Maelstrom Trader: Skills

You could say I've been working on this game for a week now. You could also say I've spent that time *getting ready* to work on it. I'm simultaneously learning to use Unity 3D and outlining the mechanics for the game; we'll see whether I manage to reach a point where the two aspects of the game aren't separated.

Every man on your ship, yourself included, has skills that level up over time. You have access to Captain Skills and Special Skills. Your appointed mates (which actually means anyone with a special position, such as a doctor) have Special Skills and Crew Skills. The rest of your crew has only Crew Skills.

Captain Skills can best be described as various answers to "A good captain ________", as you'll see if you read the skill descriptions below. Special Skills usually only use the highest score among your crew, though having two people who know how to do some vital job becomes very handy when one catches space dysentery. Crew Skills, by contrast, generally use the sum of every participating hand's score. A skilled hand can achieve the same results as 4 novices.

The actual scores one can have represent the following levels of proficiency:
0-Incapable
1-Novice
2-Basic
3-Capable
4-Skilled
5-Impressive
6-Top-Notch
7-Renowned
8-Legendary

CAPTAIN SKILLS
Discipline: Ensures that his crew functions as a well-organized unit.
Evaluate: Quickly picks out the best men for each task.
Negotiate: Does a good job of representing his vessel and managing its affairs.
Perception: Can easily gauge the mood and thoughts of those around him.
Presence: Commands respect from his crew.
Rally: Keeps his men motivated and in high spirits.
Training: Knows how to turn a novice crew into seasoned deckhands.

SPECIAL SKILLS
Aether Sight: Sighting objects that would normally be obscured by aetheric mists.
Cooking: Preparing healthy meals from the available supplies.
Commerce: Gauging the best time and place to buy/sell various goods.
Cultures: Understanding the beliefs and customs of the various peoples you encounter.
Engineering: Working with the ship's technologically advanced aspects.
Entertain: Helping to improve morale.
Interspace: Knowing how to survive Maelstrom's unique space ecosystem.
Medicine: Treating all manner of ailments.
Navigate: Charting a course and staying on track.
Tactics: Leading men in battle.

CREW SKILLS
Hand-to-Hand: Close combat against sentient beings.
Harvest: Gathering and processing supplies.
Hunting: Tracking and killing the various creatures in Maelstrom's interspace.
Maintenance: Keeping the ship and cargo in good condition.
Operate Vessel: Using your ship's systems to their full potential.

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So I'm considering making a video game.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but my interest in game design applies just as much to video games as it does to tabletop fare. The main reason I focus on non-electronic projects is that I can focus most of my efforts on the tasks that most interest me- creativity and the actual mechanics of the game, rather than matters like animating an orc's attacks or trying to hunt down bugs.

Still, I've been paying alot of attention to the freeware release of the Unity3D engine- it's gotten plenty of buzz in the local game development interest group I'm a part of. And when Rock Paper Shotgun community member James Carey announced he was going to try an experimental game-building project, my first thought was "Wait a second, I could do that!"

The question is: what sort of game could I do well? Something that had relatively few demands in terms of programming and creating assets, while drawing on my existing strengths (world-building, writing, complex systems of game mechanics). Something set in a small, well-realized game space.

And the answer is: The Oregon Trail IN SPAAAAAAACE.

The game's setting would be Maelstrom, a world (or rather, a solar system) that I've already talked about a little. You would play as the captain of a ship that's sailing along the main Aetheric Current, the setting's foremost trading route; a formidable journey that takes you by each of the 4 gas giants (the setting's equivalent of continents, since their moons are the the setting's inhabited worlds). The entire game would take place on your ship, the goal being to effectively integrate various aspects of the game into the actual first gameplay of moving around and interacting with things. To look at the map, you walk into your quarters, look at your map, and press "e" (rather than just hitting the "m" key wherever your character happens to be on the ship).

There's much more to the game's design than that, of course. I intend to take a page from the obscure gem King of Dragon's Pass, and confront players with a constant series of unique dilemmas where the crew members they've recruited will weigh in as to the best course of action.

The plan is have this be my main project for the month of December, to post development notes and weekly progress reports, and to have some kind of working prototype ready before 2010 comes along. We'll see what actually happens.

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