Maelstrom

About

Asteroids is a 1979 multidirectional shooter by Atari in which the player flies a ship through an asteroid field periodically crossed by flying saucers, shooting and dodging both while the field grows more difficult as asteroids increase. Maelstrom is a licensed open source port (via SDL3) of Ambrosia Software's classic Macintosh shareware game of the same name, an Asteroids-style multidirectional shooter with the original's pixel-art graphics, music, and sounds. This version adds game controller and mobile touch controls, cooperative and competitive online multiplayer for up to three players, Steam achievements and gameplay recording, and a replay system for revisiting high-score runs; it's available free on Steam, Google Play, the Apple App Store, and the web.

How it differs from the original

Beyond porting the original Mac shareware release forward, this version adds mod support (including a bundled "Maelstrom 1980" art/sound mod and tools for building custom ones), an easier "Kid Mode" that disables achievements and high scores in exchange for automatic shields, and online multiplayer, none of which were part of the original single-player shareware release.

Getting started

The game is available free on Steam, Google Play, the Apple App Store, or directly from the web; classic easter eggs from the original carry over, and players can switch between the bundled art and sound mods via a button on the main menu.

History

The project's SDL3 port was documented in a three-part livestream series by lead developer Sam Lantinga, covering the migration of the codebase from SDL2.

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