Centrifugal Game

[testtubegames]

Thank you all for such great feedback on this project!

Many of the ideas you've floated are easy and clear add-ons for the game: radar, orbit lines, changing to an inertial frame (at least temporarily, or perhaps as an instant-replay view). I also like the idea of making the thrusters weaker - I'll have to experiment with that more.

As for docking, it originally started as purely a docking sim. (Like I mentioned, the docking discussion was a prime inspiration). However, it was hard to get the game to showcase the centrifugal aspects of docking. Namely, if moving is too easy, you can just fly toward an object and ignore centrifugal forces. If moving is too hard (aka you get only 2 thrusts), you really would need to sit down with a pen and paper to figure out when and how to fire your thrusters. Long story short (too late), I added in the shooting element. Much clearer. I *would* like to add some docking element back in, though. It wouldn't be the main goal, but maybe I would place some powerups or other such items floating around, and you need to reach them.

As for your friend, Robly, feel free to pass it along.

One more thing... In the gravity section of the forum, Lagrange points have come up a fair amount. They are really interesting, and would be neat to add in to the sim somehow. Also, though, I got to thinking. Lagrange points are best shown in a rotating frame of reference (so they really look static). And while the simulator doesn't have a rotating option, this rocket game is purely about rotating motion. And at the risk of over complicating a simple little game... It might be fun to at some point (a later level, perhaps? Or just an exploratory option?) add in the moon, say. Then there'd be a few Lagrange points, perhaps with space trash just floating in them.

[exfret]

Actually, I found it really fun just flying around, not so much shooting trash. Could you make this more a game where you're trying to fly away or to somewhere, using centrifugal forces to help you conserve fuel? You could also add in space trash as something to avoid, and give many planets special abilities, like a thick atmosphere that slows you down, heavy gravity, or changing rotational velocity. I just think it would be really cool to have a simulation where you used the fact that a planet is moving around a Sun to fling yourself off into space so as to conserve fuel just like the way NASA does.

[A Random Player]

Actually, I found it really fun just flying around, not so much shooting trash. Could you make this more a game where you're trying to fly away or to somewhere, using centrifugal forces to help you conserve fuel? You could also add in space trash as something to avoid, and give many planets special abilities, like a thick atmosphere that slows you down, heavy gravity, or changing rotational velocity. I just think it would be really cool to have a simulation where you used the fact that a planet is moving around a Sun to fling yourself off into space so as to conserve fuel just like the way NASA does.

I think I know what you're thinking of... KSP?
That would be interesting, but having a full solar system I think would take out most of the centrifugal part, and basically be "Orbit a bunch of planets with orbital mechanics and get to places". I don't think we use much centrifugal force calculations in space (NASA just runs high-precision numerical sims with its supercomputers). Unless we turn this into more of an orbital mechanics game.

[testtubegames]

Actually, I found it really fun just flying around, not so much shooting trash. Could you make this more a game where you're trying to fly away or to somewhere

Thanks for the feedback! I'll keep this in mind when I develop this project -- and either try to make the shooting more fun, or add in some 'moving' element. Dock with another object, say. Gravity slingshots are a neat idea -- but they might be a bit outside the scope of this game.

Though maybe there could be a 'fly your solar system' cross-over. Where you can fly around your creations in the gravity sim. Thoughts?

[robly18]

Oh man, that wouldn't be bad. We could always make it, indeed, a docking simulator... I can already see it. Make your own systems in the gravity simulator, pick a starting place and a docking satellite, the same way you would place, say, asteroids? This way you could start orbiting a planet, or start plunging towards a star, needing to save yourself. You could change the amount of fuel you start with... Oh man, that would be good.


As a side note, one thing you might like that is marginally related (although a bit scientifically inaccurate, as it uses a r^0 law): http://crypticsea.blogspot.pt/2013/03/d ... ilder.html

I might as well repost this in the scientific games section... So I'll be doing that.

[exfret]

Actually, I found it really fun just flying around, not so much shooting trash. Could you make this more a game where you're trying to fly away or to somewhere, using centrifugal forces to help you conserve fuel? You could also add in space trash as something to avoid, and give many planets special abilities, like a thick atmosphere that slows you down, heavy gravity, or changing rotational velocity. I just think it would be really cool to have a simulation where you used the fact that a planet is moving around a Sun to fling yourself off into space so as to conserve fuel just like the way NASA does.

I think I know what you're thinking of... KSP?
That would be interesting, but having a full solar system I think would take out most of the centrifugal part, and basically be "Orbit a bunch of planets with orbital mechanics and get to places". I don't think we use much centrifugal force calculations in space (NASA just runs high-precision numerical sims with its supercomputers). Unless we turn this into more of an orbital mechanics game.

But here's the thing, there's still centrifugal forces, because the planets are going around the Sun, thus creating their own centrifugal forces due to their revolution. This is the reason why you can speed up your space ship by going by a planet, so it doesn't take away from any of the game's centrifugal aspects. It's just centrifugal forces in a different way!

[A Random Player]

http://william.hoza.us/volleyball/
http://william.hoza.us/centrifuge/
Two games/sims I found that utilize centrifugal force - second is a sim of artificial gravity.

[TheLevelMakers]

I am down to one piece also.