Classic Coin-Op Seawolf inspired iPad Game

[70sgamefan]

Night Raider is a new iPad game which is currently available on the App Store.

 

Night Raider is a retro submarine game, influenced by the old Seawolf coin-op arcade game (the original 1976 game, not the ticket redemption remake). I have fond memories of playing that game as a child back in the late 70s. Seawolf as you all should know, was a relatively simple game. Night Raider has embellished the concept somewhat to make it a bit more attractive and interesting to play. Yet retaining some of the charming traits of the old 70's game.

 

This is a very retro, coin-op style game, so I thought some of the users of this forum might be interested in hearing about it.

 

www.celtroniclabs.com/NRgame.html

 

[simbalion]

That's neat! I actually have a Sea Wolf cab and it's a blast when I am in the mood to play it. Actually never meant to buy it, but was hooked when I tried it out.

[70sgamefan]

I haven't seen a Seawolf cabinet, in person, in over 30 years now.. That's neat that you have one!

 

One of the reasons I chose to make a game like Seawolf is that I do not like the aiming controls when playing the original game in MAME. You hit the arrow keys to move the cross hair left and right and it zips back and forth across the screen, making precision aiming difficult. The game, was of course, not designed to be controlled by a keyboard.

 

Night Raider uses the touch screen to both aim and fire a torpedo simultaneously, from a single touch on the screen. Aiming is much more precise, and the cross hair is eliminated as it is no longer needed. A cross hair sliding left to right would have looked wrong within the fixed scope view anyway.

[simbalion]

Well, here is my Sea Wolf cab. I think I did well buying it for $450 last year. Another one popped up for sale north of me this past spring. Only thing about mine is it can be a bit fussy starting up and the control connector on the board has to be wiggled once in a while. The game prefers to be played daily and fusses like crazy when it sits longer than a week.

[70sgamefan]

Simbalion, nice score getting a hold of that Seawolf cabinet! That is the old game I based Night Raider on.

 

Speaking of Night Raider, I released an update to the game today. It is now called Night Raider HD, to distinguish it from the upcoming iPhone version I am working on.

 

I should have a video of the game play online in the near future..

 

Some details of what has been changed in the update:

 

- Ship spawning code has been extensively modified. Ships spawn in pairs with a maximum of 6 on screen simultaneously versus only 3 on screen in the previous version. The sea lanes have higher traffic now, with more targets to fire at!

 

- The Warships appear sooner and the game pace is now faster.

 

- PT Boats spawn more frequently, especially during Extended Time.

 

- When a torpedo hits a ship, the ship changes to a cycling orange-yellow "flame" color, as a stylized representation of being on fire.

 

- A 9th Target has been added, the "Night Ghost". Hit him for a mystery score that varies with each successful hit.

 

- Mine spawning changes are no longer linked to player's score, they are now based on their own timer.

 

- Mine spawn patterns have been altered to be less of an interference to player's torpedo shots.

 

- A new game can now be started 5 seconds after the previous game ends, instead of the long wait for the music to stop playing.

 

- Options Menu now includes separate settings for turning Demo Music and Game Music on and off independently of each other.

 

- Initial Game Time has been reduced from 250 to 200 seconds.

 

- New App Icon

 

- Other minor changes and fixes.

[70sgamefan]

An even newer Night Raider HD version 1.1.1 has just been released on the App Stores today!

 

This latest release includes the following additions and changes:

 

- Progressive speed throttling added to game play. The speed of ships and torpedoes gradually increase as game time passes.

 

- New "Maniac Mode" game setting in Options Menu. The optional Maniac Mode speeds the game up to an insane pace! For those that thought the old game speed was a bit sluggish, try Maniac Mode! It will make your head spin!

 

- PT Boats only emit a single alarm sound when spawning instead of two. With the increased spawning of PT Boats, the dual alarm seemed to get kind of annoying.

 

- Corrected the misspelling of the word "torpedoes" (it was torpedos) in scope view and on instructions screen.

 

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/night-raider-hd/id430964052?mt=8

[70sgamefan]

Here are a couple crudely shot videos using an iPhone camera to demonstrate game play. I've had more than a few people ask why I don't have a video of the game available. Not having a good dedicated video camera, or a newer Mac that is fast enough to capture video from the iPad Simulator, makes it difficult to get a good quality video. Therefore, I had held off making one for that reason.

 

The game, when viewed in person on your iPad, looks as good as it does on the flyer image posted at the beginning of this thread. Totally smooth 60fps movement too, unlike what you see in the video.

 

Anyway, here they are:

 

Night Raider HD - Normal Mode Game Play

 

Night Raider HD - Maniac Mode Game Play

 

Merry Christmas to all you arcade fans out there!

[+save2600]

This game looks sweet! And yeah, Simballion... my Sea Wolf is really fussy too. Currently busted right now, but when it did work, needed to be played often. Seemed like if I ever moved it from one part of the basement to the other, something would go wrong.

 

If anyone near southern, WI would like it, I'd be willing to part with it for what I have into it... $250. Cab is in great shape and there are LOTS of new parts throughout. Spare monitor and boards for it too...

[simbalion]

My Seawolf was serviced when I got it, but they hadn't sold it because of the fussiness. I wanted to see it play, then got hooked on it. Something with the edge connectors on the boards Midway used at the time. Mine even shows signs of solder being carefully used to build them back up. Seawolf is a game that if you have an original, find the spot you want to put it and keep it there! Then, make sure you play it weekly at least.

[ledzep]

Wow, great! Love to see old-school games on the new gear.

 

If I may annoy you with some suggestions (alternate game modes, no need to change the ones you have) -

 

1) Sometimes, like in that video example, it seems that as soon as a ship is hit and "burning" that it's no longer considered "there", meaning that if you shoot two torpedoes in the same general area the second torpedo will continue on up the screen instead of also hitting the just-hit ship in front of it. I would say that, until the ship actually sinks, it can soak up more torpedoes.

 

2) The torpedoes don't seem to slow as they go up the screen (farther away). You could have a harder version that accounts for distance and makes the torpedo shrink and slow down as it gets further away.

 

Regardless of my thoughts on gameplay, thanks for making such a cool game! I hope this starts a trend. Any timeframe for an Android version?

[ComputerSpaceFan]

Oh man that Night Raider looks awesome! I wish I had an iPad now. (hurriedly looks to see if it will play on iPod Touch ... nope! darndit!)

[ComputerSpaceFan]

By the way, another Seawolf is out for iOS although not as pretty as the iPad game above. Still, at least this one will run on my 2nd gen iPod Touch.

[Parrothead]

Our review:

 

http://www.gamegavel.com/reviews/2012/02/10/review-night-raider-hd-ios/

[raskar42]

very nice

[70sgamefan]

I apologize for taking a while to respond to some of your posts on here, this is the first time I've been on the Atariage forum for almost a month.

 

Ledzep - I appreciate your suggestions. Here is my response regarding them:

 

1) Night Raider currently uses a rather simplistic and speedy method of collision detection between the ships and the torpedoes. It is in no way pixel perfect. The way I currently have the ships dropping bow down or stern down into the water creates a problem in detecting hits. The collision detection code would need to be rewritten using a different method. The existing collision detection methods that i have used will not work properly for subsequent hits on the ships as they are going under the water.

 

The other reason I have the current system with no more hits after a ship recieves its death blow is so that it's possible to hit overlapping ships with a volley of two to four shots. Your suggested method would make a shield out of ships on the lower rows protecting ships on the upper rows from getting hit when firing three or four torpedoes rapidly one after another.

 

2). In regards to having the torpedo slow down the closer it gets to the horizon, that is certainly a possibility. The speed of the faster ships on the top row, such as the PT boat, will need to be slowed down in that case or you'll never be able to hit them.

 

Unfortunately, there probably will never be an Android version of Night Raider. The reason for this is due to mediocre interest in the existing iPad version of the game coupled with the fact that I do not own any Android devices nor am I in the Android developer program.

 

On the other hand, there will be an iPhone version of Night Raider available on the App Store very shortly. At the time I developed Night Raider, I did not own an iPhone or iPod touch so that is why the game was initially intended only to be an iPad game.

 

You said, "I hope this starts a trend." I was hoping there would be more interest in classic, old-school style games on the iOS platform. From my experience thus far and from a few other developers, it seems as though the number of iOS device owners that are really interested in these old-school style games make up a small percentage of the user base. One exception was a game called "Box Cat" which used a very pixelated style of graphics with 8-bit chip tune music.

 

I currently have two unfinished projects on the back burner that are are also old-school retro in nature. One is a re-imagining of the old discrete Death Race game, by Exidy. The other is a classic vector style game engine that will draw all game objects using lines in a similar manner as the old vector monitor systems utilized by Cinematronics, Atari & Sega did back in the day.

 

Again though, my concern is that these kind of graphics might be too bland and boring for most mobile gamers of 2012. I am 43 years old so these are the kind of games that I remember as a kid and really get my blood flowing, so to speak. I kind of wish that I had been able to be a part of the creation of some of them back in the day, but of course I was too young at the time and assembly language programming was much too daunting for me.

 

Take for example the recently released iPhone version of the Coastal Amusements Seawolf ticket redemption game. From the App Store rankings and grossing statistics that I have seen, the sales of that game, thus far, have been very mediocre even though it carries the official Seawolf title and logo and has more modern looking graphics and effects than either my game or the original.

 

Ironically, there was an Asian made, almost direct clone of the ticket redemption game released on the App Store over two years ago. I believe it did better sales wise in its first month than the official coastal amusements game has done.

 

ComputerSpaceFan - in the next week or so, an iPhone version of Night Raider will be available on the App Store. The bad news, at least for you, is that it will only run on the 3rd and 4th generation iPhone and iPod touch. For a number of technical reasons, including the fact that the game was originally developed for the iPad, using high-resolution graphic assets, it is primarily targeted for the retina display 960 x 640 screens. On third generation devices it will run in 480 x 320 mode. Second-generation devices will not support the game's sprite sheet, it is simply too big for them to handle. Unlike the coastal amusements iPhone game, Night Raider, on the iPhone, will actually utilize the full 960 x 640 retina display. The coastal amusements game appears to only be using 480 x 320 resolution graphic assets for the game sprites. I see a lot of fuzzy and pixelated edges on the sprites that should not be there if they indeed were using higher resolution assets.

 

If you're more into the ticket redemption style game and graphics go for the coastal amusements app, if you prefer the look and feel of the original 76 game you'd probably like Night Raider better. Or get both for old and new together.

 

Parrothead -Thanks for actually writing and posting that review on your website. I believe yours is the first website review that has ever been written for Night Raider by anyone. It is nice to see that it was a good review at that!

 

I think only 1% of the people that have ever purchased Night Raider have posted a review for it on the App Store.

 

Thanks for your comments guys, let me know what you all think, in general, of old-school games on iOS and other mobile devices. Would you guys like to see more of them, or do you prefer to just play them on the old, original coin-op hardware and consoles?

[mckafka99]

Just posted a brief 5-star rating in app store. Love this app! Very cool atmosphere!

[ledzep]

I apologize for taking a while to respond to some of your posts on here, this is the first time I've been on the Atariage forum for almost a month.

 

Ledzep - I appreciate your suggestions. Here is my response regarding them:

 

1) Night Raider currently uses a rather simplistic and speedy method of collision detection between the ships and the torpedoes. It is in no way pixel perfect. The way I currently have the ships dropping bow down or stern down into the water creates a problem in detecting hits. The collision detection code would need to be rewritten using a different method. The existing collision detection methods that i have used will not work properly for subsequent hits on the ships as they are going under the water.

 

The other reason I have the current system with no more hits after a ship recieves its death blow is so that it's possible to hit overlapping ships with a volley of two to four shots. Your suggested method would make a shield out of ships on the lower rows protecting ships on the upper rows from getting hit when firing three or four torpedoes rapidly one after another.

 

Oh, that's what I was getting at, making a harder version, haahaa. I like games that make it hard to win. I understand, though, having to deal with new, more complex code.

 

2). In regards to having the torpedo slow down the closer it gets to the horizon, that is certainly a possibility. The speed of the faster ships on the top row, such as the PT boat, will need to be slowed down in that case or you'll never be able to hit them.

 

Unfortunately, there probably will never be an Android version of Night Raider. The reason for this is due to mediocre interest in the existing iPad version of the game coupled with the fact that I do not own any Android devices nor am I in the Android developer program.

 

On the other hand, there will be an iPhone version of Night Raider available on the App Store very shortly. At the time I developed Night Raider, I did not own an iPhone or iPod touch so that is why the game was initially intended only to be an iPad game.

 

Aw man! All I've got at the moment is an Android phone, hence my suggestion. Still, I appreciate and applaud your efforts.

 

You said, "I hope this starts a trend." I was hoping there would be more interest in classic, old-school style games on the iOS platform. From my experience thus far and from a few other developers, it seems as though the number of iOS device owners that are really interested in these old-school style games make up a small percentage of the user base. One exception was a game called "Box Cat" which used a very pixelated style of graphics with 8-bit chip tune music.

 

I currently have two unfinished projects on the back burner that are are also old-school retro in nature. One is a re-imagining of the old discrete Death Race game, by Exidy. The other is a classic vector style game engine that will draw all game objects using lines in a similar manner as the old vector monitor systems utilized by Cinematronics, Atari & Sega did back in the day.

 

Again though, my concern is that these kind of graphics might be too bland and boring for most mobile gamers of 2012. I am 43 years old so these are the kind of games that I remember as a kid and really get my blood flowing, so to speak. I kind of wish that I had been able to be a part of the creation of some of them back in the day, but of course I was too young at the time and assembly language programming was much too daunting for me.

 

Take for example the recently released iPhone version of the Coastal Amusements Seawolf ticket redemption game. From the App Store rankings and grossing statistics that I have seen, the sales of that game, thus far, have been very mediocre even though it carries the official Seawolf title and logo and has more modern looking graphics and effects than either my game or the original.

 

Ironically, there was an Asian made, almost direct clone of the ticket redemption game released on the App Store over two years ago. I believe it did better sales wise in its first month than the official coastal amusements game has done.

 

Well, I'd give it a little time yet. Or opportunity, I'm not sure which. That iCade idea is popular, isn't it? Old-school arcade games on the iPad could still take off given the right set of circumstances. If I had an iPad I'd buy this, a retro vector graphics game that seems to play basically like Asteroids or Space Duel.

[ComputerSpaceFan]

If I had an iPad I'd buy this, a retro vector graphics game that seems to play basically like Asteroids or Space Duel.

 

Don't let the lack of an iCade keep you from getting Retrovex, I have it running on my iPod Touch and it is an awesome game. I hope they make more Vectrex-like titles.

[70sgamefan]

A new iPhone version of Night Raider is now available on the App Stores. No changes to the game play this time other than just making it playable on the iPhone.

 

Anyone who was interested in the game but only owned an iPhone or iPod touch, will now be able to download it and play it.

 

The game will only run on 3rd and 4th generation iPhones and iPod touches. It also requires that you have a minimum of iOS 4.3 installed on your device.