Superluminary:Simulation Game Design OverviewFrom Superluminon(Redirected from Simulation Game Design Overview)
A Game Design Overview.
GameplayPlayers will construct components in a manner to meet certain goals within the allotted game space. There will also be a good amount of resource management that is unique to this game. GamespaceLoading objects into game space is done similar to the method employed by Google Maps. Terrain and height space will be handled in respect to the window. Using DOM window methods, we will determine how many blocks are within the view of the player's window. Using both the window size, as well as the player's position within the world, elements will be dynamically loaded and offloaded. The currentScale and currentTranslate methods will be useful for panning and zooming across the window, by modifying the root svg element.
SVG lends itself very well to isometric design. An SVG rectangle element can be skewed by the approximate angle of a line with the 1:2 pixel ratio (e.g. two pixels over, one pixel down) that is characteristic of-- and fundamental to-- isometric pixel art, which is 26.565 degrees. Component Consolidation-- compocon()-- is very important for performance, as bricks adjacent to other bricks, or bricks obscuring other bricks, will be concatenated into a single path. The getBBox SVG DOM method can be used to get the bounding box of objects in gamespace. This is may help us create the Component Consolidation function. SettingsSettings will be available to the player to help improve performance and offer a degree customization.
InterfaceThe game will be developed as browser game, thus there will be quick-access links and menus to shorten times; attacched to the side of the screen, the primary, most important functions will allow the player to use:
ComponentsGame objects are first built from scratch using bricks. Those bricks can then be grouped in blocks that correspond to tiles on the Deck. Blocks can consist of multiple tiles, but cannot be smaller than one tile. Once an object is built, it is stored and displayed in concatenated form, outside of the editor.
Blocks: Groups of bricks that can be positioned over tiles, spread over the area of the block ~(10,10) Decks: Group of blocks; a deck can be the size of one room, or many rooms, spread across a story. A Deck can be grouped and packaged into a single unit, but Decks that are copied are not immediately constructed, and must be edited and approved for final integration into the structure. ~(1000, 1000) Structure: A structure cannot be duplicated. ~(1000, 1000, 100) EditorMarketplacePlayers may not always be willing to design every object, room, and vehicle they will use, or may wish to use the work of others. Market credits will be used by the player as a currency to buy objects other players have created, and add them to their personal repertoire. Market credits can be earned through the sale of objects. Market credits can also be bought with money using Google Checkout. A substantial amount of credits are yielded, enough to be around a month's supply. The player's mileage may vary. There will also be a small, daily government stipend that is automatically added to a player's account. This will encourage older players to pick their account up again if they lose interest, and help get back into the game. People will be able to join an organization with a set common goal. They can also develop and sell their blockset. DevelopmentThe technical aspects of implementing the game are addressed here. PlatformThe game will be developed using the SVG specification, manipulated through the XML DOM using JavaScript. The client used will be Mozilla Prism, and the server will be the Google App Engine. ClientTo simplify support, use of the Prism client will be recommended to new users, and a web client may not be all that necessary. SVG is supported natively in the latest versions of Firefox, Safari, Opera. [1] Unfortunately, even prerelease versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer do not show signs of SVG support. ServerThe ideal choice as a server platform for this project is the Google App Engine. RoadmapDevelopment of the program will take place in stages. Sputnik - Experimental-seriesThe Sputnik-series is a series of experiments, as well as incremental improvements, pushing the boundaries and exploring new territory with each iteration of the program.
Voskhod (Ascent) - Alpha
This version will not be public. Soyuz (Union) - Beta
in the Soyuz-series (that's going to be the public beta) there will be an MMO element as well. People will be able to buy and sell their virtual creations. Soyuz will implement basic strategy functionality, such as resource gathering, transport, and processing, as well as some tactical stuff. Vektornye (Vector) - 1.0 Release
Mir (Peace) - 2.0 Release
MusicFor the time being, it will be necessary to call on a JavaScript-accessible Flash audio player. Ultimately, the <audio> tag of the HTML5 specification will be used to play the soundtrack once the specification is finalized and implemented across the Firefox and Prism browsers. Music by Holst or Khachaturian might be appropriate for this game, with the proper arrangement. Game PremiseA cross between SimCity & SimTower, this game attempts to allow a player to create and simulate a thriving self-sustaining community within the confines of a vertical structure-- an Edifice-class Colony. SettingA brutal war over resources and politics escalated to put into motion a collective global war machine, relentless in pursuing mutually-assured destruction. In the year 2099, we, as the remaining survivors of humanity, look down to Earth from our geostationary SkyHaven to face the aftermath of our reckless destruction. We have destroyed over 90% of the earth's surface in a war using biological, nanotechnological, and nuclear weapons. A task force has been organized across the remaining SkyHavens to land upon the planet below in order to put right our transgressions against our planet. Extended SettingThe war began through a single act of terror. Whether it was purely ideological, or the first shot fired by proxy, is a moot point by now. It started in a landfill, of all places. Overtaking the city of Denver, this indigenous enemy spread faster than we could respond-- faster than we could even think. We sent firefighters, for goodness sake. By the time we used the bomb, it was already too late. Hot on the heels of our mushroom clouds, the nanotech quickly adapted and multiplied, fed by our folly. By the time it had spread to Albuquerque, the world had learned of our mistake, and... The rest is history. EnvironmentsEach setting will have two different technological progressions, and a crowning achievement for either. Crowning achievements will be based on population goals (such as in SimCity) as well as evaluated goals (such as in SimTower). In version 1.0 of this project, the following environments will be available to the player to construct their community.
Martian terrain will be represented Economy
Ecosystem
Resources
PopulationA simulated population will have various statistics that can be monitored on an individual basis, as well as in a demographic overview. As in the game Tropico, simulated individuals will have certain ideological priorities. Individuals will be attracted to certain aspects of your tower. A list of some of these ideologies:
None of these ideologies conflict, and can be implemented in various combinations. while others compliment each other. It is possible to have a combination of socialized services in a capital-based system established with democratic organizational responsiveness. It is possible to remediate the surrounding environment into parks for tourists, and produce products for those tourists. It is possible to produce as much as is necessary for the population, while not making excess, and do this in an optimized manner. Of course, it may be desirous to focus on only one set of ideologies to make a more focused tower, which, in the same vein as SimCity Societies, will develop its own character, including that of graphics sprites as well as the appearance of individuals. There is no global setting for these ideologies. Instead, they are governed by the player's actions in construction. Social GameplayThe player begins the game by creating an Engineer from the headquarters of the EDIFICE Players will have the choice of starting locations. Initially players will only be able to play on land, however, they can choose whether they want to be further away from other players, thus benefiting industry & expansion, or choose to form a more social aspect to benefit commerce & cooperation. OrganizationNameOriginally, this project grew out of the EDIFICE proposal, which was meant to be a SimTower clone, with a special twist; the player would build an environmentally-aware, self-contained structure. The actual name of this project will be determined at some later time, however, some possible candidates:
DomainTo be determined, dependent upon the name of the project. Software LicenseThe license will be GNU GPL and distributed under a Google Code repository. This means that if a third party changes our code, they must make their code available. It doesn't mean that we cannot make an income, however, either by running the software as a service to the players (to be charged monthly), or by the marketplace model. Items in the marketplace are not open source, but instead are copyright to their players. Money made even through player-made items goes to the company, however, as the player is compensated with market credits. Credits
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