Science of the Spheres - development

[Whirligig Girl]

Menu mockup + animation

http://i.imgur.com/XJKVGJj.gif

neat. I like the Apollo posters.

[Vaporo]

Debating whether the final game ought to have a "Planetarium" mode that operates like space engine, where you can just fly around a galaxy and inspect things. It would be fun, but I also feel like it might spoil a lot of the game if you can immediately fly around and discover a bunch of things ahead of time. Part of the challenge of the game will be having absolutely no idea what to expect when you first go through the gate. With the planetarium, you could go inspect the area ahead of time to learn all of its secrets.

I would think that the problems that you have stated above would FAR outweigh the benefits (which I think are sparse at best) that would arise from a planetarium mode. The only kind of "planetarium mode" that I would recommend would be a system that allows you to view planets that you have already discovered, and even then only as much information as your probes have sent back (and you can't see animal/plants on the surface of the planet unless you have some kind of continuous source of video orbiting the planet). Obviously, there would have to be some kind of map mode, though, but being able to see every planet before it is discovered is overkill.

Also, wouldn't it be possible to have totally random planets and star systems for each save? If I understand correctly, you will be able to enter the microverse at pretty much any arbitrary star system, so it's not like KSP where you are intimately familiar with the home system. Any familiarity with the planetary structure of the universe that would arise between players is pretty much killed by this mechanic as well, so why not make it random?

Edited July 13, 2014 by Vaporo

[NovaSilisko]

I would think that the problems that you have stated above would FAR outweigh the benefits (which I think are sparse at best) that would arise from a planetarium mode. The only kind of "planetarium mode" that I would recommend would be a system that allows you to view planets that you have already discovered, and even then only as much information as your probes have sent back (and you can't see animal/plants on the surface of the planet unless you have some kind of continuous source of video orbiting the planet). Obviously, there would have to be some kind of map mode, though, but being able to see every planet before it is discovered is overkill.

A bit of a problem with a planet viewer/map mode is the game's set in the 1970s, and I want everything to have some manner of physical equivalent. Some sort of magic box that lets you fly through the solar systems you've charted out is a bit far fetched, unless it was a super crude vector rendering of the area - in which case, it's useless for much navigation or study... stars will need a means of cataloging however, possibly a set of telescopes that measure parallax, put onto a probe moving at high speed to measure the apparent motions of the stars. From there, you can view a map of the galaxy, rendered as a simple cloud of points, maybe with markers showing where your ships are... Doable, dare I say, with 1970s tech.

Also, wouldn't it be possible to have totally random planets and star systems for each save? If I understand correctly, you will be able to enter the microverse at pretty much any arbitrary star system, so it's not like KSP where you are intimately familiar with the home system. Any familiarity with the planetary structure of the universe that would arise between players is pretty much killed by this mechanic, so why not make it random?

It's not totally random - to enter a galaxy you enter "coordinates" or a "coordinate string", which the game interprets as the seed for the random generator. Entering the same seed into the coordinate box will always yield the same generated galaxy (barring major changes to the generator which will likely screw up everything) for any player. Each galaxy will always have the same stars and planets, allowing discoveries to be shared.

[NovaSilisko]

Floating point issues dealt with. Courtesy of r4m0n:

(jittering = off, smooth = on)

Edited July 13, 2014 by NovaSilisko

[r4m0n]

New star shader on the game scene, currently working on integrating the galaxy and system generators for a fully flyable microverse :-)

EDIT: And the integration is done!

This galaxy has 4K+ stars, and each one can be visited now. Things are running fast enough we can increase the number of stars in the galaxy considerably if we need to.

Edited July 13, 2014 by r4m0n

[Vaporo]

It's not totally random - to enter a galaxy you enter "coordinates" or a "coordinate string", which the game interprets as the seed for the random generator. Entering the same seed into the coordinate box will always yield the same generated galaxy (barring major changes to the generator which will likely screw up everything) for any player. Each galaxy will always have the same stars and planets, allowing discoveries to be shared.

Oh, I think I see where you're gong with this now. You want to be a bit like Space Engine, where part of the fun of it is finding weird or unusual planets and then showing them to others, who can in turn visit the planets themselves. Well, I still think the planetarium would ruin some of the fun, considering that you could just minimized SotS, find someone who is willing to tell you the location of an unusual planet, and then just enter some numbers into the planetarium and instantly go to the planet. There's no challenge to it.

A bit of a problem with a planet viewer/map mode is the game's set in the 1970s, and I want everything to have some manner of physical equivalent. Some sort of magic box that lets you fly through the solar systems you've charted out is a bit far fetched, unless it was a super crude vector rendering of the area - in which case, it's useless for much navigation or study... stars will need a means of cataloging however, possibly a set of telescopes that measure parallax, put onto a probe moving at high speed to measure the apparent motions of the stars. From there, you can view a map of the galaxy, rendered as a simple cloud of points, maybe with markers showing where your ships are... Doable, dare I say, with 1970s tech.

So you would have a 3D map, but stars and planets are just rendered as simplistic points? Or would it be 2D? I like the 3D idea, as it allows for much easier mission planning, even if it's not strictly 70's technology. (And your technology is obviously not strictly 70's, as you are able to teleport between universes.)

Edited July 13, 2014 by Vaporo

[Joey_Penguin]

Is a demo for the galaxy-system generation going to be released?

[spaceman1999]

Hey, Nova, Why does the comet move and not the rest of the universe?

[NovaSilisko]

Oh, I think I see where you're gong with this now. You want to be a bit like Space Engine, where part of the fun of it is finding weird or unusual planets and then showing them to others, who can in turn visit the planets themselves. Well, I still think the planetarium would ruin some of the fun, considering that you could just minimized SotS, find someone who is willing to tell you the location of an unusual planet, and then just enter some numbers into the planetarium and instantly go to the planet. There's no challenge to it.

Didn't say I was going for the planetarium mode, I'm probably keeping it around only as a debug tool (as in, likely not released). Also, the generation systems will be moddable so it can be set up generate however you like - if you want it to be totally random per-save, I'm sure there's a way that could be done. Maybe make it use the hashcode of the save name + the provided seed to generate...

So you would have a 3D map, but stars and planets are just rendered as simplistic points? Or would it be 2D? I like the 3D idea, as it allows for much easier mission planning, even if it's not strictly 70's technology. (And your technology is obviously not strictly 70's, as you are able to teleport between universes.)

A cloud of dots is easy enough to render. Not sure if it'd have a representation of star color or not. Could make it low FPS with a sort of scanline effect to show that your single-digit kilobytes of memory are being pushed to the limit to render this scene.

Hey, Nova, Why does the comet move and not the rest of the universe?

Comet?

[XIRA]

Comet?

The one in the released prototype, it's the only moving object in the star system other then your own probe

[NovaSilisko]

The one in the released prototype, it's the only moving object in the star system other then your own probe

Ah. It's just a loose chunk of rock, as opposed to the planets which have static cores at the center. The comet won't have any appreciable gravity, either.

[Whackjob]

I figured I'd give this a shot.

Managed to put her down on the Mun analog.

Also managed brown mesa. I like the scale of things, and the overall feel and look of it. The foundation is solid. I have literally no idea what the overall plan is, given I just downloaded, ran, screenshotted, and posted here, but I got some ideas with where you can take this.

I think this could be a kinda neat space / economy simulator. Start out on the terran planet. Start a business launching probes and satellites. Build factories and distribution centers on the other planetoids. Design and build transport craft to deliver goods. Expand between star systems. AI can handle most, player can do some flying of their own as they please. The frequent small problem and occasional god awful disaster.

I think the way you'll want to go as far as star system design would be procedural generation. By simplifying things you could greatly expand the complexity of it all. Imagine having a small commercial empire, several systems across. But, oh no! A competitor approaches! Suddenly you're competing against other species and are suddenly subject to pan-galactic trade law and tariffs! Horror!

[Vaporo]

I figured I'd give this a shot.

http://i.imgur.com/p0Et53C.png

I'm surprised. I figured that your mere presence would be enough to cause the lander to instantly enlarge to be bigger than the planets, and the frame rate would automatically drop to two FPS.

[NovaSilisko]

Oh god, Whackjob, I can't imagine what you might do when the full construction system is made, with all its joints and mechanisms and harpoons...

[NovaSilisko]

Working on planet visuals a bit

[Joey_Penguin]

Wow, that is so tasty. Is it actually red, or is it the starlight?

[NovaSilisko]

Wow, that is so tasty. Is it actually red, or is it the starlight?

I think it was the starlight, yes. Mostly judging by the texture, the only red ground texture right now has a bunch of rocks on it.

[tygoo7]

I also gave this a go but I'm to lazy to take screenshots. I managed to land on the earth-like planet and it's moon and crashed into the core of the gas giant. I really like the feel of this game. Is there going to be some sort interstellar travel that you unlock to travel to more systems like the prototype?

[NovaSilisko]

Is there going to be some sort interstellar travel that you unlock to travel to more systems like the prototype?

Here is an image taken of the galaxy after a miscalculated engine thrust amount on the test spacecraft:

So, yes.

[tygoo7]

Here is an image taken of the galaxy after a miscalculated engine thrust amount on the test spacecraft:

http://i.imgur.com/t1VDayW.png

So, yes.

Ooooo interesting.

[Whirligig Girl]

I figured I'd give this a shot.

http://i.imgur.com/p0Et53C.png

Managed to put her down on the Mun analog.

http://i.imgur.com/4LULRBZ.png

Also managed brown mesa. I like the scale of things, and the overall feel and look of it. The foundation is solid. I have literally no idea what the overall plan is, given I just downloaded, ran, screenshotted, and posted here, but I got some ideas with where you can take this.

I think this could be a kinda neat space / economy simulator. Start out on the terran planet. Start a business launching probes and satellites. Build factories and distribution centers on the other planetoids. Design and build transport craft to deliver goods. Expand between star systems. AI can handle most, player can do some flying of their own as they please. The frequent small problem and occasional god awful disaster.

I think the way you'll want to go as far as star system design would be procedural generation. By simplifying things you could greatly expand the complexity of it all. Imagine having a small commercial empire, several systems across. But, oh no! A competitor approaches! Suddenly you're competing against other species and are suddenly subject to pan-galactic trade law and tariffs! Horror!

The whole Bureaucratic/Financial part is meant to take place on the (actual-ish) Earth. You're exploring the Microverse using probes. But I'm suprised you didn't just cause the lander to engulf the solar system and drop the framerate to 0.000000000001 FPS, then have your computer explode, along with NovaSilisko's.

[Souper]

So i played this game called "Science Of The Spheres", i forgot the name, i think it was made by some guy called Nova.

Anyway, you're piloting a little lander-probe through another universe. This universe gets its name from it's own incredible smallness. (The entire universe is just 0.1 light-years across, and the planets are 150 meters!)

Anyway, i took some screenshots.

http://imgur.com/a/yMzdE#0

But yeah, It's in alpha.

Edited July 16, 2014 by Souper

[Spartwo]

So i played this AWSOME game called "Science Of The Spheres", i forgot the name, i think it was made by some guy called Nova.

Don't even try that BS.

[Souper]

"BS"

?????????

What? It's a good game.

[Camacha]

You are referring to The Emporer from the 40K universe. Come on, give us a challenge!

Edit: where dit all the relevant context go?

Edited July 16, 2014 by Camacha