By Jim Rossignol on July 27th, 2010 at 11:33 am.
We’ve pointed out before that wingsuits are one of the most awesome things in life that don’t appear often enough in videogames. Fortunately one of the contributors to our random Unity project, ShotgUnity, has realised that and is making a game about them all on his own: Volo Airsport. It’s fairly basic right now, but bravo. Go visit his site and show some support. Lovely work-in-progress video embedded below.
27/07/2010 at 11:44 AndrewC says:
That’s looking increasingly awesome with every video.
27/07/2010 at 12:09 radomaj says:
In fact, wing-suits are one of Ten Things Videogames Need More Of.
27/07/2010 at 14:18 Tinus says:
Hah, I remember posting this there:
“Martijn Zandvliet: I completely agree with point 1! After playing with the idea of a wingsuit/BASE game for a couple of years, and finding out that AAAAaaaaAAAAetc doesn’t really fill the wingsuit-void, I’ve started to build one myself. Right now I’m getting the basic physics down (nothing basic about those though, sadly), and I hope to have something concrete to show within a couple of weeks.”
27/07/2010 at 12:09 Tinus says:
Woo! Major thanks for the feature, Jim! :D
Here’s some split screen gameplay, it’s even better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpOan0bbnIY
27/07/2010 at 18:35 stahlwerk says:
I really really reaaally like the ground turbulences effect.
Are these things really that fast / dragless?
27/07/2010 at 19:56 Tinus says:
@stahlwerk: Thanks! Yes, they pretty much are, you can really be as nimble as a bird, or perhaps like a fish. It depends a lot on the suit you wear and your ability to fly it. The key is making small, minimal movements so as to not waste any energy, and you have to find a way to keep your profile as small as possible too. The type of suits made by various manufacturers vary from big parachute-like bags that just slow your descent, to suits that really transform you into a single human wing.
27/07/2010 at 12:10 P7uen says:
Don’t change the placeholder chap, I like him!
27/07/2010 at 12:18 FrankV says:
Great game concept (and video) from one of Holland’s finest game designers.
27/07/2010 at 12:22 Muhu says:
Remind me of Base: Web edition
27/07/2010 at 14:13 Tinus says:
If it does, you’re in good company. I’m working with the community from that game and kinda picking up where it left off. I’m doing several things to differentiate Volo from B.A.S.E., the biggest part being full simulation of your body, instead of just relying on premade animations. The result should look and feel much more convincing and authentic. :)
See their forums (with Volo’s own section) here.
27/07/2010 at 12:25 Malcolm says:
cf: Crackdown 2
(I think my last 2 posts here have referenced XBox games, for which I apologise. I played Lego Harry Potter on the PC and Starcraft 2 is downloading at home, honest!)
27/07/2010 at 12:55 Ian says:
We’re going to need more proof than that, I’m afraid. Or we’re sending Kieron round to sort you out.
27/07/2010 at 16:01 Marcin says:
Yeah, this is what the Crackdown 2 wingsuits *should* have been like.
Looks great and very intuitive with regard to flight dynamics, but I am left to wonder – where will the game be? I.e. where will the challenge lie? Midair rings, terrain obstacles, flying islands, meteor storms, other?
27/07/2010 at 20:04 Tinus says:
@Marcin: After the mechanics of flight are solidified I’ll be working on adding gametypes. At first you’ll see the standard races, timetrails, checkpoint stuff. After that I want to go nuts on level design, presenting some impossible geometry to platform through. I also want to experiment with things like capture the flag, which could be possible by placing humongous upward-blowing thermals at key points through a level, allowing you to fly forever.
Basically, the core character’s mechanics will stay pretty true to life, but everything else around them will be designed to get the most of them. :)
27/07/2010 at 22:07 Phydaux says:
I love the wingsuit in crackdown 2. A nice touch to a brilliant game. Pity it comes along too late in the game to be really useful.
27/07/2010 at 12:30 tome says:
Oh, yes.
27/07/2010 at 12:31 Baboonanza says:
If you love wingsuits I suggest you watch this Channel 4 documentary :
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/daredevils/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1
The guy doesn’t just wingsuit, he tries to fly as close to stuff as possible while flying at astonishing speeds. It’s utterly amazing!
27/07/2010 at 12:43 tome says:
Unavailable outside the UK. Scrambleface.
27/07/2010 at 12:50 Isometric says:
Wingsuits! Woo!
27/07/2010 at 12:58 Rob Lang says:
Although not a wingsuit, the parachute/sky dive combo in Just Cause 2 acts like a wingsuit.
28/07/2010 at 01:31 TeeJay says:
I found trying to “fly” the parachute up mountainsides using the zip line to keep gaining extra speed/lift was maybe the most enjoyable part of the game. The “dynamics” (?) involved also seemed more subtle and interesting than the helicopters and planes in the game.
27/07/2010 at 14:40 UsF says:
This video has somehow reminded me of Vertigo (climbing game), which I think was not released yet. Do you have any news about that? I miss it :<
27/07/2010 at 15:18 Lambchops says:
I remember this from the forum post good to see it’s coming along nicely.
27/07/2010 at 15:37 Zombat says:
Was anyone else reminded of MDK?
27/07/2010 at 17:39 Berzee says:
I was super interested.
Then I saw the rings and…”oh, it’s Superman for 64!”
Which is unfair, because Pilot Wings had rings too and that game was rather good.
But there you go. I hate the midair rings, I hate them.
I am still interested.
27/07/2010 at 20:38 Urthman says:
This looks awesome.
Am I a bad person for wanting to see the rag doll plow into one of those peaks at high speed?
27/07/2010 at 21:50 Tinus says:
No, that’s what every other person rightfully asks. I’ll compile a crash video later on. :)
28/07/2010 at 00:59 jordanwise says:
Martijn Zandvliet is the nicest man in the world. I’ve just picked his brains in an email and he’s been incredibly informative. Go wingsuits!
28/07/2010 at 02:24 Lobstarooo says:
Actually, Tinus is a friend of mine, and RPS covering his game is the best thing since sliced bread. Awesome! Please, do keep on following his progress. This is gonna be big.
17/08/2010 at 12:18 Sven "Wingsuit Base jumper" Huckson says:
Dude, awesome video, I always wanted to feel exactly like that.