Summary
StarWraith Games' space sims likeEvochron Legends SElean heavily into the flight simulator aspect of the genre, with a strong emphasis on the overall piloting and navigational techniques that theoretical pilots might employ in the far future. Although this commitment to a more authentic spaceship piloting experience might come with a steeper learning curve than average, those who dream of one day sitting in the cockpit of their own starfighters will probably find exactly what they’re looking for here.
Game Rant spoke with the soloindie gamedeveloper Behind StarWraith Games, Shawn, about how he approached Evochron’s various systems as a space simulator. It turns out that he has had a fair amount of experience first-hand with real-life aircraft, and he applies much of what he knows about modern aviation in his games. According to Shawn, two areas of the game particularly benefited from his knowledge of modern aircraft: its various combat mechanics and the game’s informative HUD elements.
Evochron’s Ships Are Inspired By Modern Fighter Jets
In practice, thecombat of many space gamesmore closely resembles World War 2 dogfights with spaceships adhering to non-Newtonian physics with inexplicable speed limits, a lack of directional thrusters, and primitive weapon functions. For StarWraith’s space sims, Shawn looked to the combat capabilities of modern aircraft and theorized how those might look in the distant future. One example is how missiles can be redirected to other targets mid-flight: this is a rare feature to find in space games, but it’s something that modern-day missiles are more than capable of.
My interest in fighter aircraft influenced my interest in what combat might be like in such an environment, so that also became a major focus for me, and is why the game includes some fairly advanced targeting and weapon systems.
For some specific examples, the ability to change the course of missiles in flight to acquire a new target, particle-based weapons that auto-aim within a specific optical gunsight angle, 3D and 2D radar modes, type and threat level tracking of multiple targets simultaneously on the HUD, target pathway indicators, and weapon enhancement equipment items. As a result, when it comes to features and mechanics, I set out to design systems and options around modern-day aviation systems and concepts, but with a futuristic theoretical approach for the realm of space flight (obviously simplified for a game).
Some ofEvochron’s weapons are also capable of auto-aiming within an area around the gunsight similar to how modern attack helicopters' gimballed weapons can be aimed independently of the aircraft’s orientation. After all, it makes sense thatspacecraft in the far futurewould be equipped with more sophisticated targeting systems to make the lives of pilots a little easier in a zero-gravity dogfight.
Evochron’s HUD Keeps Players Focused On The Action
Heads-up displaysare ubiquitous in gaming now as the primary means of keeping players informed in the middle of the action, but the concept originated in military aviation. Shawn looked to the evolution of the HUD in modern jet fighters and similarly builtEvochron’s HUD, though with some tweaks to make it playable and to convey space-related information as well.
How, what, and where information is displayed is another key aspect of that objective. Just like modern jet fighters, displaying data to the pilot in an efficient and accessible means is a priority. This is why important information such as the state of the ship being flown (directional velocities, shield array levels, and alerts), certain environmental conditions, and weapon system status are displayed around the gunsight so that the pilot doesn’t have to look away at a different display or corner of the screen to retrieve such important details. Likewise, the state of a current target is also displayed directly on its indicator since the pilot is already looking at it in battle.
A helmet-mounted display system is also incorporated to keep certain details in view anytime the pilot has to look away from the forward direction. Comprehensive instrumentation is combined with a particular display indication and placement design approach to help maximize information gathering in the midst of combat. Those combined elements are my priorities in the space combat flight simulations I create.
The result is extremely functional: despite the massive amount of information pilots need to be aware of during a mission, nearly everything can be easily glanced at either around the gunsight or on a panel directly in front of the pilot. Perhaps more games should look to space sims for UI inspiration as players growincreasingly wary of tedious UIsthat too frequently pull players out of the game to sift through various menu screens.
