Wishes for next locations
Wishes for next locations
on September 20, 2020 - 0:02
I'd really love to be able to travel to Luna and get some in-universe perspective on how people offworld see what's going on with regard to Earth. The first time I looked at the system map, Earth was really the first destination that instinctively leapt into my mind. (Though I suppose I'm making assumptions about what how populated Luna is.)
I'd also love to go to Mars - I think there are a few stations around Mars, so it might be a good opportunity to open up some more cosmopolitan interactions? A less remote and sparsely populated corner of the system, like a DMC equivalent?
Stay ConnectedStay up to date with the latest releases, media reports, and game updates.
I think a more "mainstream" place probably makes sense for the next step. Something larger and more established than K-Leg, and kind of a baseline for how people live in the System.
Tharsis Landing (Mars surface) is kind of the go-to for that, though there are a few other candidates in the main belt, Jupiter, and Mars areas.
A lot of the places described in the wiki have unusual features that might make them hard to build in-game without more systems running. E.g. Venusian atmosphere, Atlantis is underwater, etc.
Whatever the next place is, I'm a little nervous. It's hard to make a whole city seem alive in a game engine!
Dan Fedor - Founder, Blue Bottle Games
I definitely wasn't expecting whole cities to be implemented in an explorable fashion; I had figured my crew would likely never get further than a port, for the most part, with proper shore leave left to abstraction/encounter systems/etc.
Yeah, I think some sort of abstraction is going to play a key role. But even for non-exploration stuff, there are some hidden problems in having a city, which we kind of get a peek into from NS's DMC.
For example, if a lot of people live in an area, there should be signs of life all around it. E.g. traffic coming and going, patrols, infrastructure. Even things like a "no wake zone" where fusion thrust is not allowed near residential areas, or different docking procedures.
DMC was kinda fun because I got to do a side project in the animated map. Adding blinking lights and flying car lights to the map was a nice change of pace, and added an interesting visual piece to the game. I'm hoping I get to do something like that in Ostranauts, as well!
Dan Fedor - Founder, Blue Bottle Games