Steel Shadows is a 2D multiplayer game of submarine warfare, with a heavy emphasis on stealth and tactics. It is inspired by movies such as The Hunt for Red October and Crimson Tide, and the design goal is to create similar tension and suspense through gameplay. The game is currently in early stages of development, and is intended for release on PC.
Original inspiration for the game design came from Sean Howard and his awesome site Three Hundred Game Mechanics. The core concept is that the player sees the game world through sonar, and aims to search for and destroy the other player(s) while avoiding detection herself. The final game will feature a number of additions to this core idea:
* Passive sonar: Listening to noise signatures to detect other subs
* Active sonar: Works as a constantly rotating sweeping arc of volumetric 2D light, creating distinctly shaped shadows when it hits other objects (hence the name of the game)
* Smart torpedoes: Homing based on active sonar simulation once the torpedo is activated.
* Delayed activation of torpedoes: Launched torpedo will follow a straight line until it is activated to acquire targets. This is intended to keep the torpedo silent (less likely to be detected) as it closes the distance to the target
* Countermeasures: Handy for when you have a torpedo homing in on you.
The initial goal is to complete all the features above and couple it with stable net code to allow 1 vs 1 matches. A number of possibilities exist for extra features after that (no promises on any of these):
* Increasing the player count (up to 4 vs 4)
* Adding multiple submarine types with various strengths and weaknesses
* Crew management
* Multiple game modes
* etc.
Existing art is just placeholders for now. The submarine sprite in the early screenshots is the work of bagera3005.
Would you like to contribute to this project? We are looking for a few key competencies:
* Audio engineering (especially important for passive sonar listening)
* Network engineering (currently using Photon for Unity)
* Art direction and production (aiming for a mix of Tom Clancy look and feel, with the aesthetics of DEFCON – open to suggestions, though)
If you feel you can help with any of these, send me a message here, preferably with links to previous work. Thanks!
Steel Shadows was developed by Toughcell Games
Steel Shadows was Released on Windows
Steel Shadows is a Multiplayer game
Steel Shadows