[Title]

      __________  ____  ____ ________   ____  ______  _____
     / ____/ __ \/ __ \/ __// ___/ __\_/ __ \/ _  _ \/ ___/
* ___\__ \/ ____/ __  / /__/ ___/ /_  / __  / // // / ___/___ *
  \______/\/    \/  \/\___/\___/\____/\/  \/\/ \/ \/\_______/

				(c) 2007 - 2010 by Dennis Busch

"Well well says Treebeard, things will go as they will and there is no need to hurry to meet them." -from Lord Of The Rings
				

[[sections]]
	[Introduction]
	[Setting]
	[Story]
	
	[In Outer Space]
	[Near Planets And Other Objects In Outer Space]
	
	[On Planets] (multiple "levels/maps per planet", accessible through doorways paths/teleporter devices)

	[Planetary Vehicles]
	
	[Outside And Inside Ships And Space Stations]
	[Ship Equipment] (shields/engines/turrets/beams/weapons/radars/sensors/etc.)
	[Personell Equipment] (weapons/drones/shields/visors/tools/backpacks/etc.)
	
	[Communications/Dialogs] radio signals/talking in outer space or basically everywhere
	[Fleet Management]
	[Crew Management]
	
	[Trading Goods]
	[Shopping For Equipment]
	
	?[Races/Species/Factions/Rank&Reputation (Player to factions/factions,races between each other)]
	?[Magic/Skills/Stats]
	
	?[Quests/Missions/Generated Stuff]
	
	?[Creatures On Planets]
	?[Creatures In Outer Space]

	?[Mapping System] (custom markers)
	
	[The List]
	[Appendix A - Technical Information]
		[Engine]
		[Messaging Model]
		[Interaction]
		
	[Appendix B - Planet/Ship Editor]
	[Appendix C - Sun System Editor] (hint with modularity of systems: jump point with info from which existing system and which jump point in that system you can reach it)
	[Appendix D - Milestone 1]


[Introduction]
This is a work in progress design document for an in-development computer game called "Spacegame". It will have elements from all kinds of different genres, like simulation, action, adventure, rpg and whatever I'll find interesting enough to add over the course of its development.

The planning for SPACEGAME started in the end of 2007 and then abruptly stopped somewhere in the middle of 2008 and has been resumed in late 2010...

It is being designed and developed by Dennis Busch.
email: Dennis-Busch@gmx.net
  web: http://www.dennisbusch.de

Special thanks to the members and operators of the Game Developers Refuge for their thoughts and input throughout the development so far.

The public(and only) in-development log can be viewed on the GDR at http://www.gamedevelopersrefuge.org/GDR/viewtopic.php?t=605
Seriously, if you're really bored, read that log! :)


[Setting]
The player will find himself in a part of a fictional universe vaguely similar to our own (lacking a third spatial dimension though), exploring outer space in different sun systems, landing on and exploring different planets, seeking new life and new civilizations (and probably boldly killing off large quantities of their members with brute force but that will be left to the player to decide), battleing other ships, trading in goods, interacting with other species, building up rank and reputation with different factions and races, casting magic, using skills, producing goods and hopefully have a good time doing all that.
 
The game will be heavily inspired and influenced by other existing science-fiction games, movies, stories, settings, artworks, music and other cultural artifacts and settings you can think of.

There will be lots of stuff to see and do, which is the reason for writing this document. Keeping track of everything is going to be a project in itself, so this design document is never meant to be in a final state, it will instead grow and change over time, adapt itself to the game in development.

At the end of this document will be "The List", followed by various appendices on stuff that may or may not still be relevant to the development process.


[Story]
Basically, the player will make their own story while exploring the game, doing all the things there are to do. In case I get bored with that approach I'll fork off another development branch and keep that "open" mode as a separate and make up a story or short stories/missions for the player to play within the same world. In any case the engine will have to have a flexibe mission/quest subsystem.


[In Outer Space]
Before I go into details, here's the original and first concept sketch of the game idea (before it started to explode in my head).

::sg_01.png::(fig. 1 - at first, the player was merely meant to be a pirate)

In that first sketch, the idea was that the player would be a pirate who roams around, ambushing trade vessels, destroying them and loot their goods, selling them for score. Police ships would try to stop the player.

Well, after that, my mind could not stop producing more and more stuff to add and so it turned into a huge concept in which that first idea only describes one part of what the player may choose to do in this alternate reality.

main gameplay elements in outer space will be:
	flying around with a spaceship
	engaging in dogfights with other ships (and lesbian space amoebae (among other creatures perhaps but they should be rare compared to ship encounters))
	board other ships (s.a.: [Outside And Inside Ships And Space Stations])
	communicating with other objects (ships/wharves/stations/creatures)
	

[On Planets]
Before the player may land on a planet they must request landing clearance from the local star port. Each planet will have "suitable" landing sites (starport is always one if existant) to which the landing vehicle can be sent. On the planet, around those landing sites, the landing vehicle may be landed on any surface it supports (the basic LV can only land on perfectly flat terrain, better LVs may be allowed to land on rough terrain or even steep angled slopes) and which can be safely reached with the fuel in the LV. The player should always(well almost) have a possibility to send a distress call to get rescued in case he is stuck on a planet witout enough fuel to leave. The rescued player would have to be put back on their ship and may attempt to recover any lost equipment (the LV and whatever else) by sending another LV (and packing fuel barrels and an additional crew member).



..TODO write all those other sections / do mockups / design sketches / illustrate EVERYTHING



[The List]
(here goes the list of random words and inspiration taken from everywhere and from everything in life (also from extrapolating that which is already there) for elements that would be cool to have at one place or another inside the game)

alien skeletons / undead faction
eery lost planet, dusty
ufos
ghosts
cryo chambers
graveyard (in asteroid field and/or deep down in some cave on a deserted planet)
magic!
comic book style intro and comic book style character portraits (think Marvel/DC not Manga although it might be fun to have either styles and let player freely switch between them)
crashed on jungle planet
inside of buildings, caves
space bats
frogs (coming in different colors)
amoebas
money system (different currencies for different factions/groups)
black market (outer space trading / tax free!)
factions
different sunystems (modular with GUIDs loaded from a dir, so I can just slap another system in there (needs info "closest existing system" and "distance to that system")
each system can have a "jump area" from which it will be possible to travel to other systems
mass transportation (monorails on some planet / interplanetary shuttle routes)
alien races
cargo fleets (your own, others)
"your cargo ship xyz is under attack by .." (defending ones ship, fleet)
prison planet
a cellblock. no.9 with a well visible 9 on the wall near the main gate
  ___
 / _ \
 \_  /
  /_/
  
riot (was just listening to the Blues Brothers)
police ships/officers
ancient ruins
artifacts (for selling or with magic powers)
lost civilizations
underdeveloped civs (not space travelers to visit and observe/exploit/kill/help)
name generators/scenery generators/plant generator/mineral generator/generators! (even code generators for repetitive coding tasks)
planet generator (with fixed seed as a base for hand sculpted planets and maps and for whole star systems of random generated planets which are different each game)
carrier ship (armies/police/dispatch fighters and patrol ships from those)

minefields

[refactor messaging system (parameter count, parameters(pointer)) central message coder/decoder]

grappling hook/rope (landing on a steep slope, attaching hook on LV, slowly descent the player)

landing vehicle with a builtin grappling hook (to abduct goods/minerals/plants/creatures/people without exiting the LV)
trade goods (livestock/slaves/minerals/etc... abducted people may be sold as slaves or dumped in outer space for a good laugh)

asteroids
satellite (hacking a com sat in some mission perhaps?)

different types of personal armor (and appearances)

growing/selling plants (or process into and sell as narcotics/drugs/food)
grow them anywhere on any free ground on any planet
mapping system (set custom map markers / builtin notebook / attaching markers to notes / custom/default note categories to organize ones findings)

on planet digging/mining for ore and raw unrefined oil

building of planetary stations/space stations (your very own asteroid field pirate hideout comes to mind!) / placing defense systems (turrets, rocket launchers, sensors on asteroids)

asteroid scanning / mining / drilling for oil and gems and whatnot