If our last Casual Connect game preview Delicious: Emily’s Weddingwas a little too feminine for you (shame!), then perhaps a space shooter will be more to your tastes. TegTap, a two man indie gaming studio is currently preparing to bring its most successful game Solar Warfare to Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. It’s built with the Unity game engine, which should hopefully make for an easy dual platform release.
We met with CEO and game designer Troy Tegeder to discuss Solar Warfare’s development process, gameplay, and his future plans for mobile Windows platforms. We also demoed the Windows PC version of the game using the new Leap Motion controller. The Windows 8 game will support Leap Motion as well.
Head past the break for our exclusive video showing just how precise Solar Warfare’s motion controls really are!
Space avenger
Solar Warfare is not a story intensive game, but it does begin with a cinematic that sets up the action. An alien armada has invaded a peaceful planet and wiped out the population. The player somehow survives the attack and must seek vengeance for the loss of his or her homeworld. It’s too late to give peace a chance!
360 degree freedom
In this sci-fi shooter, players pilot a starship across expansive 3D levels. Your ship can equip a variety of laser-type weapons as well as limited use homing missiles. You’ll purchase missiles, new weapons, and upgrades with coins collected throughout each level. Upgrades unlock permanently, whereas missiles and extra lives are consumable.
Instead of flying forward on invisible rails like the original Starfox, Solar Warfare gives gamers full 360 degree control of the ship. You can fly past enemies and attack them from behind, adjust your speed, and even come to a full stop in order to focus on a target. Each area culminates in a dramatic boss encounter, and then you’re on to the next level – or you can replay previous ones to earn more coins.
Far out control options
The Windows Phone version of Solar Warfare will use touch screen controls and possibly the MOGA Pro controller. On Windows 8, mouse and keyboard controls and Xbox 360 controller support are planned. But the really exciting control option is something we haven’t seen in a Windows 8 game before…
The Leap Motion controller is a motion control solution that initially resembles the Kinect. But this device actually sits on your desk facing up, following hand and arm movement above it. The Leap Motion allows for much greater precision than the original Kinect, as it can detect millimeter movements and individual finger position with ease.
Playing via twists of the hand and fingers looks like a fresh way to play, though surely more fatiguing than mouse, touch, or physical controller. The Leap Motion costs a relatively low $79.99 and you can get it at the Leap Motion Store.
The aliens’ days are numbered
The Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 versions of Solar Warfare are due out later this year. As long as the touch controls end up anywhere near as usable as the Leap Motion controls, the game should be a blast on phones and tablets. Solar Warfare will cost $4.99 on Windows 8 and $1.99 on Windows Phone 8.