This is the part where I sperge out over future game mechanics for many, many words.

Milestone #1 has been passed. It never sounded too ambitious. I called it “A Playable Shipboard Game” and we definitely have that now.  This milestone was about laying down the groundwork for things to come and making a complete experience out of the work done so far, however limited it seems at this point. Let’s reflect on the progress made.

Someday I will look back at this screenshot and shake my head in wonder at how far the graphics have come. That day is not today.

We have crewmen who run around and do things. We have tasks that let them figure out exactly what they need to be doing. They get tired and hungry and will sleep and eat. We have buildings that make things and grow things. We have constructions: airlocks, doors, beds, stairs, and so on, each with unique behaviors. It’s really just the very basics for a game of this genre, but believe me, it represents a lot of work.

Alpha testing, by the way, is going well. I’ve rooted out a few of the remaining crash bugs, finally found a solution to a supply-finding issue that’s been annoying me for the longest time, and pathfinding appears to have no more problems. I’ve also solved a silly localization issue: did you know that in certain countries where decimal numbers appear in the form 67,13, a program will actually crash trying to parse “67.13″ into a number? Neither did I! If any professional programmers ever read this, they’ll probably shake their heads at this point.

Anyway! Let’s talk about the future. The game is playable but it is not that interesting. Sure, building in a sandbox is fun on its own, but at the very least, a game of this type needs to let you discover new things to build. There must be a sense of progression. Exploration, even. In addition, one of the overriding themes of the game is that you are in command of all that’s left of humanity. You should feel a sense of peril. But at the moment, the crew are immortal and nothing threatens the ship. This must begin to change.

A Deeper Shipboard Game

I’ve thought of eight major elements required to finalize the shipboard game. I figure that Milestone #2 will involve completing at least six of them. Some might be time-consuming enough that it’s healthier for the game to move on and then finish them off later. But we’ll see. All of them, in any case, will add challenges to the shipboard game or directly lead into the other portions of what the final game will be.

Shipboard Discovery

I said before that the other major portions of the game will provide enough of the sense of discovery and exploration that the game needs. This is still true to some extent; after all, how much can you discover on a ship that humans built themselves? But it’s not quite going to do it. There should be some surprises as you expand the ship. Supply caches, prebuilt rooms, even technologies that you didn’t begin with should all be available to find on the ship.

Shipboard Progression

Similarly, there should be an overall structure to the ship. Watching your crew run around like ants is a good reason to want to expand things, but it shouldn’t be the only reason. There should be a long-term goal, a storyline of sorts, to your expansion aboard the ship.

Here it is: your crew start near the bridge. They need, ultimately, to reach engineering, and they need to reach other major important areas of the ship along the way. It will be crucial to the ship’s survival. First, they will want access to the water tanks, to ensure that they can keep everyone healthy and fed. Next, they need access to the main fusion reactors, to power improved weapons and facilities. Finally, they will want access to engineering and a direct line into the main fuel supply, which will again unlock more technologies. Each section of the ship is both a goal and an obstacle on the way to the next section.

Research

Both a staple of the genre and another thing to build. Laboratories and research should be a part of the game and contribute to the sense of progression. The way you prioritize your research will direct what type of game you’re playing. You can not only research new weapons and buildings, but also how to deal with the alien cultures that you encounter. Progressing from first contact to trade to full communication will require researching the alien language and culture. This is how you will decide whether you’re playing a basically peaceful or warlike game.

Crew Dynamics

Crew should have feelings besides sleepy and hungry. They should like and dislike things that happen to them. Do you think your crew enjoy eating algae all the time? Being exposed to vacuum when a bulkhead is broken down? Having to climb four sets of stairs to get to a task? Conversely, wouldn’t they like a meal of meat, even if it was grown in a vat? Or prefer a charismatic commander? Lots of things should affect the productivity and morale of your crew. You should have to be concerned with whether they’re happy and whether you’ve promoted the right people to command positions. They should also interact with each other and build relationships.

Civilians

Not every frozen human is another chump deckhand for you to boss around. Your ship has also brought thinkers, artists, and architects, not to mention lots of grunt workers. Eventually there will be people aboard your ship that you have no control over, but you still have to keep them happy and healthy. They will have different needs and expectations.

Weapons and Defenses

You can already build factories and docks and hydroponics vats. Added to that should be weapons. The weapons and defenses you build in the shipboard game determine how your ship is armed when in ship combat mode. In addition, your weapons must be manned in the shipboard map for them to be available in combat. I plan for combat to involve a variety of close-range beam weapons, flak weapons, and long-range missiles. On the defensive side, you’ll build a number of countermeasures, defensive fields, and be able to armor your bulkheads to help prevent blowouts.

Vehicles

The current expedition system, where a couple crew members just quietly disappear for a while and then return with raw materials, is very much a temporary stand-in. The first part of improving this will be done by adding vehicles. At first you will just have shuttles, with varying cargo capacities. After this you will have fighters to aid you in combat. Along with this comes pilots and all the hangar crew required to maintain the fighters.

Damage and Damage Control

Buildings and infrastructure will get damaged during battle. Often this will be something you’ll just repair after the battle. Occasionally, though, your crew will need to address the problem immediately. Blown-out bulkheads will need to be patched. Sometimes your damage control crew will be doing minor damage to prevent a worse disaster: power lines or fuel lines leading to malfunctioning weapons or thrusters will need to be cut. This will all have to happen automatically, with the ship and the crew on heightened alert during battle. Afterwards, you’ll have time to see to full and proper repairs.

Future Milestones

So, while the principle goal is to add content to the shipboard game, much of this content will directly lead into future portions of the game. The things necessary for the battle portion of the game are obvious, but even some things leading into adventure mode will be present, like researching alien cultures. When this milestone is reached, the other parts of the game will be very natural next steps.

For the next few days, I’m going to stay focused on the alpha test, tweaking things here and there, fixing bugs that are reported, and getting a very robust stable build out of it. After that, I should no longer have to revisit much of the code I’ve written and it’ll be time to work toward Milestone #2.