Core Loop

Overview

The core gameplay loop is the task of keeping the ship running by working together as a team.

The ship itself constantly consumes resources and suffers Decay of core functions. Players need to gather resources to keep the ship going and repair decaying systems. To find resources, the players need to first scan their surrounding area and identify resource clusters that can be mined. Once identified the players need to pilot the ship to the resource cluster and deploy a mining drone to gather the resources. During all of this, the ship components used to complete these tasks degrade from use and need to be maintained.

This results in a self perpetuating cycle of resource gathering and repair with the ultimate goal to gain a net profit in resources for future use and upgrades. The goal is for the simple maintenance and operation of the ship itself to be fun and engaging, without being completely overwhelming to players. The balance between having enough to do and having too much to do is one we aim to test and approach in a gameplay prototype that covers the basic gameplay loop. Once this is established, additional events, complications and crisis can be layered into the game.

The roles players fulfil are separated into roughly 4 areas. Each player will be able to perform any of these areas tasks, but we plan on specialisations and job specific skills to be implemented as development continues.

Piloting

Pilots need to maneuver the ship through open space. The ship is always in motion and cannot be simply parked somewhere. The pilot is able to stop the ships momentum to a very slow crawl, but never outright stop it's movement altogether. Adjusting speed and direction uses the ships Thrusters, decaying them over time. The decay rate is based on how the ship is operated, with elegant flying being the most efficient. Pilots primarily interact with the Fuel resource, as they control how much of it is used per second to operate the ship. Pilots may additionally be required to adjust the ships orientation to enable certain scanning maneuvers or mining drone deployment.

Scanning

Scanning is the act of searching the space around the ship for objects. Identifying resource clusters and potential dangers to enable the crew to make plans and plot a course. Scanners interact with the ships 3D map. From there they send pulses out to identify objects in an area or get a closer inspection of individual objects.

Resources

Gathering resources consists of configuring and sending out mining drones, followed by processing and refining of the collected resources to make them usable by the ship. Drones are modular, consisting of an engine, a function slot (drill head) and inventory slots. They are remote controlled and consume fuel to fly. The drill head is used to mine asteroids and deposit resulting resources into the drones inventory.

Maintenance

All useable components of the ship decay and need to be maintained