In the Lab · Active development
Drive the dev build
Embedded canvas below: a playable combat build. On desktop,
WASD / arrows drive and turn, Space fires. On mobile, a left
floating joystick drives and steers, a right button fires.
There's no turret: you aim by turning the hull, exactly like the
1980 original. The fullscreen toggle in the upper-left expands it
to the whole screen.
Iron Clash
The vector battlefield, rebuilt.
NoSprite Studio · First-person tank combat · Inspired by Battle Zone (Atari, 1980)
Iron Clash is NoSprite's second game, a mobile-first, faithful
reimagining of Atari's Battle Zone (1980). Drawn entirely in
code, built in the open. You pilot WRAITH, hunting Sentinel
patrols on The Range, a decommissioned weapons proving ground.
Hull-aim like the original (no turret). Sentinels run for
cover when you have eyes on them, advance when you don't. The
windshield cracks as you take hits: three and you're WRAITH
OFFLINE. Accessibility is built into the base. Music and more
Sentinel variants come next.
Playable combat demo Built in the open Accessibility-first Vector wireframe
How the Lab works
The Lab is where active builds live. The current playable is
embedded; the changelog shows what shipped; the roadmap shows
what's coming. No staging environments, no preview branches.
The Lab page is the current state.
Devlogs and longer-form writeups land on the
Journal.
Shipping notes and clips go out via
the studio's socials.
It's built in the open for a reason: playtest the embedded build
and tell me what feels off. Feedback directly steers what ships
next.
What works today
It's a game now, not a driving demo. The full base loop is in:
drive, fight, score, die, restart. What follows is tuning and
depth, not missing fundamentals.
- ✓ Custom IRON CLASH animated wordmark title: vector letters, scanline reveal, synth boot beeps
- ✓ WRAITH (you) vs SENTINEL units patrolling THE RANGE: a decommissioned weapons proving ground
- ✓ Hull-aimed combat (no turret, true to 1980): box reticle with SENTINEL lock-on and range readout
- ✓ Visibility-gated Sentinel AI: runs for cover when watched, advances when not, searches last known position after losing contact
- ✓ Weighted tank movement: Arcade/Sim inertia, pivot-then-drive, obstacle collision
- ✓ Auto-range arched shells; 3D wireframe shells visible mid-flight; cover actually blocks shots
- ✓ Persistent progressive cracks: 3 hits = WRAITH OFFLINE (the windshield IS your life bar)
- ✓ Canvas HUD: corner brackets, bracketed sensor + status at top, clean bottom for touch controls
- ✓ From-scratch software wireframe renderer, vector-true to Battle Zone
- ✓ Procedural battlefield: volcanic terrain, cover obstacles, mountain horizon
- ✓ Synthesized SFX (no audio files; music deferred)
- ✓ Accessibility built in: reduced-motion, high-contrast, haptics, mobile-first
What's next
Not a fixed schedule. Built live, updated as work lands. AI
tuning is the active focus this week (Sentinels are getting
smarter build over build); see the changelog for what shipped.
Watch the Journal or
Connect page for shipping
notes.
next
- AI tuning (active, ongoing): Sentinel behavior is improving build over build
- More enemy types: supertank, guided missile, flying saucer
- Deeper wave structure + difficulty curve
soon
- Synthesized music
- Boss encounters
later
- In-game settings & accessibility panel (inertia, audio, contrast, haptics)
Changelog
Shipped milestones. Backfills as the project ages.
- May 2026 · Phase 4
- Persona: WRAITH (you) / SENTINEL units / THE RANGE setting
- Custom IRON CLASH animated wordmark title (vector letters, scanline reveal, synth boot beeps)
- Canvas-driven HUD: corner brackets, bracketed sensor panel, status moved to top
- Box reticle + SENTINEL lock-on with range readout
- Persistent progressive cracks (3 hits = WRAITH OFFLINE; lives counter dropped)
- Visibility-gated Sentinel AI: cover use when watched, advance + lock-on when not, last-known-position search after losing contact
- Auto-range arched shells (per-shot arc lands at target); 3D wireframe shell models
- Sentinel rear features (exhaust stacks, antenna mast) for front/back readability at a glance
- Fixed: model rotation mirror so the visible barrel matches the shell direction
- May 2026 · Phase 3
- Hull-aimed combat: firing, enemy tank AI, return fire
- Hit detection, score, lives, wave escalation, game over
- Movement inertia (Arcade/Sim) + obstacle collision
- Radar, reticle, screen-crack damage feedback
- Synthesized SFX: no audio files
- Accessibility: reduced-motion, high-contrast, haptics
- Fixes: mountain-ring seam, ground extent, click-to-start
- May 2026 · Phase 2
- First-person camera + tank movement
- Procedural terrain
- Initial mobile touch controls
From the studio
Made by one solo dev
NoSprite is a one-person studio building retro arcade games entirely
in code. No ads. No pay-to-win. If you played and want to back what's
next, the tip jar is there.