iPhone: Sky Rage

Anyone tried this game? I tried searching for it on the forums and didn't find anything about it. It just came out a day or so ago. Seems to be a 3D futuristic flier/racer. Couldn't find any videos on it, and I think when I checked the dev's site, there was nothing there (but that was a day or two ago, so I don't really remember).
It's going for $1 right now.

Sky Rage

I went to their web site www.dionysusinteractive.com and contacted them. They responded saying that they are planning on adding video to the website but are currently working on an update to Sky Rage. I guess they are increasing performance and possibly adding another camera view that places you inside the cockpit. They also hinted that they are working on a WIFI multiplayer mode but they didn’t say when that would be released. I think I will buy it.

I'd like to see some video. I definitely won't be buying it until I have a better idea what it's like.

Looks alright, but the quality doesn't look to good. I'm guessing it's using the Unity 3D engine. It just has that shabby look to it that you get when smaller devs use the unity3d engine.

Possibly, though that really has nothing to do with Unity since Unity doesn't come with assets. It would be the Dev's fault for putting in mediocre models and textures.

I tried this out last night after my coming out of my Skabooki haze. I like what the dev is trying to do in creating a free moving environment, but it needs some work. The game is accelerometer controlled so steering of the ship is all done by tilt and speed is controlled by a slider down the left side of the screen. The objective is destroy certain targets within a limited time period. The setting is in a metropolis of sorts and involves flying around buildings. I have a issues with the game one of which is the graphics which tend to have a jagged look and the delay in which they take render in. Another issue is the timer since I don’t enough time to locate targets. Speaking of locating targets, there needs to be radar so I can have a perspective of where I am in relation to those targets. Right now, I only have a set of arrow indicators along the border of the screen pointing me in the direction of targets, but that becomes an issue since buildings tend to pop up because of the rendering delay.

As I said, I like what the dev is trying to do, but it definitely needs tightening before it becomes playable. This game could do with a storyline to add more of a purpose.

Ok thanks - doesn't sound like something I'd be interested in, but maybe I'll keep an eye out for updates.

I am one of the developers that worked on Sky Rage. Thanks for all the feedback, anything helps!
Your issues with the "jagged look" and the "delay in which they take render" stem from the limited processing power of the iPhone. To fix the jagged look we would have had to implement a ton of anti-aliasing on the edges of the buildings in order to make them appear to be smooth. Unfortunately, our test phones were running at about 20 - 28 fps without anti-aliasing, with anti-aliasing the they were running at about 12 - 14 fps which is terrible. We really had no choice but to leave it out. The delay in rendering is actually not a delay, but a distance culling technique. The iPhone 3G is only really capable of rendering about 10,000 tri's and vert's per frame. Our level is so huge that if you could view the level from one side to the other, the iPhone would need to render over 40,000, and that is after a ton of optimization! So, in order to fix that problem we only allow the player to see a certain distance in front of the craft to keep the app from literally crashing.

Thanks for the feedback on the radar. Originally we had implemented the standard circular radar, but our test groups said it took up too much of the ui so we dumped it in favor of the screen edge radar. We are working on a ton of updates, and one important update is a cockpit view. It is possible that we can put a circular radar in the cockpit view and not get in the way of the players view.

Your comment on the time is definitely becoming a common complaint. To address this problem, included in the first update will be a hefty starting time increase. We hope to get the first update out asap, which will also include a ton of performance enhancements.

Don't give up on the game, because we have a bunch of new features in dev and have no plans to abandon the app. One notable feature in dev is live mutiplayer, which will allow you to fight against up to four other players live in your choice of five different craft.

If you have any direct questions or comments, please post them here or at http://www.dionysusinteractive.com/ContactUs.aspx.

As usual, Big Albie's take is spot on. Dionysus, you have created an fascinating environment (which encorages exploration) and then set up a meager timer to spoil the fun. Increasing the time limit may help, but a game like this pretty much demand a mission structure, with better defined (and varied) objectives. Just trying to beat the clock every time gets old. As Big Albie said, though, there's ton of potential here and I for one am planning to stick around to find out where it goes.

Dionysus was very gracious and gave me a code to try out the game.

So I tried it out tonight. I think it has some promise, but there are a number of issues that need to be fixed.

1) As others have said, the timer needs to go (or be greatly lengthened).

2) The "radar" blips aren't all that helpful - I still had a lot of trouble finding the targets - I think part of that is because of all the buildings, and part of it is the controls.

3) The responsiveness of the ship really needs work - I felt like I could mostly just go at a level angle +/- like 20 degrees. When I tried to really climb or dive, I had to pretty much rotate the phone like a full 90 degrees. Doing moves like loops was out of the question. Flight also just felt kinda jittery - didn't really feel very smooth

4) The UI needs improvements. The menu buttons didn't feel very responsive, and in game, I was only able to tap one control at a time - I couldn't hold me finger on the throttle and fire at the same time.

5) There should be a graphic element to the shots fired - all I saw was explosions when the shot hit something. I want to see the trajectory of the shot.

6) The game needs more audio. There's only the sound of the shots - no engine sounds, no ambient sounds, no music.

One more small thing - when I crashed, the high score entry screen popped up half way through the explosion - this was a bit odd/disconcerting. Explosions are cool - don't ruin them by interrupting and freezing the game!

It's a decent start for the game. Fix these issues, add some multiplayer, and you may have something pretty good.