Okay. Time to babble about design philosophy. This'll be a long one. Sorry, no tl;dr today. Grab a drink.
Part 1: Space & How To Find It
In my first post on this, I honestly glossed over almost everything about planets except that they'd follow current theories of planetary formation. Technically, I intend that to be true, but there's some footnotes attached to that statement.
A short way to sum up the way I feel about planetary generation for this game is that I would rather have a less realistic but highly varied galaxy to explore than a very realistic and predictable one. How I actually intend to do that on the technical side is a whole other ball of worms, but another good way to put the actual design philosophy would be: "Based On A True Story"
What I mean by that is I can take a scientific, realistic baseline for what things we know exist out there in space, and extrapolate to things that
could exist, even if they are unlikely. Further, some things that probably
aren't out there (but are allowed by the laws of physics) are fair game as well. And then, on top of that, there can be purely fictional elements - though not so many that they become mundane. There should be a sense of surprise.
And on that note, I feel that a key facet to making an interesting galaxy to explore in is to not give the player too much too fast. There need to be some limitations and rules as for how the player discovers things, but not so much so that it becomes a painful chore that would rather be skipped. It should take
some amount of effort, yet feel natural.
The current method I have my eye on is as follows: Upon arriving in a system, the player will have very little knowledge about what is in it. Your spacecraft is equipped with a "mass scanner" (pretend it detects higgs bosons or something) - a device that can register the presence and trajectories of large objects in a vicinity around it. It has a sensitivity limit, so the further away you are from the object in question, the less a given object will stand out from the background noise.
You can focus on these detected objects in your map screen, just like a normal one, but with no information, the only thing the map will display is that they exist. Based on the mass, though, it will give you an estimate of its likely radius and composition. Something with the mass of Jupiter is probably going to be a gas giant. Something with the mass of Pluto will probably be a small planetoid.
But perhaps it won't be.
So, you can target your hyperdrive and head off. Upon arrival, in addition to simply being able to see it out the window, the map screen will automatically update with more information. Its radius will be filled in, as will its composition (one can assume the computer is making its own observations and processing this data itself).
Another way is perhaps via a small telescope on the spacecraft, giving you a fuzzy look at distant bodies, hinting at what you might find there. Not exactly Hubble - more something like a backyard telescope, giving a view like
this. That would give your databank information like radius and composition, and perhaps let you spot moons that the mass scanner can't detect over the signal of the parent planet at that distance.
Whatever the case, I want dearly to capture what I mentioned earlier - the feeling of being surprised at what's out there.
Part 2: Spacecraft & How To Decorate Them
I've touched on this one slightly more, but not nearly in this much detail. Maybe you should get that drink, after all?
Your spacecraft, Galactic Survey Vessel #6649 "Watch And Listen", is your dearest friend in a lonely galaxy. It gives you the life support you need to breathe, the artificial gravity and inertial damping you need to not barf or get flattened, and the gift of hyperspace travel to help you see the cosmos. There are a number of ways to interact with your spacecraft, and the most obvious of them is flying it.
In normal flight, your spacecraft is governed by physics, and behaves as a rigidbody object. You control it with powerful thrusters to adjust your trajectory when you aren't flying around in hyperspace. Under full manual control, Kerbal Space Program players will find themselves right at home here, but I will confess that many people might take a bit to get used to it.
However, there also are several autopilot modes to make flying easier. For instance, one will bring your current velocity (relative to the nearest celestial body) to zero. Another will set the thrusters so that the spacecraft will try to hover at a certain altitude. Another will automatically land the spacecraft for you, although it will try to do so wherever you tell it to, so make sure you aren't over a mountain.
As for hyperspace travel, there is a fair bit less to do on your end. You choose the target on your map, lock it in, and hit go. It's smart enough to not let you fly into a star, but it still requires some astronavigation on your part. Performing a hyperspace jump does not cancel out your velocity - if the planet you left was moving 20 km/sec relative to the one that you arrive at, your ship's thrusters will have to make up that difference (hence the match-velocity autopilot!)
The hyperdrive also functions in two modes - interplanetary and interstellar. The only real distinction between them is that interstellar is, as might be expected, much faster. In interplanetary mode, you can cross 1 astronomical unit (the distance from the Earth to the Sun) in about four seconds. At these speeds, a trip from Earth to Neptune would take about two minutes. In interstellar mode, that same four seconds will take you almost eighteen light years. Earth to Alpha Centauri would take about one second. But crossing the 37,000 light-year diameter galaxy would take over two hours.
These speeds are, of course, subject to change. But the basic principle is still something I want to hang onto - hopping from star to star is quick, but going from one end of the galaxy to the other means you'll have to find something else to do in the meantime.
Which brings us conveniently to the other way you can interact with your spacecraft.
Leaving the cockpit, you'll find what I like to call the "lounge". It's a luxuriously spacious area for an exploration vessel, and that space will be able to be populated however you wish. Furniture can be ordered from the replicator and set up how you like, as can assorted props and decorations, photos you've taken (with an equippable camera, because I remain insane) can be printed and hung on the wall, and so on. The color and texture of the walls and floor can be changed by means of configurable intelli-auto-surfaces (or something), so if you really want the inside of your spacecraft to look like a dungeon, I mean... I guess I can't stop you.
From a design and feel standpoint, a certain theme has been emerging. Though old, Watch And Listen is well-maintained by automated systems, and looks the same today as it did when it rolled off the assembly line a few million years ago. The design language for it that's been emerging is one of contrasting round and sharp shapes and large, clean surfaces - partly for style, partly to leave big spaces for the player to fill. The aesthetic of the original series of Star Trek is a big influence on the interior.
At the same time, it's not nearly as docile as the spacecraft of Star Trek. It's a very chunky vehicle, built heavy and tough. It bleeps, it clunks, it creaks, it shakes when the engines run, and if it's doing something that violates our laws of physics, it will
feel like you're breaking the rules. The hyperdrive is a rough, shuddering ride, the inertial dampeners aren't perfect, and the replicator sounds like a directed energy weapon.
There are a lot of other topics I want to touch on, but most of them remain in fairly speculative territory at this point - such as the potential for spacecraft damage and repair, some sort of resource gathering, etc, etc, so I am saving them for another time.
Phew. That was a mouthful. That took me all day to put together. I'll probably be editing it for another two days on and off but for now, I should probably stop myself. I've been doing sound design stuff recently, and soon should have a video together showing them off.
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