| Flotilla | |
|---|---|
 Flotilla cover art | |
| Developer(s) | Blendo Games |
| Publisher(s) | Blendo Games |
| Designer(s) | Brendon Chung |
| Engine | XNA |
| Platform(s) | |
| Release | Xbox 360Microsoft Windows |
| Genre(s) | Turn-based strategy |
| Mode(s) | Single-player,multiplayer (co-operative) |
Flotilla is a 2010turn-based strategyspace combat video game developed and published byBlendo Games. It was released in March 2010 onSteam forWindows and onXbox Live Indie Games for theXbox 360.Flotilla was designed with Microsoft'sXNA tools, and its development was influenced by animal characteristics and behavior as well as board games such asAxis and Allies andArkham Horror. The game takes the player on an adventure through a randomly generated galaxy.
Chung began developingFlotilla immediately after the closure ofPandemic Studios, where he had worked as a designer. The new game used assets imported from Chung's early space combat prototype,Space Piñata.Flotilla incorporates several pieces of classical music in its score, such asChopin's"Raindrop" prelude. It received mixed reviews fromvideo game media outlets, scoring 72 out of 100 on review aggregate websiteMetacritic, and was included in Mike Rose's book250 Indie Games You Must Play.
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Flotilla is a three-dimensional simultaneousturn-based strategy space combat video game set in a randomly generated galaxy.[3] The player andcomputer-controlled opponents issue orders to their ships, which are carried out in a simultaneous and real-time fashion over a period of 30 seconds. The game then freezes, and the player and opponents issue new orders to their ships, which are again performed for 30 seconds. This process repeats until one party is defeated.[4] Orders are separated into three groups: attack move, flank move and focus fire. An attack move orders the ships to move and fire simultaneously; a flank move increases the ship's speed but deactivates weapons until the ship stops moving; and focus fire increases fire rate but significantly reduces the ship's speed.[4]
At the beginning, the player is usually given two ships to control, but more become available as the game continues. Ships may be rotated arbitrarily in any direction.[5]: 2 Thesingle-player mode is an "adventure" that can be played an indefinite number of times. These adventures have a duration of around 30 minutes.[6] The character dies at the end of each adventure and the player is given the option to play again.[5]: 2 A hardcore mode, which removes the solo mode's standard 30-minute time limit, was added later.[5][6] Each time the player starts a new adventure, a new galaxy is randomly generated and filled with planets and enemy ships.[5] The player may take a short tutorial before beginning the adventure.[4]
Each planet offers a possible quest or challenge to the player. Challenges are tactical battles in which the player must fight against a variety of enemies.[3] However, ships can be harmed only from behind or below; attacks from any other position will be countered by the ships' shields.[7] Upon succeeding, a new chapter is added to the player's character's story, and the player is rewarded with ship upgrades.[4] These upgrades are used to customize ships with improvements, such as increased firing speed or heavier rear armor. The upgrades available to the player upon finishing each encounter with an enemy can vary, so the player may not receive the same upgrade by playing the same encounter in two different adventures.Flotilla hascooperative andsplit-screen multiplayer modes that can be played with an additionalXbox 360 controller.[3]
Flotilla was developed by Brendon Chung's video game studio,Blendo Games. Chung, who worked as alevel designer forPandemic Studios, previously contributed to the development ofFull Spectrum Warrior (2004) andLord of the Rings: Conquest (2009).[8] Chung started codingFlotilla in 2009 afterElectronic Arts closed Pandemic Studios. He was excited at the time of the studio's closure, and said that "there was adrenaline pumping through my veins".[5] The game was developed usingMicrosoft XNA, a set of game development tools created byMicrosoft.[9]
The concept ofFlotilla came from a combination of "sci-fi likeStar Wars and submarine movies".[6] Chung explained that he "figured there was enough games about little fighter jets", and that what he had in mind was "a jumbo battleship floating in space".[6] Animals, instead of aliens, are featured as characters. Chung explained that he did so because "any fantastical creature design I came up with would pale in comparison to already-existing designs made by other people." Therefore, instead of trying to solve the problem of creating compelling alien characters, he switched to animals: "[they] have certain built-in characteristics, they were fairly unique in how they weren't typically associated with space adventures."[10] In an interview withSquareGo, Chung said that board games such asAxis and Allies andArkham Horror had an influential role in the development.[6]
BeforeFlotilla, Chung worked on a prototype, atwo-dimensional turn-based space action game calledSpace Piñata, whose gameplay and structure were similar to those of the final version ofFlotilla.[5] Chung intentionally limited the solo mode's play time as an "experiment in making a short-story generator", such that an adventure could begin and end within a half hour.[6] Following a negative response, a patch was deployed to change this limitation. The patch included a new "hardcore" mode.[6]Flotilla's score incorporates several pieces of classical music, such asChopin's"Raindrop" prelude. According toEdge magazine, the "Raindrop" prelude gives the battles "an emotional undercurrent".[5] Chung said the soundtrack was designed to create "a tragic feel" and that he wanted to create an "anti-testosterone-fueled" action game.[5]
On February 27, 2020,Flotilla's 10th release anniversary, Blendo Games released thesource code to the public asopen source software.[11][12] The source code isZlib licensed onGitHub; assets are not included and need to be bought.[13]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 72/100[14] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Edge | 7/10[15] |
| GameZone | 7.0/10[16] |
| PC Gamer (UK) | 78/100[17] |
| PC Gamer (US) | 81/100[18] |
| PC Zone | 71/100[19] |
Flotilla received a mixed response fromvideo game journalists upon release. AtMetacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, it received an average score of 72 based on 7 reviews.[14] British magazineEdge includedFlotilla in its 2010 list of the Best 20 Indie Games available in the Xbox Live Marketplace, and acknowledged that it was "as exacting as it is quirky, a stiff challenge beneath a sugar coating."[20] Mike Rose includedFlotilla in his book250 Indie Games You Must Play.[21]
The American edition ofPC Gamer wrote thatFlotilla "is a charmingly crafted bite-size portion of tactical fun".[18] The BritishPC Gamer wrote that although it had its share of "charm and character," it was nonetheless a random experience.[17]PC Zone UK characterizedFlotilla as stylish and funny, but concluded that it was a "sadly disposable" experience.[19]Edge gave a mixed review, but praised the battles, which they considered "engaging despite their simplicity."[15] An editor from the websiteCharge Shot praised theartificial intelligence and overall design, but criticized the multiplayer mode.[7]
Joe Martin from Bit-Tech namedFlotilla a "hilarious and brazenly original" game. However, he criticized the interface and navigation gameplay, which he condemned as "trying to pilot a radio-controlled helicopter with someone else's feet." He also criticized the lack of a speed-up feature in battles, which he felt was necessary.[22]GameZone's Tom Dann also felt frustrated by the ship maneuvering mechanics, though he concluded that they "can also be rewarding and entertaining".[16]Flotilla was nominated for the 2011Independent Games Festival Visions Award,[23] but lost toAmnesia: The Dark Descent.[24] It was also listed among the Honorable Mentions for the Excellence in Visual Art and Excellence in Design awards.[24]
Flotilla 2 was released on August 17, 2018. It is designed forvirtual reality hardware and initially exclusive to theHTC Vive headset; the virtual reality aspect allows players to move around the space environment to plan out their tactics.[25]
12 April 2013 josephshoer
