceships and must position them to maximize damage on opposing ships and minimize damage to their own ships utilizing a wide variety of tactics and vessel sub-systems.
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[edit] Gameplay
Players can embark on a single-player campaign, play four different scenarios,[1] or use a free-form "sandbox" gameplay mode.[4] The game is played in 2D, with ships designed using raster graphics that resemble vector graphics.[5] Battleships Forever lacks resource management, and play centers on the positioning of ships to attain the best tactical solutions.[5] The campaign begins with the player being issued a single ship, with more ships being added both during and between missions. Several grouped warships can be commanded at once, or individual turrets can be selected and issued attack commands.[4] All, even the smallest ships, are separated into sections, each of which can be individually targeted and destroyed. The ships are separated into 3 categories: patrol craft (or frigates), destroyers, and battleships. Patrol craft tend to be small, with only 2 sections, and fast with 2-3 weapons and little to no defense. Destroyers are larger, 4-8 section craft with some active and passive defences, but tend to focus on firepower. Battleships are highly specialized, with some acting as massive mobile shields for other vessels and others as heavy assault ships, able to focus comparatively huge amounts of firepower on a single target or multiple targets. One of the larger battleships, the Cronus, also carries a flux projector, which allow players to draw their own defense layout within set parameters using their mouse, a unique feature not seen in other games. Among other modules with special functions are several kinds of 'deflectors', which can render sections of ships invulnerable. Some defensive ships can also intercept and destroy enemy fire with their own weapons.[1] Since ships are constructed from individual sections, if one section is destroyed the ship can continue to function.[6] A ship editor is included with the game, which allows the player to design custom ships, which can be uploaded to the developer's website to share with other players.[1] These ships can be used with the game's various 'skirmish' scenarios in place of the normally available selection of vessels (though any scores attained through the use of this feature are not valid and cannot be uploaded to the high score database), or spawned within the 'sandbox', which includes a number of special options not available in the other game modes, such as the ability to spawn asteroids and meteors.
[edit] Development
Battleships Forever was created by Singaporean Sean "th15" Chan,[4] using the free Game Maker software.[7]
The Ship Maker component began as a separate project by Jack Coady, but has since been developed by Sean Chan.
[edit] Reception
Battleships Forever is a finalist in the 10th annual Independent Games Festival's Design Innovation Award[2] and has received positive feedback from the indie gaming community. Independent gaming site Play This Thing's Greg Costikyan found the game "very nice indeed",[1] but found that the game crashed sometimes and hoped this would be rectified when version 1.0 is released. He suggested that the game would appeal more to strategy gamers than action game fans.[1] Shacknews' Chris Remo was impressed that the game had been designed single-handedly and described gameplay as "accessible, but not overly simplistic".[4] GameAxis Online associate editor Ismet Bachtiar stated that Battleships Forever is the first Singaporean developed game to become a finalist in the Independent Games Festival's main category, "if there’s one defining moment that marks the coming of age for Singapore game development, I’ll have to point you to this amazing achievement by one lone individual".[5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g Costikyan, Greg (2007-12-27). Battleships Forever. playthisthing.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-21.
- ^ a b Finalists & Winners. Independent Games Festival. Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
- ^ Bardinelli, John (2008-01-12). Weekend Download. Jay Is Games. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
- ^ a b c d Remo, Chris (2008-01-14). Battleships Forever, Space Combat for Free. Shacknews. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
- ^ a b c Bachtiar, Ismet (2007-12-29). Late Friday Soapboxer: Winning the Battle for Local Game Development. Game Axis. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
- ^ Smith, Graham (June 2007), “This is... Strategy/Management”, PC Gamer UK: 23
- ^ Hanqing, Liew (2007-12-20). Would you pay to play this game?. asiaone.com. Retrieved on 2008-01-19.
