SpaceSim
Update 01
Launch your ship into space and explore distant planets, but keep an eye on your fuel.
Controls: Use the up arrow to turn on the engines and thrust forwards, and the left and right arrows to rotate clockwise and counter-clockwise respectively.
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Update 01 (April 16, 2015):
- New title screen with background music and a play button.
- New satellite wreckage in the Solar Map that can be used to salvage fuel for interplanetary travel.
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New asteroid field in the Solar Map and a corresponding exploration level.
- Asteroid belt stretches the height of the Solar Map screen and lies between the desert and ice planets.
- Includes an exploration level where the player must maneuver to avoid collisions with asteroids.
- Three different asteroid sprites.
- Acts as a barrier to get to the last planet in the Solar Map.
- High Concept:
This is a space ship flight simulator that has the player launching a ship from an Earth-like planet into space and to other planets all the while thinking about fuel and other resources. - Player Experience Goals:
The goal of this game is to have the player think critically about their decisions on what resources to bring and have them learn about the physics behind space ships. Also, a large goal is to create a fun game that has the player coming back to try different resource loads and to travel to different planets. - Genre:
This game is a hybrid of the arcade space ship genre (Asteroids, Lunar Lander, etc.), the physics simulator genre, and the Oregon Trail genre. It incorporates many physics and flight elements but there is also an element of resource management like in Oregon Trail. - Game play:
The player starts out by deciding what resources to bring on their voyage. Each resource adds more weight and therefore consumes more fuel. After the final resource selection the player begins their game at the launch pad. From the Earth-like planet the player can use their thrusters to get into space and explore the solar system. The goal is to visit and claim all the solar bodies for Science!
To visit a solar body, first go to it in the solar map and then you will be taken to its high atmosphere. From there the player must successfully land on the planet in order to claim it.
To control the ship use the UP arrow to turn on the engines and thrust forwards, and the LEFT and Right arrows to rotate clockwise and counter-clockwise respectively. - Prototype goal:
The goal of this prototype is to incorporate more complex physics in order to make a fun game that has the player thinking more mathematically about what their ship is doing. - Features:
The unique ability to traverse the solar system and visit planets with different atmospheric pressures (drag), and gravitational pull (gravity) creates a experience other games like Lunar Landers or Asteroids. - Setting/Premise:
You are a Space Ship pilot who has been trained by the ESP, Earth Space Program, to fly the solar explorer the Earth Space Ship, ESS for short. You mission is to explore the solar system and claim the bodies in it for Science!
You have a deadly secret, however. One you would dare never tell any of your supervisors.
YOU NEVER LEARNED HOW TO USE THE AUTOMATED LANDING COMPUTER! - Story:
As the captain of the ESS you are expected to go out and claim the solar bodies for mankind, but the fact that you slept through landing training slipped by and now you have to try your best. Not knowing how to uses the automated landing computer you figure your only chance is to land manually putting your life in danger.
META: This subtle story element leads to the entire danger and dramatic tension of the game making it a changeling to succeed. - Target Audience:
The target audience of this game are physics fans as well as fans of resource conserving games like Oregon Trail. - Play time:
This is a game of exploration with several sights to see so the game play time can be long. Play time also depends on how quickly the player masters the physics and is able successfully land on their first try.
Certain parts of the game take longer (ex. the Solar Map) because the ship is slowed down in order to simulate the vast distance between points. - Strategies:
The best strategy is to reserve fuel as much as possible and bring as much as possible. Fuel becomes key especially when in the solar map and it is very important to preserve it.
It is important also to explore different solar bodies and discover their secrets in order to be successful. - Prototype Assets:
The artwork and animations are all self created.
The following other assets were borrowed from the linked sites and creators: - Prototype Closest Other Game:
This game is inspired by many other games including Lunar Lander, Kerbal Space Program, and Oregon Trail. It incorporates gameplay elements form each game to create a unique and fun take on the arcade space simulator.
Some of the physics and ship mechanics are borrowed from the Game Mechanic Explorer: Space Ship Motion examples as well as the Phaser P2 Physics example, Collision Groups.