Space Odyssey: The Video Game

Last updated
Space Odyssey: The Video Game
Space Odyssey cover.jpg
Developer(s) Space Media Ventures
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android
Genre(s) 4X
Mode(s) Single-player

Space Odyssey: The Video Game is an upcoming sandbox video game with 4X elements developed by Space Media Ventures for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android systems, including virtual reality devices. [1] The game is being co-developed by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, and has some educational aspects as the player designs and grows parts of a virtual galaxy.

Contents

Gameplay

Players in Space Odyssey are tasked with creating solar systems and larger stellar bodies in a virtual galaxy. This not only includes defining the planetary bodies within the system, but managing a spacefaring species as it harvests resources from those stellar bodies to expand its civilization through research, production, and trade to make said civilization successful. The game provides various challenges to players that, if completed successfully, reward them with items to further help their species. Players will be able to share their creations with others and visit the systems that others have made. [2] Initial ideas for the game include a virtual assistant voiced by Tyson and a story that begins on Proxima B. [3]

Development

Space Odyssey is being developed by Space Media Ventures, and is a cooperative development including SMV's Creative Director, Mark Murphy and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. According to Murphy, the goal of the game is to provide an experience similar to Minecraft and Civilization to encourage players to explore space. [2] [3] While they recognize they wanted to make an educational game, Murphy said that they did not want it to be reduced to a series of quizzes or an open-ended world without any instruction, but instead make for a fun and interesting challenge to players of all ages. [2] Tyson was originally skeptical towards the idea when the studio approached him, believing the game was aimed at young players, but they demonstrated their plans to target the game for all ages, bringing him aboard the project. [2]

Tyson has input in the design of the game's challenges. The game is driven by real science and real physics, aspects which Tyson found crucial to creating a unique and compelling gaming experience. Further, Tyson, along with groups like Bigelow Aerospace and National Space Society have been consulted on the game to help provide ideas for realistic future technologies to be employed by the player. [2] Tyson has worked with several guests from his talk show, StarTalk , to help provide material in-game to relate the science and understanding of game elements to the player. [2] With the ability to share stellar systems among players, the developers have gotten Tyson, Len Wein, StarTalk All-Stars, and Peter Beagle to participate in creating their own systems that players can visit and study. [2]

The title was announced in October 2016, [2] and Space Media Ventures hosted an All-Star Panel featuring Tyson, James Gunn, Kiki Wolfkill, Randy Pitchford and moderated by Chris Hardwick to launch the community build of the game during Electronic Entertainment Expo 2017. [4] To help support development, the team started a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign to raise $314,159 in mid-June 2017. [5] It is now also crowd-funding on Indiegogo.

In April 2020, it was announced that development on the project had been delayed owing to lack of funding. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Space Quest</i> Video game series

Space Quest is a series of six comic science fiction adventure games released between 1986 and 1995. The games follow the adventures of a hapless janitor named Roger Wilco, who campaigns through the galaxy for "truth, justice, and really clean floors".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astrophysics</span> Subfield of astronomy

Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the heavenly bodies, rather than their positions or motions in space–what they are, rather than where they are." Among the subjects studied are the Sun, other stars, galaxies, extrasolar planets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Emissions from these objects are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists apply concepts and methods from many disciplines of physics, including classical mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil deGrasse Tyson</span> American astrophysicist (born 1958)

Neil deGrasse Tyson is an American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator. Tyson studied at Harvard University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Columbia University. From 1991 to 1994, he was a postdoctoral research associate at Princeton University. In 1994, he joined the Hayden Planetarium as a staff scientist and the Princeton faculty as a visiting research scientist and lecturer. In 1996, he became director of the planetarium and oversaw its $210 million reconstruction project, which was completed in 2000. Since 1996, he has been the director of the Hayden Planetarium at the Rose Center for Earth and Space in New York City. The center is part of the American Museum of Natural History, where Tyson founded the Department of Astrophysics in 1997 and has been a research associate in the department since 2003.

<i>Cosmos</i> (Sagan book) 1980 book by Carl Sagan

Cosmos is a popular science book written by astronomer and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sagan. It was published in 1980 as a companion piece to the PBS mini-series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage with which it was co-developed and intended to complement. Each of the book's 13 illustrated chapters corresponds to one of the 13 episodes of the television series. Just a few of the ideas explored in Cosmos include the history and mutual development of science and civilization, the nature of the Universe, human and robotic space exploration, the inner workings of the cell and the DNA that controls it, and the dangers and future implications of nuclear war. One of Sagan's main purposes for both the book and the television series was to explain complex scientific ideas in a way that anyone interested in learning can understand. Sagan also believed the television was one of the greatest teaching tools ever invented, so he wished to capitalize on his chance to educate the world. Spurred in part by the popularity of the TV series, Cosmos spent 50 weeks on the Publishers Weekly best-sellers list and 70 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list to become the best-selling science book ever published at the time. In 1981, it received the Hugo Award for Best Non-Fiction Book. The unprecedented success of Cosmos ushered in a dramatic increase in visibility for science-themed literature. The success of the book also served to jumpstart Sagan's literary career. The sequel to Cosmos is Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (1994).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattanhenge</span> Solar phenomenon in Manhattan, New York City

Manhattanhenge, also called the Manhattan Solstice, is an event during which the setting sun or the rising sun is aligned with the east–west streets of the main street grid of Manhattan, New York City. The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson claims to have coined the term, by analogy with Stonehenge. The sunsets and sunrises each align twice a year, on dates evenly spaced around the summer solstice and winter solstice. The sunset alignments occur around May 28 and July 13. The sunrise alignments occur around December 5 and January 8.

The Science Network (TSN) is a non-profit virtual forum dedicated to science and its impact on society. It was initially conceived in 2003 by Roger Bingham and Terry Sejnowski as a cable science TV network modeled on C-SPAN. TSN later became a global digital platform hosting videos of lectures from scientific meetings and long form one-on-one conversations with prominent scientists and communicators of science, including Neil deGrasse Tyson, V.S. Ramachandran, Helen S. Mayberg, and Barbara Landau. TSN has also sponsored and co-sponsored scientific forums, such as Stem cells: science, ethics and politics at the crossroads, held at the Salk Institute in 2004 and the Beyond Belief conference series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Symphony of Science</span> Music project by John D. Boswell

The Symphony of Science is a music project created by Washington-based electronic musician John D. Boswell. The project seeks to "spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through musical remixes." Boswell uses pitch-corrected audio and video samples from television programs featuring popular educators and scientists. The audio and video clips are mixed into digital mashups and scored with Boswell's original compositions. Two of Boswell's music videos, "A Glorious Dawn" and "We are All Connected", feature appearances from Carl Sagan, Richard Feynman, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, and Stephen Hawking. The audio and video is sampled from popular science television shows including Cosmos, The Universe, The Eyes of Nye, The Elegant Universe, and Stephen Hawking's Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Pope</span> American audio producer (born 1978)

Chris Pope is an American internet personality, video game developer, producer, social media professional, podcaster. Pope is best known by fans as the SpacePope.

<i>Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey</i> 2014 American science documentary television series presented by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey is a 2014 American science documentary television series. The show is a follow-up to the 1980 television series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage, which was presented by Carl Sagan on the Public Broadcasting Service and is considered a milestone for scientific documentaries. This series was developed to bring back the foundation of science to network television at the height of other scientific-based television series and films. The show is presented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who, as a young high school student, was inspired by Sagan. Among the executive producers are Seth MacFarlane, whose financial investment was instrumental in bringing the show to broadcast television, and Ann Druyan, a co-author and co-creator of the original television series and Sagan's wife. The show is produced by Brannon Braga, and Alan Silvestri composed the score.

Video game development has typically been funded by large publishing companies or are alternatively paid for mostly by the developers themselves as independent titles. Other funding may come from government incentives or from private funding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penny4NASA</span>

Penny4NASA was a campaign run by the Space Advocates nonprofit, a nonpartisan organization seeking to promote the expansion of funding for the economic, scientific and cultural value of the United States' national space program by advocating an increase in the budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to at least one percent of the United States Federal Budget. Penny4NASA attempted to promote public awareness of the NASA mission and budget by producing a series of outreach videos, as well as performing educational outreach via social media.

"Standing Up in the Milky Way" is the first aired episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on March 9, 2014, simultaneously on various Fox television networks, including National Geographic Channel, FX, Fox Life, and others. The episode is presented by the series host astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, directed by Brannon Braga, produced by Livia Hanich and Steven Holtzman, and written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter.

"Deeper, Deeper, Deeper Still" is the sixth episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on April 13, 2014 on Fox and aired on April 14, 2014 on National Geographic Channel. The episode explores the smallest particles in the universe, where host Neil deGrasse Tyson "hunts for elusive neutrinos and the distant, early universe." The episode features the underground neutrino laboratory, Super-Kamiokande, located underneath Mount Kamioka in Japan.

"The Lost Worlds of Planet Earth" is the ninth episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. It premiered on May 4, 2014 on Fox, and aired on May 5, 2014 on National Geographic Channel. The episode was directed by Brannon Braga, written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, and featured the voice of Amanda Seyfried as geologist Marie Tharp. The episode explores the history of the Earth starting with the period of the Late Heavy Bombardment, approximately "3.8 to 4.1 billion years ago during which the Moon, Mercury, Venus, and the Earth were battered by space debris." Host Neil deGrasse Tyson then delves into the biography of the Earth, expressed "in its continents, oceans and life living on and in them, saying 'the past is another planet,'" alluding to how plate tectonics have shaped the Earth over millions of years.

"Unafraid of the Dark" is the thirteenth and final episode of the American documentary television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey and its series finale. It premiered on June 8, 2014, on Fox and aired on June 9, 2014, on the National Geographic Channel. The episode was written by Ann Druyan and Steven Soter, and directed by Ann Druyan, making this her series directorial debut. The episode explores the mysteries of dark energy and dark matter, as well as the contributions and theories of Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky, who furthered our understanding of "supernovae, neutron stars and 'standard candles.'" The finale reveals a recording of life on Earth - the final message on the golden record of the space probe, Voyager. The episode ends with Carl Sagan's iconic speech on Earth as the "Pale Blue Dot."

<i>StarTalk</i> (podcast) Podcast hosted by Neil DeGrasse Tyson

StarTalk is a podcast on science, comedy, and popular culture hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, with various comic and celebrity co-hosts and frequent guests from the worlds of science and entertainment. Past co-hosts have included Colin Jost, Lynne Koplitz, Leighann Lord, Eugene Mirman, Chuck Nice, John Oliver, and Kristen Schaal. Guests have included astronaut Buzz Aldrin, actor Morgan Freeman, George Takei, comedian Joan Rivers, Arianna Huffington, YouTuber Sam Denby, Richard Dawkins and writer Mary Roach. StarTalk has a segment called Cosmic Queries, in which listeners send in questions about the universe to be answered on the show.

<i>StarTalk</i> (American talk show) 2015 TV series

StarTalk is an American television talk show hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson that airs weekly on National Geographic. StarTalk is a spin-off of the podcast of the same name, in which Tyson discusses scientific topics through one-on-one interviews and panel discussions. Space.com called it the "first-ever science-themed late-night talk show." The series premiered on April 20, 2015.

<i>Welcome to the Universe</i> Book by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Welcome to the Universe: An Astrophysical Tour is a popular science book by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Michael A. Strauss, and J. Richard Gott, based on an introductory astrophysics course they co-taught at Princeton University. The book was published by the Princeton University Press on September 20, 2016.

Matthew John O'Dowd is an Australian astrophysicist. He is an associate professor in the Physics and Astronomy Department at the Lehman College of the City University of New York and writer and host of PBS Space Time on YouTube. He is a frequent guest on Science Goes to the Movies on CUNY TV and on StarTalk radio with Neil deGrasse Tyson.

<i>Cosmos: Possible Worlds</i> 2020 American science documentary television series

Cosmos: Possible Worlds is a 2020 American science documentary television series that premiered on March 9, 2020, on National Geographic. The series is a follow-up to the 2014 television series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, which followed the original Cosmos: A Personal Voyage series presented by Carl Sagan on PBS in 1980. The series is presented by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, written, directed, and executive-produced by Ann Druyan and Brannon Braga, with other executive producers being Seth MacFarlane and Jason Clark.

References

  1. Allain, Rhett (2017-07-27). "Neil deGrasse Tyson wants you to explore deep space in a video game". Wired. Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Gaudiosi, John (October 2, 2016). "Expand Your Universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson's New Video Game". Digital Trends . Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Loria, Kevin (2017-06-16). "Neil deGrasse Tyson is creating a 'Space Odyssey' video game that's scientifically accurate". Business Insider . Retrieved 2017-07-27.
  4. Burns, Ben (May 26, 2017). "Science man Neil deGrasse Tyson will be showing off his new game at E3". PCGamesN . Retrieved May 26, 2017.
  5. LeFebvre, Rob (June 16, 2017). "Neil deGrasse Tyson wants to take you on a 'Space Odyssey'". Engadget . Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  6. Murphy, Mark (April 11, 2020). "An Overdue Update - With Our Apologies". Kickstarter . Retrieved May 10, 2020.