Space game mash-up

Hemi Ormsby.

A love of science fiction, gaming, interactive technologies and trading cards coupled with a flair for drawing spaceships gave University of Waikato computer graphic design student Hemi Ormsby the idea for his degree show project.

He has created an interactive computer game set on the moon which also involves collectible cards.

“I got all my interests and mashed them into one,” says Mr Ormsby, who’s in the final semester of his Bachelor of Computer Graphic Design degree.

“I had all these awesome spaceships I’d drawn and thought I can turn these into a game. The simplest way to describe it is Yu-Gi-Oh mixed with the arcade shooting game Raiden.”

Called Helios, the game is set in the future at a time when the world is dependent on supplies of helium from the moon for its fusion energy needs. But wicked corporate concerns have taken control of the moon and are withholding energies from the Earth and threaten its future, so it’s up to the player to pilot the helioscraft (spaceship) and head off to liberate the moon and save the world.

So far, the game is fairly standard, but Mr Ormsby’s twist is that it comes with a starter deck of cards to customise the helioscraft with different equipment and abilities.

The player can place up to four cards at a time on a special console, or tangible user interface, adding special wing attachments that allow the spaceship extra manoeuvrability, boosters for extra speed, and weapons of different sizes.

“It is all about customisation and strategy,” says Mr Ormsby.

“Some cards give you better dodge speed, other cards give you big weapons, but with those it can be hard to pilot the helioscraft between the mines.”

Mr Ormsby used open source software, reacTIVision and Flash, to create the game, and has made a version that can be played on a PC, although currently it needs the special console in order to make use of the cards.

“I’m overambitious, and it’s hard to fit everything you want to do in one game,” he says.

“I’d previously done an assignment on interactives otherwise I’d never have thought I could tackle anything like this, but I got huge satisfaction from creating code that really works.”

Mr Ormsby completes his degree this year, and is looking to gain commercial design experience.

“I’d love to do interactive media and design, not just games,” he says.

“If you have a passion for something then you put everything into it.”