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Hitting the Books: We won't colonize space without a Weyland-Yutani
Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.
Mars-like soil makes super strong bricks when compressed
Elon Musk's vision of Mars colonization has us living under geodesic domes made of carbon fiber and glass. But, according to a study recently published in the journal Scientific Reports, those domes may end up being made of brick, pressed from the Martian soil itself.
Elon Musk wants to get to Mars before we nuke ourselves
Elon Musk is bullish on humanity's chances getting to Mars and even building a city, but he's not super confident about our odds here on Earth. During a wide-ranging interview with GQ, the SpaceX CEO described planetary colonization as a coldly practical endeavor. "You back up your hard drive... maybe we should back up life, too?" As for how he plans to do it, he said that SpaceX will announce more concrete plans as soon as it's ready. "Before we announce it, I want to make sure that we're not gonna make really big changes ... I think it's gonna seem pretty crazy, no matter what."
Here's why people are volunteering for a one-way trip to Mars
If you've heard about the Mars One mission, you've probably had one overriding question: what the hell would prompt someone to volunteer for a one-way trip to another planet? Thanks to The Guardian, we now have a clearer answer. The news outlet has just published If I Die on Mars, a documentary that asks three Mars One finalists why they're willing to leave Earth (and everyone they know) behind. In short, they have little to lose and a lot to gain. None of the three candidates has a romantic attachment, and they all feel that they're achieving a higher purpose by settling a distant world. That common response won't be very reassuring to their families, but it does help make sense of a seemingly irrational desire for interplanetary travel.
See Ascent's warp effect in action
While it may look like a Photoshop paint smear effect, Ascent's new warp animation is certainly an improvement over nothing at all. The one-man team posted a short video showing various ships going through warp gates and bending the very fabric of reality as they lunge across the universe. Ascent is fresh off a successful Kickstarter campaign. You can watch the warp video after the jump.
Ascent squeaks by its Kickstarter funding goal
The race to fund Ascent: The Space Game through Kickstarter came down to the wire, but in the final moments, the community came through and passed its $35,000 AUD goal by $334 AUD. This is obviously good news for the game's fans and for Fluffy Kittens Studio (and no, we will never get tired of typing that name). The money will be put to good use, says the lead dev: "The $35,000 Kickstarter goal will allow us to add four months to Ascent's development, resulting in a total of eight months of development time. We strongly believe that the added time will allow us to greatly expand the game's user base by polishing the visuals and fixing the user interface."
Ascent: The Space Game's Kickstarter will fund updated graphics
When we last checked in on Ascent: The Space Game, the indie sci-fi sandbox MMORPG was already eminently playable, having launched on Desura and angling for a Steam greenlight. Now Fluffy Kitten Studios has posted a Kickstarter intended to fund specific upgrades for the game -- specifically, improved graphics and UI. In fact, the complete budget breakdown is provided on the Kickstarter page. Backer rewards include premium access time, credits, Steam keys, and ships. You could even get a planet named after you. The Ascent sandbox emphasizes freedom, colonization, exploration, trade, combat, farming, mining, ship customization, starbases, and co-op play with fully consensual PvP. The Kickstarter boasts of the game's 270 billion star systems. Massively spoke to James Hicks, founder and CEO of Fluffy Kitten Studios, back in April, when he explained to us his business model, his target audience, and how he's come so far by himself. As he put it then, "Have a look at what we've done, with one developer, in one year, on a shoestring budget for art, music, and sound. Do you want to see what we can do in another year, with more?" The Kickstarter seeks $35,000 and is already at 51% of its goal with 25 days to go as of the time of this writing.
Ascent adds in a colonization city-building sim
The galaxy is now open to colonization in Ascent: The Space Game -- and there's plenty of room for everyone. Developer James Hicks has added in a colonization system to the sandbox MMO, allowing players to engage in a city-building sim among the billions of star systems. Colonization is intended to be the endgame for industrial players, with a great amount of complexity and no upper limit on the number of buildings or colonists. Every planet can be colonized, although ones with hostile environments will require more work and protective domes. To build up their colonies, players will need to recruit colonists, bring them to the planet, and task them with farming and mining the new world. "My intent from here is to expand on the city building aspects -- giving the population more complex needs and desires, making the recruitment aspect deeper and more meaningful, and adding new production types, new structures for interacting with other players like starport facilities and stock markets, and expand on the 'out of ship' play," Hicks wrote.
EVE Evolved: EVE needs real colonisation now
MMOs have absolutely exploded in popularity over the past decade, with online gaming growing from a niche hobby to a global market worth billions of dollars each year. Once dominated by subscription games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft, recent years have seen free-to-play games take centre stage. Global MMO subscriptions have been reportedly shrinking since 2010, and EVE doesn't appear to be immune to this industry-wide trend. Though February 2013's figures showed EVE subscriptions have technically grown year-on-year, those numbers were published just after the Chinese server relaunch, and CCP hasn't released any new figures since. Developers have done a good job of catering to current subscribers and polishing existing gameplay with the past few expansions, but the average daily login numbers are still the same as they were over four years ago. EVE will undoubtedly hook in plenty of new and returning subscribers when its deep space colonisation gameplay with player-built stargates and new hidden solar systems is implemented, but time could be running out on these features. Hefty competition is due in the next few years from upcoming sandbox games such as Star Citizen, EverQuest Next, Camelot Unchained, and Elite: Dangerous, and CCP will have to release something big soon to bring in some fresh blood. In this week's EVE Evolved, I ask whether CCP should focus on new players and suggest plans for two relatively simple colonisation-based expansions that could get EVE a significant part of the way toward its five-year goal in just one year.
GOG.com getting Retro City Rampage, Tomb Raider, Colonization
As part of CD Projekt Red's summer conference today, it was revealed that Retro City Rampage will be available on Good Old Games. Retro City Rampage, slated to arrive later this year, hearkens back to the 8-bit days of yore to deliver a parody of modern day open-world games, and it has generally been a topic of gleeful discussion among Joystiq staff.In addition to Retro City Rampage, GOG.com has also acquired the first three games of the Tomb Raider series and Sid Meier's Colonization. Notably, the Tomb Raider collection has actually been "remastered for Windows." The Tomb Raider collection is $10, while Colonization is available for $6. On June 19, indie game Tiny and Big will also come to GOG, for $10 ($9 for pre-orders). Finally, GOG.com is hosting a special pre-order program for the upcoming indie adventure title, Resonance. Those who pre-order will receive a 10 percent discount and access to a 4 hour playable preview of the game prior to its June 19 launch.
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."
One life in the New World: Salem MMO to feature permadeath
Permadeath is a topic that's brought up on a regular basis in MMO discussion circles, usually featuring a cast of characters that span the full spectrum of the debate. Is there a burning desire for the risk and finality of a permadeath system in MMOs? Would players flock to or flee from such a game? And how would it work in such a way to retain players instead of alienating them? Game Designer Bjorn Johannessen is working hard on the answers for those questions in his new MMORPG, with the working title of Salem. Developed by Paradox Interactive, this free-to-play title is set in New England during the early period of North American colonization and features players stepping off the boats from Europe to make their way in uncharted wilderness. Like Wurm Online and Minecraft, Salem will focus heavily on crafting as players forge the tools, buildings and weapons they need to survive. For Salem's aesthetics, Johannessen named H.P. Lovecraft and Tim Burton's gothic horror as sources of inspiration, and the MMO will include magic and witchcraft as potential paths. Over all of this is the specter of permanent death: "When your character dies, he stays dead," Johannessen said matter-of-factly. This is made even harsher by the fact that Salem will allow free-for-all PvP, which means that anyone can attack you without provocation. Player buildings can be razed and their corpses looted, but Johannessen hopes that the players will band together to protect each other and mete out justice. You can watch Bjorn Johannessen's introduction to the game after the jump.
Civilization IV 'Complete' releases May 12 for $40
The Civilization IV franchise appears to have come to a close as 2K Games announces Civilization IV: The Complete Edition, releasing May 12 for $40 on PC. The epic bundle includes Civ IV, the Warlords and Beyond the Sword expansions, plus the standalone Colonization expansion (it's practically a different game)."The Complete Edition" title makes it sound like Civ IV won't be making another encore. We really have no idea what Firaxis is currently up to and we're unaware of any E3 plans.
Japan sending biped robots to conquer moon by 2020
Remember back in 2006 when we told you about Japan's goal to colonize the moon with robots? Some dreams don't seem to die, and the country's Strategic Headquarters for Space Development said recently that they expect a two-legged droid traversing the satellite's surface by 2020. Should that prove successful, it'll be followed later by a joint mission with humans -- that is, if the robots don't find a way to take over before then and deny the spacemen their planetary visas.
The Digital Continuum: Can a space colonization MMO work? (part two)
Working puzzle games into MMOs isn't a new concept either, but there's still plenty of ground to be covered with the idea. Puzzle Pirates has a few examples of taking things like equipment and introducing them into the puzzle aspects of the game. While having too little is obviously a bad move, I'd rather see an MMO that takes five or six puzzle games and goes deep instead.
The Digital Continuum: Can a space colonization MMO work?
The colonization of space isn't a brand new idea for the realm of MMOs. 2006's Seed was all about the subject, but it unfortunately failed due to a lack of publisher interest. There's no denying that such a game wouldn't be anywhere near a hugely popular title. Still, I'd like to think that with the right design philosophy, platform and business model a game focused on the challenges of discovering another planet and making it a new home would be incredibly worthwhile.
Civilization IV: Colonization announced, no Civ IV required
2K Games announced today that they'll release Civilization IV: Colonization sometime this autumn. Don't let the title fool you, the game is a stand-alone product (meaning it doesn't require Civ IV) and is an update of the classic strategy game, Colonization, by Sid Meier and Brian Reynolds back in the Microprose days.Colonization has players leading one of four European nations trying to take over the New World. 2K Games says the title will feature "all-new graphics" -- although we can't tell much difference from Civ IV -- along with improved diplomacy. Considering it's a stand-alone product, we understand the Civ IV name was put in the title to sell more copies; however, we hope Colonization doesn't feel like a missing member from the "scenarios" available in Civ IV: Beyond the Sword., many of which could arguably have been stand-alone products.%Gallery-24746%
