Orbital Vector
A realistic space command simulator built from the ground up with the constraints of operating in space in mind. Navigate orbital trajectories around super dense asteroids or artificial gravity generators to control vital resources or strategically important regions. Players will be able to control one or more space ship with a diverse set of weaponry, manage finite fuel or deltaV, power, and heat systems. They must capture orbital nodes or land on the mother well to reprogram its logic matrix. There well be weapon and fuel depots at various orbits, combat support from your side, that you can make use of to extend your operational mission. But be careful, as docking will make you very vulnerable to enemy fire and could be fuel-consumming.
Orbital Vector is available for download at the github repo
Blog Posts
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31 Oct 2014
Managing Dynamic list of lists
In Orbital Vector, there is a data structure that manages the current state of the objects in motion, as well as the future states of those objects. When objects collide or go out of scope, they need to be deleted without breaking future states.
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26 Oct 2014
A singular vision
You are in a circular orbit 1km above the asteroid in a 3km orbit radius going at roughly 300m/s. You complete one revolution every 62.8 seconds. A bogie appears directly above you, exactly between you and the sun. He's 10km up and he's coming in fast. He's signature is fuzzy and you can't get a lock on him. Your only choice is run, but how? Speeding up would boost your apoapsis (highest point in your orbit) and slow you down, making you a perfect target. So you slow down...
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26 Oct 2014
Baby steps in OpenGL
So far the code is organized in the following classes...
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25 Oct 2014
The Difference Between "Space" and Orbital Space
Orbiting in space is not merely floating on inertia in empty space. Orbiting is more or less falling and missing the ground. You are constantly bound to one or more gravity wells. This simple mechanic changes the battle field completely in very counter-intuitive ways.
Orbital Domination (working title)
A civilization-level strategy game where each nation/state must compete over limited resources and trade in a highly interconnected solar economy. Some nations intend on dominating its neighbors with military might while others focus on economic control. An ally may backstab you if coerced by another nation in the form of bribes or economic sanctions. There are public pledges of support and backdoor channels. Changing tide in economy could change trade negotiations on hydrogen tariffs from the time Jupiter harvesting begins and when the first shipment of deuterium pods reenter earth's atmosphere. A nation may sell food to its enemy in order to fund a defensive solar array weapon. Import tariffs could start a war. Piracy on interplanetary routes may be a pretext for an planetary invasion.
There are a lot of things that could be done with a solar system setting turn based strategy game. I think this just scratches the surface. Imagine you must maintain relationship with an enemy nation until your much-needed deuterium shipment leaves the borders of its vast reaches in to space.
About Me
A grad student who should be working on his thesis, but loves loves loves space and gaming and hard science fiction.