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Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond prepares to plumb the depths of space for adventure
While NASA's shuttle mission may be over and the International Space Station's future in doubt, there is one place that space exploration is moving forward: online. Astronaut: Moon, Mars and Beyond is looking more promising by the day, especially now that the team has secured almost $40,000 via Kickstarter to help fund the project. So why did NASA agree to an MMO of all things? Daniel Laughlin, project manager of NASA's Learning Technologies, sees the two as having a lot in common. Talking with Universe Today, Laughlin said, "Based on the existing literature as well as my own experiences gaming, an MMO was the logical choice for a game project for NASA." While NASA is partnered with the development team, the space agency is not funding the game -- hence the use of Kickstarter to raise money for Astronaut. It takes place in 2035 as mankind is just starting to colonize the solar system, and it promises to use real physics and technology to simulate these efforts. Khal Shariff says that players should expect a lot of crafting, use of proper gear, and missions that flow together for a bigger storyline. Interestingly enough, it seems that even NASA has room for a few new heroes. "We have protagonists in the game, and I won't say much about them, because I don't want to spoil the opening scene of Chapter One," Shariff said. He hopes that players will enjoy the melding of science fiction with science fact: "We want you to sit down and curl up with one session and have a feeling like you had when you read the best short science fiction stories, especially like those of Clarke. There is plenty of adventure to plumb."
Everyone got it wrong about the NASA MMO?
Nicodemus at the Kill Ten Rats blog took great exception to coverage of a recent meeting held by NASA. The meeting took place Monday in Baltimore, and was an opportunity for the space agency to pitch the idea of a NASA MMO to prospective developers. As reported by sites across the internet, the whole thing was a bit of a bust. As we phrased it here at Massively, "In a news post at Gamasutra, it's been related that the Learning Technologies group has, for some reason, either rethought or lost its 3-year/$3,000,000 budget to develop its educational MMO. Instead, they'll be asking any interested developers not only to design and build the thing, but to host it as well."According to Nicodemus, that's completely incorrect. Not only will NASA be offering up a 3 million-dollar budget to an interested company, but the development partner would be able to commercialize the resulting product separately. Further comments from articles covering the event were disparaging of NASA's stance on the use of its logo but the KTR article clarifies that not as a commercial interest, but instead one of proper use: "They have very specific and restrictive rules about how, where, and when the NASA logo is presented. Most large companies have similar rules, but NASA is REALLY picky about it. The logo can't be used in such a way as to imply that NASA endorses a particular product or political stance, or whatever. They were quite clear about their willingness to try to work around this a bit and make it work."The post's author was at the event, felt the tenor in the room, and read over the FAQ at the official NASA MMO site. He came away with a completely different point of view than almost everyone who wrote about the pitch. Hopefully further statements from NASA will clarify this issue in the near future.
NASA MMO stalls on the launch pad
For one brief, shining moment, it was filled with promise. Now, regardless of all the other things it would need to have gotten right, the speculative NASA MMO will also have to learn to fly on its own. In a news post at Gamasutra, it's been related that the Learning Technologies group has, for some reason, either rethought or lost its 3-year/$3,000,000 budget to develop its educational MMO. Instead, they'll be asking any interested developers not only to design and build the thing, but to host it as well.In return, " ... NASA will consider negotiating brand placement, limited exclusivity and other opportunities." Well, gosh, that's awfully big of you. So in other words, some shop will create and maintain an MMO all on its own, with all the associated costs, and if they're lucky, NASA will think about letting them try to make their money back somehow. Tempting, to be sure. It's unknown at this time how many proposals they've received, but it's little things like this that make it plainly clear to us that NASA's head is mostly filled with space.
NASA to launch MMO?
With six (that I can think of off the top of my head) MMOs releasing this year (and probably twice that number in development), why not another? MMORPG.com is reporting on a press release from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration that the space agency is investigating the idea of creating their own heavenly MMO.The Learning Technologies (LT) arm of NASA was created to support education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (something they call "STEM") through innovative technologies. MMOs definitely fall into that "innovative technologies" category, and NASA know it. Not wanting to get left behind, LT is looking at developing an educational MMO that lets players accurately simulate science experiments, practice repairing high-end NASA equipment, experience microgravity... basically live the life of an astronaut. Most kids list "astronaut" as one of the things they want to be when they grow up, so being able to virtually live out that dream is nothing short of amazing.While this may not appeal to every gamer, some of the comments made in the press release regarding MMOs might, primarily: "The power of games as educational tools is rapidly gaining recognition." About time someone recognizes that! What's more, they go on to say that MMOs (or "synthetic environments" as NASA calls them) are the perfect "hands-on" tools to teach complex subjects, and help develop strategic thinking, interpretative analysis, problem solving, plan formulation and execution, team-building and cooperation, and adaptation to rapid change. In short, they can edumacate people. Perhaps the understanding that NASA (a federally funded entity mind you) has about MMOs will help change how the rest of our government views gaming. And maybe the space explorers will finally take us where no gamer has gone before... true legitimacy.
