Overview
This Manual provides a quick overview of many of the core gameplay elements of ROCKETSROCKETSROCKETS
Controlling The Ship
At this stage of development (and by the analog nature of the game) using a gamepad (Xbox controller) is the ideal way to play. There is already support for multiple gamepads, allowing for easy to setup local multiplayer. There does not seem to be in-game support for rebinding controls, as of now (5/15/14), but the default configuration is well done so that shouldn’t be an issue in most cases.
[NEW]: As of… One of the patches I missed the release date of, controls can be manually rebound to fit your desires.
- Left stick – move
- X – Fire a propelled rocket
- A – Release a bomb
- B – Release a mine
- LT or RT – Activate shield
- WASD keys [Alternatively, arrow keys] – move
- J or C – Fire a propelled rocket
- K or X – Release a bomb
- L or Z – Release a mine
- Spacebar – Shield
Movement is affected by physics in a way similar the old moon landing games, though more forgiving and you don’t actually have to land on anything and running into walls does not kill you (Thank God). Inertia is an important aspect of any moving object in the game, and your ship has a turn speed, thus changing direction is not instantaneous. Essentially, every turn is a drift due to the high speed. Which is flippin’ sweet when combined with the trails you leave behind.
Weapons fire semi auto by default
Holding down the fire button will cause a barrage of that weapon to fire.
Weapons and the Shield
I should mention that there is no ammo.
These are your standard, straight firing, self-propelled rockets. They bounce off of other rockets, both propelled and unpropelled, and explode mines. Due to the turn speed of ships, they are most useful at a distance. Because of their physics, they work well for recreating Harry vs. Voldemort style face-offs (Like that whole wand thing they did, where the beams stopped each other).
These are not standard rockets, as they do not actually move themselves, or even really go forward at all. They take your current direction of movement, and go that way with a little more drag than your ship and release from the left side of the ship, so be careful when going right as you may find them immediately falling back onto you. Think back to footage of WWII bombers dropping a payload. Now imagine that bomber diving into its own bombs as they drop. That will happen a lot when you first try using them. Pull away after release, or be a boss and use your shield to bounce yourself off of them.
Best used to create a field of coverage when you have a hard time getting your target in front of you.
They bounce wildly after colliding with a rocket or shielded ship. They also explode mines I believe. Also, they bounce off of each other, but due to their very gravity minded movement, they usually don’t do anything drastic to each other.
Throws out a large, timed explosive a short distance behind you. These are only minimally affected by gravity, if at all. They have large blast radius that cannot be shielded and knock back other nearby mines and probably other weapons as well (can’treally tell amidst the exploding). If something hits it, it explodes. If left alone for about 1.5 to 2 seconds (didn’t time it). It explodes.
If two unshielded ships, or two shielded ships, hit each other, they bounce off each other in a very hilarious fashion. No hits are counted against either ship.
If a shielded ship collides into an unshielded ship. The shielded ship wins and the unshielded gets a hit counted against him.
A real pilot doesn’t run away from danger. A real pilot runs right through danger, and occasionally bounces off of danger.
Hitting the triggers, or spacebar, activates a shield that deflects missles and other ships for a brief amount of time (similar to aerial evades in Super Smash Brothers). On top of that, it increases your mobility while active. After a short cooldown, the shield can be used again. It is thus usable a rather frequent rate, though the gaps are just big enough to require careful timing, as you will be vulnerable to follow up fire if your opponent is fast enough.
One thing to note, is that you can not shoot while shielding, and mines break right through (So shield spamming isn’t a cheap trick). You also bounce a bit off of rockets and bombs, and bounce a lot off of other shielded ships. This bouncing can cause your ship to rotate in an uncontrolled manner, so be mindful of that.
This tool is what make the really good dogfights happen, and can cause the always interesting trick shot of “dude, that bomb I dropped 5 seconds ago just came back on screen, bounced off of your shield and hit me in the face after we bounced off of each other.”
The Dogfight
The standard game mode: 2-4 players with multi team support! (finally)
Remaining player slots can be filled with Stanleys.
Dog fight works on team based Tug-of-War style scoring. Games can last a few seconds if you land a consecutive barrage, or a few minutes if you trade blows with your opponent pretty evenly. Getting hit (by anyone) takes away a health bubble. Hitting someone gets you another one back.
Last one standing wins!
[NOTE]: I’m not entirely sure yet how/if scoring is affected by number and size of teams. Several lare updates have arrived since I last updated this. Hopefully I’ll be up to date soon!
Challenge modes
Yeah, there’s a workshop with things people have made. Check it out.