Dispatches From The Imagination #2 – Inspiration
Hi again! It’s been a few weeks, a longer time gap than I expected since the initial newsletter. I think that many of us can agree that we’ve either been extremely busy with our lives, or overwhelmed by so many changes happening in certain parts of the world at blinding speed. Or, most likely, some combination of the two. I know I have!
But let’s try to set that aside as I launch into this second edition of Dispatches From The Imagination. We’re here to talk about games and some of the thinking that goes into making and playing them.
Just to refresh your memory from last time (or to bring you up to speed if you’ve just joined up), here’s part of the last newsletter:
My main creative project at the moment is, believe it or not, a game. Not a computer game, but a tabletop type of game with dice, cards, and lots of pencil and paper action. Basically I want to take my love of 90s space exploration games, like the Master of Orion series or Star Control II and use them as inspirations for new games that borrow some of their concepts. Ideally I want to provide a solo gaming experience that can be as casual or as serious as a player wants to be.
Maybe you're a gamer whose regular group can't meet on a particular night. Maybe you're an introvert who prefers to lose themselves in their own imagination and take a break from both the world and social media. Or maybe you need a change from your current entertainment but you crave some form of science fiction or fantasy content. My goal is to create a gaming experience that, in its basic form, doesn't cost you anything to play that you probably don't already have at home and you can play it by yourself. I love many sided dice but the basic version of these games should not require more than 2 six sided dice and or a standard deck of playing cards (jokers optional).
This time I’ll share a bit more about the aspects of the 90s space exploration games that I’ve enjoyed and how they might factor into my own game. As you read this you might start to think that I’m a fan of colonialism, to which I’ll reply: I’m just talking about a game, not real life.
I’ve always enjoyed exploration games where you can start small and create a civilization (or organization or empire, if you will), starting with the original MS-DOS version of Civilization and moving on to other games like the Master of Orion series and eventually Star Control II. I’ve always enjoyed the exploration and discovery mechanics of these games, kind of like you’re playing your own version of Star Trek or Star Wars and making your mark on the galaxy.
Star Control II is a bit unlike these other games in that you start with a bare bones starship and then collect technology and materials over time to make it much more sturdy and versatile. No fleets for you! Just one ship capable of interstellar travel in order to meet and interact with several different alien races as you attempt to rescue the galaxy from tyranny and destruction. Good, goofy times.
The story and action in Star Control II is clunky and often dated compared to more modern games, although it actually holds together quite well if you keep some of your expectations low. The part I really like, though is the exploration. There are several hundred stars that you can visit and most of the stars have multiple planets that you can explore. You have a little lander craft onboard your starship that you can use to reach a planet’s surface and see what’s there.
To be honest, most of the planets are duds. They contain nothing interesting or worthwhile and it’s a waste of time to land on them. In some cases a planet is too hostile to explore: bad weather, earthquakes or insanely hot temperatures. But some of the planets are really cool and have stuff you can mine and transport back to your starship, like rare and valuable materials as well as biological data about the lifeforms you may encounter on the surface (as long as they don’t destroy your lander craft first.)
But there’s a definite thrill of discovering a planet, finding it has lots of valuable stuff on it and then harvesting it and taking it home with you. Your lander craft basically acts like a vacuum cleaner, sucking up the valuable stuff. It also makes a funny burping sound when you’ve filled your lander to capacity: time to return to your starship and unload, then try it again.
Meanwhile you have a finite amount of fuel and if you use too much on planet landings you could be stranded in outer space on your way home. Also, if your lander craft takes too much damage when it’s on a planet then it’s destroyed along with all of the stuff it has picked up on a planet’s surface. I have lost cool and valuable materials many times by not paying attention. But I digress.
So I like computer games (games in general, actually) where I can explore and collect stuff. And I just want my own way to build a small part of a galaxy and explore it using pen and paper, dice and cards. Something that I could set up for a quick 1 – 2 hour game… or to play for months and years on end… or somewhere in between. My idea is to have a very basic game system that’s playable and then expand it immensely over time.
Anyway, my little prototype game is scratching some of that itch but right now 75% of the game rules and mechanics are either in my head or captured in incomplete and cryptic notes. Everything needs to be extracted and written in a form that other humans can understand. That’s where I am now: trying to design and write a simple version of the game that other people can try.
I think that’s enough of an update for now, future newsletters will start to describe the game itself in more detail, so look forward to more information about Zone Zero: New Beginnings, the current working name for this gaming project.
Final unrelated update: my Star Trek: Deep Space Nine rewatch is currently stalled progressing slowly as I’ve been watching several other shows. More about them next time. I’m still watching DS9 S2, which improved over S1 but the really, really good stuff hasn’t started yet.
That’s it for this newsletter. Be good, stay good and I'll be back again soon(ish)!
Mark Dykeman
Dispatches from the Imagination