Zeitgeist
Nova Squad is a retro Turn Based Strategy game, drawing from games such as "Laser Squad" and "Rebelstar Raiders".
Lead your squad to victory and reclaim the Lunar Base, piece by piece, from the Alien Invaders! If they take the moon, then the Earth may be lost!
This was a Demo I made for my second semester at University. We were tasked with making a "Top Down Game" and at the time I had been researching into X-Com (1994) and the games that led to it (Rebelstar Raiders, Laser Squad etc).
It was an interesting one to develop as I mainly work with 2D platformers and 3D first person games. The most challenging part of it was probably getting the turn based system working.
Originally, I had planned to have a lighting system, like in X-Com, where your view is obscured until you move into an area and look around. Due to the short time of the project, it was eventually cut as there were more important mechanics to work on.
Overall this is my favourite project I've worked on. It had the most challenging design and programming I've encountered so far and was the most interesting I've made. I'd like to finish and release it, as well as explore similar games such as the RTS genre.
Future plans for the project
1. Enemy AI/ Pathfinding - Unique behaviors, attacks and all will use A* pathfinding in their movement
2. SFX/ Music overhall - brand new sounds and music to replace the current temporary sound assets
(I'm taking an Audio Dev module in my second year to aid this)
3. Art/ Animations - Overhall of Art, expanded colour palette, upscaled sprites, expanded spritesheet with new animations
4. Save System - Autosaves, different save files,
5. Early Access Release - After points 1-4 are completed, we can enter Early Access, continue working on the systems, and expand the campaign, adding in story as we develop the underlying mechanics.
6. Gameplay depth - New inventory system, similar to X-Com, with new weapons, troop types, and tools for clearing paths
7. UI Overhall - The UI needs to be improved, text that appears when you hover over buttons, settings for scale and a cleaner, more readable design for the game.