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In development · Game · Original IP

Typhoon

Browser-native homage to Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child. AAA-quality real-time water on WebGPU, jet-sled flight across the ocean, dive mechanic, rescue gameplay rebuilt for today.

Try MVP
year
2026
span
Active prototyping
role
Concept, engineering, art direction
scope
Browser-native arcade build · Original IP

01 · Overview

Originally, Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child (Airheart) was a wonderfully strange late-1980s arcade adventure about racing across an alien ocean on a jet-sled, rescuing sea creatures and fighting quirky enemies with fast, fluid movement.

Our project is not a remake, but a modern homage to that old-school arcade feeling: immediate controls, colourful danger, rescue-driven gameplay and high-score energy, rebuilt with today's technology.

We are creating a browser-based arcade experience with AAA-quality realtime water, fast surface flight, underwater diving, rescue missions below the waves, new enemies, upgrades, time-limited dive mechanics, collectibles, and a much richer ocean world that expands the original idea into something fresh, modern and technically impressive.

02 · Origin

Dan Gorlin's Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child on the Atari ST. A small game with an outsized feel, and the seed of our homage.

Title screen of Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child on the Atari ST.

Title screen.

Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child · Dan Gorlin · Brøderbund · 1988 · Atari ST

Sea Sprite Flyer hovering over the ocean, jet-sled below.

Encounter with a Sprite Flyer.

Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child · Dan Gorlin · Brøderbund · 1988 · Atari ST

Mid-action across the alien ocean: jet-sled, islands, Flyer and an artifact in view.

Surface action across the alien ocean.

Typhoon Thompson in Search for the Sea Child · Dan Gorlin · Brøderbund · 1988 · Atari ST

Screenshots from the original Atari ST release, used as historical reference for this homage project under EU fair-dealing for quotation and criticism. All rights remain with the original copyright holders. If you hold rights and would like a credit adjusted or the image removed, please contact info@vrtron.com.

03 · Highlights

Features in development

01

WebGPU water surface

Real-time ocean with wind-driven waves, foam, depth-shaded shallows and weather presets, running directly in the browser at interactive frame rates.

02

Jet-sled flight model

Custom craft physics tuned for fast surface skimming, buoyancy at rest, and a tight feel that lets the player dance over the ocean.

03

Dive mechanic

Time-limited underwater dives with depth fog and rescue beats, opening a second gameplay layer beneath the surface.

04

Weather + presets

Tranquil, sunset, storm, hurricane, arctic and more. Each preset is its own atmosphere and difficulty modifier, swappable at runtime.

05

Adjustable fidelity

Quality and splash-quality sliders scale gracefully from low-power laptops to ultra. Honest signalling: the same canvas runs everywhere.

06

Engine-shared with ZipZap

The same factory shape (canvas, onGameOver) drops into ZipZap as a playable feed entry. One build, two distribution channels.

05 · Live

Try the Preview here

Open ↗

Controls: WASD to drive, Q/E strafe, Shift/Space boost, C to dive, C to surface again.

06 · Stack

Made with

07 · Outcome

Where it stands

Status

MVP playable

Tech

WebGPU · Three.js

Channel

Browser-native

Active prototype. The target platform is the modern mobile phone, running directly in the browser. Already runs on latest-generation handsets: Chrome on Android 14+ and Safari on iOS 18+. Also playable on desktop in Chrome 113+, the current Edge, and recent Firefox Nightly.