Inside The Night Sky

THE CHALLENGE: SimSpace
Journey to Mars

Develop a game that simulates conditions in an off-Earth located permanent or temporary colony. The game could be a sandbox that offers the possibility to simulate various facilities that would support a reduced gravity environment far from earth’s atmosphere and magnetosphere. Users could be given power allowances, atmospheric conditions, and in situ resource options (using resources available on site for life support or other needs). The game could include a variety of scenarios including:

  • Arranging a GPS-like system on the Moon or Mars to support navigation for the human inhabitants. The simulation could allow the users to explore different solutions such as a constellation of satellites, a network of masts or other Earth based methods at the challenger’s discretion.
  • Players could build a habitat that could withstand the Lunar or Martian environment while also taking into consideration that its inhabitants need to have adequate power and supplies, be able to produce food, have locations sleep, live and work.
  • Build a Virtual Moon telescope. The simulation could allow the user to conduct a research mission using a telescope on site near their habitat. Explore what instruments make sense for the location of the telescope (and what the user wants to observe). Game players could explore settings such as exposure times or wavelengths to observe. Observations could vary based on the position of the telescope on the Moon or Mars, and the relative position in the sky of the pointed object. After each simulated capture, show an appropriately generated image reflecting the exposure and wavelength settings.
Explanation

The game is to simulate the real life experience of an astronaut on the moon. This is a simulation that gives the user an experience of low-gravity and limited-oxygen in outer space. The game on the desktop computer teaches the harsh environment of the outer space. The Virtual Reality simulation gives the user a feeling of survival in the atmospheric conditions with the limited resources available. Both meet the expectations of simulation and the criteria given by NASA. The simulation shows the best utilization of resource such as limited oxygen, and full freedom to the player who may explore the moon based on their own decisions. User can take decisions based on the current situations and perform in different challenges while roaming around the Moon.

Resources Used
  • Unity Game Engine
  • Google Card Board
  • Cardboard SDK
  • Android SDK
  • Windows, MAc, LInux integration
  • Autodesk 3ds Max 2013
  • Blender
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Nasa provided 3d models
  • Nasa provided resources related to SImSpace


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