The Story
Close to the center of an old galaxy, riddled with nebulas and dust clouds, full of stars and planets teeming with life, countless civilizations start on the adventure of space exploration eager to expand their territory. Their naive believe to be the only sentient lifeform is soon shattered when the first alien encounters happen. Will they anxiously step back or will they try to expand their sphere of influence in a peaceful or violent manner, eventually becoming the predominant species in their galaxy? This galaxy which is just called by one name which will be whispered for eons to come by those who survived the clash of civilizations: Nebula.
Overview
This is the setup for the Nebula Project, the multiplayer space game of exploration and conquer which we are dedicated to create. Let me give a short overview of the game concept:
Generally the game has a very classic approach but a view unique twists which are not seen like this in other games of this genre. Basically the player controls an alien race with specific characteristics which will try, through peaceful exploration, conquer and diplomatic tactics to increase it sphere of influence in a limited area of space which will be called a "Star Map" in game language. "Special Cards" which give advantages or powers add spice and flavor to the game. They can be found, rewarded or traded with other players, introducing aspects of Card Trading Games into the game mechanics. To complete the picture, the game will have its own cryptographic currency, similar to Bitcoin (BTC)
[1][2] will be used to create an in-game economy around Special Cards. This currency will also be awarded for winning some special games.
Star Maps
An important aspect of the game is that, unlike several other games with a similar setting, it is not played on one big Star Map all the time. The game is divided in rounds where each round is played on a new Star Map. There are multiple rounds happening at the same time, played by different players. Each map looks totally different and has its own set of special rules applied. As a player progresses in the game, his "Fame" increases and he gets access to bigger, more interesting maps with greater challenges and higher rewards. Between the games, the player can hang out in the "Star Hub", meet other players, trade Special Cards and carefully choose the next game to play.
A Star Map is basically made up of a number of stars which are connected by specific travel routes. Space travel is only possible on these routes. It is not possible to directly travel between two arbitrary stars, thus creating some very interesting tactical situations. For instance, given a situation where a cluster of valuable star systems are only accessible through one single portal system, that cluster could be held only by holding the portal system.
Another twist is that, because of the physical characteristic of the Star Maps (dust clouds, nebulas), at the start of the game most of the other stars will be hidden to the players. Only by travel and conquer, they will be able to see more stars and complete their view of the Star Map.
Ships and Fleets
Like in similar games, movement around the Star Map is done with Star Ships which can be grouped to Star Fleets which can be grouped to Super Star Fleets. There are different types of ships for specific purposes e.g. Scout Ships, Battle Ships, Transport Ships, or Emissary Ships which can be grouped together as needed. Star Ships can be commanded individually or on the Star Fleet or Super Star Fleet level.
Production
Production of new ships or facilities is done through a game quantity which is called "Productivity". That Productivity is generated in the star systems, depending on different factors like availability of resources, number and type of population, moral, political system and other factors. Though the actual calculation for the resulting productivity can be rather complicated, it will be presented to the player in a non obtrusive manner.
Special Cards
Special Cards are game tokens that can be acquired in different ways by the players: they can be found in star systems, awarded for winning games or for special achievements, or traded with other players. For trading, there will be an in-game trade platform in the "Star Hub" where these cards can be traded with other cards or for the in-game currency. There are different types of Special Cards. Some are simple "Power Ups", other have long term effects on gameplay or grant access to new technologies, even others can actually change game rules. Each card has a Power Level associated with it. This Power Level gives a basic measure for how powerful a card is and thus also for its value as an item of trade. In the game interface, Special Cards are represented as beautifully painted cards. Here are the names of some cards: "Trade Genius", "Master Spy", "Fanatic", "The Gardener", "The Wanderer", "The Pyramids", "Planetary Fusion Burner", "The Maneshi Maneuver"...
Game Interface
The game interface will aim to be simple and concise. All important information should be available on the first glance. Charts and info graphics give a quick overview over the most important game parameters. Commands can be issued with a few mouse clicks, repetitive tasks can be automated. For more advanced players, finer controls can be applied but these controls are hidden if not explicitly demanded.
Conclusion & Call for Support
This articles is supposed to give a quick overview of the game concept. I will go into more detail on different points later. There are also aspects of the game that I didn't mention yet such as "Colonization", "Terraforming", "Diplomacy" or "Espionage". Though the game concept is already very elaborated, I am open to suggestions and ideas. That's why I want to call on you for help: support this project by getting involved, giving your ideas, or with financial support to the Bitcoin address below. I will write a more elaborate article about how to support the project later. In the next article though I will describe the first milestone of project creation.
Project Bitcoin address: 1NebuLaTZ9DjpERwY9vFgRWv1eAHwyZFnD
[1] Wikipedia, "Bitcoin",
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin
.jpg)
