Bringing back the arcade flight sim, one cruise missile at a time

The arcade air combat game was once a fairly popular genre, most notably represented by the Ace Combat series, but it’s rather fallen out of favour in recent years. Portuguese indie team TimeSymmetry, headed by CEO Claudio Rodrigues, is hoping to rectify that with fast-paced, action-packed flight sim Vector Thrust. The game’s been in Early Access for just under a year, but now it’s gearing up for a full release. I recently got the chance to chat with Claudio about the game’s development, and in particular its focus on community-created content.

GameWatcher: First off, I wanted to ask about your studio, TimeSymmetry. You’re a very small team, right?

Claudio Rodrigues: Yes, we are a very small team. In fact usually there’s just me in the office, as well as one or two other people who help me out when they are not at their normal jobs. The community, from the start, approached me to help, even the little things. At the beginning I felt strange about that, I didn’t know how to react. I was apprehensive. But after some thought I decided to open up development to the community, and the response was awesome. They were always eager to help, even when I gave them the freedom to make a singleplayer campaign. The contact was always close, and the result was really great. Then more people joined, and it’s been a great help. So if someone asks “how many people are working on the game?”, I really couldn’t answer, because the community… I can’t count them all!

GameWatcher: Would this game have been made without Early Access? Because it seems so perfectly suited to it, in the way you’ve opened up the development process.

Claudio Rodrigues: Not at all. I think there are some elements that would not have worked without the community and without Early Access. If it was released immediately, without any first impressions, I don’t think it would work. This is a flight game, arcade and not simulation, and everyone has their own idea of how arcade flight games should be. The game has had that year in Early Access, and it has been fine-tuned to respond to those impressions. Obviously it was impossible to agree with everyone, but I think the result was better than if it had been in closed development.

GameWatcher: The arcade flight sim doesn’t really have much of a presence on the PC. Even on consoles it’s a genre that’s declined over the past few years. What drew you to it?

Claudio Rodrigues: Well, I’m a fan of these kind of games. I felt that I wanted to play a game like that, and I just couldn’t find one. So I thought I’d make one myself. That was the initial goal, and it evolved over time. Because I want to make this game, maybe other people want to do it too. So I added a very important element – modding capability. I made the game, but I also opened it so that everyone can make their own campaign, their own story, their own world.

GameWatcher: Why did you decide to go for the slightly cel-shaded look the game employs? It’s a bit different from what you normally see in air combat games.

Claudio Rodrigues: The main thing, really, was cost efficiency. As a small team, a small developer, I noticed my limitations while making new content. In the early stages I tried to make very realistic textures, but I noticed all that work takes more time than the actual gameplay model, and the finer details. It take a long time. I also wanted to make the game as mod-friendly as possible, so I realised that even if I added these fine textures, people would have difficulty making their own. If they added new models, they would probably clash with the art style. So I decided to make it easier for modders, and in the same way it helps because it looks more unique. Now the new planes and skins people are adding, they look much better alongside the original content.

GameWatcher: There’s a LOT of planes in the game, as you’ve mentioned, and they all feel quite different from each other. That must be a really difficult, time-consuming task, to make these aircraft feel unique.

Claudio Rodrigues: Mostly it’s because of the quantity, yes. If I need twenty minutes, at best, for one aircraft, multiply that by two hundred… that’s a lot of time. One thing I’ve tried to do is balance the game, and I’ve noticed that while some popular aircraft, we have some idea of how they should feel, more obscure aircraft are very difficult to predict how they should move. So I came up with a calculation that gathers information, and generates performance. I measure the size, volume, weight, ratio of the wings, and so on, and that’s what helps me generate these individual characteristics for each plane. This is what helps me do all that work, because it would otherwise be crazy!

GameWatcher: Right now, every mission in Vector Thrust starts with the player already in the air. Are you looking at adding take-off and landing mechanics to the game?

Claudio Rodrigues: I would like to add that feature, but at the moment I still feel it has less priority than other features. I’m still open to considering in in a post-release update. I think it will add something, even if it doesn’t change anything in the gameplay. It will give that extra feel. At the same time, the game has over 250 aircraft, if I recall correctly, so I have to add takeoff and landing to all of them. But then, each one would need to have its own feel. It wouldn’t be interesting if they all felt the same. So that’s another thing keeping that feature back.

GameWatcher: What new elements can players expect from the full release of Vector Thrust?

Claudio Rodrigues: The most important element is the story. At the moment the biggest concern of development is to make gameplay and solid mechanics. So the game was built around the idea of making an enjoyable game, and the background story has been kept away from the public. So the biggest change, besides more content, more missions and everything else, is to reveal the world, background info and that new campaign.

GameWatcher: You’ve got a mix of mission types in the game right now, ground combat, stealth air combat, boss encounters of a sort. Can players expect new objective types in the final game, new bosses that they might have not seen before?

Claudio Rodrigues: Yes, definitely. It’s something that I’ve noticed people enjoying, especially the bosses. Because the game’s moddable, a lot of players changed the game to be able to play as the boss, with all the special weapons it carries and so on. So yes, one of the aims I had was to add more bosses to spice things up.

GameWatcher: Did the popularity of the customisation options take you by surprise? There’s already a tonne of mod content available for the game.

Claudio Rodrigues: Definitely. Mostly because… I made the game for the community, so I expected some content. But not this much. I also noticed that the best thing is to make it as easy as possible. The quantity of user-generated content is proportional to how easy it is to make that content. So there are some games that add in the ability to mod, but don’t get the same success as others, because it’s not as easy for the community to use. So I’ve tried to make everything as easy as possible.

GameWatcher: When the game is released in full, are you planning to continue to support the game, or are you happy to let the community create their own content?

Claudio Rodrigues: Both. I am trying to provide the elements and tools to let them create their own content, but I’m also making new stuff, because during development there were a lot of ideas that had to be wiped out because of other priorities. So I’m considering adding more aircraft, there are some that even with the amount of planes in the game, the community will want to see. And then more missions, more content, definitely. When I started development I realised there was so little competition, so the best idea was to make a game that could last several years. The lack of competition makes that possible. But to make it possible, I have to let the community create their own things, but also keep creating content myself that will let them play for years. I’m sure that five years from now the visuals will be simpler than games coming out at that time, but it will be able to stand on its own.

GameWatcher: I notice you spend a lot of time talking directly to the community, via the game’s Steam forums and so on. I think a lot of Early Access developers don’t do that particularly well. Do you think that’s one reason why there’s such a positive community that’s built up around your game?

Claudio Rodrigues: To be honest I would like to be closer, but as a small developer I have to balance my time. I think that’s probably true for other games. The key is to find the right balance. I am close, but probably I could do better. My goal was always to keep the community close, make them part of the game. I’ve said before I think this game would not have been possible without them, and I’m not lying, it’s really true. They are really helping me a lot. So in return I try to be as transparent as possible with every stage of development, and I think it pays off. It should be the way. The solution is to be as respectful and balanced with everyone as possible.

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Many thanks to Claudio for speaking to me. TimeSymmetry should be moving Vector Thrust out of Early Access on the 3rd July. We’ll have a full review ready for you then.