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The American version of [[PC Gamer|''PC Gamer'']] commented that ''Flotilla'' "is a charmingly crafted bite-size portion of tactical fun".<ref name="PCGUS"/> Meanwhile, the British version of the magazine elaborated that althought the game had its share of "charm and character," it was nonetheless a random experience.<ref name="PCGUK"/> ''PC Zone UK'' characterized ''Flotilla'' as stylish and funny, but concluded that it was however a "sadly disposable" experience.<ref name="pc zone"/> ''[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]]'' gave a mixed response to the game, but praised the battles, which they considered "engaging despite their simplicity."<ref name="edge review"/> An editor from website ''Charge Shot'' praised the game's [[AI|artificial intelligence]] and overall design, but criticized the multiplayer mode.<ref name="cshot"/>
The American version of [[PC Gamer|''PC Gamer'']] commented that ''Flotilla'' "is a charmingly crafted bite-size portion of tactical fun".<ref name="PCGUS"/> Meanwhile, the British version of the magazine elaborated that althought the game had its share of "charm and character," it was nonetheless a random experience.<ref name="PCGUK"/> ''PC Zone UK'' characterized ''Flotilla'' as stylish and funny, but concluded that it was however a "sadly disposable" experience.<ref name="pc zone"/> ''[[Edge (magazine)|Edge]]'' gave a mixed response to the game, but praised the battles, which they considered "engaging despite their simplicity."<ref name="edge review"/> An editor from website ''Charge Shot'' praised the game's [[AI|artificial intelligence]] and overall design, but criticized the multiplayer mode.<ref name="cshot"/>


''[[GameZone]]''{{'s}} Tom Dann awarded the game 7.0 out of 10, and felt frustrated by the ship maneuvering mechanics, which he said "can also be rewarding and entertaining".<ref name="GZone"/> ''Flotilla'' was nominated for the 2011 [[Independent Games Festival]] Visions Award, but lost to ''[[Amnesia: The Dark Descent]]''.<ref name="IGF"/> <ref name="IGF2"/> It was also listed among the Honorable Mentions for the Excellence in Visual Art and Excellence in Design awards.<ref name="IGF2"/>
Joe Martin from Bit-Tech named Flotilla a " hilarious and brazenly original" game. However, he criticized the interface and navigation gameplay, which he condemned as "trying to pilot a radio-controlled helicopter with someone else’s feet." He also mentioned the lack of a speed-up featured for battles as a necessary enhancement the game should have.<ref name=bittech/> ''[[GameZone]]''{{'s}} Tom Dann also felt frustrated by the ship maneuvering mechanics, though concluded that they "can also be rewarding and entertaining".<ref name="GZone"/> ''Flotilla'' was nominated for the 2011 [[Independent Games Festival]] Visions Award,<ref name="IGF"/> but lost to ''[[Amnesia: The Dark Descent]]''.<ref name="IGF2"/> It was also listed among the Honorable Mentions for the Excellence in Visual Art and Excellence in Design awards.<ref name="IGF2"/>


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist|2|refs=
{{reflist|2|refs=
<ref name=bittech>{{cite web
|last=Martin
|first=Joe
|title=Flotilla Review
|url=http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/pc/2010/03/14/flotilla-review
|publisher=Bit-Tech
|accessdate=14 April 2014
|date=14 March 2010
}}</ref>

<ref name="xbox mp">{{cite web
<ref name="xbox mp">{{cite web
|title=Flotilla
|title=Flotilla

Revision as of 16:31, 14 April 2014

Flotilla
Developer(s)Blendo Games
Platform(s)
Release'Microsoft Windows'Xbox 360
Genre(s)Turn-based strategy
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer (co-operative)

Flotilla is a turn-based strategy space combat video game developed by Brendon Chung's video game studio, Blendo Games. It was released on 29 March 2010 on Steam for Microsoft Windows, and on 25 March 2010 on Xbox Live Indie Games for the Xbox 360. The game was developed with Microsoft's XNA tools, and its development was influenced by cats and board games such as Axis and Allies and Arkham Horror. The game follows the player in an adventure through a randomly generated galaxy.

Flotilla was developed by Chung immediately after Pandemic Studios closed, and used assets imported from an early prototype called Space Piñata. It also incorporates several pieces of classical music in its score, such as Chopin's "Raindrop" prelude. The game received mixed to positive reception from video game media outlets, scoring 72 out of 100 on review aggregate website Metacritic, and was included in Mike Rose's book 250 Indie Games You Must Play.

Gameplay

Several ships exchanging missiles across a three-dimensional area littered with asteroids. The ships, asteroids, and missiles are all rough-looking, with hard edges and few details.
Flotilla lets the player and non-playable opponents issue orders to their ships every 30 seconds and watch them play out in real time.

Flotilla is a three-dimensional simultaneous turn-based strategy space combat video game set in a randomly generated galaxy.[3] The game lets the player and non-playable opponents to issue orders to their ships every 30 seconds, and then performs these orders in real time. The player is usually given no more than a few ships to control, and they can be rotated arbitrarily in any direction.[4]: 2 

The game's single-player mode is framed as a single adventure that can be played an indefinite number of times. These adventures have a fixed duration of around 30 minutes.[5] The character dies at the end of the adventure and the player is given the option to play again.[4]: 2  A hardcore mode, which removes the solo mode's standard 30-minute time limit, was later added to the game.[4][5] Each time the player starts a new adventure, a new randomly generated galaxy is created and filled with planets and enemy ships.[4] The player goes through a short tutorial system before being able to freely explore the galaxy. All planets offer a possible quest or challenge to the player. The player must destroy all enemy ships to achieve success at any challenge. However, ships can only be harmed from behind or below; attacks from any other position will be countered by the ships' shields.[6] Upon succeeding, a new chapter is added to the player's character's story.

The challenges are tactical battles in which the player must fight against a variety of different enemies.[3] Ship upgrades are given to the player after each successful battle. These upgrades can be used to customize the ships with improvements such as increased firing speed or heavier rear armor. The upgrades available to the player vary upon finishing each encounter with an enemy, and the player may not receive the same upgrade by playing the same encounter in two different adventures. Flotilla also has a cooperative mode that can be played with an additional Xbox 360 controller, and a split-screen multiplayer mode.[3]

Development

Brendon Chung delivering a speech from behind a podium.
Brendon Chung, developer of Flotilla

Flotilla was developed by Brendon Chung under his video game studio, Blendo Games. Chung, who worked as a level designer for Pandemic Studios, previously contributed to the development of Full Spectrum Warrior and Lord of the Rings: Conquest.[7] Chung started coding Flotilla in 2009 after 200 staff were laid off by Electronic Arts as Pandemic Studios was closed. Chung, who was excited at the time of the studio's closure, stated that "there was adrenaline pumping through my veins".[4] The game was developed using Microsoft XNA, a set of tools focused on video game development created by Microsoft.[8]

The concept of Flotilla came from a combination of "sci-fi like Star Wars and submarine movies".[5] Chung explained that he "figured there was enough games about little fighter jets", and that what he had in mind was "a jumbo battleship floating in space".[5] In an interview with SquareGo, Chung revealed that cats and board games, such as Axis and Allies and Arkham Horror, also had an influential role in the game's development process.[5] Before Flotilla, Chung worked on a prototype, a two-dimensional turn-based space action game called Space Piñata, which had gameplay and structure similar to final version of Flotilla.[4]

Chung intentionally limited the solo mode's play time as an "experiment in making a short-story generator", such that an adventure could begin and end within a half hour.[5] Following negative response, a patch was deployed to change this limitation. The patch included a new "hardcore" mode.[5] Flotilla's score incorporates several pieces of classical music, such as Chopin's "Raindrop" prelude. According to Edge magazine, the "Raindrop" prelude gives the game's battles "an emotional undercurrent".[4] Chung said that the soundtrack was designed to give the game "a tragic feel" and that he wanted the game to be portrayed as "the anti-testosterone-fueled" action game.[4]

Reception

Flotilla received a mixed response from video game journalists upon release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the game received an average score of 72 based on 7 reviews.[9] British magazine Edge included Flotilla in its 2010 list of the Best 20 Indie Games available in the Xbox Live Marketplace, and acknowledged that the games was "as exacting as it is quirky, a stiff challenge beneath a sugar coating."[15] Mike Rose included Flotilla in his book 250 Indie Games You Must Play.[16]

The American version of PC Gamer commented that Flotilla "is a charmingly crafted bite-size portion of tactical fun".[10] Meanwhile, the British version of the magazine elaborated that althought the game had its share of "charm and character," it was nonetheless a random experience.[11] PC Zone UK characterized Flotilla as stylish and funny, but concluded that it was however a "sadly disposable" experience.[13] Edge gave a mixed response to the game, but praised the battles, which they considered "engaging despite their simplicity."[14] An editor from website Charge Shot praised the game's artificial intelligence and overall design, but criticized the multiplayer mode.[6]

Joe Martin from Bit-Tech named Flotilla a " hilarious and brazenly original" game. However, he criticized the interface and navigation gameplay, which he condemned as "trying to pilot a radio-controlled helicopter with someone else’s feet." He also mentioned the lack of a speed-up featured for battles as a necessary enhancement the game should have.[17] GameZone's Tom Dann also felt frustrated by the ship maneuvering mechanics, though concluded that they "can also be rewarding and entertaining".[12] Flotilla was nominated for the 2011 Independent Games Festival Visions Award,[18] but lost to Amnesia: The Dark Descent.[19] It was also listed among the Honorable Mentions for the Excellence in Visual Art and Excellence in Design awards.[19]

References

  1. ^ "Flotilla". Steam. Valve Corporation. Retrieved 28 March 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  2. ^ "Flotilla". Xbox Live Marketplace. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved 29 March 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  3. ^ a b c Plunkett, Luke (2 February 2010). "Flotilla, For All The Homeworld Fans Out There". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 12 April 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Edge Staff (2 December 2011). "The Making Of: Flotilla". Edge. United Kingdom: Future Publishing. Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Harris, Phil (12 July 2010). "Brendon Chung (Blendo Games) – Interview". Square Go. Archived from the original on 26 September 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  6. ^ a b Rob (17 March 2010). "Review: Flotilla, or Ender's Game: The Game". Charge Shot. Archived from the original on 1 July 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  7. ^ Chick, Tom (1 January 2009). "The man behind the strange wonderful world of Gravity Bone". FidGit. Sci Fi. Archived from the original on 27 February 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  8. ^ AnthonyD (8 February 2010). "Blendo Games Interview". The Gamers Hub. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  9. ^ a b "Flotilla for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 10 January 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  10. ^ a b "Flotilla review". PC Gamer US. United States: Future Publishing. June 2010. p. 81. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  11. ^ a b "Flotilla review". PC Gamer UK. United Kingdom: Future Publishing. September 2010. p. 95. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  12. ^ a b Dann, Tom (22 June 2010). "Flotilla Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  13. ^ a b "Flotilla review". Edge. United Kingdom: Future Publishing. May 2010. p. 102.
  14. ^ a b "Flotilla review". PC Zone. United Kingdom: Future Publishing. June 2010. p. 87.
  15. ^ Edge Staff (16 November 2010). "Best 20 Indie Games". Edge. United Kingdom: Future Publishing. Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 6 May 2013.
  16. ^ Rose, Mike (2011). 250 Indie Games You Must Play. CRC Press. p. 244. ISBN 9781439875759. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  17. ^ Martin, Joe (14 March 2010). "Flotilla Review". Bit-Tech. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
  18. ^ "IGF 2011 Audience Award Closes This Week, D2D Vision Award Finalists Revealed". Gamasutra. 16 February 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
  19. ^ a b "2011 Independent Games Festival Winners". Independent Games Festival. 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2012.

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