This game is currently in open beta.
In Ionic Surge, race through the cosmos on an endless procedurally generated track. There are two ways to lose, by crashing spectacularly into one of the deadly obstacles, or by running out of time. Beat the clock and rack up as many points as you can!
Piloting the hovercrafts in Ionic Surge is an exciting and unique experience. Thrusters located on all sides allow them to quickly move in any direction. Boosting adds another aspect by allowing pilots to overcharge any thrusters at the cost of energy. This is essential for dodging obstacles and drifting through turns.
Ionic Surge has been designed from the ground up with the goal of providing a fresh experience every time you play it. The track is completely randomized and spawns endlessly. Each track piece alone has hundreds of thousands possible obstacle layouts. Even certain aesthetic aspects such as the color of obstacles/lasers are randomized.
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In order to boost and to power its shields, the hovercraft relies on a rechargeable resource called energy. Because boosting and shields draw from the same pool, energy management is extremely important.
From a design perspective the idea is to create a risk vs reward scenario. Boosting leaves less energy for shields which makes you more vulnerable to crashing. However, if you don’t boost enough you will run out of time.
I cannot overemphasize the importance of boosting! Without it, piloting the hovercraft is not nearly as exciting and is far less responsive. You cannot effectively play the game without it.
You probably have an idea of what boosting is as it is a very common feature in racing games. Usually it allows the player to accelerate and move forward more quickly than usual. This is still the case in Ionic Surge, however it doesn’t stop there.
If you have read the previous devlog you should have a good understanding of how the movement mechanics work. Basically, the hovercraft can strafe left and right without turning. Why does this matter? Because you can boost in any direction not just forward. It takes some getting used to, but this ability makes the hovercraft extremely agile. Good pilots can weave around obstacles and drift through turns without losing speed.
The hovercraft is equipped with energy shields which absorb damage. Without them, collisions at high speeds would almost always end explosively!
Simply put, shields keep you alive. If there is not enough energy to absorb all of the damage from a collision or trap the hull of the hovercraft takes the remaining damage.
Hello everyone, I have been working hard on the open beta and it is coming along nicely! I wanted to take a little time to put this post together for...
A post discussing the current state of development of Ionic Surge. Open beta coming soon!
remind me on skyroads :) can't wait for see more!
Looks like it would be fun!
This looks promising. Simple but addictive gameplay and nice visual style.
There's something wrong with the video, though. Might be a problem at my end, but it won't start playing. The youtube video on the website plays just fine.