Dogfighter (2010 computer game)
Encyclopedia
DogFighter is an action
aerial combat video game for Microsoft Windows
.
Developed by independent video game developer
Dark Water Studios based in Derry
, Northern Ireland
, DogFighter is digitally distributed through Valve
's Steam game client for Windows. The game was released on June 14, 2010.
DogFighter is the first commercial video game title to use the Instinct Engine.
One hundred-twenty dedicated servers and 20 dedicated demo servers went online on August 17, 2010, hosted by Multiplay.
Players can play against up to 15 opponents in multiplayer game modes such as "DeathMatch", "Team DeathMatch" and "Capture the Flag". Single-player modes include a "Tournament" mode where the player can achieve medals for events completed and "Survivor" where they can battle against waves of enemy craft.
A "Lone Wolf" game mode was released with update version 1.0.2.4 in both single-player and multi-player game modes.
A teaser trailer, released via YouTube
on February 4, 2010 showcased a variety of craft and environments.
Featuring two new community-member made craft, the Harbinger, and the Vanguard. Italian language support was also added.
17 March 2011
Aces High - featuring a new map Aces High and two new craft, the AngelFire, and a DogFighter community-member made plane, the KillerBee.
25 October 2010
Call to Arms - featuring a new map The Old Gods and a new craft, the Mongoose
DogFighter uses Instinct Studio 2.0, a cross-platform middleware
solution created by Instinct Technology. The game also uses nVidia PhysX
, Scaleform
and Fmod
.
Key technological features used in DogFighter include deferred rendering
and seamless landscape/outdoor to indoor environment technologies.
Christopher Holt, Editor at GamePro awarded DogFighter four out of five stars, stating it was "Fun, frenetic multiplayer combat; great aircraft roster and interesting arsenal fc; cool maps."
It earned a score of 7.0 / 10.0 from video games blog RipTen, who cited its strong points as "Fun plane combat done the right way" and "Planes and weapons all mix and balance perfectly".
Gamer's guide website Kotaku
praised DogFighter as being "Team Fortress 2 with an Air Supremacy Mode" as well as commenting positively on the games highly-responsive control system, graphics and simple premise.
Video game news website GamingBolt.com commented positively on DogFighters overall visual aesthetic and extremely detailed plane models as well as its unique power-ups such as realguns and heat-seeking rockets.
DogFighter was named sixth in the top ten games, by unit sales, for October 2010 on digital distribution platform Steam
for selling 67,000 copies.
German technology and games website Zockon gave the German retail release of DogFighter 7.0/10.0, citing amongst its strengths a good mix of action and simulation controls, nicely built 3D models, strong mix of game modes and uncomplicated online multiplayer.
British game reviewer and e-sports commentator Total Biscuit had high praise for DogFighter but cited invisible planes as one of its downfalls.
In April 2011, Moscow-based games publisher Logrus released a boxed retail version of DogFighter. This version includes full localisation support for Russian-speaking countries.
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
aerial combat video game for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
.
Developed by independent video game developer
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
Dark Water Studios based in Derry
Derry
Derry or Londonderry is the second-biggest city in Northern Ireland and the fourth-biggest city on the island of Ireland. The name Derry is an anglicisation of the Irish name Doire or Doire Cholmcille meaning "oak-wood of Colmcille"...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, DogFighter is digitally distributed through Valve
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
's Steam game client for Windows. The game was released on June 14, 2010.
DogFighter is the first commercial video game title to use the Instinct Engine.
One hundred-twenty dedicated servers and 20 dedicated demo servers went online on August 17, 2010, hosted by Multiplay.
Gameplay
DogFighter consists of single-player levels as well as multiplayer maps where players congregate online to play against one another. DogFighter features different aircraft varying in speed, agility and defense capabilities.Players can play against up to 15 opponents in multiplayer game modes such as "DeathMatch", "Team DeathMatch" and "Capture the Flag". Single-player modes include a "Tournament" mode where the player can achieve medals for events completed and "Survivor" where they can battle against waves of enemy craft.
A "Lone Wolf" game mode was released with update version 1.0.2.4 in both single-player and multi-player game modes.
A teaser trailer, released via YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
on February 4, 2010 showcased a variety of craft and environments.
Content updates
14 June 2011Featuring two new community-member made craft, the Harbinger, and the Vanguard. Italian language support was also added.
17 March 2011
Aces High - featuring a new map Aces High and two new craft, the AngelFire, and a DogFighter community-member made plane, the KillerBee.
25 October 2010
Call to Arms - featuring a new map The Old Gods and a new craft, the Mongoose
Technology
DogFighter includes Steam Achievements and Steam Cloud.DogFighter uses Instinct Studio 2.0, a cross-platform middleware
Middleware
Middleware is computer software that connects software components or people and their applications. The software consists of a set of services that allows multiple processes running on one or more machines to interact...
solution created by Instinct Technology. The game also uses nVidia PhysX
PhysX
PhysX is a proprietary realtime physics engine middleware SDK developed by Ageia with the purchase of ETH Zurich spin-off NovodeX in 2004...
, Scaleform
Scaleform
Scaleform Corporation is a developer providing middleware for use in the video game industry. Their most recent software, Scaleform GFx, is a vector graphics rendering engine used to display Adobe Flash-based user interfaces, HUDs, and animated textures for games for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X,...
and Fmod
FMOD
FMOD is a proprietary audio library made by Firelight Technologies that plays music files of diverse formats on many different operating system platforms, used in games and software applications to provide audio functionality....
.
Key technological features used in DogFighter include deferred rendering
Deferred shading
In computer graphics, deferred shading is a three dimensional shading technique in which the result of a shading algorithm is calculated by dividing it into smaller parts that are written to intermediate buffer storage to be combined later, instead of immediately writing the shader result to the...
and seamless landscape/outdoor to indoor environment technologies.
Reception
DogFighter was well received. PC game review site GameRamble.com awarded DogFighter a score of 9.0 / 10.0, praising it for having "All the fun and maddness of a first person shooter but with added dimensions" as well as having stylist and detailed graphics.Christopher Holt, Editor at GamePro awarded DogFighter four out of five stars, stating it was "Fun, frenetic multiplayer combat; great aircraft roster and interesting arsenal fc; cool maps."
It earned a score of 7.0 / 10.0 from video games blog RipTen, who cited its strong points as "Fun plane combat done the right way" and "Planes and weapons all mix and balance perfectly".
Gamer's guide website Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
praised DogFighter as being "Team Fortress 2 with an Air Supremacy Mode" as well as commenting positively on the games highly-responsive control system, graphics and simple premise.
Video game news website GamingBolt.com commented positively on DogFighters overall visual aesthetic and extremely detailed plane models as well as its unique power-ups such as realguns and heat-seeking rockets.
DogFighter was named sixth in the top ten games, by unit sales, for October 2010 on digital distribution platform Steam
Steam
Steam is the technical term for water vapor, the gaseous phase of water, which is formed when water boils. In common language it is often used to refer to the visible mist of water droplets formed as this water vapor condenses in the presence of cooler air...
for selling 67,000 copies.
German technology and games website Zockon gave the German retail release of DogFighter 7.0/10.0, citing amongst its strengths a good mix of action and simulation controls, nicely built 3D models, strong mix of game modes and uncomplicated online multiplayer.
British game reviewer and e-sports commentator Total Biscuit had high praise for DogFighter but cited invisible planes as one of its downfalls.
Retail release
In March 2011, Berlin-based games publisher Just A Game released a boxed retail version of DogFighter. This version included an exclusive craft, "The Badger", and full localisation support for German-speaking countries.In April 2011, Moscow-based games publisher Logrus released a boxed retail version of DogFighter. This version includes full localisation support for Russian-speaking countries.
External links
- Official DogFighter website
- DogFighter store page on Steam
- Dark Water Studios website
- Dogfighter gameplay trailer on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
- DogFighter on Metacritic