About
Aggressor is a stylized cold-war themed air combat shooter. Building on my experiments with flight physics in previous projects, I managed to get a prototype ready early on. The flight mechanics were modified to be a mix between simulation and arcade, a concept known as "Simcade". The project is being developed with Unity 2019.4f1 LTS.
Gameplay
In Aggressor, there are a number of gamemodes to choose from. Some of these will grant you in-game points, others are just for fun. One example is the instant-dogfight gamemode. In this mode, players can configure their own fights comprised of multiple squadrons. As of April 19th 2021, Aggressor features 27 unique player-flyable aircraft. Early access release will likely see this number rise to 34. With the final game including over 50. All of this is excluding the various AI-only aircraft and bosses. Thanks to Rewired API the game picks up just about every type of controller in existence. Theres wide support for conventional joysticks, HOTAS, throttle quadrants, gamepad controllers and much more. You can play this game with a steering wheel.
Visuals
The 3D models are made by me with Blender, and have been textured with Photoshop. All of the environment assets, along with all the special VFX like explosions and fire are my work. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to go very far graphics-wise, I chose a so called "low poly" art style. I think it adds an element of uniqueness. It's an often used technique by indie developers, but rarely has it been combined with aviation. The project uses the Unity URP (Universal Render Pipeline). This pipeline is good specifically for low-end PC hardware, which is perfect for the needs of this project. One confusing thing about the URP is that it is apparently not really optimized for mobile applications. But this is not a problem for Aggressor, which will be for PC and consoles only. The pictures you see are all in-game screenshots made in a test environment.
Future vision
The idea for Aggressor is to span the entire cold-war timeframe, and all significant aircraft that were developed during that period. Modern aircraft will eventually make their way into the game too, along with some interesting fictional/concept planes. Advanced weapons and tech-trees housing new technology will be implemented. These weapons would be unlocked by experience and can then be purchased for one-time use with cash. In the instant dogfight gamemode, the mode that won't give you a cash reward, all of the unlocked weapons would be available with no need for purchases.
Availability
A functional demo dating back to february 2021 has been published on the website itch.io. Additionally the full version of the game is available on Steam in early access. A plan is in place to bring Aggressor to consoles the moment the game is in a more polished state.
