rock-lasers-profit

Rock! Lasers! Profit! is an educational game, designed to help both kids and adults learn about asteroids, their different types and their mineral compositions. The goal of the game is to collect as many resources as possible before fuel runs out. To do so, the gamer must strategically mine asteroids by analyzing the in-game asteroid composition distribution graphs and wave spectrum data.

Asteroid Generation

Asteroid belts were generated based on distribution data which mapped the distance of the asteroids belts from the sun to the probability of encountering a particular type and composition of asteroids. This data was compiled by analyzing various sources including online data and research publications (see Research Resources).

Research Resources

• “Phase II of the Small Main-Belt Asteroid Spectroscopic Survey”, Bus & Binzel
• “Review of Asteroid Compositions”, Nelson et. al.
• “Proper element catalogs and asteroid families”, Knevezic & Milani
• NEA Orbital Elements, http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/neo_elem
• "Asteroid Retrieval Mission Concept – Trailblazing Our Future in Space and Helping to Protect Us from Earth Impactors", http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20130013170.pdf

Technical Overview

• The spectrum and distance graphs were generated programmatically using the Processing language and IDE http://www.processing.org/
• This project was developed in the Unity3D Engine http://unity3d.com/, and coded in C#.
• The asteroid models were designed by Gargore http://gargore.com/. We purchased the set, and after explaining the project they graciously built us a version that will comply with a GPL2 license.
• The sound effects were generated using SFXR http://www.drpetter.se/project_sfxr.html

Future Considerations

• Feeding in more data sets from various online resources
• More involved mining sequence and options
• Advanced tools for prospecting
• Increased scale
• Performance improvements
• Integrating Virtual Reality (Oculus Rift)
• Mobile Version (in-progress)
• Gravitational effects of asteroids upon each other
• More realistic SkyBox (Stars)
• Re-fueling using mined resources
• Considerations to the market and value system

Links

Please visit the GitHub repository to follow the project and track issues and enhancements This is https://github.com/oosidat/NASAHack2014-asteroids/

Please visit project website to play or download the game and to view instructions and additional information. http://rockslasersprofit.com

Please visit the project wiki for detailed information https://github.com/oosidat/NASAHack2014-asteroids/wiki

Please visit YouTube for a 30-second intro to Rocks! Lasers! Profit! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g68KyhOfc3Q

Project Information

Resources