Screaming Valkyries Overview

Screaming Valkyries is a delightful (because I said so) little project brought to you by Warped Productions. It is a 2D side scroller (oh no, not again!) where starships, fighters, robots and giant aliens do battle. The game takes place in the Macross universe (the predecessor of Robotech here in North America), where the forces of UN Spacy protect humanity from the giant warrior race known as the Zentradi.

Become a Valkyrie pilot and take the war against the aliens to the stars. Transform your Valkyrie to Battloid, Gerwalk, or Fighter mode and fire all weapons to dispense heavy-handed justice to the evil invaders.

This game has many outstanding (okay, mediocre at best) features to enhance your gameplaying experience. Yeah, I know it is not a 3D hardware-accelerated, first person space simulator, but still, it can be pretty fun.

An alpha demo is currently available.

Screenshots

Planned Features

Blow stuff up

Lots of it. Use gunpods. Use missiles. Because that's what the aliens will be using to blow you up. Don't worry about feeling guilty. They had it coming. They tried to destroy mankind...

Multiple Variable Fighters

Players can select which type of Valkyrie they wish to fly. The current list includes the VF-1X Plus Valkyrie, the VF-11 Thunderbolt, and the VF-19 Excalibur. However, more will likely be added if there is enough demand, and I feel like it.

Different missions types

This game is not just a mindless shoot'em up. Although that is the best part. But you are also be able to fly a variety of different missions, such as escort duty (for things such as a Cat's Eye recon plane, or a Star Goose shuttle), raids, and rescues, along with the usual body count-a-thon.

Mission Generator

Well, there are only so many things you can do with a 2D side scroller, but you will be able to set up some missions of your own by tweeking certain parameters.

Control over Valkyrie modes

For some reason, most other Macross-type games I've played have some odd system for selecting modes. Such as the game picking the mode for you, or having to get powerups. Not with Screaming Valkyries baby! You can switch modes from battloid robot (yeah, I know in Macross it's Battroid, but I could never get used to that), to Gerwalk half plane/half robot, to fighter whenever your little heart desires.

Story

Background

High above South Ataria Island in the South Pacific, a phenomenal event occurred in the skies that would change mankind forever. A gigantic starship dropped of hyperspace, and began an uncontrolled decent towards the Earth. During its fall from the sky, the resulting shockwave rippled across the world, destroying cities and killing millions. The Alien Starship had arrived.

The United Nations begins the slow, frustrating process of reconstructing the craft, and unraveling the mystereous technologies it contained. New weapons were developed along with space cruisers and machines called mecha.

The starship was a warship created by a race of beings that formed the first sentient society in the universe, the Protoculture. Over the eons their civilization spread throughout the universe. Using genetics, the Protoculture created a race of giant warrior clones called the Zentradi. They used the Zentradi increase their sphere of influence throughout the universe.

The Protoculture began experiments to create a advanced version of the Zentradi. While doing this, something went wrong. The experimental race was more powerful than the Protoculture had anticipated, and they could not control their new creation. This new race called themselves the Protodeviln. The Protodeviln were able to brainwash both citizens of the Protoculture and their Zentradi warriors. These brainwashed beings formed the Protodevilns Supervision Army. Within a year, the Protoculture was all but extinct. The Zentradi and the Supervsion Army battled throughout eons. During one battle the Zentradi defeat a Supervision Army fleet, but one starship escapes destruction by entering hyperspace...

After ten long years of reconstructing the Alien Starship, renamed the SDF-1 Macross, the activation of the ships great engines alerted the Zentradi to the vessel's presence on Earth. Upon arrival, they discover that Earth's defenders have reconstructed the Supervision Army ship and have pieced together a vast amount of Overtechnology.

During the initial battle, the crew of the SDF-1 attempts a hyperspace fold operation over South Ataria Island to just beyond the dark side of the moon. Due to the proximity to the surface, the SDF-1, along with the entire island, is transported to the far side of Pluto. It was then discovered that the fold generators had disappeared into thin air. As a result, the SDF-1 had to endure a months long journey back to Earth, fighting off the Zentradi the along the way. The SDF-1 arrives back on Earth and brings the Zentradi fleet with it. The Zentradi continue their attacks against the SDF-1, which is now located in the Atlantic Ocean. In a controversial move, the UN orders the ship to leave Earth to draw the enemy fleet away with it.

Contact with the Microns (as the Zentradi had come to call humankind) led to some soldiers questioning their way of life. A small number defect to the SDF-1 to live among humans. Word of this defection begins to ascend up the to the Zentradi high command. Soon the Zentradi fleet responsible for capturing the SDF-1 begin to realize that they have been infected by Earth's culture. This reach a peace agreement with the UN.

The Zentradi supreme commander decides that humans have become too big a risk for his forces to remain in contact. He assembles the Bodol Main Fleet of 4.8 million warships and heads to Earthspace. The fleet defolds around Earth, and fires all particle cannons, destroying 70% of the planets surface.

Using music to confuse the enemy, Earth's combined human and Zentradi forces counter-attack and are able to destroy the Zentradi high commander's moon-size base and defeat the Bodol Main Fleet. The SDF-1, battle weary, manages to land in Alaska. Thousands of heavily damaged Zentradi ships crash across the Earth.

Over the next few years, the remaining Earth population begins to rebuild. Cities are rebuilt, and efforts are started to micronize the surviving Zentradi down to human size. Many aliens turn their backs on the human way of life and wander the vast wastelands, attacking settlements and bases. Two years after the great battle with the Bodol Main Fleet, a Zentradi warlord uses his damaged battle cruiser to heavily damage the SDF-1, and is killed in the process.

Over time, mankind rebuilds the planet, and begins to fortify Earths defences and population through cloning. New battle cruisers and space carriers are used to increase the UN Spacy fleet. Bases, colonies and outposts are set up. Patrols begin to handle rogue Zentradi attacks. Realizing that the threat of further attacks and annialation is still very real, colonization ships are launched on a yearly basis to find habitable planets for humankind. During this time, the remaining Zentradi fleets continued to attack Earths colonies and forces. On Earth, rogue Zentradi carry out terrorist attacks.

In the following years, conflict rages between Earths forces and remnant Zentradi fleets. UN Spacy employs battle groups to escort the colonization ships and to act as a task force to protect Mankinds interests. These battle groups consist of starships and combat mecha that travel to hotspots throughout the colonized galaxy. The mainstays of the UN Spacy arsonal are the Valkyries. These transformable fighter craft form the teeth of the defense forces. Players pilot these ships and must defend mankind against the warlike Zentradi.

Game Setting

Screaming Valkyries takes place somewhere around the time of Macross Plus in the Macross Timeline. Players are a part of the UN Spacy Galaxy Patrol. It is the duty of the Galaxy Patrol to protect the space around the Solar System as well as those systems that have been colonized. These groups respond to any colonization fleets that require support against hostile action.

Macross Information

Macross is one of the most detailed Sci-Fi universe behind Star Wars and Star Trek. It all started in 1982 in Japan with Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Its popularity spawned the creation of spin-off movies, series, and many toys, models, CDs, books, magazines and video games (obviously!). Some of these in clude the movie Macross: Do You Remember Love, OVA (Original Animation Video) Macross Plus, series Macross 7, and video games VF-X and VF-X2 (along with you know what).

Certainly, this rich detail is so far beyond anything that I could include in my dinky little game here. So I'm not even going to try. However, since you are probably trying out his game (you ARE going to try it out, right? I mean, surely you could give it one go 'round) because it is related to Macross, The following are some sites that are ones that have been the most helpful to me in gathering information. Perhaps they would be of some interest to you as well.

Macross Compendium - All the official Macross info you will ever need.
UN Spacy Database - Great site with plenty of info (RPG related).
Macross World - Anything and everything dealing with the Macross phenomenon. Best place for Macross discussion as well.

Although I have tried to stay as consistent as possible to the Macross universe, there are a few things that I have intentionally changed. Hopefully thse changes won't be glaring enough to ruin the Macross feel I am trying to achieve. It is, after all, just a game...

Download

The goal of this alpha demo is to give the impression of what the final game will play like. In this demo you will be able to shoot down some drones with your gunpod, transform, and fly around. There is no real AI for the drones and they just fly in a straight line and fire randomly. Many of the features and objects are still missing, but it should give you a preliminary impression of the game. Feedback is welcome.