Space Escape Progress - Sling Shot Boost

Space Escape is at that point where new features are pretty easy to add. I've been getting some feedback and making adjustments I feel are for the better. The ship should be much easier to steer now, along with more powerful thrusters. You can even fly away from Earth directly now. However, that won't get you the big boost in speed.

The hard sci fi feel to the game will start to break down here. I haven't put any fluff behind it yet, but I've added a gravity drive. It isn't just another means of moving through space, it actually picks up strong gravity fields nearby to propel the ship. The effect you'll see from this is the closer to Earth you are as you slingshot around it, the more of a boost you'll get. The effect is multiplicative, so even edging just a little closer can mean a lot. When the engine kicks on I warp the screen by increasing the field of view on the camera. I also start a looping sound effect. It actually sounds like it's revving up (or spooling, or just growing), and all I had to do was change the pitch. These values need a lot of tweaking though, as too much field of view and too much pitch can ruin the effect.

Can you beat this speed?

Overall I'm still pretty happy with the progress. I wish I'd had the game in a state to get feedback sooner, but getting the theme of the game down was pretty important to me on this one. That's one thing that's changed little. I must admit, now that it's gotten this far, I'm not sure if I want to put it down. I want to move onto the next game, but I feel like I'm over a hurdle and it's more fun than before to just keep adding features and shine.