A First-Person Space Colonisation Simulator with programmable Virtual Computers: Found outposts, visit stations, compete for resources.
This project will only be funded if at least €85,000 is pledged by .
3001SQ is an online first-person space colonisation simulator featuring a new level of emergent gameplay and integrated modding due to programmable spacecraft and devices.
Check out our public Technology Demo to see where we are and read on to learn about our vision, how we plan to get there and how your pledge will help to make this possible.
Our Kickstarter campaign aims at independently financing the development of our first commercial prototype - 3001SQ Red Edition - to be released in January 2017.
Planned features:
Over the duration of this campaign, we want to demonstrate our ability to realize a project of such ambition and technical complexity in a well-defined timeframe.
Follow the development from technology demo to multiplayer test on:
It takes some steps from concept art to fully programmable in-game device...
Over the last 18 months we developed a custom multi-platform engine that is tailored to bring the aforementioned vision into reality:
You can already experience some of those systems in the public Technology Demo, while others will be showcased in upcoming updates over the course of the campaign.
Taking advantage of modern multi-core CPUs, 3001SQ runs user-programmable virtual machines on your computer that control complex objects like spaceships and stations.
The player's input is thereby processed by applications and translated into control commands for display screens, thrusters and other (virtual) hardware devices.
Sensors feed information about the simulated world back to the computer, which then can be used by flight and docking assistants.
Advanced control programs may even make entirely autonomous objects like drones possible, allowing for a new kind of offline gameplay and questioning grindy game mechanics - that by definition may be automatized.
Programs and drivers are written in the AngelScript scripting language. They may also use system functions and data types of nandOS, an operating system inspired by POSIX standards and Linux, that represents the bridge between the calculations of the 3001SQ computer and the virtual world.
User-applications will be added in the first update to the technology demo. You can already start discussing the implications and possibilities of programmable spacecraft in our forums, adding applications you want to see developed to our wishlist.
This triad of controller input, application processing and physical simulation allows for rich interactions between the player, programmable objects and the game envrionment - some truly emergent gameplay.
Today's hardware allows for ever better synthesis of terrain and other natural and man-made structures in real-time.
One of the core mechanics of 3001SQ is to colonise these vast spaces, thereby creating points of interest for other players, inviting cooperation or causing competition over resources.
The cornerstones of the initial version of the mechanic are:
More about how contracts and trading work together with aforementioned programmable devices, along with a presentation of our procedural generation system, will be revealed in upcoming Updates.
Stjepan Stamenkovic (Paris, France) - Design and Programming - @StStamenkovic
Petar Martincic (Zagreb, Croatia) - Backend and Network Programming
Todor Nikolov (Osaka, Japan) - 3D Art - @ToshiCG
TBA - 2D Art
Edward Blakeley (United Kingdom) - Sound and Music - @EddBlakeley
A comprehensive introduction of our team members, each one's motivation to work in the medium of computer games, their vision for 3001SQ and an insight into the workflow of their discipline will complement this overview in future campaign updates.
Docking concept : Complex features necessitate tight teamwork!
Lying at the intersection of software engineering and art, while facing specific challenges resulting from the interactive nature of computer games, a project like 3001SQ may suffer from delays and omission of features due to technical issues and design changes according to what actual gameplay results from the developed systems.
We invite you to accompany us in our journey from basic technology demo to multiplayer test during the campaign and decide for yourself whether our skills, work ethic and style of communication can convince you to make a pledge towards a project that will come into existence as described above.
If you need more details about the technology and design of 3001SQ, send us an email to ks@3001sq.net, contact us over Twitter @3001SQ or leave a comment if you already pledged.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterNo. Many players may never touch a line of code.
You can always use the default software or trade specific applications with others. Being able to program spacecraft is an ingame role - so you may want to have a coder in your group/organisation/settlement if you play cooperatively.
All players however will experience gameplay implications of having these complex devices in physically simulated environments. A certain system may malfunction, changing maneuverability properties of your spacecraft for instance - the moment for your intelligent flight assistant to shine!
The following actions are possible in normal mode (if NOT started from the Code Tab)
1) Float around in the cockpit
2) Get into the pilot seat or lock onto the terminal screen by pressing "F" / get out with "TAB"
3) Change the orientation of the spacecraft with WASD QE when in the pilot seat
4) Turn the cockpit systems on/off by pressing the lit button of the dasboard with "F"
When in Coding Mode (started from Code Tab) cockpit movement is the same, while the sidestick controls (when in pilot seat) are freely configurable via the user application.
More functionality will be added over the next weeks, leading up to a Multiplayer Test featuring docking with asteroid stations.
Not yet ;-)
The spacecrafts main engine, communication systems and docking facilities will be unlocked in future updates.