Status update
Except of releasing 3 video trailers and some Q/A on the Steam discussions, I did not provide any background information of Cobra Strike.
To be honest very little at all in the last time. So…
What is Cobra Strike really about?
Actually I wanted to make Cobra Strike a more like Soviet Strike inspired game back in the day, but it turned out, it's both now: Desert and Soviet Strike. I hope the best of both. I added the older retro-aspects later actually, but when it comes to the QoL-features, it's more of a modern approach of a helicopter simulation game, but also with the things that are so beloved from past days. Art direction only changed slightly since then (see screenshot), but evolved greatly since then.
First public in-game screenshot of Cobra Strike
Why the Cobra?
Well, because everybody is doing the famous and popular Apache, right?
But that's not the only and not the most important reason (while the Apache is playable too). The Cobra was the first attack helicopter of its art back then and we can see, that "old" tech is more and more revived on current battlefields. Despite the Cobra has been updated regularly since then to the Zulu Cobra as of today of course.
Further inventions of war machinery are displayed and engaged also in Cobra Strike (see trailers), while this was never my intention in the first place. I call it "coping with the current Zeitgeist with some documentary of current events in it". Compare SCUD vs. S-400 for example. That happened to Desert Strike also by the way.
Anyway Cobra Strike will go much deeper, when it comes to strategy and tactics. It is built as an arcade shooter though, but flying around like a saucer, dodging rockets and stuff will not work most of the time. Simulation is big here:
Your gunship has inertia and follows the laws of actual aerial physics in some gameplay suitable way.
So pilot with skill and caution, mind your attack and retreat vectors, keep an eye on your resources and capture intel-carriers wherever you can. Recon is key to own the battlefield!
You might be a hunter, but you are on dangerous enemy territory, where hostile forces outnumber and try to corner you on any occasion, making you the hunted: radar sites track you, boosting enemy capabilities and sending reinforcements to chase you across the map or to fortify important sites and objectives. You might want to disrupt comms as well as logistics and gain air superiority first, before those fast movers taking off that air fields. Your precious short-range-anti-air-missiles are few in number. Once in the air and without the timed deployment of countermeasures, you are an easy prey for jets.
Better be quick, better smart!
These are my intentions of the game, where it's coming from, where it's going to and as an intro to announce more updates on a regular basis.
Third person view test
What else happened with Cobra Strike in the last months?
Much. Pretty much! Here is the latest state of play:
- Refactored every core system regarding performance, compatibility and modular capabilities
- Reworked aiming/targeting systems (+special ability) including IFF recognition and threat priority system
- User interface, HUD and map (next up)
- Air and ground states handling (tougher then I thought!)
- Altitude Management
- Rotor physics (toned down the simulation effort a bit)
- General collision handling (vehicles and projectiles)
- Input Controlling (gamepads)
- Original soundtrack (ready to go!)
- Crashing (ground/water, out of fuel)
- Physical destruction of static objects
- Visual Effects (optimization)
- Winch and ladder (state handling)
- Landing Zones (state handling, refueling, reloading)
- Ground enemy AI overhaul (patrol, seek, chase)
- Handling features from the community (door gunner recently)
- Advanced diagnosis of core systems
- Preparing playtest
- Testing, lots of testing and more testing
- Not talking about it much, which I break now and much more
More on every single point of that soon.
Wrap up
Thanks for following me this long. Continue to do so!
Next up: User interface
This will activate your nostalgic gizmos again!
-soma