Clavius0712
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Hi all,
I have been dreaming for a while now about designing a board game to portray the future exploration of space from about the year 2020 to 2100. It would have a map of the solar system - or more likely several separate individual maps (inner planets, outer planets, Earth-Moon system, Jupiter system, Saturn system) - and the planetary tracks would be printed on it.
The maps would be overlaid with a hexagonal grid and the orbital paths of the planets/moons marked on the grid as true circles/ellipses just as they would be in real life. I would also like to get the orbital plane just right for each planet by putting a number in each hex to show its "zulu" coordinate, i.e. how far above or below the plane of the map the orbital path is at each point in the orbit. Marked on each orbital path would be the starting position of the planet/moon for the year 2020.
I would then need to have rules to tell the player how far each planet/moon moves each each turn. I haven't decided on how long a turn is yet but it could depend on the map being used. For instance, say all the players start off only able to use the Earth-Moon system map. A turn on that map might only be a day or so. However, once players move onto the outer planets map each turn might represent weeks or months. Obviously it would require some thought as to how the situation is dealt with when multiple maps are in play.
The final icing on the cake of this game system would be rules to allow the player to construct realistic spacecraft and send them on realistic trips to various destinations.
The construction part would require scientific facts on Specific Impulse, Fuel Efficiency and God knows what else so that the players' ships behave in a realistic fashion in terms of acceleration, duration etc.
The flight part would need rules to work out the vector a ship was moving in based on burns it had made and other forces acting on it like a nearby planet or satellite's sphere of influence.
Each player in the game would be some sort of space-fairing organisation. Some might be commercial ventures whilst others might be government agencies. Each would have unique advantages and disadvantages in terms of R&D, financing etc.
The goal would be to be the player to achieve the greatest space-fairing prestige during the period 2020 to 2100. Prestige would be acquired by doing interesting things like landing on planets/moons, setting up permanent bases on them, developing space tourism, etc.
There would be no fighting in the game. Players would outdo each other by setting landmarks in the history of space flight, not by use of force. Maybe on rare occasions some sort of aggressive action could be allowed, but it would not be the norm and would be discouraged by the game rules.
So, having seen my dream, what do you think? Could it be done? Bear in mind that I do have some programming skill so if it was out of the question that this could be done on a physical board with physical pieces, it might be possible as a computer game representation of a board game.
At its heart, such a game would be about the physics of orbital mechanics, so I would need to be able to make game rules that controlled the way planets move, how spaceships create transfer orbits between planets etc.
I would be interested in anyone's thoughts on this idea, and how I might make a start turning it into reality.
P.S. - I did search for similar games and I think one called "High Frontier" is coming out next year. However I can't find any information on it. If anyone has any information then I'd be interested to know as if my dream game is already coming out I won't have to make it!![Wink ;) ;)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
I have been dreaming for a while now about designing a board game to portray the future exploration of space from about the year 2020 to 2100. It would have a map of the solar system - or more likely several separate individual maps (inner planets, outer planets, Earth-Moon system, Jupiter system, Saturn system) - and the planetary tracks would be printed on it.
The maps would be overlaid with a hexagonal grid and the orbital paths of the planets/moons marked on the grid as true circles/ellipses just as they would be in real life. I would also like to get the orbital plane just right for each planet by putting a number in each hex to show its "zulu" coordinate, i.e. how far above or below the plane of the map the orbital path is at each point in the orbit. Marked on each orbital path would be the starting position of the planet/moon for the year 2020.
I would then need to have rules to tell the player how far each planet/moon moves each each turn. I haven't decided on how long a turn is yet but it could depend on the map being used. For instance, say all the players start off only able to use the Earth-Moon system map. A turn on that map might only be a day or so. However, once players move onto the outer planets map each turn might represent weeks or months. Obviously it would require some thought as to how the situation is dealt with when multiple maps are in play.
The final icing on the cake of this game system would be rules to allow the player to construct realistic spacecraft and send them on realistic trips to various destinations.
The construction part would require scientific facts on Specific Impulse, Fuel Efficiency and God knows what else so that the players' ships behave in a realistic fashion in terms of acceleration, duration etc.
The flight part would need rules to work out the vector a ship was moving in based on burns it had made and other forces acting on it like a nearby planet or satellite's sphere of influence.
Each player in the game would be some sort of space-fairing organisation. Some might be commercial ventures whilst others might be government agencies. Each would have unique advantages and disadvantages in terms of R&D, financing etc.
The goal would be to be the player to achieve the greatest space-fairing prestige during the period 2020 to 2100. Prestige would be acquired by doing interesting things like landing on planets/moons, setting up permanent bases on them, developing space tourism, etc.
There would be no fighting in the game. Players would outdo each other by setting landmarks in the history of space flight, not by use of force. Maybe on rare occasions some sort of aggressive action could be allowed, but it would not be the norm and would be discouraged by the game rules.
So, having seen my dream, what do you think? Could it be done? Bear in mind that I do have some programming skill so if it was out of the question that this could be done on a physical board with physical pieces, it might be possible as a computer game representation of a board game.
At its heart, such a game would be about the physics of orbital mechanics, so I would need to be able to make game rules that controlled the way planets move, how spaceships create transfer orbits between planets etc.
I would be interested in anyone's thoughts on this idea, and how I might make a start turning it into reality.
P.S. - I did search for similar games and I think one called "High Frontier" is coming out next year. However I can't find any information on it. If anyone has any information then I'd be interested to know as if my dream game is already coming out I won't have to make it!