Space Developers Inc.

Break Thru Lightspeed v2

High-Level Project Summary

We have developed a game in order to demonstrate how a spacecraft e.g. a rocket could wonder around our solar system in order to explore and further research the harmony of outer space. Our game provides accurate trajectory and methods of a spacecraft that aims to delve into the mysteries of the solar system. Not only, this project will aid others to understand how space exploration is carried out and how it's building blocks are established, the project will prove the importance of mechanisms such as gravity assist and asteroid avoidance. Since we have used the varying skills of our group members, we are confident we appeal to all personalities.

Link to Project "Demo"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQ1e-X9yj4A

Link to Final Project

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1y5M_rLpYGmoKtmctMtz2b_yROxC9139y?usp=sharing

Detailed Project Description

Our project is a mobile game that focuses on levels and skill trees. Multiple maps of different solar systems provide the player a wide and fulfilling sense of exploration. Mechanics such as

Development of fuel efficiency,
Gravity assist,
Advancement of materials used in the rocket,
Improvement of training methods of astronauts,

were implemented to both inform the player of the complexity of space travel and provide a fun and endorsing way of learning physics. The player will have to achieve higher and higher research points to develop their systems and reach for the unknown. By this means, we aim to keep the player immersed into the game, having a great time all the time!

The story of the game is mostly about the difficulties scientists face when engaging in space travel. The earth is slowly becoming inhabitable so we need a plan B: space colonization.

BENEFITS

Since the game is a mobile game, our aim audience is all age groups. This means the game must be appealing to both kids who have an interest to space travel, young adults and adults who are studying/practising in this area and finally the older generation looking for excitement. In addition, the game will be providing general information to improve the knowledge of the user in terms of astrophysics. We aim to maintain interest in the game and therefore astrophysics with the help of the changing mechanics proposed in the previous section.

WORKING PRINCIPLE

The game consists of two main parts that come with their own properties. The first part is mostly menu-based, as the player has to change between categories of development in order to reach further in the game. This part contains all development-based mechanics such as improvement of fuel efficiency and requires resource management skills in order to advance accurately.

The second part of the game comes with a more old school arcade approach. The aim in this part is to collect as many points as possible through the medium of the upgrades done in the first part. Mechanics such as gravity assist come into play to increase momentum thus increasing the speed of gameplay. Multipliers help the player progress in the game.

Some of the mechanics implemented into the game include:

Upgrading the fuel efficiency of the spaceship,
Research into gravity assist carried out in previous flights such as Voyager 2,
Implementing the materials used in the development of the spaceship,
Different methods to be used in the training of astronauts,
Improving resource management,
Dangers of materials in outer space e.g. asteroids,
Development of telecommunications

and many others to come

Missions can be failed if the player has advanced in a specific area and has not contributed funds into the other. For instance, if the rocket ship has been upgraded fully to avoid asteroids in a more effective way but the astronauts have not been trained properly the mission will fail after the rocket experiences the smallest turbulence.

WHAT WE ARE HOPING TO GATHER

Firstly, our aim is to improve the peoples' understanding of space travel by having fun, playing an immersive and purposeful game. Secondly, with the development of the game, we would like to expand our vision in terms of astrophysics and the mysteries of the solar system. Lastly, we hope to have an effect on the younger generation, our peers and our elders therefore encouraging them to immerse themselves into the concept we all love deeply: space travel.

TOOLS WE HAVE USED

Throughout the project, we have not only explored our skill sets thoroughly, we have expanded them greatly. Since we have gathered members from different backgrounds in terms of expertise, we believe we have maximised our potential all the way. Since some of our members have a diverse skill set, they were involved in multiple processes.

Three of our members were involved in the making of the code and design process. They used the following software:

Unity as the gaming engine
Visual Studio 2019 as the integrated development environment (IDE)
Adobe Photoshop

Two of our members entangled in the demo side of the project. They managed to gather a video trailer for the game with the help of the following software:

Adobe Premier
Adobe After Effects

Two of our members were involved in the process of preparing the proposal and writing statements. They used websites such as Thesaurus.com in order to present the project as is.

We would also like to give an honourable mention to the hundreds of cups of coffee we devoured and our trusty laptops that managed to stick with us until the very end!

Space Agency Data

We tried to use as many scientific resources as we could in order to perfect the games' mechanics. We have listed all our resources in the references section below.

To understand how a spacecraft travels around the solar system: https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/basics/primer/
To understand how fuel efficiency has developed: https://history.nasa.gov/conghand/propelnt.htm#:~:text=Most%20liquid%20chemical%20rockets%20use,liquid%20oxygen%2C%20and%20liquid%20fluorine.
To understand the making of a rocket: https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/rocket/rockpart.html
To understand how astronauts perform daily activities: https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Lessons_online/Life_in_Space
To better understand the strategy when it comes to resource management: https://sci.esa.int/documents/34161/35992/1567260390250-ESA_Space_Resources_Strategy.pdf
To understand the structure of our solar system: https://trek.nasa.gov/#
To understand how astronauts are trained for the harsh conditions of outer space: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/5-8/features/F_Astronauts_in_Training.html#:~:text=It%20can%20take%20up%20to,NASA%20T-38%20training%20jets.&text=Astronauts%20also%20take%20classes.
To gather information about asteroids: https://www.esa.int/Safety_Security/Risky_asteroids
To understand how telecommunication is carried out: https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/heo/scan/index.html
To understand the concept of escape velocity: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/k-4/features/F_Escape_Velocity.html

Hackathon Journey

Everything started when four of us met at noon on Saturday. We sat down and started brainstorming with our other two friends on Discord. After we managed to draw a sketch on our minds, we proceeded with division of tasks based on who could do what more efficiently. Next up we organised our sleep schedule so that two people were always up and working.

We all had experienced hackathons either together or individually before however we believe the experience we had in this hackathon was superior to the others. This has many reasons and one of those is we are close friends both in and out of school. We had never experienced each other in a coding, programming and design environment. We were extremely confident we would be working very efficiently, however, we were surprised to see that we were both concentrated and having fun, singing songs together and cheering each other. The resources provided by the Space Apps platform did not only help us in terms of research of certain topics but it also guided us through and made us have multiple moments of "Eureka!". The Discord server, helping along the way proved useful as we had many unanswered questions. The server also provided us a break from the project when we needed with the assistance of small games and events.

We managed to widen our sense of astrophysics by extracting all of the information we found on websites and articles. We also learned and explored new features in the software we used with the help of websites such as YouTube and Stack Overflow. This project was perfect for us as we have been in love with the enigma of space and space travel. We were excited to face any and all challenges to further develop our skills and knowledge in astrophysics and game development. Along the way, we never got bored, as we all are physics students aspiring to work in the field someday.

When we were deciding what challenge to tackle, we tried our best to choose one that was open to interpretation. This proved its usefulness as while were working on the project, we could add every single idea we came up with and this meant we put out a project worthy of consideration. Also choosing this challenge meant that we were actually brainstorming for something that is being discussed all around the world nowadays: space architecture.

We faced many setbacks and extra challenges in the face of bugs, sleepiness, rendering issues and much more. We are happy to have had these problems since these are the things that kept us going, the continuous feeling of the need to push ourselves further and harder. We always had each other's support all along the way for us to push through everything.

References

Global Judging

This project has been submitted for consideration during the Judging process.