Welcome to the Space Guard!
ASG is a sandbox space simulation game with a focus on physics and systems.
You will take command of a CSN F9 “Carbon Arrow” class frigate, one of the best pieces of astronautical engineering Alliance taxpayer money can offer.
As a newly appointed captain of the Space Guard your missions will include:
- Orbital space and shipping lanes safety (aid to navigation, rescue…)
- Support to various Gov and Non Gov Organizations (scientific, medical…)
- Law enforcement (often in liaison with SG non-flying personnel)
More information below and in the Universe pages.
Detailed fusion power plant simulation
The CSN F9 is a powerful thermonuclear rocket that is built from hundreds of different components. All are interconnected and simulated based on a dedicated model with individual wear and tear and failure modes.
As a captain you will be managing those systems with the help of the automated on-board controllers. In order to maintain a high operational reliability you’ll schedule maintenance events as you see fit. In deep space the high redundancy level of the CSN F9 equipment will let you deal with any situation.
As you progress in your career you’ll be able to upgrade your ship with better components and gain access to “less civilized” parts of the galaxy…
Life Support systems
To provide a suitable environment for her crew the ship’s front module includes a full set of complex life support systems:
● detailed atmosphere model with revitalization equipment,
● water and food supply sources,
● waste management, hygiene and medical systems
● radiation shielding and dose monitoring…
The crew’s metabolism interacts with the module’s equipment in complex loops that require a careful configuration and management.
The simulation also models the crew’s stamina during flights with consequences on their performance.
Orbital mechanics and hyperspace
In ASG’s universe jump drives can make use of specific local space time configurations to enable instantaneous point-to-point travel over interplanetary and interstellar distances. However jump points when they exist have specific motions relative to their parent celestial body. As a result reaching them requires some very accurate orbital maneuvering. Also momentum is conserved at all times which often leads to large relative velocities at jump exit points: a problem that only your fusion rocket engine and orbital mechanics can deal with!
To manage the complexity of the navigation the CSN F9 avionics feature an advanced flight planning suite. It notably includes an automatic router that can be configured according to your time constraints and ship performance.
Flight Control
Space flight involves 6 degrees of freedom without any damping (no atmospheric drag) which makes manual piloting extremely difficult.
In order to let you focus on your mission goals the CSN F9 provides multiple layered autopilots to accurately control the ship’s attitude and thrust under all circumstances. They automatically adapt to the ship’s dynamics parameters and your chosen thrusters configurations (main engine and maneuvering arrays).
During burns the ship is placed under the authority of the flight guidance system. This predictive autopilot will constantly adjust its commands to minimize the position and velocity errors with respect to the planned trajectory.
Career gameplay
The game’s core gameplay loop is focused on the captain’s career in the Space Guard. Running missions will grant “opHours” that can in turn be consumed to unlock equipment upgrades and new mission types.
That system is complemented by “training“, acquired by the crew during flights and which can be used to improve crew skills and for some mission specific actions (attending passengers, reviewing security issues at stations etc).
The game includes an internal mission generator and an import system for user-defined operations. They both share the same API.
Development status
The work on ASG started in 2014. The simulation of the ship’s civilian systems is now complete (power plant, life support systems, flight planning and control). The game’s world features celestial objects, space structures and persistent interstellar NPC ships. The development currently focuses on the game layer (career, missions) and on the implementation of the ship’s military equipment.
The game will be made available on the usual online stores when it’s ready for release! You can stay tuned for the development updates thanks to the blog or the newsletter.
OS and hardware requirements:
● Windows 10 or superior, 64 bit, DirectX 11
● 8 GB RAM
● Quad core CPU (the more the better: flight planning is computationally heavy)
● GPU with 2 GB VRAM
