As the sci-fi adventure continues…. once again the brave pilots of Battle Squadron must stand up, engage and fight those nasty looking Alien monsters in order to save the Earth.
Working on porting the classic games to various formats.
09.04.2012 Battle Squadron ONE was released on Android
04.07.2011 Battle Squadron ONE – on App Store version 1.0
06.05.2011 Battle Squadron ONE – NEW pre-game graphics
21.03.2011 BS ONE beta-testers identified
03.03.2011 Battle Squadron ONE beta-testers
04.01.2011 LIVE iPad DEMO – Battle Squadron ONE – game completed
30.11.2010 LIVE demo of Battle Squadron ONE on iPhone
03.11.2010 Hybris and Battle Squadron fan remixes
12.10.2010 A fresh take on Cope-Com
17.09.2010 Battle Squadron ONE – iPhone/Android, developer’s demo
07.09.2010 Battle Squadron at Royal Library – one year anniversary
26.08.2010 First mobile release – Battle Squadron ONE
05.08.2010 Hybris and Battle Squadron Ringtones
22.07.2010 Battle Squadron on Mobile devices
09.07.2010 “Lost” Art from Battle Squadron
28.06.2010 Aviators (Battle Squadron 2) on Youtube.
13.06.2010 Added post on game change.
22.05.2010 Added female character screenshot.
14.05.2010 Screenshot Aviators post-production ingame character.
08.05.2010 Development will continue on a general development system.
06.05.2010 Testing various game developing specs on Battle Squadron/Battle Squadron 2.
Testing original/extended/extreme version + new levels + new design/game.
Copyright 2013 Cope-Com
We need that as part of the next Humble Indie Bundle!
Hello Boys,
I just bought a Nexus 7 tab, and Battle Squadron as well of course (as an Amiga owner since 1989) !
I briefly tested it yesterday, and as expected it’s absolutely brilliant !
One thing annoyed me though: the screen only rotates to a single side (left side of the tab if you see what I mean). It seems we can’t make it rotate to the right side, wich could have been useful with a propup stand tablet case cover….
Best regards !
Jerome (FRANCE)
im having problems with relative touch control and 2x rel touch control on a 2g ipod. i bought the full version not the lite one thinking that the lite version would be missing something (my own mistake i guess) but i cant get the touch controls to work. i can only move in 1 diagonal (back/left forward/right)
im upset now as i bought the expensive version for no reason and the controls arnt working properly!
ever heard anyone with a similiar problem?
awesome game otherwise though (from what ive seen on videos!)
Hi oll, Very sorry to hear that. It is indeed a very odd problem. I specifically acquired an iPod 2nd generation to test the game on “older devices”. And it runs fine on my device. It seems to be a strange hardware issue (on my device the Bluetooth for some reason cannot activate, so these things can happen). Did you upgrade to the latest version of iOS? Did you try it out in Portrait mode, Or Landscape “upside down”? Please send your response to support@cope-com.com. Thanks, Martin
P.S. Happy to hear you otherwise seem to find the game great
but of course not fun it does not run properly 
Hello,
is there a TV out version in production?
I want to play BattleSquadron on my TV HDMI.
I did it on my Amiga with PAL and HF-Modulator (some years ago) , too!
Amiga Rulez
Hi Dirk,
I haven’t tried it yet since I don’t have the cable but I have been meaning to buy one, but apparently the IPAD2 has a tv-out cable which lets you plug into a HDTV, not sure if every single app will display but I can’t see why not. I really need to get hold of this cable.
Not sure about the Iphone though.
Zro Dfects.
Hi Dirk, Yes TV out is a great idea
and something we have thought about for a while. Initially, it was not an active feature on iOS devices, but I think that should have changed. There are however still some challenges in doing it, but it is good to hear that there is great interest 
This can help us better prioritize the different new features we are considering. Martin
Hello,
this sounds very cool!
I have found a Game “Chopper2″ this game use the new iOS feature.
look: http://tinyurl.com/6lj9k9o
iPod or iPhone only works as controller for the helicopter an the game is
show on the big TV screen via HDMI cable or AppleTV wierless !
I believe this setup will very cool for BS, too!
Hi Dirk,
Just an update on the TV out, not sure which platform you are refering to exactly, but I went out today and got a HD TV out connector for my Ipad2 to test Battle Squadron on a large screen Tv, I can tell you that it works beautifully with no delay whatsoever, Its an official Apple adapter which can also have a charger connected to it at the same time.
For a picture of it and some more info from me you can find it all on the 2nd best website in the world, this being the first
https://www.facebook.com/CopeCom
Enjoy
Zro Dfects
Hi Zro Dfects,
yes with iPad2 you can use the mirroring function to play BS on TV.
Mmmmh i have an iPhone4 witch not support the mirroring function by default.
If you can add this to iPhone will great!
And if you do so you can keep an eye to this amazing device:
http://www.60beat.com/category_s/73.htm
100% Amiga feeling come true!
Hi Dirk, Thanks for the info
Ok, just to confirm, we now have the following on the todo list 
iCade control
60beat
TV out
We also have a Lite version of BS ONE coming out very soon, and there is also Hybris ONE lurking in the shadows, so a few things to do and prioritize.
Martin
Hi Martin,
one point more for your to do list
- 8-Bitty
http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/retro-gaming/ecea/
Hi Dirk. Yep, saw it
Hopefully it will require the same coding as its “big brother”… so it should be “two birds with one stone” 
Martin
Hi Martin,
I think the easiest way Apple release an “NSGameController” Class for iOS.
With it you can use standard Bluetooth Game devices.I believe they wait for BT 3.0.
We will see…
Have you listen this cool Hybris & BS remixes from http://www.amigaremix.com?
http://goo.gl/4S59I
http://goo.gl/yIzut
yeeeeeah!
Wish Cool Coding
Hi again Dirk, Yes, that are some seriously, seriously cool remix tunes!! Thanks for bringing those to us
Would be nice with the NSGameController class. Made a Google search and found 0 hits… so if this will indeed be in iOS 6.0… you came up with the name 
Martin
Just checking: is iPad iCade support still planned? I’m always on the lookout for another iCade game. Thanks for keeping Amiga alive!
Hi Morgen, You are welcome
We very much want to make an iCade version. It is a little bit delayed due to lack of iCade in Europe… and other priorities. Sorry about the wait 
Martin
Thanks for the update. I’ll enjoy it when it’s ready
Hi Zro, Amazing!! You have certainly proved yourself as our #1 on fan
I had totally missed this feature of the iPad 2, so fantastic to hear it work. As previously mentioned we did want to include this feature from the beginning for “all” devices, but it was not supported by iOS back a year ago. And thanks for the FaceBook post as well with all the details
Martin
Hi Martin. Pleasure is all mine.
Any info I could hand out regarding many different ways to play your games I will surely test and provide any info I can.
Funny thing with your todo list, I too wouldn’t mind testing the 60 Beat controller which I assume will only work for one player since it connects through the headphones port (hence only 1 port). But each game itself will need to be programmed to use this controller as unfortunatly it isn’t a plug and play type thing.
I also wouldn’t mind giving the iCade a test run to see if the arcade controls work which I am sure they do since I have seen many games tested with it, I can’t say 100% of all games will work but only hope the important ones *coffs* Battle Squadron *coffs* Hybris
. The good thing with iCade is you can still play in either portrait more or landscape mode.
I also know you can use multiple Iphones as controllers for the Ipad at the same time, again with the 60 Beat I think this needs to be programmed within each game but it would be some time before I get the chance to test it, I do know people with iPhones so maybe in time I could test it and give my feedback. You can even use 2 iPads as multiscreens for games too which again will need to be programmed. A cool and very expensive idea if you want to buy 2 iPads and 2 iPhones.
Thanks
Zro Dfects
Hi Zro, Thanks for that
There sure are a lot of cool things we would like to do with Battle Squadron… and future releases 
Like you said, they take time to programme, and some things more than one would initially expect. So it is always a balance between choosing which things to do first… and which things you think must people can use and have fun with 
Martin
That is exactly right, you don’t want to spend alot of time on areas that people will not be interested in, but with so many features in todays gaming consoles there will always be a trial and error involved.
But I personally agree with what is on your todo list, everyone would like to play on a large screen (tv-out) most people who grew up with handheld controllers are used to controllers so the ’60 beat’ would be a good start but who know what other controllers are lurking around the corners. I have Xbox360 Kinect and PS3 move and at the of the day I still prefer a controller in my hand.
Lastly the iCade is becoming more popular so there is a sign that this would be a good thing to work with and it has controls used by hand so as you can still see I think people would still prefer the controller, touch screens are a cool tech thing but me personally if technology is slowly erasing the handheld controller then I think alot of people will go back to retro gaming in my opinion.
Zro Dfects
Game Design is Art!
i guess in 1989 game coding was a bit like punk music:
- do it yourself ethic
- a small team working for a vision, not only for marketing purpose
- a simple but effective gameplay
- attitude, coolness and fun
- even more attitude coolness and fun
(and, unfortunately: distribution companies and copycats stealing your work and rip you off)
Thank you, thank you, thank you, game designers, for:
- a well adapted gameplay for iPad & Co + a lot of new features
- your taste: the original, feeling, original graphics and original music that made this game so great.
Battle Squadron is a masterpiece!
Hi Heiko, Thanks for your post. Very nice to hear that you find Battle Squadron to be a masterpiece and like the conversion to iPad
Yes, it was indeed at very special atmosphere to create this game (and Hybris)… back in the late 80′es 
… all the points you mention are exactly correct with regards to how it was 
… unfortunately also the distribution companies going bust 
But we still had great fun… then… and now!! 
Hi, I’m interested in BS One. Is it iCade compatible?
Thx and Best Regards,
Andrea
from Italy
Hi Andrea. Great to hear you are interested in BS ONE. We do indeed have plans to include iCade control
For the version 2.0 we however had to delay it to have a release before Christmas. But it is very high on the list on things we will include 
Martin
When to expect the next update?
i want the original-themed menuscreen (can’t be hard to fix, i can do it if you like), evenharder-mode, smart recognice what side of the screen one clicks to fire so that the nonused side is available for movement when using the clickanywhereanddrag-mode for movement (that’s the only thing i want to make me start using fullscreenmode), fix rotation for menuscreen and/or highscorewindow on iPad…. Need to rotats the screen constantly atm…
Yes, I especially second evenharder-mode. And the challenges, please.
Oh, found a small bug: when you touch the “How to play” button the first page is skipped, if you don’t release your finger immediately.
Yes, Achievements will also be included… we will try to include some *amn hard ones
If you have ideas not already posted here we would be happy to hear them…
Also, thanks for mentioning the “How to play” “double touch” bug… had missed this one
Another bug: i have seen an unkilled tank disappear from screen before it was meant to be removed. Perhaps 16 pixels before… I think (!) it was the last tank to the right just before the flat grey part at the end of the groundlevel… When the tanks comes out from the sides over the bridges.
It is actually several more tanks, now when looking closer…
Hmmm, that was a rather mysterious bug that I did not see myself. Thanks for the specifics of where it happened… otherwise these things are like looking for a needle in a haystack
Hi Vakum, After working on some other stuff I now had a chance to look at the “tank issue”. Actually, the word “tank” led me a bit in the wrong direction, since this is the enemy name I formally use for the “tanks” that come out of the hangars
The ones you refer to are formally referred to as “trains” in the BS code (since they run on tracks). Simply speaking the “enemy routes”, which were designed manually 
ended just a few frames too soon. This means it was also an issue on the Amiga (as a few other minor bugs I have found in the code). These “routes” have now been extended. The “double touch” bug on “How to play” mentioned above has also been fixed. Thanks for the feedback 
Hi Gvakum, Thanks for your input. Most of the things you suggest will be in the coming upgrade, including a bunch of other ones
1) There will indeed be an even harder mode… also for Daytona
2) In the beta version we did actually have the buttons disappear if the they were untouched. There is very good reason to re-introduce this feature (it was “removed” when we included the panels).
3) The menu screen can rotate and be seen in the two landscape modes. Due to the distortion of the picture (or large reduction in size) in portrait mode it is not so appropriate in my view. But maybe I don’t understand exactly what you mean?
4) The high score screen stays in the latest orientation it was in during the game. Do you mean that it should be “rotatable”?
5) I also “miss” the original settings picture a bit. By using this, there would however be no obvious space for the loader picture, which in my view should be included. Suggestions are most welcome
I like the bg in the menuscreen as well, but i would do with a clickawayable splashscreen when starting the game. I don’t like the buttons at all atm, and the original menuscreen with the buttons would fit perfectly. Icons for setting difficulty,inputmode,soundmode, buttons for www,highscore,startgame etc could all fit perfectly in the oldstylethemed menuscreen as more pixlified icons :p
4) on iPad, when opening leaderboards popupwindow, this window is only in portraitmode and won’t rotate to landscapemode. This is anoying since the menu is in landscapemode.
Also did you find what tanks that gets removed to early? It is east to reproduce since you just avoid killing them while playing the game
Hi Conrad,
The debate on how the option menu should look like in the game vs. the original was fairly heavily debated during the long first beta round. The beta testers pretty much made the call in the end
The original menu had to much mouse and f-buttons, that didn’t seem to fit the current smartphone GUI setup in terms of “touching the screen”. In other words there could be confusion among those players not familliar with the Amiga layout.
Battle Squadron was famous for its ingame playability, look and feel and not so much the option-menu, although ofcourse important in those days.
Since it is a part of the Amiga legacy one can never say never that it could not happen at some point. Right now there are more important hurdles to address within the game.
Cheers and thanks for pointing out bugs etc. Keep it up
Regarding 4) and leaderboard rotation on the iPad (or iPhone), this is unfortunately not possible to implement easily, due to specific way the screen rotation is set up… it would require recoding of all the logic
With regards to the tanks it is put on the todo list for the next release… a few other more “positive” improvement have higher priority right now, but thanks for making us aware of it 
What is the difference between the three difficulty level?
How is it possible to gain life?
PS: i hope you will release Hybris very soon!!!!
Hi Dueno, on Lieutenant (medium) you have 5 lives and there is relatively “soft” collision. On Cadet (easy) furthermore no bullet are fired upwards. On Squadron Leader (hard) instead you have only 3 lives, collision is “stricter”, and the enemy bullet speed is faster
This is 100% like the Amiga version. In the next upgrade we will furthermore include an even harder difficulty 
You get an extra life at 100k, 300k, 600k, and every million. After some upgrades to Battle Squadron, including 2-player, Hybris will be in the pipeline 
iControlPad / Wiiremote Suggestion…
Hello,
I was also impressed and very happy by the low selling price! 
I just wanted to suggest something… I recently found out about this bluetooth controller ( http://icontrolpad.com/home ) for the iphone and ipad (and also other devices I think…). Would it be possible to add support for battle squadron in a future update please? There are 5 games on appstore that currently support this pad (please check the compatibility tab on the official site) and also ther platforms like android support it as well! I just want to say that I am not promoting this product and I have nothing to do with the creators of the pad. Maybe you can also add support for WiiRemotes! 
I just liked the whole idea of having better control of retro games like battle squadron by using a pad! Thank you very much for your time and effort on bringing Battle Squadron to the new generation (as well as the old! 
).
I’ve just downloaded BS1 for my iphone and I have to say that it is the same great game as it used to be back in the day!
Kind Regards
Vas
Hi Vas, Thanks for your mail. Great to hear you like Battle Squadron
Novel control devices is something we are considering to implement. Before we get to that there are however a few other… even more interesting… things that we will have to finish up 
P.S. I did receive your e-mail, but just did not yet have a chance to respond.
Hey Cope-Com, just wanted to point out something that I came across, I played in full screen mode on the Ipad2 using the magnifying icon to stretch the screen, while I was playing I got stuck under the ‘Pause’ button lol. No matter what I did I couldn’t get out, it just keep pausing and un-pausing when I was trying to get my ship out … Just thought I would let you know..
Zro Dfects
Also as a test I stretched the screen again and played under the other icons and it did the same thing, once your under it and you move your finger away your stuck for good.
Zro Dfects
Hey guys. Just bought my new Ipad2 as promised lol… Battle Squadron was the first thing I downloaded obviously, forget anything else this was more important to me
. I actually would agree with the comment below mine, $1.99 is well kinda low, I would pay $5 too and more if that was the case. Maybe you should have started high then lowered if needed. True fans show their support regardless what costs are involved. If you do decide to up it let me know I will pay the difference for sure.
By the way, lovin the game of course, awesome job I give it 110% perfection. Can’t wait to try 2 player mode…Are you guys human? no one can make games this good it is humanly impossible.
You guys are awesome, tell the rest of the team, you should be going around like batman and saying ‘tell your friends about me’ lol..
So where is Hybris ?
Biggest fan ever!
Zro Dfects
Hi Zro, Thanks for that
Very happy to hear you got your iPad 2… very nice device … and even nicer with Battle Squadron installed on it 
Yes, we could probably have started with a higher pricer, and maybe we should have in retrospect. $5 would however also turn some people away, or even turn them completely off. We also had to consider the reviews of non-Amiga players. It is a bit of a dangerous game this pricing thing
About $2 seems to be the norm these days, so we decided to stick with this…
Hybris is also in the pipeline, but we have a few other interesting things in the works before that
As long as your not losing out money wise, that is all I am worried about for you guys.
Also since being new to Ipad and could be Ipad’s problem, but when playing Battle Squadron using finger touch mode, the ship sometimes can get away from where your finger is placed, I am not sure if it is the sensitivity of the Ipad which means I am moving too fast for it to keep up from the excitement haha….. Not really a big issue as you can just lift your finger and place on top of the ship again, but if you don’t lift your finger your ship could be like 1 or 2 inches from your finger and moves around as if your on top of it when your not. doesn’t happen alot but just thought I would point it out that is all.
I know with touch technology these days nothing will be perfect. The game does play exactly the same as it was on the Amiga. Atleast re-creating BS and Hybris won’t have audio cut out due to 4 channel sounds but maybe you could use that effect to keep it as original as possible haha. Even with audio cut out it still wasn’t annoying back in the day as you are having too much fun anyways…..
What type of software did you use to create BS on Ipad?, is it easy to program with and did you create everything through PC first?. And lastly how do you get your work uploaded onto the Apps Store? I might look into this more myself, which is the reason why I am curious..
Zro Dfects
Yes, it is quite nice to avoid the cut in 2 channels of the music now on iOS… after all
You can of course “put down your finger” anywhere on the screen and move the ship. I guess if you do move really fast there could be slight distortion. We did actually start the development on PC. I however soon moved over to Mac. Here Xcode is the program of choice and it is very well suited for making and testing iOS Apps. You can furthermore submit your App directly to App Store through iTunes Connect. It is all very well integrated 
Cannot wait for this game! Battle Squadron was one of my favorite Amiga games. Thanks so much for brining it back!
>Our current consideration is to give BS ONE a price tag of 1.99
I’d happily pay $5
Hi SomeGaijin, Thanks for letting us know… Great to hear
We are just a few weeks away from release now… Of course it would be great if everybody would pay $5 
Might buy the pad just for this game, however, BS should be open sourced, because it is more than perfect, that is why we need mods.
Very happy to hear you would consider buying the iPad just to play BS
On the longer term open source could be an option, but we do actually have some other plans in that direction, though not quite open source… more later 
I would like to fly over a minecraft word or some endless wastelands, I mean MMORPG BS 1
Interesting… and very specific… idea
We actually have a few ideas a bit in that direction… more on that later 
Has anyone received a beta invite yet?
Hello Cope-COM,
I am definitely looking forward to the iOS release as Battle Squardron was my favorite shoot-em-up on the Amiga due to the amazing gameplay, graphics, and music.
Having played various games on iOS, I would like to suggest implementation of a control scheme like Sky Force Reloaded for iOS:
http://toucharcade.com/2009/03/05/sky-force-reloaded-a-great-099-vertical-shoot-em-up/
This control scheme works much better than anything else I have tried on touch devices – in my humble opinion, of course.
I wish you the best of luck on the release.
Hi Cinepod
Thanks for the support and being a long time fan of Battle Squadron. It is great to hear.
Also, we hear you in terms of having touch controls in Battle Squadron ONE. We will have optional control methods to choose from incl. touch and tilt.
Thanks for the interesting link and if you feel, there are other areas which needs to have a focus on etc, then let us know.
Cope-Com
Hi Kamel, It is true that your hand can cover the speaker a bit. In practice it is however not really a problem, since you can move your hand slightly – and then it is fine. During the recording of the video it was a bit trickier due to the angle of playing – the camera was physically in the way
Hi,
I notice one thing while playing a game with my iphone.
When you’re playing in landscape mode then your hand is near the Iphone speakers and so the sound is lowered. This is not too bad if you’re just having sounds fx in a game but while a music is played it can be very frustrating, I don’t think there’s a solution except wearing earphone or to play in portrait mode. Apple should have put the speakers elsewhere like in portable console. Too bad
Kamel
I buy most of my pc games on steam, so steam would be best. If not gamersgate is a decent alternative. I will buy the iphone version if it is 99c or 1.99 too
(hopefully the lower price point)
Hi iSoLateD1,
Again, thanks for the feedback. Our current consideration is to give BS ONE a price tag of 1.99… but 0.99 is also something we are open to
Do a new Battle Squadron on PC on steam with hd graphics, I would buy it. Loved Battle Squadron for Amiga.
Hi iSoLateD1, Thanks for the patronage
We are indeed strongly considering a PC version now that we will have the game converted to C/C++. We however need the right way of doing the “distribution” etc. Any ideas will be most welcome…
Hi Martin and Torben!!
Very nice! – Looking forward to be playing two of my all time favorite games on my iPhone!
The best of luck with the project.
Niels KM
Hej Niels,
Great to hear from you again, and many thanks for the support
Hope things are well on your side.
Torben/Martin
Aviators (Battle Squadron 2) on Youtube.
Nice page, although the game never died because of all the fans I’m happy its creators never left it either, you guys are legends. Battle Squadron on Xbox LIVE Arcade with Ron Klarens original soundtrack would definately make my retro dreams come true!
Thanx.
Instead of getting stuck with one system, the current and future trend are set more towards multi system playability.
14.5.2010 Screenshot Aviators post-production ingame character.
Link: http://cope-com.com/2010/05/14/post-production-aviators/
Please, Please get Ron Klaren to do the music.
He re-mixed the original Battle Squadron music 2-3 years ago into studio quality for the album “Amiga-Immortal 2″ and it was pretty amazing.
http://www.ronklaren.nl/index.php/personal/battle-squadron-soundtrack-remix/
I agree… he should do the music!!
Thanks Alexh for your kind words!
Ron
Fantastic score made by Ron Klaren. Back in those days it made the Amiga shine above everyone else.
We have remastered the sound and posted it to you, let me know what ya think,
Torben
PSN : being PS3 and PSP, Hybris, BS is prefered over the Iphone, SDK for PSP are lower now.
Kamel
You’re killing us…
If its on Iphone please pay attention to the control, all former arcade games are unplayable. A good working example being Infinity Gene (space invaders)
I sold my XBox360, so for me it has to be on PSN
Kamel
Thanks Kamelito, your input regarding the controls is much appreciated to make the game-play work well
Excellent !
Battle Squadron is one of my all-time best video-game souvenir. I still play it today.
I hope you’ll keep the original musics too, they were so brilliant.
And i’m of course really excited to see an enhanced version (on iPhone and or X360).
Thanks a lot.
wooow.. looking forward to that..
I REALLY hope and look forward to see this get done and released some future day, so pleeeaase don’t ever give up on developing this sequel… MUCH awaited indeed!!!!!
hi
You would have to contact http://www.sodan.dk for an answer.