Soar the gales

Recently, when my kids again asked about "learning to program", we came across the amazing microstudio IDE. You develop your games online, collaboratively, in Microstudio script (or Lua or Python), and it can export to web, desktop or mobile.

They were familiar with Scratch, but the next step into using actual code - syntax errors on top of the logic errors - is always daunting. 

So now we spend a good part of the weekends sitting around the family table, each on a laptop, cursing like pirates, tinkering and playtesting. Arrgh! This is what we came up with, and submitted to FediJam3:

Hoist the sails! Soar the gales!

Conquer the seven skies! Fly your pirate from the takeoff to the X on the map. Terrain and weather is very much random generated, but the difficulty can be adjusted in the settings. 

Controls: Keyboard or touch. They can be tested in the "how to fly" menu option.

• Left and Right controls the respective brakes, and makes your wing turn.
• Up increases the angle of your wing - you speed up, and sink faster.
• Down decreases the angle of your wing - you slow down, and sink slower.
• If you find yourself too high, you can "pull your ears" for a fast descent using SPACE, or on mobile by steering left and right at the same time.

For the takeoff, turn into the wind and run (press UP) until you are in the air.

Flying Tips:

Don't fly fast. If you are in rising air, try to stay there until you have gained enough altitude to be comfortable. Fly figure eights if you have to turn, or gentle circles if the area of lift is large enough.

Try to remember - or figure out - the direction of the wind. Moving air that hits a cliff or rising terrain, has to rise. Air on the other side of a ridge enters a vacuum and tends to fall. So try to fly as much as possible on the side of the valley that is hit by the wind straight on. 

Large clouds are also an indicator of rising air - but careful, the air all around the cloud is often much slower, or falling. 

Find a route through the terrain that matches your altitude, and where the direction of the wind is in your favor.