Atomic Bomber - Strategic air combat

Pilot a NATO fighter aircraft on a ground-attack mission to counter a Soviet incursion.

Traveling back to 1970, communist forces are advancing into Europe, and your duty is to launch airstrikes pushing them far back. You will have the authorization to utilize tactical nuclear weapons - get ready for an intense experience!

Experience a simulation where gravity determines the trajectory of your bombs. Stay alert to evade enemy jets, homing missiles, and ground-based anti-aircraft artillery.

FAQ

Atomic Bomber:

In the online high score list, I see some players with insanely high scores. Whence come these shining creatures of light, who fly beyond the bounds of mortal men? Is there a secret tip that I don't know? Is there another version of the game with a different scoring system?

The Android and iPhone versions are the only versions. The game is easier on a large screen (such as a tablet), but there's no actual secret to get high scores. It's just that there are close to 1 million individual games played per week, so a few of those people are bound to get really lucky (also, some are just really good). It comes down to statistics: when you take the top twelve scores out of a million, you're going to see some extreme outliers.  (Don't feel bad though; I've never scored higher than 2000, and I wrote the game.) The only secret gameplay tip that some people don't know is that you wrap around the screen if you fly off one side, which is good for dodging missiles.

I hate the MiG and want to kill it. Why won't you let me?

Right now the MiG is invincible in the normal game mode-- I added it to force players to fly low sometimes, so they have to dodge anti-air guns. Without it, players could comfortably hang out at the top of the screen forever. However, the full version to lets you fly an A-10, which can shoot down the MiG.

Sometimes I get an extra life when I get 100% accuracy, and sometimes I don't. Your game cheats and I hate you.

The extra life is only available every 6th wave, when it says "get 100% to earn extra life." If you get 100% on that wave, you'll see it add 1 to your lives the instant that wave is over.

How can I reset my local high scores? I was elite in the past, then I declined, and now I'm haunted by my former glory.

Go to the phone menu/settings/manage applications and then choose "Clear Data." This will erase all saved information, including preferences, any game in progress, and high scores.

I have another question that wasn't answered here.

If it's a general Android question, it's quickest to do a Google search for the answer. Otherwise, feel free to email me and I'll try to get back to you. The "Email Developer" link in the game's Android Market page is the best way to contact me.

Gameplay Guide

Experience the thrill of combat with Atomic Bomber, an exhilarating app that puts you in the pilot seat of a NATO ground-attack fighter. Tasked with halting a Soviet incursion, you're empowered to deploy tactical nuclear weaponry for a high-stakes aerial challenge. Immerse yourself in a detailed world where bombs obey the laws of physics, and navigate past enemy MiGs skillfully, evade guided missiles, and outmaneuver anti-aircraft fire. Embrace the intensity of historical warfare and strategic bombing in this captivating flight combat simulation.

Enjoy a compelling blend of action and strategy on your device. Feel the rush of adrenaline as you take control, dictating the course of the battle. Every maneuver counts in this high-intensity environment, which brings a mix of historical context with meticulous gameplay design. Make tactical decisions in real-time and witness the results unfold amid the clouds.

Conclude your flying missions with the same finesse with which they started – only with the game, victory isn't guaranteed until the very last moment. Strap in for an unforgettable ride, and take to the skies once more for a final bout of heart-pounding action.

Mechanics

In Atomic Bomber, you control a NATO ground-attack plane during a hypothetical 1970 Soviet invasion of Europe. You can drop both conventional and nuclear bombs. According to Tom Clancy (who is my main source of Cold War knowledge), the NATO battle plan was to use tactical nukes during a Soviet invasion because the Soviet ground forces massively outnumbered NATO. In the game, you face Soviet anti-aircraft artillery (the ZSU-57), SAMs (the SA-2), and fighters (the MiG-21). To keep the game interesting, you have to just avoid the fighters; they're invincible. In reality, (also according to Tom Clancy), NATO expected to have air superiority during a Soviet invasion, so the Soviet fighter threat in the game is probably unrealistic.

   Based on the high scores that the game submits to my web server, as of February 2013, 82 million games of Atomic Bomber have been played since its September 2010 release, and roughly 495 years have been spent in gameplay.

I've recently added an extra game mode to the full version, where you can fly an A-10 Warthog armed with a GAU-8 30mm depleted-uranium cannon, plus Hydra 70 unguided air-to-ground rockets. Below is a screenshot of the new game mode. The A-10's cannon can be used to shoot down the MiG (which was highly requested by players.) The MiG also gets shot down if a stray SAM hits it, in both game modes. The A-10 mode uses a separate online high score list from the regular mode.

My newest programming project has been learning OpenGL and porting Atomic Bomber to iOS. The gameplay is the same as the Android version, and the online high scores lists are shared. (Right now I don't plan to port my other games, but we'll see how it goes.)