This is the two hundred twenty-first entry in the Scratching That Itch series, wherein I randomly select and write about one of the 1741 games and game-related things included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality. The Bundle raised $8,149,829.66 split evenly between the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund and Community Bail Fund, but don’t worry if you missed it. There are plenty of ways you can help support the vital cause of racial justice; try here for a start. Lastly, as always, you may click on images to view larger versions.

Our two hundred twenty-first random selection from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality is challenging us to combat… in space. It’s Space Combat Engine, by Vincent, and its tagline in the bundle reads:

Space Combat Engine for GMS 2

That “GMS 2” stands for Game Maker Studio 2, a software package for making one’s own games. I don’t own any version of Game Maker, so this one will probably be a short post.

Reader, I cannot even open the files included the the download for Space Combat Engine. They have the extension .yymp, which I assume is some sort of proprietary Game Maker format. All I can do is peruse the itch.io page and try to glean what’s on offer. It appears to be a game engine for creating arcade-style space shooter games, and the animated gifs on the page suggest that single-screen arena battles are the intended style. Beyond that, it’s not entirely clear what’s included. There’s talk of multiple factions with different types of spaceships, tutorials for letting users add their own factions with custom ships, and a slew of variables to tweak combat behavior. It boasts of well-organized and easy to understand code, such that users can easily modify or extend it.

It’s not entirely clear how human players interact with all of this. One of the screenshots shows an on-screen instructions for controls, so players presumably control at least one ship, while the engine handles various AI factions reacting to the player’s moves. I assume users can modify the code to adapt this for their specific purposes, but I don’t know if sweeping changes to how the combat or controls work are practical.

I really can’t tell you much more about this one. If you happen to be making an arcade-style space shooter in Game Maker Studio 2, perhaps this engine will be useful. If you missed it in the bundle, Space Combat Engine is sold for a minimum price of €3, but at the time of writing it’s on sale for a whopping 100% off, making it completely free!

That’s 221 down, and only 1520 to go!