Moon Mine - Deep Dive
Topics Covered
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Concept development
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Building of game world and vision
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Developing an aesthetic ​
Project Goals
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Improve my game programming skills, my weakest area in game development)
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Design, develop and deliver a fully-playable game prototype by myself
Concept Development
The concept sprouted from the desire to create a competitive PvP game not revolving around combat. Players instead fight on the economic battleground, racing to grow their workforce, outcompeting opponents to become the first player to extract the required amount of quotanium.
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The need for players to consider the safety of their workforce is typically an underdone concept in management games. Each player has a safety rating which must be maintained to a level on-par with that of the other mines, otherwise they risk losing workers as the safer mines acquire them.
Building of Game World
Moon Mine takes place in a near-future sci-fi universe which parallels our own. Mankind has pushed out into the cosmos, laying the foundations for a stable human presence beyond the confines of the Earth. No longer a frontier outpost, the moon on which the game takes place is now an established trade hub for commercial and industrial activity. Each player controls one of the mining enterprises looking to profit from the moon's untapped resource deposits.
Upgrading the Base
Mining bases would start out as basic facilities with only a few essential buildings, but would have the capacity to be expanded upon as the player grew in wealth and ambition. Such buildings could include mining infrastructure, crew quarters, power-generation facilities and so on, to allow the player to maintain their growing economy and upkeep.
Map Expansion
Instead of players only having one base each, they could eventually expand their operations to other areas of the moon. Each tile would have 5 variable qualities - making each one unique in terms of its usefulness. Players will need to invest time and resources into survey equipment in order to find the most viable mining sites, before actually setting them up.
Game Vision
The game's vision expands considerably on the existing prototype - additional features were considered for development which would have added additional layers of depth and strategy:
Developing an Aesthetic
Moon Mine's aesthetic is gritty and minimalistic. The UI is diegetic, with the entire game taking place through the view of an administrative computer screen covered with tabs which display the controllable aspects of the players' mines. This interface, being purpose-built for the mining sites, makes no attempt to look ergonomic or 'pretty', instead taking a barebones approach where functionality is the only concern.
Comprehensive Economy
Other ways to generate income were considered based on the inclusion of a hypothetical power upkeep system. Players who specialise in power generation instead of mining, for example, could make their money by selling excess power to another player. 'Prospect Moon' could be a more fitting title if the game's economy were to expand beyond just mining.