I realize I haven't written about The City Beneath, the game yet. I still intend to do so at some point, but I decided that I'd prefer to write about the project that is currently occupying my creative energy. This game has a working title of Voyager.
The Idea
Those who know me well know that I'm a fan of science fiction. I have always had a fascination with big ideas, and I love how science fiction allows you to bend or break the rules that we are used to in our own world. Sci-fi really emerged as a genre in the mid-century around the time that space exploration was a new and exciting thing. So there is a lot of focus on space, other planets, exploration, etc. I love this.
I also love astronomy and space exploration in real life. I love following the goings-on at NASA. I follow several of the NASA teams on Twitter. Yeah, I'm a nerd. There are a lot of space probes flying around the solar system. Many of these were launched during the "Space Race." We focus on the Moon landing, but the probes have arguably had a more lasting impact on science and our understanding of how our solar system and our universe works. I was reading an article about Voyager I, which is currently on the cusp of being the first man-made object to exit the solar system. Of course, my first thought was, "Hey that would make a cool game."
Thus, Voyager was born.
Development
The game developed itself in my head very quickly from there. The game takes place in a solar system. The players will be building and launching space probes, in a sort of mimic of the cold war Space Race. Players will have a number of craft at their disposal, and will start the game with a basic level of technology. They will develop instruments, like telescopes, Radar, spectrometers or cosmic ray detectors. They will also improve their probes, adding thrusters, solar sails, or improved rocket launch vehicles that allow them greater control or speed.
There will be a central market of missions that need to be accomplished by players. When players finish a mission, they receive victory points and knowledge points. These allow them to further develop their technologies and enable them to accomplish the bigger, more difficult missions.
I'm still working out some of the details on how the tech development will work, and whether players will need to purchase instruments in some way or not. I'd like to have some element of lowering the bar to develop a technology that another player has already developed, similar to the way that the US and Soviet space programs fed off the successes of the other.
I enjoy games that involve tech tracks or trees of some sort. Civilization, Ascending Empires, Manhattan Project, and to a lesser extent, Eclipse all do this relatively well. I want the technology race to be interesting, but I don't want it to be the focus of the game. I don't think that this is where the fun will be.
Physics
The physics of the game are what makes this design unique. When I first started tossing ideas around with my Level 1 gaming friends, this is the area that really jumped out as being fun and interesting.
The game takes place in a simplified version of a solar system. At the center, there is a star, with a number of planets and asteroids orbiting. In order to accomplish missions, your craft will need to visit these planets or asteroids, and use instruments installed on the craft. A big part of the game is going to be in estimating the turns it will take to arrive at a planet's orbit, and aiming your craft so that the moving planet will be there when your craft gets there.
Another thing I wanted to include that you see a lot in probe launches are gravity assists. When NASA launches a probe, they launch it with a certain velocity, but rarely does the craft stay at that velocity. They often send the probe toward a planet to execute a gravity assist acceleration. This involves the craft passing relatively close to a planet to allow the planet's gravity to pull the craft toward the planet, increasing the craft's speed relative to the sun. If executed correctly, the craft will fly past the planet without being captured and "slingshot" away at a greater speed.
It may not be accurate physics, but I also allow for a slingshot around the sun. Essentially, every planet and the sun will have a gravity well around it. When you are in that gravity well, your craft speeds up and turns toward the object. When you exit, you keep the speed. In real life, this isn't how it works, but it's a simplified way of doing it in a game without getting complicated.
I also had to decide about what the solar system is. I decided that it is not our solar system, but it is very similar. I wanted to make it possible to set up scenarios and invent interesting planets, so I am making up a fictional solar system. This will facilitate variability by allowing players to randomly select planets for different orbits. It also allows scenarios where you might intentionally start the game with planets in a certain position to set up an alignment or encounter of some sort. I even included a comet orbit, which will allow some scenarios or missions to use that.
Finally, I added hazards, like an asteroid belt, or moons around planets. These present an opportunity for damage to the craft, but also may be involved in accomplishing a mission.
The Idea
Those who know me well know that I'm a fan of science fiction. I have always had a fascination with big ideas, and I love how science fiction allows you to bend or break the rules that we are used to in our own world. Sci-fi really emerged as a genre in the mid-century around the time that space exploration was a new and exciting thing. So there is a lot of focus on space, other planets, exploration, etc. I love this.
I also love astronomy and space exploration in real life. I love following the goings-on at NASA. I follow several of the NASA teams on Twitter. Yeah, I'm a nerd. There are a lot of space probes flying around the solar system. Many of these were launched during the "Space Race." We focus on the Moon landing, but the probes have arguably had a more lasting impact on science and our understanding of how our solar system and our universe works. I was reading an article about Voyager I, which is currently on the cusp of being the first man-made object to exit the solar system. Of course, my first thought was, "Hey that would make a cool game."
Thus, Voyager was born.
Development
The game developed itself in my head very quickly from there. The game takes place in a solar system. The players will be building and launching space probes, in a sort of mimic of the cold war Space Race. Players will have a number of craft at their disposal, and will start the game with a basic level of technology. They will develop instruments, like telescopes, Radar, spectrometers or cosmic ray detectors. They will also improve their probes, adding thrusters, solar sails, or improved rocket launch vehicles that allow them greater control or speed.
There will be a central market of missions that need to be accomplished by players. When players finish a mission, they receive victory points and knowledge points. These allow them to further develop their technologies and enable them to accomplish the bigger, more difficult missions.
I'm still working out some of the details on how the tech development will work, and whether players will need to purchase instruments in some way or not. I'd like to have some element of lowering the bar to develop a technology that another player has already developed, similar to the way that the US and Soviet space programs fed off the successes of the other.
I enjoy games that involve tech tracks or trees of some sort. Civilization, Ascending Empires, Manhattan Project, and to a lesser extent, Eclipse all do this relatively well. I want the technology race to be interesting, but I don't want it to be the focus of the game. I don't think that this is where the fun will be.
Physics
The physics of the game are what makes this design unique. When I first started tossing ideas around with my Level 1 gaming friends, this is the area that really jumped out as being fun and interesting.
The game takes place in a simplified version of a solar system. At the center, there is a star, with a number of planets and asteroids orbiting. In order to accomplish missions, your craft will need to visit these planets or asteroids, and use instruments installed on the craft. A big part of the game is going to be in estimating the turns it will take to arrive at a planet's orbit, and aiming your craft so that the moving planet will be there when your craft gets there.
 |
| Gravity Well - In reality, this would be much bigger |
It may not be accurate physics, but I also allow for a slingshot around the sun. Essentially, every planet and the sun will have a gravity well around it. When you are in that gravity well, your craft speeds up and turns toward the object. When you exit, you keep the speed. In real life, this isn't how it works, but it's a simplified way of doing it in a game without getting complicated.
 |
| Impending doom for Earth, Cause of death: Comet |
Finally, I added hazards, like an asteroid belt, or moons around planets. These present an opportunity for damage to the craft, but also may be involved in accomplishing a mission.
 |
| Hazards! |
Now What?
Well, the idea is there, but now I have to do the hard work of building a prototype to see if my idea actually works. That should be fun.
For fun, here's a top level view of the system, with a few planets. you can see the Asteroid belt and the comet orbit. The outer orbit is elliptical, similar to a former planet in our system.
