ionAXXIA News

This is a quite release of the final version of the game. Loads and loads and loads has changed. Putting this release out now rather than sitting it on, and will follow up with full details later when I get chance.

A number of small changes have been added based on feedback in the discord channel, with user defined keyboard and mouse controls and a high-tempo audio track to liven things up. Now work is focussed on adding out the fun toys I want to play with. The basis of ionAXXIA's gameplay is variety - variety of ships, foes, weapons, and non-weapon abilities.

I'm aiming to launch with 12 of each ship component, and perhaps a dozen varied enemy craft. Here we see a Rogue's Gallery of pesky aliens who'll be doing their best to thwart your recovery of our Argon!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

One of the key dreams for ionAXXIA was to create a proper arcade game on mobile devices. This major update includes cloud saves, so you can continue your progress on smartphones and back again. The new trailer sums the current build nicely.

We've also got a Discord channel up and running for faster feedback.

https://discord.gg/s7EaBzJ

After a totally unexpected silence, I'm back with the most significant update yet. 0.6.3 introduces the galactic map that brings the whole game experience together. Plot a course of discovery through the galaxy. Each star can be played either as a strategy game through the star-system, or a straight forward fight to the death (Super Melee in StarControl terms).



One of the major issues with this Early Access process has been a real lack of content variety for you guys, for which I'm sorry. Until the core systems were in place, I couldn't start adding more aliens and ship components.



The joyous news is that those systems should now be finished. So this update sees the introduction of a new weapon, the cluster missile, and three varied enemies. The cluster missile showcases the varied firing mechanics - fire once to launch and a second time to detonate and release the multiple warheads, while the three new enemies each have some peculiar tricks which I can make available in future ship components.



Going forwards, the primary concerns are game structure and economy. How do people want to unlock components? I'm thinking to have them hidden throughout the galaxy, perhaps in unique enemies that have that component. Choice of star route through the galaxy should be made to accumulate resources ahead of taking on harder challenges. How much you get paid for a victory is an important balancing act and one that needs feedback.

I'm very pleased to release to the Beta branch the beginnings of the working tactical map. Woohoo!



It's very much based on the tactical map of the original Star Control game. You build ships and manoeuvre them around a randomised star-system, building mines, outposts, and fortifications, making money, buying better ships, while the enemy pushes in from the top. Land a ship on the enemy starbase with no enemy ships present to win.

It's absolutely perfect for short play bouts and I auto-save so you can pick up where you left off.

This tactical combat has become the backbone to the game and its future balancing, and I'm very excited for its hopefully rapid progress. There's lots of opportunity to balance the game and ship designs so that they aren't just what you play in combat, but designs also may affect performance on the tactical map. It'll make the decision making in creating ships of a given price far more meaningful than at present.



The rest of the game should work okay but expect bugs. I'll concentrate of finishing the tactical map before cleaning up other issues and balancing properly.