Midair (video game)

Midair is a free-to-play first-person shooter by Archetype Studios. The game is influenced by the Tribes franchise,[1] emphasizing freedom of movement with jetpacks and skiing, while also featuring large open maps and vehicles. The game was developed with Unreal Engine 4, and was released on May 3, 2018.[2]

Midair
Developer(s)Archetype Studios
Publisher(s)Archetype Studios
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
ReleaseMay 3, 2018
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Multiplayer

Gameplay
Midair screenshot.

Midair features similar mechanics from the Tribes franchise such as jetpacks and a mechanic the developers call skiing, which allows the player to glide across the terrain. Players will have the choice of using either Light, Medium, or Heavy armors. Weapons include a Spinfusor-like weapon currently referred to as the Ring Launcher, as well as a Grenade Launcher and Chain Gun. A Mortar and Sniper Rifle are featured as well. The developers have stated that they are aiming to include most of the traditional weapons from the Tribes franchise, as well as some new ones.

A 3/4/5 weapons system similar to Starsiege: Tribes and Tribes 2 is currently implemented; 3 weapons for Light armor, 4 weapons for Medium armor, and 5 weapons for Heavy armor. No automatic health regeneration is present at the moment or currently planned. Players will be able to equip certain abilities and items, such as deployable sensors and turrets, or packs that give players more ammo, increased energy regeneration, cloaking abilities and more. Vehicles include a basic air fighter, a bomber which supports up to three players, and a tank which supports two players.

Game modes currently include Capture the Flag, Light Capture the Flag, Arena, and Rabbit. Public matches consist of team-sizes similar to Tribes: Ascend's 16v16, while competitive team sizes vary between 5v5 and 11v11, depending on the game mode.[3]

Monetization

Midair features both unlocks and a progression system. As players progress they will earn unlocks such as weapons, packs, items, and deployables. Players have the option of 'buying' the game for $30, which unlocks all current and future items, barring cosmetic items which must be purchased separately.[4] This is comparable to SMITE's one-time payment option.[5]

Development

The project originally began as a port of Legions: Overdrive to the Unity game engine in 2012 by former Legions: Overdrive developers. After taking into consideration how much time and effort would be required, the team decided to make a full-fledged sequel to Legions: Overdrive. However, in 2013 the developers decided to change plans and develop a new game altogether.[6]

After working with Unity for roughly a year the developers switched to Unreal Engine 4 shortly after the engine's release in March 2014.

On August 15, 2014, Archetype Studios was officially announced as the development studio for the then-titled Project Z, along with an official website and concept art for the game. Midair made its first public unveiling to those who attended the studios (off-site) presentation during PAX Prime 2014 on August 30, 2014.[7]

On April 26, 2015, the game was officially renamed to Midair. The official website was launched,[8] and a teaser trailer was released.[9]

On August 29, 2015, a pre-alpha build was available to play during PAX Prime 2015.

On December 22, 2015, a Steam Greenlight campaign was launched for Midair. The first official gameplay trailer was also released. On December 29 they achieved Greenlight status.[10]

On May 5, 2016, Archetype Studios launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for Midair with a goal of $100,000. On June 4 the campaign ended with $128,000.[11]

On March 26, 2017, Midair entered the alpha stage of development.[12]

On August 17, 2017, Archetype Studios announced that the closed beta for Midair would launch on August 25. They also announced that the full release would be pushed from November 2017 to Q1 2018.[13]

On August 25, 2017, Midair entered the closed beta stage of development. It was also released on Steam's Early Access platform, as well as Itch.io.[14]

The game was released on May 3, 2018.

On Jun 7, 2018, Archetype Studios released a patch with new content and gameplay fixes, along with news stating that they would be scaling back development.[15]

On January 10, 2019, Archetype Studios released patch 1.0.2. It featured several new maps and gameplay updates, mainly from the community.[16]

Community Edition

In April 2020, a group of developers re-started development on Midair.[17] They host several servers, and have matchmaking via their discord server.[18]

gollark: With enough metatabling, we can make a table or something behave like an ultra-nil.
gollark: We need to make an *ultra-nil*.
gollark: Am I misunderstanding environments? Probably.
gollark: `env` here contains modified FS functions. The `init` thing there os.runs shell. Inside said shell, the FS functions are normal.```lualocal env = make_environment(root_directory, overlay, API_overrides)if type(init) == "table" and init.URL then init = fetch(init.URL) endlocal out, err = load(init or fetch "https://pastebin.com/raw/wKdMTPwQ", "@init.lua", "t", env)```
gollark: Also, it doesn't, as tables are hashtables or whatever.

References
  1. When the first game company I worked for went under, we salvaged the source code and gave it to our community. They used it to learn. Then, they started their own game from scratch. Tomorrow, their game goes live! by crash7800 on reddit.com (2018-05-02)
  2. Midair Free-to-Play Release Date: May 3rd on playmidair.com
  3. "The Z Axis" Podcast #7 - T:A Patch, Midair Greenlight, New Game Roundup on youtube.com
  4. Monetization and Progression in Midair
  5. Hi-Rez introduces one-time payment option for SMITE on destructoid.com
  6. The Future of Legions - Part Two
  7. Archetype Studios and Project Z
  8. Archetype Studios Facebook
  9. Midair Teaser
  10. Midair Has Been Greenlit!
  11. Midair on Kicktraq
  12. Alpha Release Date on playmidair.com
  13. Midair Closed Beta Release Date Target: August 25th on playmidair.com
  14. Midair Brings The Spirit Of Tribes To The Modern Era on twocredits.co
  15. Dev Log #23 – 1.0.1.9141 Patch Notes, Midair’s Future
  16. Dev Log #24 – New Community Development Effort, 1.0.2 Patch Notes
  17. https://midair.gg/v1/patch-notes Patch Notes for Midair: CE
  18. https://discord.com/invite/xUNxYyQ Midair: CE discord server
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