Jet Scalawag: The King of Shooters

TL;DR
Jet Scalawag: The King of Shooters is a 3D space shooter inspired by Star Fox, Wing Commander, Tie Fighter, Descent, Freespace and more. Ok I'll say it - Everspace, Chorus, Star Wars Battlefront and Squadrons are also great, but you really should check out my game if you believe in the Indie Solo Dev* spirit! (And it's really frickin' awesome, besides!!!)

*Well, director/solo programmer is more accurate. I had a lot of help!

(Disclaimer: videos and graphics on this page are pretty old and janky. That trailer especially doesn't make any sense whatsoever, sigh. Its difficult to keep up when, you know, you're working on a video game.)

THE ANCIENT LORE OF YORE
The Space Shooter. One of the earliest video game genres ever made.

A single brave star fighter faces an impossible enemy - a vast, technologically superior alien armada hell-bent on the complete and utter destruction of humanity. He rushes to meet them head-on, and incredibly, with pure skill and determination, decimates wave after wave of their ranks, before ultimately striking them down in a final epic battle.

But who is this brave star fighter? What makes him so formidable? And what drives him to push past his limits to conquer the unconquerable?

In Jet Scalawag: The King of Shooters, you live the story through the star fighter's own eyes. As Jet Scalawag, you will embark on a warrior's path of self-discovery, break through overwhelming adversity, and ultimately realize your full potential and place in the universe.

All while kicking some serious alien butt.

JET-FUELED GAMEPLAY
Jet Scalawag: The King of Shooters is a 3D rendition and retelling of the classic space shooters you played of olde. It features visceral in-your-face combat using a lethal arsenal of weapons familiar to the genre.

Featuring an epic storyline and a campaign that responds to your decisions, Jet Scalawag is all about action and dogfighting.

There is no asteroid mining, no base building, and no excursionary traipsing of galactic tourist destinations. You gather resources, but only that which you pry from the smoldering husks of your fallen enemies.

Instead, you do battle in a dizzying variety of exotic environments: from luminous space nebulae to treacherous asteroid fields, from wind-blasted planetary atmospheres to the boiling depths of prehistoric oceans. There will be time travel and forays to microscopic and subatomic realms. There will be much to see, many whimsical surprises await!

RELENTLESS PROGRESSION
Jet Scalawag will grow irrepressibly stronger as he progresses through his hero's journey, and acquire new weapons, abilities, and forms to face his foes. Wield rapid-fire lasers or take down shielded enemies with machine-gun fire and homing missiles. Transform from an agile fighter into an armored juggernaut in the blink of an eye. Will you be able to activate Jet Scalawag's Ultimate Legendary Superweapon™??

(Hint: The devastating 10-shot Kali Nova superweapon below is FAR from it!)

KILLER KONTROLS
Inertia? Physics?? Jet Scalawag moves when he likes, turns how he likes, and shoots down what he likes, physics be DARNED, dagnabbit! You can always put a dampener on controls via the options menu, but where's the fun in that?

Go fast and furious, without limits, without guilt. Use every weapon at your disposal to land killer kombos, I mean combos, on your enemies. Your mind and your ship are ONE.

The game can currently be played using an Xinput compatible controller, or a mouse+keyboard (currently has the best accuracy, but no surprises there).

Will be testing with a variety of input devices, flightsticks, hotas, etc. even eyetrackers, as soon as I can get my hands on them.

CREDITS
My mom and my family for believing in me, and putting up with me

Programming and putting it all together: Jet Scalawag (that's me!)

3D models, including a Jet Scalawag skin: Mehmet Pinarci (Sendercorp)

3D models, and another Jet Scalawag skin: Tyler Gibbons (ModelWorks)

Voice of Jet Scalawag: Jimmy Dean

Voice of The Forth: Kevin Rodrigues

Voices of Earth Command: Sean Madson

Voice of the Little Girl: Kyra Peralta

Miscellaneous voices and sound effects: Griffin Guge (Griffin Guge Audio)

2D art: Kin

2D User Interface: Lance Ervin Villena

Trailer music: Christopher Cathbad (Cathbad Music)

Battle music: André Buttler

Battle music: Rived Fall

Battle music: Zach Fitzgerald (Zach Fitzgerald Music)

Battle music: Van Eymery

Battle music: Jarin Watkins

Customized Screen Indicator asset: Enes Can (HyproX)

Mechanical Squid: Боевой Многоходовочник (combat multi-mover)

Free flying saucer "Spaceship" on TurboSquid: Paldex
Free "Hextraction" spaceship on OpenGameArt: ComboMash

SHOUT OUTS
Mark Acero - my MEE Games gameplay mechanics mentor

Ryan Lastimosa - my MEE Games art and visual design mentor

Mikael Frithiof - my MEE Games music and sound design mentor

Ismail Kemal Ciftcioglu aka Darth Velarion (Velarion) - my (unpaid) Technical Consultant!

Arghanion (Arghanion's Puzzlebox) - great space environments and tutorials

Akhil VS (UnrealCG) - great fx and tutorials

mookie - fantastic UE5 plugins SixDOF and EasyFlight

Juris "ThunderOwl" Perkons (ThunderOwl Studios) - makes great sci-fi models

Ali Ismail (Ebal Studios) - also makes great sci-fi assets

Leo Guinid - possibly the Philippine voice of Jet Scalawag!

Le Gonz - for helping us out when we were down

GameOps and MEE Games - for including us in their gamedev incubation and mentorship program

Epic Games - for making a kick-ass game engine

Godot Engine - for giving Jet Scalawag his first home. Will DEFINITELY make more games on this platform!
... and countless others. There is nothing "solo" about solo development, at least not for this game.

Oh, and bonus shout out to Earth, Wind & Fire for inspiring this Disco Stage. Let's Groove Tonight!!

A SCALAWAG'S PLEDGE
This game (and all my future games) will NEVER support NFTs or microtransactions/DLCs that are predatory in nature. I may release freebies, but NEVER in the F2P/P2W framework

I will continue to polish and add to the base game over the years, creating new environments, new enemies, new weapons and new features

I will have DLC expansion packs, but only with substantially new content. I may offer cosmetic DLCs, but these will be purely optional and not P2W

I have planned spin-offs in the Jet Scalawag franchise in these genres: combat racing, 2D shmup, fighting (versus), beat 'em up/slasher, RTS , RPG and visual novel (well maybe not visual novel)

If I can get my hands on some development hardware, I will make versions on other platforms: Playstation, Xbox, Switch, Linux, Mac. Will also ensure Steam Deck compatibility

I also intend to create scaled-down versions for mobile (Android and iPhone) using Godot. Smart TVs are a possible candidate, but off the table are smart fridges, toasters, microwaves, vehicle dashboards, etc. (yes, Doom is great)

I intend to support some form of network play in the future: coop, deathmatch and a take on capture-the-flag. Hopefully, with cross-play on the systems listed above

I also intend to support more exotic hardware setups in the future: flightsticks and hotas, eyetrackers, VR, multiple monitors and cockpit simulators. See you in the future!!!