Mars Rover

Mars Rover Game (aka: Operation Rocket Powered Sky Crane!)

A modified ruleset and world for the WorldForge game engine. Start with a very minimal ruleset and basic client media and create a game of discovery on the planet mars.

Plot

A series of more advanced Rovers have been sent to parts of the planet Mars to collect data, and materials and then return them to earth. In time the mission could be advanced to include more interesting missions like promoting terra-forming, building structures, performing special experiments in the name of gameplay advancement.

Gameplay

• You are part of a team of pilots who have been given command over your very own Rover crafter through a crater on the planet of Mars. You will be assigned missions to be completed.

Basic Game Challenges

• Locate/Acquire materials/items/tools (default functionality already present)
• Using Tools on Terrain (digging, heaping, finding rocks)
• Rebuild/Repair the Launch Pad (combine tools and materials)
• Locate/Measure or Acquire minerals energy sources. (tools/tasks on items)
• Chart geological formations (create knowledge items)
• Generate Nav routes/waypoints. (creating area features)

Advanced Game Challenges

• Perform scientific experiments. (puzzle challenges)
• Complete missions in timely fashion. (Goals/Timestamp creation and tracking)
• Launch materials and energy to Earth. (Summation of multiple aspects)
• Resource allocation/management (energy use, acquisition, breaking and repairing parts)

Goals of Development

• Learn about the various aspects of WorldForge in the process.
• Create a very minimal ruleset as a starting point.
• Outline the steps of creating new rules and basic gameplay operations.
• Outline how to create and bind a new world media set for the server/client.
• Outline how to modify the existing client interface
• Determine what changes in the core systems need to be exposed or changed to make modding WF to create games other then alongside or apart from Mason easier.

Stages of Development

Minimal Data

Determine the bare minimum data set to use as a starting point a simple learn as you go demo world.

Minimal Configurations

• Environment (terrain, weather, area)
• Player Entity
• Objects (anything? rock?)

Minimal Client Media

• Environment (Caelum Sky, Ground textures)
• Generic Character (good minimal character?)
• Interface (splash, GUI, primtives)

Initial Environment

• Expand the minimal ruleset to be more Rover specific.
• Create the bare minimum of client media needed to run as a Rover client.
• Create initial client media needed to represent Mars environment and the Rover itself.

Expand the Environment

• Look into Vehicle style movement as opposed to Humanoid. Is it needed?
• Add new object types (minerals, energy sources, parts, tools...)

Create new Gameplay

• Studying Rocks
• Creating Navigation points.

Add Advanced Topics of Learning

• AI/Goals
• Customize Interface
• Puzzle/Challenges

Ideas for Consideration

• Gameplay should be somewhat cyclical, the players can just keep playing and doing missions, so the server should continue to generate new objects and missions for them. Perhaps a trigger at the end of a completed mission. Or a timed event to check and repopulate as needed.
• Should players be able to aquire newer, better rovers, or upgrades that give them new abilities?
• There could be PvE and even PvP introduced at a higher level to make it interesting, perhaps once a certain upgrade to rover has occurred.
• It would be great for the server to keep a score of all the pilots and display it to a webpage much like the monitor currently pushes out stats.