Overview:

I have always dreamed of a MMOG set in the vastness of outer space. I have tried my hand at the current lackluster crop of MM space operas out there, and needless to say I have found them all severely lacking in many key areas (namely in the area of actually being fun). I also know that I am not alone with being tired of traditional MMOGs, where everything is built around a treadmill leveling/skill based system that requires mind numbingly tedious and repetitious game play in order to advance. That said, this game will take the joy of space exploration and trading, the intense action of tactical space combat sims and first person shooters, then merge them all perfectly together with highly customizable space ships and space stations in highly interactive environments. Ships will range from small fast one-manned fighters, to large slow cooperative multi-personnel capital ships. All of them boasting uniquely interactive ways to upgrade, modify, and maintain damage control. In this game you and you friends will each have an avatar, who will never be locked into one type of play style, that you’ll control from a first person viewpoint. With highly complex leveling and skill based systems completely out of the picture, vast amounts of time can be spent on building a game that focuses on fun with interactivity, combat, and exploration. You will be able to walk around inside your ship and interact with all kinds of ship systems.

For example: You are taking a tour of a medium sized corvette class ship that supports a recommended minimal crew of 3 players. You can walk over and jump in the pilot’s chair. (Note: This game will support flight sticks. They are highly recommended for maintaining the best control of your ship) After that you can head on over to the tactical command center. Here you will control the ships sensors array and scanning equipment. You will also control the primary targeting and location based targeting control system from here (which will give the pilot direction on who and where to attack during combat, freeing him to focus on flying the ship). There is also the power management systems (which will allow you to control vital ship resources during combat).

Last, but certainly not least, you can man up the engineering console. This is where all the outfitting, and most of the upgrading, on your ship occurs. And you know that tinkering crazed part of us all that always wants to tweak a ship into gear head heaven? Well, not to worry, you have found a new home. Not only do you simply install equipment, but you have total control over how complex, or how redundant, you want the ship's systems to be "wired". Parts are automatically wired into a ship’s critical systems in very basic ways when first installed. All parts require hard wired CPU cycles and power lines to be supplied, but you may be able to boost performance by running additional power and CPU cycles to them. If you try linking up different ship systems in different ways you might be able to unlock unique bonuses. Thing is, wires will have load capacities, plus, there is only so much room for expanding the modified wiring. This will force you to come up with ingenious new ways for adding extra pathways and subroutines to boost a ship’s systems and equipment output. Beware though, highly complex wiring can also make your ship less reliable during combat. That is unless redundancy is the primary goal, in which case a ship can be made highly resilient to systems failure (more on wiring in an update). Experimentation is the key to your ship operating as best it possibly can. Tweaking is also the key to getting that new cloaking device installed on your model X two-manned fighter with high yield energy weapons at the same time. Your own intelligence will determine just how good of an engeneer you actually are, so no one else will be able to duplicate many things without extensive modifications (Note: Ship control stations can be devided up to more people on larger ships)

Engineering can also act as damage control in this particular ship. As I said, systems and equipment are hard wired together. That means lines are ran through conduits and junction boxes within the walls of your ship linking all of the different parts and systems together. If your shields and armor are low, and you take a direct hit to the inner hull, damage control may alert you that something is broken. You will then need to leave the console by going over to the location of the said part and repairing it with a repair tool. It may also tell you that primary power lines to your engines has been severed in junction box B, and that you are now suffering a 20% loss to maneuvering thrust power. Again, you will need head over to junction box B and either repair the lines, or find a new way to reroute the flow quickly. Just as in all other cases, personal skill and intelligence will be the number one factor in damage control. Working together as a team, whether in the same ship or in a fleet of ships, will go a long way towards untimate victory.

Your ship will also be able to dock with other ships and space stations (Note: I am already combining two games into one, so in an effort to keep the scope from getting completely unrealistic, there will be no landing on planets). In combat, ships can be out right destroyed or disabled in sim-like space combat. If you disable a ship, you and you friends may then board it to personally raid, pillage, plunder, and even commandeer it for your own. You and your buddies are free to explore, fight, get rich, conquer, be a pirate, or do all of the above in this game. Whether you are commanding a large ship with multiple player personnel (or a fleet of ships), or piloting in combat, you will have total control. You can man a rear gun turret, make complex ship upgrades, reroute damaged control and power circuits while under heavy fire, or fight off hostile enemies that have boarded your ship in armed combat. In all of these instances and many more, it will always be the player’s skill that largely determines how good they are at multifaceted "Space Life".  (Note: I'll be adding more about game play, control, races, and ships in an update)

Unique Features:

• Massively Multi-player Online Space-Sim/FPS
• No leveling or skill based systems, human skill and intelligence are the deciding factors
• Unparalleled interactivity allowing for extreme ship customizations
• Dynamic location based damage and repair system
• Single ship and fleet based cooperative game play

After thought:

This is clearly a game of the future, thus however nice it would be, I do not expect any thing like it any time soon. Also, with everything that will go on in this game at the same time, I don't think it will be 56K freindly at all. Braodband only I'm sure, but hey, the future will bring broadband into the norm anyway (crosses fingers). Anyway, thats my dream game.