A new 3D wireframe tank game has just been announced for the Virtual Boy. This is being developed by the VUEngine team of PlanetVB with help from VB community member VirtuousRage doing some of the 3D art. The game is being funded by Kevin Mellott (RetroOnyx) via profits from HyperFlash32 and HyperBoy ROM cart sales – So, of course, the game is playable on original hardware via those carts (or any with 32MB support), as well as emulation. There’s currently a demo available, with two more phases of development being planned before final release. Check out more info below the links:
Kevin’s Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/posts/virtual-warzone-71952414
Team VUEngine: https://www.patreon.com/VUEngine
While Virtual WarZone is a wireframe game, the team is mixing wireframe and rendering. Controls are as follows: The left trigger fires a machine gun, the right trigger a missile. Missiles need to be charged first by holding down the right trigger. There are indicators on screen that will light up when the missile is ready. Machine guns can also overheat with an on-screen indicator. The A/B button on the controller allow 3D depth adjustment. Left d-pad is the movement of forward/back/left/right. The right d-pad allows strafing with left/right and angling of guns with up/down.
On-screen, the tank icons in the top center of the screen represent how many lives you have left. There’s also a center radar showing enemy locations. There are some physics in the game relating to tank movement and guns/missles and tanks have basic AI. The demo is a points based game but eventually 2 player mode may be added. VB rumble support is also planned.
If you’d like to hear more from Kevin, please check out the interview we did awhile back, as well as the livestream demoing all the awesome new accessories and homebrew games in the Virtual Boy scene!
