NachtCloak

A cloaked Soviet satellite is in polar orbit above your territory. You cannot see it. You have seven hours to destroy it before it completes its reconnaissance mission and transmits its data to Moscow.

NachtCloak is a modern iOS reimagining of "Orbit" (1978) by Jeff Lederer, one of the earliest computer games ever published. Originally appearing in "Basic Computer Games" by Creative Computing, the game has been re-themed as a Cold War anti-satellite engagement and rebuilt with an authentic retro military terminal aesthetic.

GAMEPLAY

Each hour, you launch an interceptor missile at a chosen bearing (0-360°) and altitude (100-300 × 100 miles). After detonation, your instruments report how far the explosion was from the cloaked target. The satellite moves counter-clockwise in a constant orbit — use each detonation report to triangulate its position and close in for the kill.

It sounds simple. It is not.

FEATURES

• Polar radar scope display showing your planet, detonation markers, and missile flight paths in real-time
• Animated missile launches with exhaust trails and explosion effects
• Retro phosphor green CRT aesthetic with scanlines, vignette, and glow effects — like peering into a Cold War early warning console
• Twinkling star field backgrounds
• Three difficulty levels: NOVICE (10 shots, wider kill radius), OPERATIVE (original 7-shot parameters), and SPYMASTER (5 shots, precision required)
• Teletype-style text output for mission briefings and detonation reports
• Scoring system based on accuracy, efficiency, and difficulty — maximum 4,000 points for a first-shot SPYMASTER kill
• Persistent local high score records
• Synthesised audio — all sound generated on-device, no samples
• Animated title screen with orbiting Soviet reconnaissance satellite and Cyrillic decode effect
• Vector world map on the orbital diagram

DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

No accounts. No cloud sync. No analytics. No tracking. No ads. No in-app purchases. No network access required. Entirely offline. Your data stays on your device.

NachtCloak is part of the NACHT retro-gaming suite — faithful iOS recreations of classic computer games, rebuilt with period-authentic aesthetics and modern touches.

CREDITS

Based on "Orbit" (originally "Space War") by Jeff Lederer, Project SOLO, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Published in "Basic Computer Games" (1978) by Creative Computing, Morristown, New Jersey. Original source code is public domain (The Unlicense).