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Other Games => Beyond the Stars! => Topic started by: Þórgrímr on December 19, 2011, 09:06:22 AM

Title: Beyond the Stars!: Dawn of the Space Age
Post by: Þórgrímr on December 19, 2011, 09:06:22 AM
Throughout the creation and development of BTS! one thing has stood out. Many gamers were scared off by the percieved complexity. Due to that perception, and my love of the space race, I have created an introductory game in the BTS! series called Beyond the Stars: Dawn of the Space Age.

The is an introductory level game and will introduce the gamer to BTS! and its universe. Below is the introduction in the rules.

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

In Beyond the Stars!: Dawn of the Space Age, you are placed in command of your country’s space program. As the Director, you will purchase and develop space hardware, recruit and assign your astronauts, and plan your nation’s missions into space. The first country to successfully complete a manned lunar outpost Wins the game.

With BTS!: DSA the player will need to develop his short and long-term planning skills. The player will need those skills to determine what hardware is required to complete his/her objectives. While it is certainly not required, it is heartily suggested that you read some of the historical material on the real space race. The American and Soviet strategies were quite insightful on what it would take to reach the moon, planets, and eventually, the stars. But for a few accidents the Soviets could have beaten the US to the moon.

In both the historical and non-historical scenarios all of the major hardware, including the alternative proposals, the US and USSR kicked around in their respective design bureaus are available. This gives the players the same flexibility that their real world personas had. In the game, as in real life, the programs are man-rated after an extensive R&D and flight testing program. It is a very thin line between safety and failure. The dilemma of when a rocket or capsule is ready to carry humans is one of the player’s major decision points. Shortcuts may be necessary, as they were in real life, if the player wishes to garner the prestige of a first before his opponents can do so.

In the historical scenario most of the real world rocket boosters are available for game play, their playload capacity equaling their real world counterpart. While in the non-historical scenario the payload capacity of the various rockets are greatly simplified. In both scenarios the payloads were converted to match the standard BTS! Cargo Capacity (CC’s), while the unit weight is denoted with Cargo Points (CP’s). Each CP equals 100 lbs in weight. Each CC can carry one CP. Determining which rockets are to be used for the various payloads is a very important factor in the game.

In the non-historical scenario capsule design features were also simplified, while in the historical scenario their real life capabilities are kept. For example the Soviets brought the Soyuz capsule through three major design phases and quite a few minor variations. In the historical scenario these programs are available, but in the non-historical game there is only the one main program. In the historical scenario the real life design features of the various spacecraft are included in the game. While in the non-historical scenario there are only generic types of equipment that all Directors will use.

Most of the astronauts and cosmonauts that participated in the real life space race are available for the Soviet and American players, while the other nations will have their astronaut corps generated by the game. The Soviet and American astronauts’ skills are strictly subjective. They are not meant to reflect any real life individual’s strengths or weaknesses.

Welcome to the Dawn of the Space Age and may your nation reign supreme in the eyes of Humanity!

In the current playtest both Mavikfelna and Backstab from this board are participating in this round.

As an introductory game my intention is to make DSA free to anyone who wishes to DL it. My hope is that this game will lead to a greater interest in the BTS! 'verse and games.

Once this game is completed next on the rotation is Beyond the Stars!: The Race for Mars!  8) This game will up the complexity some, but at the same time give the Directors much more flexibility in their planning.

If there is enough interest I will move the playtesting to this board.  :)

@Erik, my email has changed. I will change it ASAP in my profile.



Cheers, Thor
Title: Re: Beyond the Stars!: Dawn of the Space Age
Post by: haegan2007 on August 17, 2012, 09:10:34 PM
Hello all!

We have decided to program additional help for the DSA game by getting away from the excel sheets.

Below are the research Annex, Load game screen, and the In progress Hardware Annex.