A flying game for the Scareathon arcade, after the flying scenes in Nausicaä: a girl on a white glider, a sky full of clouds, and a fleet of giant metal airships. Godot 4.7, built for the web.
There are two levels so far, and no goal or score yet:
After the two levels, the level button (or L) goes to the Diorama: a small test room for looking at the cel shading. The glider hangs in a steady wind over a turntable with a few plain shapes beside it and small clouds drifting past. Drag to turn the camera all the way round, over the top and underneath; wheel or pinch to zoom; the flying keys work the flaps; Z / X or the button walk the sun round the sky.
You can fly as the glider or as a witch on a broomstick; the flying is the same. The glider’s pilot is a girl who stands on it holding the handles: she stands bent over them in level flight, crouches in a hard climb, and hangs on with her legs trailing as soon as it drops away under her. Her hair is a mop of loose locks, and her skirt and scarf blow in the wind. She wears flight goggles and a gas mask.
The sky gives you things to steer by: white streaks that show the wind, dust that slides past, and lines that rush in from the edges of the screen (with the view opening out) when you are going fast or boosting. Fly through a cloud and its puffs are swept aside and swirl in your wake. Towers are topped by thunderheads, high cirrus streaks the sky, little tufts break off the clouds as you brush past, and the airships plough holes through them.
Both levels have a war going on in them: two fleets of airships, one lavender-grey and one rust-red, bristling with pipes, pods and glass bubble turrets, sailing side by side and firing on each other, with two-winged H-shaped fighters from each side tangling round them. Every ship has health, shown on the bar floating over it: enemy shells wear it down, it starts to smoke and then burn, and at nothing it blows up, rolls over and falls out of the sky, with a fresh ship coming down to take its place. Their war is with each other. Only the odd flak gun and one fighter a side will turn on you, and only if you come close. Shells burst near where you were heading, so flying straight gets you hit and turning does not, and a ship’s guns cannot see under its own hull. You have five hearts, which mend if you stay unhurt; lose them all and you start again.
Everything is cel shaded in the manner of Breath of the Wild: two flat tones with coloured shade and a thin bright rim, no outlines and no textures.
| Keys | Gamepad | Touch | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bank left / right | A / D or arrows | left stick | drag on the left of the screen |
| Pull up | S or Down | stick back | drag down |
| Dive | W or Up | stick forward | drag up |
| Jet boost | Space | A or right trigger | hold the right of the screen |
| Air brake | Shift | B or left trigger | |
| Restart | R | ||
| Next level | L | the button in the top corner | |
| Glider / witch | G | the button under it | |
| Weather: clear / fair / heavy | 1 / 2 / 3 |
It flies like a glider. Diving buys speed and pulling up spends it. Bank to turn. Left alone it settles into a gentle glide, sinking about 2 m/s, so to stay up you need lift: the air rises under every cumulus and cloud tower, and the jet pushes for as long as you hold it. Sink into the sea of clouds and the wind lifts you back out.
godot --headless --fixed-fps 60 --path . -s res://tests/flight_test.gd
godot --headless --fixed-fps 60 --path . -s res://tests/cloud_test.gd
godot --headless --fixed-fps 60 --path . -s res://tests/fleet_test.gd
godot --headless --fixed-fps 60 --path . -s res://tests/coast_test.gd
godot --headless --fixed-fps 60 --path . -s res://tests/diorama_test.gd
godot --headless --path . -s res://tests/hair_test.gd
godot --fixed-fps 60 --path . -s res://tests/shots.gd -- <folder for screenshots> [coast]