Game Save Systems Part 1: Flotilla - Adventure Mode

Normally Game Save Systems aren’t a prominent part of game design but the two games being examined over the next two posts use their Save Systems to enhance the overall game experience. The games Limbo and Flotilla take different approaches to utilizing this system and both approaches contribute to their respective games differently. This post concerns Flotilla’s Adventure mode which is unique in that the game does not provide any kind of Save System. But somehow this choice works in the game’s favor.

It’s difficult to think of another modern game that doesn’t provide the option to save your progress. However, from my experience Flotilla is a game that favors short bursts of play referred to as ‘snacking’ but can also support hours of continuous play or ‘binging.’ The choices to not include a Save System and to randomize story events in Adventure mode allows players to enjoy the game in short spans of time with no real need to save their progress. Each Adventure as its own confined space means the player is free to explore, make choices, and make mistakes without the worry of long term goals. In my opinion taking away game saves encourages players to make riskier decisions as long term repercussions are no longer a factor. Whether the Captain is defeated or his terminal illness reaches its final stages players can always start up a new adventure. And that new adventure’s randomly determined story events will chain differently than any previous adventures did.

There is enough variance in the story sections to warrant multiple adventures. The “choose your own adventure” style of interaction with these story sections will keep players coming back to try all the different options available. The simple combat controls and steep difficulty also provide incentive to play and remove barriers from coming back after a long break. All in all I’d say Flotilla’s Adventure mode is about creating unique stories between the two fixed points of the Captain being diagnosed with his illness and then going off to die in space.

Not including saves was a risky decision. The lead designer and one man development team Brendon Chung said in an interview that players didn’t understand the concept during play testing. He went ahead regardless of these concerns and published Flotilla on Steam. For what it’s worth I believe he made the right choice.

Movement and Combat: Flotilla

Flotilla is a turn based strategy game available on Steam and XBLA that boasts a unique full 3-Dimensional space combat system. The naval space combat systems emphasize flanking and maneuvering. The combat is both fun and balanced between the different types of ships available and optional upgrades but overall the game is very unforgiving. Neither the story mode nor the skirmish mode provides an advanced combat tutorial. This really is a shame because the game can be very engaging.

Flotilla’s basic rule of combat is “Flank the enemy!” Ships only take damage from basic projectiles when struck on their rear or bottom armor. A space ship’s front and side armor ignore most attacks so the challenge lies in getting a good angle of attack without leaving your ships vulnerable to counter maneuvering.  There are weapon types which ignore the rule of flanking and armor but they’re limited by range. To the point: larger vessels with more effective guns move a lot slower. The limitations of range and speed further emphasizes movement in this system. I’ve won battles against Capitol ships and Artillery Laser Frigates because my tiny fighter would quickly fly around them, find a weak spot, and attack with missiles. And some of my more intense battles have been between evenly matched forces of those tiny fighters.

This type of system requires turn based combat. In Flotilla the combat movement functions in the X, Y, and Z axes. This allows for new and interesting tactics that would be more difficult to accomplish in a Real Time Strategy game. Maneuvering the position and facing of multiple ships in real time would prove a very daunting task. The turn based approach Flotilla took allows players to succeed in this complex movement system. This is also where the initial difficulty problem arises as the AI enemies demonstrate a lot of skill in hiding their weak spots while new players struggle to navigate in a full 3D space. While the provided tutorial does teach the basics of space combat it does not teach the players the intricacies of the 'Orientation' part of moving. However, once I learned those skills on my own winning battles became all the more satisfying for it. I had to learn by watching the AI ships and then trying to imitate them in the skirmish mode.

Some game reviewers and critics are of the opinion that Turn Based Strategy games are out-dated but I believe Flotilla shows otherwise. If the required complexity of a system is too great a hurdle in real time then choosing a turn based format is much more preferable.