Ridealong: The Flotilla That Will Cross The Galaxy
January 26, 2016 8:22 PM   Subscribe

 
I want this, as part of an existing game, but the players are all on one ship, the ship is a hunk of junk, and everyone has to respond to things like air filters breaking/hydroponics failing/meteor swarms/balancing building stuff with survival/weird goo found in air duct the whole way there.
posted by Slackermagee at 8:31 PM on January 26, 2016 [16 favorites]


Slackermagee: I don't know if you're directly referring to the game without mentioning it, and it is outside of Elite, but Tharsis provides that experience on a ten week mission to Mars. The ship is falling apart, you're low on supplies, you're balancing all of the things that you could be doing and every action has consequences.

Assuming that you like 70s SF stylings, the transplanted face of Commander Straker from UFO, cannibalism, and frequent death, this may be what you're looking for.
posted by nfalkner at 8:40 PM on January 26, 2016 [12 favorites]


Alas, a long haul in a computer game is as close as our species will get.
posted by aramaic at 8:48 PM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


Sounds like a DBRB fleet.
posted by ryanrs at 8:51 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


"as close"? innit more likely to be the actual way, accepting as elastic the definition of species?
posted by mwhybark at 8:51 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


If you're interested in following along, Obsidian Ant has been providing excellent in-game coverage of the tour on YouTube.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 8:53 PM on January 26, 2016


When the author started mentioning bugs as a threat far out beyond the Bubble of human occuoation, it took me awhile to realize he meant software bugs. I really wanted it to be Heinlein-esque hive monsters. C'mon devs, put a little hive out there at the edge of forever.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:12 PM on January 26, 2016 [1 favorite]


I've changed my answer. If I won the Powerball, I would quit my job, outsource a great many of my child rearing responsibilities and spend a lot of time playing games like this. I honestly don't know anyone who has the time, but I am jealous of them.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:20 PM on January 26, 2016 [3 favorites]


but the players are all on one ship, the ship is a hunk of junk, and everyone has to respond to things like air filters breaking/hydroponics failing/meteor swarms/balancing building stuff with survival/weird goo found in air duct the whole way there

This is Free Trader Beowulf, calling anyone... Mayday, Mayday...
posted by Justinian at 9:22 PM on January 26, 2016 [18 favorites]


There's a very good chance our species will make it to the far side of the galaxy. I for one am on the way at fantastic speed right now. Not quite Elite speed though, it'll take a hundred million years. We should probably look at replacing those air filters soon.
posted by sfenders at 9:26 PM on January 26, 2016 [5 favorites]


, but Tharsis provides that experience on a ten week mission to Mars. The ship is falling apart, you're low on supplies, you're balancing all of the things that you could be doing and every action has consequences.

Sorry, Tharsis is fucking terrible. The concept sounds fun if you explain it like that, but in practice, it's based on a dice game that is entirely random, with random and largely unbeatable events happening every round. Whether you can win or not is literally the same as playing Yatzee. It could've maybe been fun for 1 round of board game night, but utterly, utterly, fails at anything resembling a game that could entertain a human playing on a video screen. It is one of the worst games I have ever played, only the second game I've ever returned on Steam, behind the unplayable Arkham Asylum.

Watch Scott Manley play it if you must. That one viewing is all you need. But for the love of god don't reward the developers by giving them money.
posted by T.D. Strange at 9:34 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]


the players are all on one ship, the ship is a hunk of junk, and everyone has to respond to things like air filters breaking/hydroponics failing/meteor swarms/balancing building stuff with survival/weird goo found in air duct the whole way there.

Stargate:Universe?
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 9:39 PM on January 26, 2016 [2 favorites]



There's a very good chance our species will make it to the far side of the galaxy.


Currently? There's exactly zero percent chance. If some faction tries to leave the planet, the people opposed to them will destroy them. And in a world with nuclear weapons? ANYBODY can do that.

The problem with humanity surviving is simple: Humans are compete assholes who will destroy any chance they have of surviving in the long term for any gain in the short term.

The least humane creature in the universe that I have seen? Humans.
posted by eriko at 9:51 PM on January 26, 2016 [5 favorites]


There's exactly zero percent chance....The problem with humanity surviving is simple: Humans are compete assholes who will destroy any chance they have of surviving in the long term for any gain in the short term.

Except that you are wrong. "Humans" have survived just fine for about 2 million years. In fact we have survived major climatic changes the likes of which no living human has ever witnessed. All of this without any type of technology beyond stone and fire. I think you need to lighten up. Read some Carl Sagan or something. If we survive the next big climatic shift...most probably caused by us...we will populate our solar system, and who knows maybe even achieve intergalactic travel.
posted by AElfwine Evenstar at 10:22 PM on January 26, 2016 [6 favorites]


If some faction tries to leave the planet ...

Uh, here, let Stephen Hawking explain it.
posted by sfenders at 10:40 PM on January 26, 2016


Slackermagee, the game you're imagining may be Space Station 13.
Space Station 13 is a community developed, multiplayer round-based role playing game, where players assume the role of a crewmember on a space station. Together they must keep the station running smoothly, whilst dealing with antagonistic forces who threaten to sabotage the mission.
Different servers have their own code and protocols, but generally speaking stations are complex with many things able to go wrong even without covert or overt antagonists. My favorite detail is that the station AI is a player and can be reprogrammed—e.g. laws beyond the three laws of robotics added—if you can get past the defense and camera systems (Just try to make sure the person playing AI is competent enough to improvise properly).

Incidentally SS13 also (presumably) inspired Mush, a much much simpler browser based multi-day free-to-play game. Sixteen players take on pre-set personas on a damaged ship fleeing the "Mush". Two randomly selected players are then infected by Mush spores. While the rest of the crew tries to fix the ship and escape to one of two destinations, the two covert Mush try to blend in and infect/kill the other passengers... or stay hidden until the ship arrives at its destination.
posted by tychotesla at 1:19 AM on January 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


I would love to go along as one of the fuel rats. Back when I played the first Planetside, some friends and I established the first trucking guild.

See, their were bases that you could occupy. At the bases, players could resupply, rearm, and summon new vehicles. Problem being, this took nanites to do. Nanites could be harvested by deploying unarmed vehicles called ANTs (Armored Nanite Transports) at jump points then driving the ANTs to a base and refilling the nanite storage silos. When we discovered you could get the game's version of experience points (not a lot, but some) for doing so, notwithstanding helping your side win, some buddies and I set up a guild to do so. We had a few tank drivers for escort, and, on the best day, a couple of Galaxy (multiturreted assault transports that could carry vehicles) pilots. We kept the boys in beans and bullets and levelled up (allowing access to better equipment and weapons) all without having to show our less than sterling combat skills.

(Also, when I played Tribes, I used to play under the name EngineerPrime. You do the math...)
posted by Samizdata at 1:39 AM on January 27, 2016


So, for T.D.Strange: The article I linked to in my comment noted that, sometimes, the game can be unfair. But I've been playing for a while and the thing I've noticed is that the focus makes the game. If you want to eliminate every event? Never going to happen. If you want to manage things so that you enjoy the rounds you play and you feel like you could go there? That's totally manageable. Sure, I've been pissed off but I've also gone 'hell yeah' when I've pulled off something totally outrageous. You don't get those feelings in safe and predictable play.

You want to win every game? Play Cluedo with a transparent envelope. Want a given strategy to result in a predictable outcome? This is not your game.

I get that you don't want to play Tharsis, that's your thing, but calling for people to not give the developers any money is harsh. The design in this game is amazing. The experience of losing can be as engaging as a win in another game. Many people will enjoy this game, even if you don't.

But, to me, this is more than a game. This is an experience, an introduction to a way of thinking about humans in space. This is a realisation that space is dangerous and that, maybe, you don't get to Mars very often. Not ready for that? Play another game, sure. Maybe they'll release CatTharsis where you always get to Mars and you get a free cat!

If you can handle the randomness of Elder Sign then, with some experience, you can probably survive many enjoyable rounds of Tharsis. End of derail but I couldn't let an exhortation to boycott developers pass without comment.
posted by nfalkner at 2:03 AM on January 27, 2016 [2 favorites]


I've played Elite with an occulus. It works pretty well, because it draws in the pilots body, so when you move the joystick, your pilots hands move, it's quite immersive, especially if you assume your ship has artificial gravity and inertial dampeners.
posted by Just this guy, y'know at 3:46 AM on January 27, 2016


Yes, Elite with an Oculus is fantastic. I tend not to use mine regularly though, as it's harder to read Metafilter, watch Netflix, and drink beer while using it.
posted by edd at 4:44 AM on January 27, 2016 [1 favorite]


Be very careful of getting into ss13. My understanding is that it easily becomes an obsession on par with dwarf fortress or minecraft.
posted by vuron at 6:15 AM on January 27, 2016


If you can handle the randomness of Elder Sign then, with some experience, you can probably survive many enjoyable rounds of Tharsis. End of derail but I couldn't let an exhortation to boycott developers pass without comment.

Seconding positivity for Tharsis. It's an intense game: over the top, stylish, and brutal. And yes, there is a Yahtzee feel to it, but that means game mechanics are quickly grasped.

You will likely not win many runs, even on normal difficulty. When you do -- feels awesome!
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:36 AM on January 27, 2016


For the casuals (like me): Space Team is an excellent cooperative game of fixing your ship that's hurtling through space. Best accompanied with strong drinks. Don't forget to discharge the Clip-jawed Fluxtrunions.
posted by matrixclown at 8:40 AM on January 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


Ephelump Jockey, I work in a research lab that develops VR. I've played Elite in an Oculus (and a number of other things in a Vive, and stuff I've made in any number of HMDs at various levels of quality). It's a really cool immersive experience unlike anything else I've done with computers. You should totally try it given the chance!

But (there's always a but) my personal non-employer-vetted opinion is that the display tech just isn't there yet to give simulation fans what they want. The big road-bump is angular resolution. The consumer VR devices (Oculus and Vive anyway; haven't touched a Morpheus so I couldn't tell you) all have resolution somewhere around 1080x1200 per eye. That's a hair more pixels than a 1080p screen, but a 24" 1080p screen takes up, what, maybe 50 degrees of your field of view when you're sitting three feet from it? Same pixels, 3" from your face occupying 100-ish degrees of your field of view. Translation: pixels get big. Think about the difference between "retina" and "non-retina" phones, at best. It's hard to read text, and if your game mechanic requires seeing things that are far away, good luck.

Elite is actually one of the more pleasant consumer simulation VR experiences, I've found, because the HUD elements are big and contrasty enough that you can maintain situational awareness even if the actual starship you're fighting is like 3 pixels across. And the sound design is just WHOA. I love the experience of wearing headphones and an HMD and swooping around in space, even if I'm better at the game-game with my 24" screen and a head-tracker (OpenTrack for me).

So my prediction: successful content for this generation of consumer VR HMDs is going to involve things that are large and close to you, and probably have bright, contrasty colors. Why near-field? For one, things that are near to you make the stereo effect really 'pop' -- out beyond arm's reach other cues like parallax take precedence. Why bright and high-contrast? That's what's going to read well on this generation's displays.

Now the good news is that contemporary cellphone display tech is what made this generation of VR start happening, and cellphone display manufacturers are still chasing higher pixel densities. If this generation of VR is commercially successful, I wager we'll get 4k-per-eye in the not-too-distant future. This year's coming generation of GPUs is going to be a pretty significant uptick in performance between smaller/more transistors and faster RAM, too. My personal "I think I'll really believe when" is 8k per eye (probably higher than 8k, given that someone will have to find a way to simulate variable focus, and that will probably require more pixels), which is several generations out in the future, but I believe we might actually get there.
posted by Alterscape at 8:41 AM on January 27, 2016 [9 favorites]


this does sound cool.
the closest I came to doing this was booting up Microsoft Flight Simulator, leaving the East Coast at night, going to bed, waking up, going to the computer and crashing somewhere in Europe (i have no idea how to land)
posted by bitteroldman at 8:44 AM on January 27, 2016 [3 favorites]


I want this, as part of an existing game, but the players are all on one ship, the ship is a hunk of junk, and everyone has to respond to things like air filters breaking/hydroponics failing/meteor swarms/balancing building stuff with survival/weird goo found in air duct the whole way there.

I've been thinking this a lot lately, but more in the context of The Expanse.

The whole subplot at the beginning where they're on an asteroid mining ship that's a busted piece of shit and they just go out, mine asteroids, and bring the stuff back occasionally encountering side missions? I would play the hell out of that game. And just a game set in that earth/mars/belt universe in general.

Where's the new version of like... freelancer? I know E.D. isn't really it.
posted by emptythought at 6:11 PM on January 27, 2016


eriko: "Currently? There's exactly zero percent chance. If some faction tries to leave the planet, the people opposed to them will destroy them. And in a world with nuclear weapons? ANYBODY can do that."

If you'd followed sfenders' link, you'd have seen the comment was a bit of literalistic snark.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 12:07 AM on January 28, 2016


When Elite first came out, in my initial flush of love and excitement at the scale and audacity of the galaxy-size simulation, I made a month-long run out to the Orion Nebula and back with a few sidetrips for a total of about 3200 light years or so, in the jalopy-esque default ship you're given in the game, upgraded with the lowest, cheapest level of gear I absolutely needed for fuel scooping and scanning. This was before you could even get First Explored By credit for first visiting and scanning stellar or planetary bodies, and before they bumped the rewards for exploration way up.

So I had to spend another month or two when I got back running rares trading routes to afford a decent ship to go visit the galactic core, which given my limited game-playing time budget, would probably take several months, I figured.

Which is about when my enthusiasm for the experience kind of ran out. For about six months, I was in a parking orbit around some unregarded, obscure binary system a few hundred light years out from settled volumes. Still not sure why I so suddenly lost my mojo, because I still love the game as an experience at least in theory, and I even bought the expansion (which introduces planetary landings) to support This Kind Of Thing, but I just don't much feel like playing it any more, except in very brief drop-ins.

Maybe later.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 5:49 PM on January 28, 2016 [1 favorite]


emptythought: SS13 (as described above) is basically the game you're describing. Miners (a playable role) harvest material and send it back to the station, where the quartermaster ships it out to engineering and R&D staff, who use it for station repair and project design. As far as games go, it's deliciously gritty.
posted by mikurski at 1:42 PM on February 2, 2016


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