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Night Witches's itch.io pageResults
| Criteria | Rank | Score* | Raw Score |
| Overall | #3 | 3.417 | 3.417 |
| Graphics | #4 | 3.667 | 3.667 |
| Thematic Relevance | #4 | 4.333 | 4.333 |
| Gameplay | #5 | 3.083 | 3.083 |
| Audio | #9 | 2.833 | 2.833 |
| Historical Accuracy | #9 | 3.750 | 3.750 |
Ranked from 12 ratings. Score is adjusted from raw score by the median number of ratings per game in the jam.
Historical Accuracy
Historical Accuracy"
The Regiment: The game is dedicated to the 46th Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment, the all-female Soviet unit known by the Germans as "Nachthexen" (Night Witches). We researched their history to recreate the atmosphere of their missions.
The Aircraft: We modeled the Polikarpov Po-2 (U-2) biplane. Historically, this aircraft was made of wood and canvas, making it hard to detect on radar but extremely vulnerable to direct fire.
The Tactics: We implemented the regiment's signature tactic: "idling the engine." Just like the real pilots, the player must cut the engine and glide silently toward the target to avoid detection before dropping bombs.
Details: The game reflects the harsh reality of their missions: flying at night, without parachutes, and relying on navigation by the stars and ground references.
Thematic Relevance
Our game fits the theme by focusing on a specific, heroic chapter of World War II.
Instead of a generic shooter, we focused on the unique experience of the female pilots who flew obsolete biplanes against the Luftwaffe. The game highlights the contrast between the fragility of the Po-2 and the immense bravery required to fly it.
We aimed to preserve the memory of pilots like Marina Raskova and the "Night Witches," making the player feel the tension of a silent night raid over enemy lines.
Disclaimers
Credits
Unity Store – richardwhitelock assets for sky https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/2d/textures-materials/sky/allsky-free-10-sky-skybox-set-146014
Polygonal Explosion – Polygonal Stuff
https://assetstore.unity.com/packages/p/polygonal-s-low-poly-particle-pack-118355
All sounds from https://freesound.org/
Snow Texture: https://opengameart.org/content/seamless-snow-texture-0
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Comments
Neat combination of ideas, and the gameplay works - albeit it took me a bit to really figure out how to play it.
Level 1 was really fun to figure out and rewarding to manage! Level 2 seemed too hard to nail, which is where I had to quit. I would die very early in this kind of role, is what I learnt from playing this game. Thanks for the entry!
Really loved the vibe and visual style. Gameplay was pretty fun. Took a bit to get used to the controls before they felt natural but once they clicked they started feeling natural and it became a pretty fun challenge. Beat level 1 after a few tries but level 2 is where it's at. Probably took me around 15 or so attempts maybe? That second fuel pick up was a nightmare to get but so satisfying once I finally got it and was able to complete the rest of the level.
I am very glad that I liked the visual style. Let's think about how to make the gameplay even better. And we hope to make our game as difficult as possible, because that's what we want.
Definitely a difficult but amazing looking game. 👍
Great graphics and a cool idea but it was too hard for me.
Took me a while (several deaths) to figure out to press W.
Should be easier at the start so people can figure out the controls as they play and then gradually get more difficult.
Wasn't clear what the bombing targets were - army tents?
Anyways, a great attempt and a great subject.
Yeah, I actually realized from the feedback that the difficulty is too high. I think I should have just added some simple levels to start with and then ramped up the difficulty later. The bombing targets were tents (Level 1) and antennas (Level 2). I added green arrows to show exactly where to drop the bombs.
Damn this game is hard! I appreciated having to balance my altitude, noise levels, keeping up on fuel, and dodging birds/obstacles, all while keeping track of the objectives the pilot came here for.
I think having more forgiving gas placement, or even cutting out the whole refueling mechanic would have made the game feel more fair, since it's challenging enough having to balance altitude with noise levels.
The graphics are really nice, and most of the sounds fit quite well. Nice work!
Thanks for playing and for the kind words! Yeah, the game is definitely designed to be a tough challenge, especially managing all those systems at once. I really appreciate your thoughts on the fuel mechanic, though — it's great insight for me as a developer. Glad you liked the atmosphere!
The plane models and atmosphere was cool. I found the having to switch between engine on with space and then glide with w hard to manage, on top of having to think about fuel consumption. Id of probable just hooked them upto one button. Congrats on finishing.
The Night Witches are an excellent choice for a game topic! I really enjoyed the models for the tanks and the artillery in the background.
Very cool concept with the dive bombing!
awesome gameplay but honestly it's too hard for average gamer, I'm still playing the level 1 after 20 attempts, wondering where is the end of the level haha
Great graphics and creative take on the genre! Very unforgiving though, I'll have to spend considerable time to get good at it
I am very bad at this game, but I really enjoyed the mechanics (after actually reading that you have to press w to glide).
I found that pressing Space while gliding would deactivate the glide but not activate the motor, which lost me a few attempts. Was it intentional?
Surprisingly pretty for a 3D low-poly game too. Congrats!
Thank you! Yeah, holding down Space was intended to have priority, but sadly we didn't have enough time to patch it before the deadline.