I am taking a different approach to the menus in the next version of Galactic Wars (formally known as Galactic Wars 3). The previous version (1.3) used a new sliding menu that shifted to seemingly random points on an image and displayed some text for the point. It made sense since Galactic Wars does take place in space (each menu choice was a star in a galaxy). However the graphics required to do this were a big drawback, even on the Zune. This is because you can’t really have a low resolution image and have to make it much larger than the screen to get the sliding effect to look good. Because the game is going to the PC and Xbox 360 platforms, to carry over this idea would require even bigger images. In the end, it just doesn’t make sense.

So the new idea is to keep it sleak and simple. On the PC/360 version the menus will drill down a little differently but the idea is the same.

Today I am releasing the very first full version of Galactic Wars 3 v1.2 for the Zune. This version contains several bug fixes and more functionality. Most importantly, it is the first version to include high scores tracking with name input. It is also the first version to allow you to switch control schemes between the touch pad and the DPad though for simplicity’s sake all UI is controlled by the DPad regardless. I have also moved the content loading upfront so starting a new game takes much less time. Last but not least, this version supports the Andromeda (Hard) gameplay mode which gives you more points for a kill but is much harder.

As always, comments, critiques and suggestions are always welcomed!

Galactic Wars 3 (28371) - 2.58 MB