Background

We are seven video-game loving folks, when we saw the game oriented challenges we were will-driven by our passion and interest for game developing, even though we haven't programmed a game before!

That didn't stopped us, of course not. Harnessing the individual skills of every member we were determined to create a game that would not only provide endless entertainment, but also accurate in its limitations and data, so we would give a close-to-life experience. (Also we love cute designs ^ v ^ ).

Why this challenge?

We want space information to be accessible, edible and entertaining to most young people as possible. With that, videogames are tools for entertainment as well as education, meaning that is a pretty good way to achieve our goal.

Science and space are topics that most of us don't know on our early days; impressed by the size of a planet, the heat of the Sun, the mysteries of the universe keep us interested on how our solar system's elements are formed.

Solution: What it does

Stella Nova has you, the player, taking care of a new-born star and its planets, guiding you through their life cycles. You can see your star temperature, mass, life stage in the stellar view. This may be the same case for planets, altering their components.

With control of star and planets characteristics and existing universe elements, the player may alter their:

-Orbit.

-Temperature.

-Look.

-Growth.

-Atmosphere.

-Planet moons.

-Size.

We decided for this demo to condense planet elements to the basic groups: gas, metal and non-metal. These are parts that the player may alter by clicking in the + and - buttons, the player must be aware of the resource quantity that it has in its inventory. It may gain more by clicking on passing meteors or by adding or subtracting from their collection of planets.

Future plans

Customization

We dream big, we want it all. Plans on extending the chemical options in our game are on its way, separating elements in their individual forms in an intent to have the player customize their planets in a new way, of course having in mind the heat, zone and mass restrictions stipulated by science.

¡It changes!

Images are the heart and soul of our game, we would like to implement changes in the game sprites to make a dynamic and beautiful experiences.

Zone chart visible

According to the Habitable Zone Distance (HZD) we intent to assign our planets the possibility of developing life and different types of planets according to the star brightness/heat range, size and proximity to the planet.

1. HZD <= -1: Not habitable.Rocky planets with hot temperatures.
2. HZD <= -0.5 && >=-1: Harsh conditions but may be habitable. Rocky planets.
3. HZD >-0.5 && < 0.5: Ideal conditions for life. Rocky planets that may develop water in its liquid state.
4. HZD >=0.5 and beyond: Harsh and near impossible conditions for life. Last rocky planets and the start of gas and ice giants, dwarf planets.

Planets such as gas and ice giants may only exist in zones far away from the star and may be limited in our game.

Built with

GameMaker studio 2 (programming)

Paint tool sai (image editing)

NASA resources

https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/what-is-an-exoplanet/how-do-we-find-habitable-planets/

https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/earthfact.html