Stressed Ape Introduces Aces Vs Aliens





Aces Vs Aliens is out now to download for free on the App Store and on Google Play. In this feature, developer John Kenny talks retro-shooter influences, the challenges of indie development, and what’s coming next for studio Stressed Ape.

Aces Vs Aliens has recently been released on IOS and Android by my development studio Stressed Ape. Available as a free download for IOS and Android, Aces Vs Aliens puts you in control of an advanced jet fighter during the early stages of a worldwide alien invasion. Using a unique control system you can perform loops, dives and rolls as well as launch missiles and bombs with the swipe of a finger.

Aces Vs Aliens consists of two playing modes: a top down shooter, which was inspired by classics such as 1942 (AVA gives a very large nod to 1942 by looping the jet when the game first starts), and an isometric chase mode inspired by titles such as Afterburner and Outrun.

This fits in nicely with the current resurgence of retro style gaming, which I believe has been made popular by the limitations of the devices on which they are played (phones and tablets). By this I mean limitations to the controls, and not necessarily the processing power. AVA follows this trend by only having two usable buttons on screen, but using these buttons in a way that allows extra gameplay mechanics. For example, simply pressing ‘fire’ fires the main cannon, swiping forward on ‘fire’ launches a missile, swiping back drops a bomb and left and right bring up air and ground targets, which can then be selected by tapping the screen. This allows rather complex mechanics to be controlled using a single button and methods that are familiar to the user.

‘So, what was the development process like?’ I hear no one ask. Well, not too bad at all, thanks for asking. I love games, so making one, for me, was as enjoyable as playing one. I came into the industry with no experience and absolutely no knowledge of how it all worked, but I did have a solid background in engineering (which definitely helped) and the determination to create something that people would want to play.

I developed this game whilst working a full time job and supporting a young family, so it was often difficult to find time for it. I forced myself to do something with the game every day, even if that was just playing it and writing down what I thought was working well and what wasn’t. I suppose one of the problems of working alone rather than for a company is that you set your own goals and deadlines, so it is easy to let these slide if you aren’t strict with yourself. You don’t have a lot of people on hand to give you feedback on your progress, so it can be tricky to gauge whether a particular game mechanic is working well or not.

It’s also very easy to get caught up in the technical aspects of the game development and not give any consideration to some other important aspects. For example: I only really thought about monetisation and marketing a few days before the game was launched. Big mistake. This should have been taken into consideration at the very beginning and worked into the gameplay.

That being said, all the information for anyone to make a solid game, including advice on marketing and monetisation (Indie Game Girl can certainly help you out with that) is out there and at the moment there is nothing to stop you from doing it yourself.

So, what’s next for Stressed Ape? Well, if Aces Vs Aliens gets enough interest, I plan to upgrade and expand the current version as well as producing a sequel, so maybe in the next year we will see Aces Vs Aliens: Ground Assault, where the player can take on the role of helicopters, tanks and troops to battle anywhere: land, sea, air, or space!

In the meantime I’m working on my next title, which is a kind of retro-style Operation Wolf 3D FPS set in the wild west with a really nifty new game mechanic. You have the choice of a few characters including a lawman, cowgirl and alien. The storyline revolves around a crashed alien ship, which accidentally unleashes auto-repair nano-technology on the local populace resulting in some unexpected upgrades to both the living and the dead. Think Alien-robot-zombie-cowboys from beyond the stars!

You can download Aces Vs Aliens for free on iOS and Android. For more information about Stressed Ape check out their website or Facebook.





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