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[RJAG]

Away Mission™

You are the Captain of a large, customized intergalactic star ship. You are resposnible for the lives of scores of crew. As a Captain, you are solely responsible for their happiness, their sanity, and their lives!
Recruit your Crew, Specialize your Ship, and embark on a journey into the unknown. Discover new alien civilizations, research unexplainable phenomenon, study alien micro-organisms, animals, and plant life. Mine, Trade, or Party!







Hello all, and thank you very much for visiting this thread! 
This game is currently in the prototyping to early alpha phase. Many things, such as much of the GUI, are placeholders or concepts.

Awhile back, my brother showed me a lot of 'treky' games on kickstarter - multiple games- all of which seemed to talk about how every 'treky' game does it wrong- but this time THEY will do it right! Then the game proceeded to be about Combat. Combat. And More COMBAT!!!
As any fan of 'treky' television shows know, Combat was never the focus. In fact, Combat was often a last resort and unwanted resolution for the Captain of many intergalactic star ships. Disappointed with the lack of 'trek' in so many so-called 'trek' games, I went on a journey to develop Away Mission™.

Like a real trek game, Away Mission™ focuses on Science and Personality.
By 'Personality', I mean relationships with the Crew, diplomatic encounters with aliens, crisis of morality and questionable intervention.
By 'Science', I mean the tons of amazing fields of study humans have invented: from Meteorology and Biology, to Psychology and Funology
(Party Time! )



Inspired by games like Starflight, a very popular television series, FTL: Faster than Light, Dwarf Fortress, Papers Please, and what are probably hundreds of games (not just video games) which have influenced me over my hardcore nerd-focused life.



The primary features of Away Mission™  include (but are not limited to):

• A heavy focus on designing the game around the player's experience of being the CAPTAIN of a trek-sized star ship.

• 9 Major Professions based on different fields of research (Science!)

• A focus on the Crew, their relationships & personalities. Part of being a Captain is to manage your Crew and delegate to your chosen Officers. Learn their personalities and promote/demote as you desire until you find Officers you can trust!

• A focus on Away Missions, where the Captain (Player) chooses a plan, forms an away team, and sends them down to resolve a crisis or perform a task. As Captain, you never leave your ship- but thanks to advanced technology you are able to command while still connected to your crew.

• Procedurally Generated Alien Civilizations, Cultures, and Personalities- not just the Planetary Systems and Planets.

• Over 30+ Species Types - All of which can be part of YOUR crew! (some example concepts below)

Warning: Most of the ones displayed under "30 species!" are prototypes created about 6 months ago. I haven't revisited them since.

• Procedurally Generated Stories, Adventures, and Events - With Dynamic Resolutions (Listen to the counsel of your trusted Officers, then Solve the Crisis YOUR way!)

• Dialogue System for encounters with Sentient Aliens.

• Over 25 rooms in your Ship & Customization of your large Star Ship! Each of 8 Professions will have 3x rooms, with upgrades for each room. Each room fulfills a task, which deals with the Crew, Away Missions, or the Ship / Ship Resources (Cargo).

[/list]

[RJAG]

Placeholder post#1.

[Rave Radbury]

This sounds fantastic! 

[Caravaggi0]

I certainly like the idea of this.  I almost welcome some feature creep with a sim like that.

The only crit I'd give so far, and I know it's early, is a few pieces of art look like they're from a side view (slugs, angels) while most of it is form an above angle.  But I imagine that'll be worked out as well.

[motorherp]

I've been waiting for a game like this and have often been tempted to try and make one myself. Good show, I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes

[RJAG]

a few pieces of art look like they're from a side view (slugs, angels) while most of it is form an above angle.  But I imagine that'll be worked out as well.

Oh yea, heheheh, that was my bad. You're right it will be worked out later. Thanks for the comment though!

The characters were my first attempt at pixel art- and one of my first attempts at drawn art (period). Most of the ones displayed under "30 species!" are prototypes created about 6 months ago. I haven't revisited them since.

Lmao, and I drew the slugs going sideways. Except I don't have a sideways perspective. Roflmao. After others told me, I was like "WTF was I thinking LOL!" You should see my teleporter room, it's quite awful (drawn at the wrong perspective entirely, and when the people walked around in it, it was like M.C.Esher's Relativity.)

[edit] [/edit]

Idk what I was thinking. Suffice to say, I'm not the best artist 

Since then, I have hired a Real Professional Artist. She is responsible for all the better looking artwork (environment, plants, etc.)
You can find her DA page here: http://aleraianprincess.deviantart.com/
And her comic book here: http://www.inkblazers.com/authors-and-artists/AleraianPrincess/detail-page/144977

Actually an interesting fact- she became a part of the team BECAUSE I kept on doing stuff like with the slugs. I'd be drawing things at the wrong perspective (front or sideways, when it's topdown) and eventually she realized I could use the help and asked to join the team! 

Although I will still create and animate most of the humanoid characters (and perhaps some more planets for the star map) - she will do most of the art, the harder characters (slugs, plant people, etc.), the interactive GUI (think Papers Please), polish things up, and assist me in preventing more mistakes like the bad angles if I do anymore art.


Also to note, the longer the project goes along, the less I am liking the angels (maybe for the reason you stated, maybe for other reasons too.) However, the slugs will definitely be redone! They are a tribute to my brother, who helped inspire this game and gives me advice while developing and programming. (Both of my brothers are professional programmers, while I am self-taught with a degree in psychology.)

[dszordan]

Looks really impressive. I was wondering if you had some influence from Space Station 13. I think SS13 is the only game I've seen where they had an entertainment profession (IE: Clown / Mime / Cluwne).

If there is some inspiration there, I would love to hear if maybe some other features from SS13 might make it into your game.

[s0]

cool

[RJAG]

Looks really impressive. I was wondering if you had some influence from Space Station 13. I think SS13 is the only game I've seen where they had an entertainment profession (IE: Clown / Mime / Cluwne).

If there is some inspiration there, I would love to hear if maybe some other features from SS13 might make it into your game.

I have never heard of this game before. Thanks for the reference, I'll definitely research it.

Actually, my inspiration for my love with entertainment classes in games is mostly Dragon Warrior 3 for the NES- the goof off.
This was by far, and still is, my favorite class.



I also love Jesters, The Joker, Mimes, Clowns, Killer Clowns- all that stuff. My favorite class, if not among my favorites, in every MMO/RPG is the Bard. I also love the idea of LOTRO's music keyboard where users could create their own songs.

[edit]: Really though, DW3 was just awesome for me both as a kid and replayed as an adult. I loved my goof-off. I loved how insanely high his luck was. How he could be magical by playing his flute or laughing at the enemy.[/edit]

Although almost entirely inspired by the Goof Off from DW3, my love for entertainment is profound. I just love that stuff. When you take this love and combine it with my intense desire to innovate in video games- I very quickly start to think up tons of ways to incorporate entertainment as a playable profession (no matter what game it is).

Although this type of thinking and former game design for entertainers in a rpg i designed helps to develop stuff like this...The entertainment profession in Away Mission was less inspired by the Goof Off, and more inspired by the literal need for entertainers in a real life trek through space. Living on a space ship for months adrift, all in that dark and lonely place? I think an advanced society would have a huge focus on Psychology & Entertainment. Especially a trek-like society where most world problems (like hunger) were resolved centuries ago. Entertainment, Art, these would be major influences for the majority of people.

Before refining the design, the Entertainer was separate from the Chef (a 10th profession). However, the entertainer needed that one extra assignment- and the Chef had only one assignment (each profession has 3 general assignment areas of work) so I combined them.

That is also how I designed the Entertainer's hat:




The Entertainer Profession has three primary tasks in Away Mission:

• Happiness - Keeping your crew happy. An unhappy crew is much more likely to abandon their post (especially if you stop off at a paradise vacation planet), fight amongst themselves, or even cause a "Murder Event" or "Mutiny Event". Parties, Celebrations, Stress Relief. Art. Alcohol. Sex. This task is also represented by the Ship Room: The Lounge, and its sub-room upgrades.
• Diplomacy - Keeping aliens and foreign diplomats happy is also a key role of the entertainer. This profession studies the science of Happiness, Fun, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution. This task is also represented by the Ship Room: The Diplomat's Table.
• Provisions - Trusted with the ship's provisions, the Entertainer is also a Chef. Responsible for maintaining and serving food, nutrition, and the proper diet. This is a major function in multi-species crews, where the diet of various species may be unique. This task is represented by the Ship Room: The Kitchen, which is upgradeable through storage spaces (and within each space, is a specific type of diet. So for multi-cultural crew, you may have one livestock room, one meat locker, one vegetarian room, and one room to collect sunlight into edible food items for the Plant-like or Energy-like species).

[del]

Neat concept. FTL +! Also I'm glad I'm not the only one with a crazily ambitious game. I'd like to see more of the crew dynamics in action.

[RJAG]

Looks really impressive. I was wondering if you had some influence from Space Station 13. I think SS13 is the only game I've seen where they had an entertainment profession (IE: Clown / Mime / Cluwne).

If there is some inspiration there, I would love to hear if maybe some other features from SS13 might make it into your game.

I checked out Space Station 13 a bit. I've got to say, it has a phenomenal design. Whoever designed that game is extremely talented.
I love the idea of a player being a janitor, the multiplayer aspect of working together in various jobs, and the secret antagonist. Reminds me very much of two of my favorite board games- where you dont know who the enemy or ally is. I am rarely impressed with game design, and this more than just impresses me. So awesome!!

I'd love to see this design implemented in a game like The Escapists (both art style and gameplay).

Thank you for sharing this hidden gem!

[dszordan]

I'm glad you took a look. I haven't played SS13 in a little bit, but I do enjoy reading some of the craziness that happens on some of the servers.

I really dig your enthusiasm and I'm excited to read more of your devlog.

[RJAG]

Just found out that registering a trademark is incredibly expensive, but using ™ is absolutely free (and does work to solidify ownership of your 'brand').

For any devs interested, and correct me if I'm wrong because all this legal stuff is crazy, but... it's something like:

™  = Free, and it does give you some power over your 'mark'. It almost always loses out to a registered trademark, but does give you protection otherwise.
® = $375 just to file the paperwork, and if it's denied you do NOT get a refund. Very expensive, and it only protects one 'mark'.

Both of those apply to 'marks', or what are basically titles, names, brands.

Copyright = cheap, $35, and protects your art (graphics, audio) & text (code). Not the mark/brand. Not the idea. This is affordable for us indies and a good idea.

Patent = protects the IDEA, and is INCREDIBLY expensive (thousands of dollars) and very hard to get approved. You won't want one of these for a video game, and even if you do- good luck with it.

[Slader16]

That's really interesting actually! 

[Bombini]

This looks suuuuuper interesting!

[oahda]

I thought copyright was automatic. I'm pretty sure it is in Sweden...

[RJAG]

I thought copyright was automatic. I'm pretty sure it is in Sweden...

Not sure about Sweden, but when I googled this stuff it didn't really mention any particular nation. (Not sure if it implied U.S. or if it is similar across the world / western world).

Based on my research, there are varying levels of trademark/copyright/patent, with registration being the most powerful, but evidence to prove your case being good enough in many instances.

For trademarks (or copyrights), any evidence to prove it is your original mark (or art/code) seems to be valid (at least from what I read). However, the free ™ is better than nothing, so there is no reason not to use it for your marks/brand.

For copyright, I read that you cannot send an order to take something down due it infringing copyright, unless it is registered copyright. While many sites will most likely take something down if you can prove it is stolen from your original work (ex. your older post, your released game) there is nothing stopping them from ignoring your request. A registered copyright, means they cannot ignore your request without legal repercussions.

Trademarks are not Copyrights.
Trademarks protect names/brands; What are called 'Marks'. Like "Coca Cola" or "McDonalds" or "Pepsi". Even though the ™ is better, registering the trademark almost always beats the ™ (but costs hundreds of dollars).

Copyright protects art/text (which includes computer code). So a copyright won't protect your company name or game title. It will only protect your graphics and code (code which most likely no one will ever see...so basically it protects your graphics). Although there is nothing stopping someone from making their own graphics similar to yours (as long as they don't copy it exactly).

Really, it is so easy to skirt around all this stuff, I am skeptical if it is even worth it to register.

Neither protect the game idea, which is why anyone can make a pacman or mario clone. Anyone can make an identical game, but with different graphics. Anyone can clone your game AND create very similar graphics. So really if someone wanted to, it wouldn't be hard to compete by "idea theft" cloning.

[RJAG]

That's really interesting actually! 

This looks suuuuuper interesting!

If you don't mind sharing, what interests you guys the most?

Anything in particular?

[jmakegames]

Looks great, RJAG! Depending on how large the scale of your universe will be, you've got an ambitious project.

Good luck and keep it up!

[Bombini]

If you don't mind sharing, what interests you guys the most?

Anything in particular?

I was a huge fan of the Starflight series, i liked SunDog, Whale's Voyage and enjoyed FTL.

Why? Because i had to take care of a crew and train them, follow an interesting story, explore a universe, discover secrets and fight once in a while (well...quite often in FTL). I always had freedom of choice.

You wrote in your first post:

You are the Captain of a large, customized intergalactic star ship. You are resposnible for the lives of scores of crew. As a Captain, you are solely responsible for their happiness, their sanity, and their lives!
Recruit your Crew, Specialize your Ship, and embark on a journey into the unknown. Discover new alien civilizations, research unexplainable phenomenon, study alien micro-organisms, animals, and plant life. Mine, Trade, or Party!

That was the point when you had my interest.

There are not so many games foloowing that vision. FTL is a brilliant game but its a different game. Its not so much about exploring rather about following an encounter path (plus i am forced to move which is one of the fun parts of FTL).

I like the starmap. Exploring new universes and planets is a lot fun!

So...let's get the engines started, let's install Laser Mark II, let's train our naviagtion officer to level 4 and get going!"