Overview
“Ace Ferrara And The Dino Menace” is a mobile space combat game in the tradition of “Wing Commander”/”X-Wing”, set in an 80s cartoon universe featuring nefarious dinosaurs, cybernetically augmented cats and unpaid interns…
I spent two years (around 3500 hours in total), creating the entire game by myself, from graphics to code, game design, music, sound effects and writing.
Features
- Controls are optimized for touchscreens: In order to avoid cumbersome virtual 3D joypads, steering is restricted to left/right, but barrel rolling and other maneuvers add plenty of tactical depth.
- 23 missions (around 3-4 hours of content), with five different playable ships, from light scouts to heavy bombers. Strike huge capital ships, patrol the depths of unknown solar systems, navigate mine fields and take out enemy aces in frantic dogfights!
- A lighthearted story full of tropes from 80s cartoons… Ace Ferrara is a military cadet who just scored the most prestigious internship in the galaxy: aboard the Proton Riders’ flagship Discordia. However, between escorting coffee freighters and manning the fax machine, Ace soon discovers that being an intern among his heroes isn’t quite what he dreamed it would be.
Gameplay video showing one of the game’s early missions.
Reception
“Ace Ferrara And The Dino Menace” was well-received by a number of major iOS blogs:
- “A Heinously Good Time”, TouchArcade, 4 of 5 stars
- “Both the plot and actual features of the game truly reveal the amount of heart and soul that was poured into it.”, AppAdvice, 5 of 5 stars and Game of the Week
- “It’s the most fun an intern can have in space.”, 148Apps, 4 of 5 stars
It was also covered by major Austrian newspapers (Der Standard, Kleine Zeitung, Kronen Zeitung and others), won a Content Award and was named best mobile game of the year by Radio FM4.
The intro cut scene, introducing the main villains.
Links
- iOS App Store and Google Play Store
- Official website with more info and press kit.
- The game’s developer diary, where I frequently posted about the game’s progress as well as details about the development process.