Where I tell you about the game I'm making and why you'll give me your money for it.
Projects
Bob the Astronaut - (this is a codename, the final game is still untitled)
Bob the Astronaut is a full-featured 3D game for PCs running Windows. It is being coded using C++ and DirectX 9. It would best be described as a first-person real time strategy role playing game. If that's too hard to remember, you can just call it a FPRTSRPG. The inspiration for it is an old PC and Sega Genesis game called Starflight, which I believe was also the inspiration for some aspects of Bioware's Mass Effect.
In Bob the Astronaut, you are Bob the Astronaut. Your name is Bob, and you are an Astronaut. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic universe where Earth apparently doesn't exist anymore, and most of humanity lives on large space stations. Build and upgrade your ship. Conquer planets and mine their resources. Appoint a crew and conduct research. Capture non-intelligent alien lifeforms and perform genetic experiments on them. Communicate with intelligent alien races and complete quests as the universe's biggest mysteries unravel before your very eyes.
The universe is seamless in that you actually have to travel places with your ship using your "starmap" as a guide. An intelligent scaling system allows you to go very fast in "hyperspace," but limits your speed as you enter solar systems, to finally make your speed much lower when approaching planets. You can pinpoint the place you want to go, travel there, enter a solar system, get close to a planet, orbit around it, and plan your landing.
Planets come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Some are gigantic barren wastelands, others are full of life. Those that do harbor life have complete simulated ecosystems, with plants and animals vying for survival. I am particularly excited about the genetic experiments and the idea of capturing... It's cruel, but it's fun! I want players to be able to grab an animal from a planet and drop it off on some other planet, and see how they'll interact with the new environment.
Many different races will populate the universe. NPCs will be giving the character quests, ranging from delivery jobs to make a little extra money to large scale diplomatic endeavors. There will inevitably be conflict, of course, and that is where the RPG/RTS elements will be most present. Some combat will take place in space, where your mothership will be able to unleash all kinds of smaller ships to annihilate the enemy. Other times, it will take place on planets, where bases must be built, complete with resource gathering and armed robot-building facilities.
See the front page for the latest developments.