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[Jerimy]

The Lone Explorer alpha was just released a few days ago. I recommend everyone tries it. Here's a copy-paste from the about section:

This project aims at creating an almost infinite procedural universe to explore in colorful ascii (character) graphics.

It will also feature a game that focuses mainly on exploration with some MMO (Massively-Multiplayer Online) features. There will also be a Lone Explorer Edition (LEE), which is a more limited, single-player version for those, who just want to travel the stars.

Features:

    * Gigantic starmap with billions of stars and colorful nebulae
    * Each solar system is visitable, with accessible planets
    * Dynamically generated alien worlds to explore
    * Multiple "zoom-levels": galaxy, starmap, solar system view, orbital view, planet surface and planet detail level

http://www.infiniverse-game.com/?p=main.php

[Ampersand]

After looking at the site for a while, and the gameplay video, I really do have to say, yes, it does look pretty impressive. Almost exactly what Spore wasn't.

I'll have to find out if they intend to add procedurally generated life forms in there or not.

[Duelmaster409]

This here be interestingly interesting to the point where the interesting choice of interesting ASCII will interest me enough to interestingly download the game due to interestingly interest in the interesting exploration of outer space.


Interesting...

[bluephoenix]

this game looks very interesting i hope you can do more than just explore 

[Duelmaster409]

this game looks very interesting i hope you can do more than just explore 

Interestingly enough, I think that's all you can do. For the moment.

[KaelGotDwarves]

Post for following...

[Ioric Kittencuddler]

This game looks like it could be cool at some point in the future.  Right now there doesn't seem to be anything at all to do.  Seems like you just move around looking at different colored ASCII symbols.  And you can instantly teleport up to the next highest level.

[MrWiggles]

Yea, so far its looks more like eye candy or a tech demo without much substance.

In one of the articles, it said you could mine with auto miners that other players could steal and you would need to collect the mined out resources yourself.

Its proud on the fact that there is more universe then what one player could explore, and that is a good thing. If you ever so wanted to, you could constantly explore and see new shit. However what happens if you have a massive play area, but not enough players?

Just tons and tons of dead space.

So this says to me that you'll be popping into existence where there are already a fair number of players, and getting into any space would prove challenging, possibly detrimentally challenging.

From the forum, there doesn't seem to have any sense of game play for it so its really hard to get excited about an ascii celestia.

[Kagus]

I'd be interested in it, provided that there are recognizable differences from planet to planet, and that players can really change the world around them.  Then you could go about actually building a city from the ground up.

Exploration would eventually be forced due to dwindling/nonexistent/valuable resources that would need to be gathered from other places.  Cue surveyors, miners, freighters, and even the odd colonist setting up a general store on some mining planet so he can sell tools to the workers.


I believe the term is "space western".



But yeah...   Empty exploration?  Kinda gets old.  There's not enough difference to make each place uniquely interesting.

[LegoLord]

I believe the term is "space western".

This is the best way I've seen to present the space-age setting in Sci-fi.

[Sowelu]

Ideally, while there's tons of space to explore, there's relatively few places that are worthwhile to spend any time...so, lots of mostly-worthless rocks that might be worth dropping an autominer on, and even more totally worthless systems that you scan and then move on.

For exploration to be meaningful, it shouldn't be "Oh I'll just pick a random star and go there".  It should be a concerted effort to find a new world that's worth being on.

[MrWiggles]

It should be yes, but that depends if there any reliable means to predict what resources are there. From the scant articles lifeless rocks will have resources, gaia worlds will have things to do maybe something. So it sounds like, there maybe going to be a mix of these in every system.

If resources are can be dried up, then I wonder how they would keep player built infrastructure relevant if its going to be an option, as the dever didnt sound to strong on this.

Resources being finite would drive exploration.

Maybe if you're allow to form factions, you can protect resource research systems or something, like an ascii EVE maybe.