Thanks to the hard work and talent of devs mentored by the Roblox Accelerator and Incubator programs, players everywhere can rain destruction from their eldritch towers and soon will explore the beautiful depths of the ocean. Here are three more great games developed through the Roblox Accelerator program: Apocalypse Rising 2, Drone Heist, and Vehicle Simulator.
Apocalypse Survival 102: Basic Cowering
Apocalypse Rising 2, by Dualpoint Interactive
I’m stuffing my backpack with the last army rations in town when a sudden noise chills me to the bone. It’s not the husky rasp of zombies. It’s a gunshot. Gunshots mean other players, and other players mean that if I want to keep my stockpile of warm soda and mismatched bullets I’m going to have to fight for it.
The world may have ended, but Apocalypse Rising 2’s alpha build is hardly deserted. It’s maintained a player base almost as impressive and reliable as its update schedule. “Before the [Roblox Accelerator] program, the majority of my time [milestone planning] was just a loose structure of events that I’d keep in the back of my mind as I got work done,” said developer WhoBloxedWho. “Looking back on it a few months after the program I’m pretty proud of just how much I was able to get done in just three months, and I’ve got 2blox2quit and the program to thank for it.”
According to this map, I am… lost?
You don’t have to be lost on the game’s massive island of zombies, townships, and ad-hoc bandit forts for long to appreciate how much work has gone into the game. The player experience feels complete, but according to project lead Gusmanak, there’s no shortage of major new features already in development: “In our next large update we hope to have a shiny new recoil system in place that will make every firearm feel unique to players. Players will also be excited to know that we’re planning to add an entirely new island to the Alpha before Christmas, in addition to the University which will be a large unique location on the map.”
As someone who spent most of my time at university protecting my snacks from greedy scavengers, I’m ready to go. Try to take my warm, flat soda if you dare.
Easy…easy…eas–DANGIT
Drone Heist, by Nuts and Bots
Your goal in Drone Heist is to steal an alien artifact from a shady enclave of scientists. They’ve hidden it deep inside a laboratory with sprawling vents and puzzle-based security systems. This operation is what future security consultants will call a “Drone Heist” situation. Getting your prize means managing both a standard character model and a remote-controlled drone capable of shattering steel, grappling objects, and maneuvering in very tight spaces. The game’s intricacies require some focus to master; it’s hard to imagine what it was like to script and program.
“I probably learned more scripting during the three months I interned than the past three years tinkering on my own,” said Drone Heist developer XenoSynthesis of his time in the Accelerator program. “My partner, SquirrelByte, helped me master things like Module Scripts and Remote Events, dramatically improving the experience.”
Boy, what would we do if shady scientists didn’t leave journals lying around their facilities?
These lessons are clearly on display in the game. Getting through a sequence means following a precise series of switch flips, power management, and assorted drone shenanigans that rely heavily on scripting. Developments like doors opening and laser grids shutting down are shown off in smooth-loading in-game cutscenes. Despite switching between two playable character models and precisely maneuvering physics objects, the game remained perfectly stable and responsive.
Right now the game has one puzzle-packed level and a hub world. Trust me, that’ll keep you busy for a while. Try the game here.
Fifty-five miles an hour? We can do better than that.
Vehicle Simulator, by Simbuilder
If you had to imagine a game called Vehicle Simulator, you might picture a garage, a back lot, or a racetrack. You probably wouldn’t imagine factions, radio stations, minigames, or a sprawling city map modeled after Los Angeles. One has to wonder if “Quite a Lot of Things Simulator” didn’t fit on the banner.
“When I started making Vehicle Simulator I did not know I was making Vehicle Simulator,” explained developer and Accelerator program graduate Simbuilder. “I was just trying to recreate my favorite childhood games in an open world environment, some of those games being the Burnout series and Need For Speed. Once I got the wheel rolling I kept getting ideas of how to improve the physics, the world, and all the interactions in the game.”
I especially enjoyed testing the physics vis-a-vis every light pole in city limits.
The game’s fundamental elements are polished to perfection. You can easily spend hours just cruising in a sports car, taking in the realistic city streets, cranking sweet tunes, and getting into ad-hoc street races or stunt competitions with other drivers. It’s easy to see why the game keeps getting bigger: when the basics are so good, what else is there to do but add more fun stuff?
“A couple features that are currently in development are a completely new auto shop to customize your vehicles, improved drifting physics, a new sound engine for vehicles, multiple apartments where players can place and customize furniture, huge optimizations to vehicles, a new map with elevation change, more stunts, accurate roads, and much more.”
All of that sounds like gravy to me. If you’re not already planning to try Vehicle Simulator, I’ve got two words for you: stunt plane. Don’t worry too much about how you’re gonna land it; that’s what insurance is for.
We hope you enjoyed our look into projects made possible by 2017’s Accelerator and Incubator programs! If you missed parts one and two, you find them here and here.