cross-posted from: https://retrofed.com/c/casualconversation@piefed.social/p/2355887/i-m-planning-to-make-a-game-to-celebrate-the-50th-anniversary-of-the-voyager-missions-wh
I never finish projects, so I’d like to set a hard deadline, in this case 2027-08-20 (Voyager 2 launch)
I’m thinking that it could be a (local splitscreen? Or maybe like one of those hand-off/relay style story games where you pass the controller when it’s your turn) co-op game where one player acts as Voyager 1 and the other as Voyager 2. It has to be a co-op game, we need more of those I think, and I would love to learn how to make one of those. Maybe you could solve puzzles or unlock secrets by working together, I dunno. The story will be a mix of real life events (emergencies / crisises that occurred during the mission, real images and recordings, etc.) and fictional bits too (nothing too outlandish though, probably not aliens I think?)
Both Voyager 1 and 2 explored Jupiter and Saturn, and while 2 went out to Uranus and Neptune, 1 did a flyby of Titan (the largest moon of Saturn). I’d like to include those five as “worlds” that each player has to explore. Voyager 1 has also passed the heliopause, and in a few weeks will have reached one light day from Earth, so I’d like to include that too. Perhaps there could be interesting things that happen as the Voyager probes travel the cosmos?
What are your thoughts? Are there any noteworthy events or challenges that the Voyager missions went through that I should include in the game?
The project is still in very early planning stages, but I think it’s a really cool way to celebrate the Voyager missions!
I’d suggest incorporating mechanics from the old Asteroids arcade game.
With ever-decreasing RTG output, I’m thinking something along the lines of power management, perhaps involving rewriting critical code to be more efficient to make the probe last longer. Shut down the wrong system, or submit code with errors, and you brick it. If you manage to squeeze enough from it, the game ends with it arriv8ng at a planet in a different galaxy where you “meet the final boss” of one last ditch effort: send a picture back home. It’s OK if the probe dies after, as long as the picture makes it back to earth.
You could make a mod for KSP. Might be a bit of an easier lift.
The plot: the probe wasn’t functioning very well, but you’re tiny alien enamored with the project so much that you vowed to keep things running as long as possible.
That could be very fun!! Nice aliens are the best kind
pass the controller
Needs mouse/keyboard support.
Like the Penn and Teller Desert Bus game except instead of eight hours of real time driving a bus in the desert it is fifty years of real time not driving a probe in space.
When it passes Pluto have it jot down that it is a real planet and that the guy and his buddies who declassified it were wrong. /s
Neither Voyager probe passed Pluto, you might be thinking of New Horizons? I think Voyager 1 had the decision to either do a flyby of Titan or Pluto, and they ended up picking Titan because Titan is awesome (the only moon with a thick atmosphere, methane oceans, lots of cool stuff there!)
this is a great opportunity to make one of those multi-machine-same-room “spaceship bridge sims”, like artemis or snis, but where you act as different mission control stations for the probes.
So a bit like Overcooked or something? Maybe, but I would like to make something that’s a bit less intense (perhaps as an alternate game mode or something?)
no, that’s uh… basically the opposite thing.
there’s an entire genre of bridge sims out there, where you plop a few friends in your living room, link together your computos, and basically play star trek. each computer becomes a “station”, like helm, weapons, engineering, communications etc, and you collaboratively run the ship through scenarios or a sandbox, taking missions or deliwering cargo or whatever. usually there’s one person that acts as the “captain”, who hasn’t got a computer but makes the decisions, usually with a view screen (like a big tv) so you can say “on screen” when something happens. that’s not necessary though.
here i’m envisioning like a team game for four people on four computers where one person handles sensors, one power, one control, and one communication, or something to that effect. basically imagine it like sitting in the mission control room in front of your stations, with the telemetry of the probe on your screens, and you have an hour of transmission time to accomplish some tasks (like “position to normal”, “collect readings”, “reposition to retrograde”, “calibrate main array”, “transmit readings”) . it would be more about careful balancing of resources to avoid a shutdown or damage, while dealing with whatever situation may come up like memory dying, or consensus mismatches, or brownouts. you could hand-wave away transmission delays, or include like a minute of it for a bit of tension and required planning.
Ohh ok so it’s like Overcooked but without the time stress + stronger emphasis on planning/coordination? Interesting, maybe I could do that
the big charm imo is that they’re eidetic. you’re not controlling a little guy, you are the little guy. you’re sat at at actual station rather than controlling someone who is. idk if looking at it through the lens of co-op party games gives the right vibe.
Reminded me of a game I played a long time ago https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_(1989_video_game)
All I can think of is Capitan Sonar but in space.
You need to balance systems to keep the probe going and have random failures causing backup units to be activated.
Ooh, that could be fun!
I have no idea how this would actually work (it probably wouldn’t), but I won’t let that stop me.
Poll the system for memory, attached devices, etc. Build a budget based on that. Require that the user start “disabling” things as the mission goes on: dummy ops could make more CPU usage simulating lower availability, reserving then writing junk to memory to use it, disabling mouse input, reducing resolution, etc.
