11-04-2003, 07:40 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,398
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Anthelion: The Galactic Alliance
PDAMill has just officially released Anthelion 1.0, the first true three-dimensional space shooter. This is new ground for Pocket PCs. "Interstellar Flames", which we reviewed in June, is similar but lacks the features and graphics that Anthelion has. So is Anthelion the 3D space adventure game we've been waiting for? Read on to hear about how this landmark game performs!
Interstellar Flames was pretty cool, but users could only go forward or backward. It was the first step towards full three-dimensional gaming, something that Anthelion 1.0 tries to accomplish. The graphics, music, and sound effects of this new PDAMill game push the Pocket PC to its limits. Is this asking too much of the device, or can it handle it? Does Anthelion really work?
Getting Ready for Battle
Like most games, Anthelion has a main menu that lets you start a game, change the controls and settings, and get some help. If you're like me and like to press down on the directional pad to go up, be sure to go into the "Controls" section and "reverse controls" before starting a game. After that users can tap "Start" and create a pilot.
Figure 1: The Main Menu
Figure 2: Creating a pilot (after this screen shot I switched it to "Easy") :lol:
After creating or selecting a pilot, the user enters the E-Mail Console and Mission Module. Messages from characters in the game appear as e-mail messages (even in the year 3047!). Before and after each mission you'll receive valuable information in these messages, and I strongly suggest reading them all. You can't send mail, by the way, only receive it. It takes a while to get used to all the pirate speak, lad, but ya git yer sea legs after a few missions.
Figure 3: The E-Mail console is where you get information about past and future missions
The Info screen offers pilot statistics and basic information. Since you don't gain "points" in Anthelion, this is what you'll use to brag to your Pocket PC friends.
The Mission Module, which is tucked in with the E-Mail and Information screens, gives you a quick summary of the missions. In the E-Mail Console missions are assigned a number, but here they get a nickname. I found this to be a little annoying, but never got lost or anything. Unread E-Mail messages and unfinished missions are in white text, while those read or completed are in drab green. Select a mission and hit "Start" to move on.
Figure 4: The Mission Module offers a quick summary of vital mission information.
Can't Get Very Far Without a Ship
Players start with only one ship, the Sloop. It may sound like a viscous blob, but it gets you where you need to go until a better ship can be designed (or captured). Each ship is rated as a fighter or bomber, and stats on speed, size, and maneuverability are given.
Figure 5: Selecting just the right ship is pivotal in those life-or-death missions. Choose wisely!
After selecting a craft, you need to arm it with the necessary weapons. Tap the "Arm" button on the bottom right to pop up an option pane. Most ships have three or four weapons bays, and players need to have something in each one. Every ship always has two or four main guns besides these bays, but the rate of fire varies by the model. In some missions you'll need to equip an EMP (Electro magnetic Pulse) Cannon, which allows you to completely disable a ship. You'll have to find out about the more advanced weapons on your own, but the basic idea is that you can hold a lot of little bombs or a few big bombs. And of course the bombers hold more of everything. When you feel you have the right combination of weapons, press "Launch" to leave the docking bay.
Figure 6: Lock n' Load! Be sure you have the right weapons for the mission.
Combat
The first mission involves no shooting or evading, and lets you get a feel for the ship and its controls. But that's boring, so I'll skip ahead to the fun parts! It's during the next two or three missions that players can experience a full three-dimensional dogfight or bombing mission in space.
In my opinion, the control panels and information displays are very intuitive and help conserve precious screen space. When you only have three to four inches of screen, you need every pixel! The radar screen, which is located at the top of the control panel, gives you the location of ally and enemy ships. Fellow Pirates appear in green, enemies in red, and tentative allies in orange (until someone shoots). The center of the radar oval represents targets directly in front of or behind you. Ships in front of players will be bright colors, while those behind turn a dull green, red, or orange.
Figure 7: This enemy ship has been targeted, and I'm about to blow it up.
Players can target an object by placing the cross hairs on it and pressing in on the directional pad. Once targeted, the craft's statistics and image will appear in the center of your control panel, and it will have a white mark on it on your radar display. The distance to that object is given in kilometers or meters directly beneath. Most weapons work best within 2.5 kilometers, but some work well out to 4.0 km.
On the left side of the control panel is weapons information. Players can rotate through the four different weapons bays, and press another button to fire that weapon. The number of remaining missiles is also displayed (EMP Cannons and main guns have infinite ammunition). Holding down on the fire button will make the guns or missiles continue to fire.
On the right side is speed and shield information. Ships can come to a dead stop, which is helpful if you're waiting for the bad guys to appear. Shields are slowly weakened by enemy fire, and eventually parts of your ship will turn red on this display as they are damaged. Shields will fully regenerate after thirty seconds, but damage to your ship cannot be repaired until you return to base.
Figure 8: Arrggh! I've been damaged by a ship 598 meters behind and above me. Looks like Natasha has been hit, too.
During game play a clock keeps track of how long you've been playing. Some missions take three minutes, others take fifteen. To the left of the clock is a space used for the "Jump", "Retreat", and "Home" buttons. "Jumping" is traveling at the speed of light through space ("warp" to Trekkies). In a normal mission you're required to jump from Emerald Cove, the Pirate base, to the battlefield. Once the dirty work is done, you tap "Jump" to get back to base and "Home" to dock.
Figure 9: "Engage!" I mean..."Jump!"
Graphics, Music and Sound
Without a doubt, the most ambitious part of this game is the graphics engine. So how good is it? Very good! Objects move smoothly and normally, and the frame rate only slows down during the largest explosions or battles that involve twenty to fifty ships. Turning off the high resolution graphics does speed up the game, but it's still very playable with engine trails and hi-res models.
The background music borders on a copyright infringement with Star Wars - which means it's good! :lol: Sound effects are well timed and sound authentic (even though space is a vacuum).
Gotchas
I played Anthelion for several hours ( ops , flew all of the missions, and did not find any serious flaws. Like they say in computer science classes: a well-programmed application with thorough testing has very few flaws.
It would've been nice to have the choice of two or three views during combat. Even though the cockpit view is very effective, I usually prefer a "close behind" camera angle. Multiplayer networked games would also be a plus, but this game is still very new - baby steps.
Where To Buy
Anthelion is available from Handango for $19.95. [Affiliate] There's a free trial available.
Requirements
Anthelion is a hungry game when it comes to free RAM - you'll need at least 8MB of free system RAM allocated to programs to run it. The actual download itself, however, is closer to 4.3 MB.
Conclusions
So does Anthelion really work? Yes it does! Anthelion 1.0 has the honor of being the first fully three-dimensional space shooter game available for the Pocket PC operating system. The graphics look fantastic but yet don't bog down the frame rate, the sound track is excellent, and controlling the ships is simple. This is a revolutionary game, but it lacks the bugs most games would experience. PDAMill has produced another excellent game, and I strongly recommend you download the demo and consider purchasing it.
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11-04-2003, 07:44 PM
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Mystic
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,911
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Is this hard to control on the d-pad. Why won't someone make a d-pad like a gameboy for the PPC?
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11-04-2003, 07:48 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,398
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I have a first-generation Axim X5, which has a pretty bad D-PAD. I can't control "Tetris" or "Snake" games, but Anthelion is just fine.
I agree! A Gameboy-like controller would be ideal. These exist for iPaqs, but I think that's all.
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11-04-2003, 08:46 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 541
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There is stylus control in the game, just use the little box that shows the targetted enemy.
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11-04-2003, 09:28 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 109
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*First* true 3D space shooter for the Pocket PC?
I think DARXIDE from Frontier is the first commerical 3D shooter (it's a port of an old Sega 32-X game). It was true 3D back in 1994 and the Pocket PC port is no different.
John Welch's ELITE: THE NEW KIND was out before Darxide, but it was PD.
Still nice to see more games of this ilk on the Pocket PC. I'd really like a game with free roaming like Elite rather than mission after mission of 'Shoot all the Ships'.
Regards,
Rob S.
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11-04-2003, 10:59 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2002
Posts: 51
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The d-pad on my ASUS A620 is fine for Anthelion, but I think the stylus provides finer control.
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11-04-2003, 11:49 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 14
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I haven't tried the official release yet, but I've played both demos and they are fantastic. I don't use the d-pad or the stylus, I set the controls to my Stowaway XT for my 2215, works wonderfully. It's great.
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11-05-2003, 01:54 AM
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2000 Posts And This is All I Get?
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 2,017
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Can you shoot by tapping the screen ?
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battles that involve twenty to fifty ships
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Wow. 50 ships battle is definitely cool.
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11-05-2003, 02:56 AM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 1,398
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This game would be AWESOME with multiplayer capabilities. Don't know if it's possible, but I would love to see it.
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11-05-2003, 03:13 AM
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Contributing Editor
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 524
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dpad position
I agree dean_shan! We have the brillian people from compaq who designed the first ipaq to thank for the wonderful dpad postion. Can you tell I'm not an Ipaq fan?
Anyway, I have the casio e125 which is the last pocket pc to use a gameboy like layout. It's sad that most new stuff doesn't work on it I plan to upgrade to the Toshiba E800 in the near future. The thing I will miss the most is the gameboy like button layout. The e125 is great for playing games - at least the ones it will run
They do have anthelion for mips so I downloaded the beta a few days ago and tried it. I'm amazed at how well it runs on my old e125! You have to turn all the special graphic features to low and off but it works very well. It's a cool game! It reminds me of Wing Commander! Ahhh, those were the days. It's great to have "wing commander" on my pocket pc!!!
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Linear Mode
