5 replies to this topic

[SickBoy]

What is AirBuccaneers HD? It's a game that is currently in alpha that is incredibly unique, and actually pretty damn fun.

About the game

Quote

AirBuccaneers HD is a Co-operative Vehicle-based Team Deathmatch game with fierce aerial battles between the Buccaneers and the Vikings in beautiful Scandinavian landscapes.

You play as Buccaneers or Vikings and fly around with hot air balloons armed with cannons. The combat demands seamless teamwork and co-operation. This isn’t your basic run-and-gun FPS game: The cannons need to be loaded, aimed and ignited, the airships are hard to steer and the winds are fickle. The goal of the game is to take down enemy airships or to dominate a marked point in the map instead of killing other players.

Trailer



If you like fights that are a bit more slow paced, with everyone doing different roles based on what the situation calls for, and a splash of realism (in terms of projectile calculations, how much it actually takes to down an air ship, etc), the game is fucking amazing. Played in some 10-20 player matches just now and it was a total blast!

You can play the game for free right now, you just have to make an account on their site. The game is a tad confusing at first, but it's very quick to learn.

Now, it is a TEAM based game, and as such you really do need a team working together. However, there are a few different kinds of airships, and one happens to be made for soloing.

The only downside was that there was only one game going on when I played, so this game definitely needs more people. It can be fun with just a few though, so it's definitely a game that can be done just with friends if desired. My game did fill up pretty quick once more people started playing though.


Links

• AirBucccaneers HD - http://www.ludocraft.../airbuccaneers/

[AngelSandy]

It made me think of this xD

[Overlord Cuntasaurus Rex]

It somewhat reminds me of one of my favorite games when I was little... Skies of Arcadia.

Heard of it? It's pretty good considering it's age.



on-topic:

It does sound like a neat little game, but when you say different roles etc. What do you mean exactly? As far as I saw from the trailer, it wasn't much more than shoot at the enemy ship, perhaps have someone steer around etc.

Feels like a the most with precise aim is declared the winner.

Edited by Grawr, 12 April 2012 - 10:52 AM.

[Overlord Cuntasaurus Rex]

Wasn't really judging it, just gave my first impression.

But yeah, definitely trying it out. Such a simple idea, but from your explanation, it seems pretty damn well thought out.

[SickBoy]

Grawr, on 12 April 2012 - 10:51 AM, said:

It does sound like a neat little game, but when you say different roles etc. What do you mean exactly? As far as I saw from the trailer, it wasn't much more than shoot at the enemy ship, perhaps have someone steer around etc.

Feels like a the most with precise aim is declared the winner.

Tsk tsk... jumping to conclusions a bit soon, aren't we?

Here is a bunch of random shit I can say about the game to give a small glimpse into how it plays... but you should play it yourself anyways, as it's free and there is no reason to NOT try it. It's still in early alpha, but totally playable. I had no lag or FPS issues whatsoever.


The fights are the same as any other ship battle with mounted guns would be (like a pirate ship or battleship... but in the air).. you have cannons on either side (well, if you use the biggest airship... there are several kinds, one being basically a very small solo or duo -crew ship), but they can only turn so far, so the whole ship has to turn sideways before you can hit the enemy... but you can't fly sideways very well (duh), so your captain will have to fly as if captaining any other kind of ship with stationary guns on the sides. To gain speed on the enemy you go straight at them, but when fighting you usually circle them so that one side is always facing them. To be a GOOD captain you need quite a bit of skill.... and a good team. Remember, the other team is shooting back... you need organization, skill, and strategy to win, otherwise you'll just get crushed constantly.

To shoot the cannons you have to load, light, and aim the cannons, but you CANNOT load or light while in aiming mode, so ideally you have someone there constantly putting in cannon balls and lighting (otherwise you're constantly flipping in an out of that mode... which is possible, but not ideal), so that you (or whoever) can focus on aiming, which is mortar style and therefore movement compensation, trajectory, position, speed, and general distance are all very important. With a good captain you can dodge a lot of attacks as the cannon balls fly somewhat slowly. Max speed of the ship is based on weight, so flying around with the cannons loaded is probably not smart.

If you don't load a cannon ball and instead just use gunpowder it works as a short-range flame thrower... great for when you pull up right next to an enemy and want to clear their deck real quick

Flight is based on "Bursts" that the captain gets to choose every X seconds (feels like every 10-20 seconds or so.. kinda hard to judge). Those bursts are the only way you can increase speed or vertical direction (unless you just want to float downwards... in which case you can just leave the helm). You can always steer, but you need momentum to keep moving, so you have to use bursts or you'll just sit there, spinning in circles. You have multiple burst options, but can only choose one each time... like an upward burst to go straight up, or a dive, or forward, or forward+up (which is less powerful than the individual ones, but does both at the same time), etc. Makes flying pretty fun and strategic.

If someone leaves the steering wheel, you start to float downwards and steering will stay however it was before (meaning you'll likely just spin around in circles some more). Which is, again, why having a decent team is best. The captain should always be flying and giving orders, and everyone else should be either attacking or repairing the ship.

Movement is slow in between bursts, so fights are very suspenseful on the build up, firing can only be done from the sides, the "airmine" weapons let people use musket-like weapons to shoot small air mines (held up by balloons) to try and block ship movement.

It can also be incredibly difficult to see, as there are clouds in some maps. That can be used for cover (although you won't be able to see either) or for stealth moves.



Each player spawns with:
- Sword
- Musket (very close range... no point using it unless you board an enemy ship or get boarded)
- Airmine rifle (shoots balloon-held mines a decent ways out... great to block of the escape route of another ship)
- Telescope (will auto-announce to your team where enemies are when you spot them... useful if you have one person spotting to make sure you don't get ambushed. Also just fun to see what other ships are doing from so far away)
- Gunpowder (used to make the cannons flamethrowers, or can be charged up and thrown as a grenade-type weapon)
- Cannonballs (used for loading the cannons)
- Possibly other stuff that I'm just forgetting...

I THINK cannonballs are infinite, but I know the airmine can run out of ammo. No idea if the musket and gunpowder are the same, as I haven't used them much.

One really nice thing is that in the spawn areas there are hang gliders. You can use those and scroll through all active friendly ships (with lists of who is currently on board each) to quickly get back into battle. It auto-flies you there and plops you right on the deck. EXTREMELY useful.


This game reminds me of a mix of the original Red Orchestra mod and some of the weirder niche mods I've played, like the Revolutionary War one for HL2 (I think it was just called Battlegrounds, but I'm not 100% on that). All these games feature "realism" that makes kills hard to get, but super satisfying when you do. It's more about strategy and your team than it is some dick that can headshot from 10000 yards away (there are no headshots as far as I know.. you're trying to blow up the ships usually, not the individual people unless you happen to board/get boarded. Also, combat is relatively close, even with cannons... no sniping in this game whatsoever, thank fucking god).






So there ya go. A not-so-quick rambling of a lot of the features. I personally had (and will continue to have) a lot of fun with it. It's not your average shooter in the slightest, and with an organized team on a chat server it would be absolutely amazing (hint hint).

[SickBoy]

Whoops, sorry, just deleted and reposted that post (had to fix the title... typo in zeppelin when I wrote it early this morning )