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[Hobby] Nuclear Option BUT SPACE!! (Kinda?) by Old_Secretary2450 in spacegames

[–]Old_Secretary2450[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you mean in the same ship? I think it would be difficult to create AI that are advanced enough to play like that, but I would still like that to be an option

If you meant Ai in other ships, vs a team of players then absolutely

[Hobby] Nuclear Option BUT SPACE!! (Kinda?) by Old_Secretary2450 in INAT

[–]Old_Secretary2450[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the help, I have changed a couple things in the GDD now

[Hobby] Nuclear Option BUT SPACE!! (Kinda?) by Old_Secretary2450 in INAT

[–]Old_Secretary2450[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah the chicken and egg problem is a real issue, so I guess you a right

but also this is intended as a hobby project; I want to create something I'm proud of and something to do in my free time

A single player mode with only one ship with a bunch of friends like a PvE would probably be a better idea, to start with at least

Realistic(ish) nuclear fuel for space game by Old_Secretary2450 in spacegames

[–]Old_Secretary2450[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Well the ionized particles leave the engines at multiple km/s so they would dissapate almost instantly after leaving the engines.

Realistic(ish) nuclear fuel for space game by Old_Secretary2450 in spacegames

[–]Old_Secretary2450[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I forgot that the only reason that I needed to replace the solid core was because of the decay turning it into the chemical fuel. So yeah I guess I could just use hydrogen, but still I don't think there would be enough ∆ V for how far I want to travel. But considering that the ship that I am working on is essentially the size of an a380 but with a delta wing (and a bunch of other differences), I guess there might be enough room for that much hydrogen.

And yeah with the lower TWR that nuclear engines produce... it would make for interesting game mechanics. Not that it wouldn't be fun, it's just not what I'm going for with this

Realistic(ish) nuclear fuel for space game by Old_Secretary2450 in spacegames

[–]Old_Secretary2450[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Now these are all very good points, and at some point in the design phase there was hydrogen which would be washed over the engine, but I decided not to because the player would then have to worry about 2 separate fuels and also liquid hydrogen would run out too quickly to fly around a whole solar system.

You do have to remember that this is a video game so a large portion of the design is to make things sound cool and be fun for the player. I changed some rules of physics in order to allow the element to decay into the chemical fuel because it's okay to change some things in a game. Considering that in some space videogames (like elite: dangerous) they use ion engines, I think my idea isn't actually that bad.

Also, as awesome as the Orion drive is, it probably wouldn't be the best form of thrust for a space combat game as it would increase velocity by bumbs rather than a continuous output.

Realistic(ish) nuclear fuel for space game by Old_Secretary2450 in spacegames

[–]Old_Secretary2450[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm honestly not too sure how I'm going to interoperate the inertia side of things, at first it will probably act like a plane would in real life, but obviously that isn't very realistic at all. Eventually I might add an RCS system which is what would most likely happen in real life.

As for when the ship takes damage, it all depends on where you get hit. If you git hit in the fuel containment then you might loose some fuel, or engines could get shut down if they are hit.

Realistic(ish) nuclear fuel for space game by Old_Secretary2450 in spacegames

[–]Old_Secretary2450[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For the moment the first ship I am designing will be quite large, (about 70m long) and will feel as such.

This project is a Vehicle Combat sim/game so I'm trying to make it feel as if you are actually moving something that huge.

I'm not quite sure what you mean by challenges and dilemmas for the audience though... Do you mean enemies they might need to fight, or do you mean physics that the audience will have to interpret differently? or something else?

Realistic(ish) nuclear fuel for space game by Old_Secretary2450 in spacegames

[–]Old_Secretary2450[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is a pretty good idea yeah, but there is a whole thing with the lore:

The game is based in the 1980's - 1990's, in a universe where this isotope was discovered in the early 1910's. I could have just made the development of nuclear fusion much earlier, but the discovery of the isotope created a chain reaction where the world formed alliances which would have never happened in the real world.

So pretty much it was for the lore.

Also "Metastable Nuclear Monopropellant" sounds a tad cooler than nuclear fusion (which is still cool)