It’s been a long time coming. There are ten weapons in Retrobooster. One was the mine, which released from the stern of your ship and moved toward enemies before exploding and dealing vast amounts of splash damage. Unfortunately, it was difficult to place where you wanted it and just wasn’t any fun to use. It had to go. So I spent a while trying to think of a replacement weapon. It had to be fun to use and not redundant. The solution: a death ray! I also spent a while trying to think of a better name, but the old school simplicity of “death ray” grew on me and I decided to keep it.

The death ray has a wide spread and limited range, just like the lightning weapon. The big difference is that that the death ray does little damage at a distance and great damage up close. It will be up to the player to decide when and how to best use it. Some enemies are easier to get close to than others, and that will probably be the biggest deciding factor.

It took some work to come up with the right look for this weapon. There are countless ways it could be rendered with regard to colors and atmospheric effects. I also wanted it to look hot and powerful near your ship and weaker at a distance, giving the player a good indication of how the death ray functions. The final appearance will probably get tweaked some more, but this is a good start.

The following is probably a final collection of weapons for Retrobooster. Of course, if any weapon doesn’t work out during testing, it will need to be fixed or replaced.

Primary weapons

• Ion bolts (Unlimited ammo. This one is always available.)
• Thermite rounds
• Lightning
• Exotic matter slugs
• Death ray

Secondary weapons

• Guided missile
• Defender Drone
• Ion Storm
• Widow Maker Drones
• Tesla Razer