Shooter guide
Space Shooter Tips: Twelve Test Flights in Ionwing
Key takeaways
- Six runs steered by a dodging script scored 610 to 1220 points (median 1005) and lasted 7.3 to 15.6 seconds.
- Six runs with the pointer left alone scored 30 to 450 points and ended after 4.0 to 8.3 seconds: the starting spot is not safe.
- A bulwark is worth 300 points and takes 12 hits; every run that reached 1000 points had destroyed at least one.
- From 501 points on, darts and wasps fall at two pixels per step instead of one, which is twice as fast.
The first space shooter tip for Ionwing is to keep moving: with the pointer left alone, the ship crashed within 4.0 to 8.3 seconds in all six of our test flights. We flew twelve runs in a test browser and wrote down what happened, so the numbers below come from the game itself.
How the game works
Ionwing is a vertical shooter on a canvas. The ship fires by itself, enemies fall from the top, and any contact ends the run. There are three enemy types, worth 10, 50 and 300 points, and the fall speed rises in stages as your score grows. You steer with the mouse, a finger or the arrow keys; the game also keeps a high score in your browser.
What we measured
We drove the game in a test browser at 1280 by 800 pixels. The game shows its state on the page, and a script read the positions of all enemy ships about thirty times a second. In the first set of six runs the script steered the ship with the mouse: it moved to the lowest approaching enemy to shoot it, unless that put the ship in the path of another one. In the second set the pointer stayed where it was and the ship sat at its starting spot. The game ran at 99.1 steps per second of real time here; a step is 10 milliseconds of game time, and the times below are game time.
| Run | Score | Darts | Wasps | Bulwarks | Seconds | Stage reached |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 610 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 7.3 | 2 |
| 2 | 1220 | 22 | 8 | 2 | 15.6 | 3 |
| 3 | 840 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 11.6 | 2 |
| 4 | 1170 | 22 | 7 | 2 | 10.7 | 3 |
| 5 | 1190 | 24 | 7 | 2 | 12.7 | 3 |
| 6 | 840 | 19 | 7 | 1 | 9.6 | 2 |
| Run | Score | Darts | Wasps | Bulwarks | Seconds | Stage reached |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4.0 | 1 |
| 2 | 450 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8.3 | 1 |
| 3 | 360 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.2 | 1 |
| 4 | 380 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6.3 | 1 |
| 5 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5.5 | 1 |
| 6 | 50 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.0 | 1 |
One test browser, six runs per set, so treat the numbers as a small sample. Every score matches the destroyed ships: runs add up as 10 points per dart, 50 per wasp and 300 per bulwark. The script is not a skilled player; it ended each run with a crash.
How fast the ships fall
We matched ships between readings and divided the distance they fell by the number of game steps in between. The table gives the most common distance per 10-millisecond step, with the smallest and largest value seen.
| Stage (score) | Dart | Wasp | Bulwark |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (0 to 500 points) | 1 (1 to 2) | 1 (1 to 1) | 1 (1 to 1) |
| 2 (501 to 1000 points) | 2 (1 to 2) | 2 (1 to 2) | 1 (1 to 1) |
| 3 (1001 to 1500 points) | 2 (1.1 to 3) | 2 (1.5 to 2) | 2 (2 to 2) |
Stages 4 and 5 (above 1500 points) were not reached in these runs, so they are not in the table. The field is 586 pixels tall, so at one pixel per step a ship needs about six seconds to cross it, and at two pixels about three.
4 tips that follow from the numbers
- Never park the ship. Even the best parked run lasted only 8.3 seconds.
- Shoot the lowest ship first. It is the one that reaches you first; the script always went for it, and its runs lasted up to 15.6 seconds.
- Take a bulwark when the screen is quiet. It needs 12 hits and is worth 300 points, so it pays as much as thirty darts.
- Expect the jump after 500 points. Darts and wasps fall at two pixels per step from the second stage on, which leaves half the reaction time.
Where to try it
Try it yourself in Ionwing. For a quieter game, Pathloom is a glowing maze game, and Gridglow is a neon noughts and crosses game.
Frequently asked questions
How do I score in Ionwing?
Shoot down the ships: a dart is worth 10 points, a wasp 50 and a bulwark 300.
Do I have to press a button to fire?
No. The ship fires continuously; you only steer.
When does the game get faster?
Every time your score passes 500, 1000, 1500 and 2000 points; the speed gauge at the top shows the stage.
Is it safe to stay where the ship starts?
No. In our six runs with the pointer left alone the ship crashed after 4.0 to 8.3 seconds.
Can I play on a phone?
Yes. Drag a finger anywhere on the screen and the ship follows the movement.
Does it save my high score?
Yes, in your browser.