Indie Highlight 003: Nova Squadron, Supermaneuver
- Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen
- Aug 16
- 11 min read
Updated: Aug 16
Introducing an early project, touching base with a familiar face
Hey howa' doin, FlyAwayNow here again with the third indie highlight article, brought and produced by yours truly.
Nova Squadron and Supermaneuver are the next of the indie flight games we'll be looking at today: One of them has been a known contributor to Skyward Flight Media, and as for the other, it's their first time through! So before we get to it with direct questions, I'll lay both of them out from the top down:
Nova Squadron, the synthwavy, rougelity, Jupitery acelike, whose demo has been available and continued to be updated as it works up to its 1.0 is a game that I have known ever since my own work Project Wingman: the neighbor over the fence, and in many ways still a few steps ahead with ideas and notions about roguelite integration and location and even flight characteristics that comes with the higher sci-fi setting. Once you know what Nova Squadron is, you'll always recognize it when you see it between floating installations, aerial navies, and the tooth and nail rougelite climb that is ripe for the taking in our genre.
Speaking of unmistakable, Supermaneuver at a casual glance, for Ace Combat fans out there, you will know the aesthetic immediately: This project by developer Gabriel Solon is, and I don't use this term lightly, the spiritual successor to the Ace Combat game made at the End of History; the game that confronted the oncoming future of technology. The internet was a thing not yet truly known of its nature and formation, and in that surreal weave of danger, War, as a constant fixture, was made partner with it. Supermaneuver then therefore will take us back in time to the days of the Electrosphere.
As a general disclaimer before we get underway, I am a producer on both of these games, as I was on Project Aggressors in the prior article, and in games to come, hence my ability to provide you these insights!
However, the questions I ask are not those offered by these developers, and some of them are even interrogative in nature; the project of this genre demands that all of us collectively ask these questions, so that, in some very funny form of the Socratic method, we get closer and closer to a more perfect union of plane games.
Nova Squadron
Who are you?
Hey, I’m Clara, I’ve been a professional games programmer for 4 years and, in my spare time, lead developer of Nova Squadron for 5.
Why are you making this game and this type of game?
Back when I was in my first year of university, we had an assignment to make a small game where you flew a plane in 3D; we were only given a few weeks to make it, so I wasn’t able to fit in everything I would’ve liked. The desire to revisit that assignment and do everything I originally hoped to (and, dare I say, some feature creep) eventually blossomed into Nova Squadron a couple of years later!
What do you want this game to be?
I always aim for Nova Squadron to be “baby’s first acelike”, so to speak - something with a solid tutorial and forgiving mechanics. It’s definitely not there yet, but I think some of this ethos shines through with things like the shield generator and fire support request system. I’m looking to start simpler than other games, and gradually build the player up to higher complexity gameplay.
Acelike Rougelite, then.
As opposed to acelite roguelikes, where the enemy planes can only move when you move.”
This does raise a few questions in me then, what do you consider that simple floor, and what do you consider higher complexity than that?
I’d say the core of it is that the player is free to make mistakes without being punished for them. For example, in most games where you’re in a plane, if you fly into something, that’s the end of the mission - not pulling up at the right time resets you back to the start, something I think we’re all painfully familiar with from ground-attack missions! The floor I want to start the player at is one where they’re free to learn the ropes and figure out how to control a plane in 3D space, and the game will give them the breathing room they need to do that. Then the complexity builds up as I stack more on top (weak points on ships requiring specific attack vectors, roguelite upgrades adding extra mechanics, and so on).
Well, if we go all the way to the very end of the campaign, you’re going to have to fly through a tunnel. In fact you’re going to have to dogfight inside one! The more upgrades you stack on, the twitchier and less easy to control your plane’s going to be; and the most powerful upgrades are ones with trade-offs that force you to hone your playstyle. There’s an upgrade with a trade-off that prevents your shield from recharging until you get a kill, for instance, which forces the player to play more aggressively and deal more damage to stay in the fight.
Nova Squadron is also mentioned to have a campaign, how does that work into the rougelite formula?
In the demo, you can work your way through a series of 4 missions - for the first three, you can pick what type of mission you sortie into from the tactical map, but the fourth is fixed. A demo run always ends with a massive naval battle between your forces and the enemy, which is then interrupted by the appearance of Sceptre Squadron (or a certain suborbital superweapon...but that's a secret!)
The full campaign takes this and expands it into a series of 3 mission sets, each 3-4 missions long, each ending with a fixed climactic battle. In the first set, you'll be ambushed with a random boss enemy; in the second, you'll chase after that same boss and eliminate it; in the third set, you'll charge deep into enemy territory for the final battle. We're talking tunnels, superplanes, antimatter reactors, the works!
And everything you accomplish in each campaign run before your plane explodes will then link back into Renown you can use to request R&D on your planes, as well as conversations and bonds with your wingmen, allies, and even certain enemies.
What type of tone and writing are you looking for in this story then?
We’re looking to make something light-hearted and filled with goofy over-the-top moments, but still with enough stakes and internal logic to keep you invested! To give an example, Nova 5 <Kinetic> got their callsign by taking out a battleship via a controlled orbital dive at Mach 8, using their shields to absorb the impact. That’s the kind of “logical silliness” we’re pursuing.
I’ve brought in a second team member to make sure we absolutely nail this. Robin is busy writing the script and in-game archives and polishing them until they sparkle. Some of her work’s already in the demo - she rewrote all of the mission briefings for 0.4.0!
How's development going since we've heard from you last?
Slow and steady! I’ve been taking some of the oldest systems in the game, reworking them, and locking in their “final” versions - so with each new feature I add, it gets exponentially easier to add the next. The patch I’m working on now for July leverages all of those systems to add the craziest missions and weapons I’ve made so far, and moving on from there on I’ve got my eyes set on the metagame outside of regular missions - collectible dossiers, interactions with other members of your squadron and so on.
Are there any gameplay decisions that you're on the fence about adding in?
The core gameplay loop is pretty much set in stone at this point, I think (in design, at least - there’ll be a lot of changes to the demo in 0.5.0!) What’s still up for debate is a lot of the weirder prototype upgrades and mission objectives. Train heists, EMP fields, that kind of thing.
What do you say about people who are otherwise turned away from NS due to its visual identity?
Please bear with me, I’m working on it! 0.4.0 kicked off the visual overhaul with new shields and exhausts, and I’m moving on to clouds and explosions soon. Or cloudy explosions, maybe. Best of both worlds!
It's been some time since Nova Squadron has been out there, and, as a dev myself, I know that the core of the vision can often change as we keep hammering away at the final creation. Has Nova Squadron changed fundamentally from what you wanted originally? Do you know where you're going?
I think the core of the game’s stayed where it is since the first 6 months of development back in 2020 - peripheral design elements move around and get replaced, sure, but nothing that would have huge ramifications across the entire game. The biggest change is probably the narrative push you’re going to see in 0.5.0: a fake PC you can send messages with, read bizarre in-universe propaganda articles on, and…crash using terminal commands?
The Song of Eventide’s IT department would prefer it if you didn’t do that last bit though. You’ll get some pretty irritated messages from them if you’re not careful!
Some developers have limited time demos to show their progress. The Nova Squadron demo has been consistently available for over half a year. What do you think are some of the benefits of maintaining a long-term publicly accessible demo?
One of the main reasons to have a limited time demo is to build hype and fear of missing out - more people play the demo short-term because they don’t want to lose their chance to do so.
I don’t want to do any of that.
NS is a long-term project. I don’t want to build up a load of hype in a week and then leave people lost and confused for the next 3 years - I want to have you all along for the ride with me, and I want you to have faith that yes, this game is actually going to come out one day! Each update brings us one step closer to that lovely 1.0.0 release.
What has been the biggest blocker for you in developing the game after all this time?
Exactly that, really - time! I’m a programmer by trade and I don’t think anything could have prepared me for how long it takes to make all the models, textures, UI art and music that actually goes into a game. I’ll get there though. It’ll happen.
Any closing thoughts or things you want to say?
I hope you like androids and fluffy ears. Not at the same time though.
Supermaneuver
Who are you, why are you making your game and this type of game, and what do you want this game to be? All in one go!
I'm a 32 year old Brazilian gamedev. I've always had a passion for game design since forever, particularly vehicle based games. I grew up playing LOTS of Gran Turismo and Ace Combat on the PSX. I got this interest in airplane games when my dad got Ace Combat 3 Electrosphere and fell in love with everything. Ended up playing the game way more often than him. I remember some words from Stephen King that went something like this: "don't write down your ideas as you could end up clinging to bad ones, good ideas stay in your head and keep returning". I personally don’t think it's bad to write your ideas down, but he has a great point about good ones. This Simcade style flight combat game based on Ace Combat 3's design is one such idea.
My plan for Supermaneuver is to pick the whole aesthetic of Ace Combat 3, borrow ideas from the whole series and other games like Project Wingman, deliver the political intrigue Ace Combat is known for and make a fast paced action game that requires careful plane and loadout planning.
Before you were developing Supermaneuver, you were a 3D modeler who often posted your work for sale for other developers. How did you get into that?
It's an interesting story as I started at 12 when I downloaded blender to make games, didn't even know what modeling was, and things evolved from there, but my focus was always modeling in the context of gamedev. I still sell some premade models on cgtrader and used to do some freelancing on Wildcat.
Why get into game dev after that?
I think the best ideas to invest on are the ones that keep getting back to you, so I've decided to fully turn to gamedev as I felt confident in my dev skills and always wanted to do a plane game. You can check my channel to see some other game projects I did before.
How long have you been working on Supermaneuver?
It's a complicated question to answer because the dev work was really on and off for a year as I was doing a lot of freelancing and was really unfocused - depression can be a b**ch. But then I realized that the passion project was the way forward and the support/guidance you offered really helped a lot.
Are you worried about people who are turned away from the "older" style of graphics that Supermaneuver has?
It definitely would help to have shiny visuals like Project Red Sun on PW but Supermaneuver is first and foremost about my retro vision so this doesn't concern me too much. The interesting thing is that the gameplay itself is quick and modern.
What makes Ace Combat 3 look like Ace Combat 3 if I can ask, then? Because you have the aesthetic nailed down from what you've shared.
The things that make Ace Combat 3 are great pixel art for the planes but also, more importantly, the quality of the terrain sprites. The terrain was the main reason I chose the second mission from Electrosphere, “Bravado”. It has a simple (or I thought it was) ground sprite texture variety. It's "just" Rock and Forest. Of course when I started actually making my terrain I came to the realization that there were quite a few types of in-betweens and variations, so that was neat.
While I was studying the map geometry I also noticed how restrictive the map's design was without being noticeable. There are some set tile elevations that repeat, the mountains have the same geometry repeated but it's all convincing thanks to good texture design and limited draw distance. Adding a lake to the Bravado equivalent mission in my game wasn't easy because of that. My reference didn't have this lake, so I had to get creative and load up the "Guardian Angel" mission that had islands transitioning into the sea so I could study the transition.
Color balance was another very important step as every level has a characteristic tint, usually green or blueish, so I had to make sure all sprites were in the same theme.
I feel like if it wasn't for the work of Krishty my job would've been at least 10 times harder. They ripped and organized all the textures and models/maps from Ace Combat 3 neatly in a way that made the process of studying and replicating the results far easier.
How close is Supermaneuver to Ace Combat gameplay?
That is a dicy one because I'm inspired by the whole franchise but to be honest, I think it's an Ace Combat/Project Wingman Frankenstein. It has the agility from PW but the equipment selection will probably be simpler akin to Ace Combat Zero. Both games are about mercenaries, you can notice a pattern of taste there.
Is there anything different you're doing with the flight model and gameplay you're doing, or do you want it to be close to Ace Combat?
I don't really intend on mimicking anything specific as the fun factor will be king. The same can't be said about the visuals though. I’m really trying to emulate that Ace Combat 3 look.
Would you want to share a bit more about your idea on the world or the story of this game?
The story is just a rough draft at the moment as making a game involves so much work on so many different areas, but what I can say now is that it's a fictional world like Strangereal and is focused on mercenaries. Two rival companies to be precise but
I don’t want to say too much as these things change a lot.
Are you interested in putting out a public demo? And if so, when?
It's a secret shhh.
Any closing thoughts or things you want to say?
Again, shoutout to Krishty for ripping and organizing the Ace Combat 3 files, Supermaneuver probably wouldn't exist. And shoutout to you Matt for the huge support.
About the Interviewer
Matthew "FlyAwayNow" Nguyen
Producer, writer, incidentally personified online as a rooster. One of the three main developers of Project Wingman and now working across the board on several other combat flight videogames, audioplays, podcasts, and books. Advocate for indie creators, fanfiction, and critical analysis of what you love. [Bluesky / Linkedin / X.com]
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