Conflict in the Solar System
Welcome to the Solar System of 2063!
In 1997, the asteroid XF11 was discovered and found
to be on a collision course for Earth, impacting in 2028. The major nations
of Earth joined together in the Exodus Project. Its mission: to
establish orbital habitats around Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and a
major asteroid to save a remnant of human culture and technology. After
a 20-year crash program, the habitats were launched and sent to their new
homes. The people of Earth huddled together to await the end.
In 2028, asteroid XF11 missed the Earth by 200,000
km.
In spite of the near-disaster, Earth slowly began
to lose interest in space and the men and women it had sent there. The
habitats were left to their own resources. The Solar Nations were born.
The year is 2063. A resource-starved Earth has returned
to space in search of new raw materials for its teeming billions. But Earth
has found that the Solar System is not the place it left decades ago. The
technology and culture of the Solar Nations have not only survived, but
they have thrived, with achievements far beyond those of the home planet.
Old enemies, new allies, new discoveries, and old suspicions dominate the
relations of the people of the new Solar System.
Where will you stand?
The Encyclopedia Solaria
Exodus Project is an outgrowth of a fully-developed
background for a series of hard science fiction stories I am in the process
of writing. As I was writing the background, it occurred to me that it would
also be a perfect setting for a space combat game such as Full Thrust. As a hobby, I've also started working on a massively-multiplayer online game set in the Solar System of the Exodus Project. I hope that you'll find these pages both
interesting and informative and useful to your own games. At the very least,
I hope that this will serve a useful reference for anyone interested in realistic
physics and its application to gaming systems. Enjoy!
If you are interested in the rest of my life, views, and hobbies, be sure to check out my main web site: KeithWatt.org!
Exodus Project Online: The MMO Game
- I have recently taken up development of a massively-multiplayer online game using the Torque Game Engine: Advanced. It's a fun hobby! Naturally, I've chosen to set the game in the Solar System of 2063.
- I have entered Dream Games' one-year design contest, and one of the requirements for the contest is a weekly developer's blog entry. You can find my blog here.
- The contest also requires monthly updates on Garage Games' site. You can find those updates here.
- I am experimenting with a phpBB forum system that I will eventually use with the game. If you have a question about the game or the background, feel free to ask here.
Exodus Project Background
- The Solar Nations: A
capsule description of each of the nations of the Solar System
- Background and History: Taken
from the science fiction series, this brief history outlines some of the major
events which led to the rivalries and motivations of the Solar System in 2063.
- I have written a number of short stories and am currently working on a novel set in the Exodus Project background. I can't publish or distribute these, however, as that would cause me to be unable to sell first publication rights. Hopefully you'll see these published before too long!
Other Resources:
Realistic Tactical Space Combat
Realistic Strategic Spaceflight
Realistic Sensors for Spaceflight
Full Thrust
Tactical Combat System
-
Full Thrust as a
Tactical System for Exodus Project: An overview of the technology
of the Solar System in 2063, my rational for using realism in science fiction
and science fiction gaming, and how to use Full Thrust to accomplish
this.
-
Toolkit for creating collectable-card format Full
Thrust SSD's (fuel cards, blank cards, card backs, and symbols) in
Adobe
Illustrator and JPG format.
-
Sample collectable-card format Full Thrust SSD's
(for the Federal Republic of Mars) in Adobe Illustrator
and JPG format.
-
After-action report
for the "Severed Dreams" Babylon 5 scenario run at GZG-ECC II (This is a narrative fiction-like story of the battle, but all the events described in the story actually happened on the gaming table).
Other Game Systems
- V_Map
(Todd Zircher's PBEM aid) tileset I developed for Phil Eklund/SMG's Rocket
Flight, the most realistic Solar System game I've found yet. (~1Mb,
used with permission of Phil Ekulnd/SMG; may be freely distributed.)
- Another V_Map
tileset I've developed for Steve Jackson Games' Orbit War, a fun very
near-future simulation of armed conflict in Earth orbit. Very realistic -
everything is continually in motion! (~350 kB, permission to distribute publicly
has been requested from SJG.)
- A V_Map
tileset for GDW's Imperium, a strategic-level interstellar conflict
game. A good integration
pack by Don Hawthorne for Imperium and Full Thrust is available,
as is a referee's aid
for double-blind play. (~520 kB, iMagic Games, the current copyright owner,
is reviewing the tileset now.)
About the background: The image is a
plot of the actual positions of the planets on 1 Jan 2063. All of
the stars shown are actual stars, plotted in their correct positions, as
seen from slightly above the plane of the solar ecliptic.
Games mentioned on this site are trademarks and copyrighted
by their owners, no challenge to their copyrights and trademarks is intended.
The Exodus Project
and related articles ©2007 Keith Watt
"The Exodus Project" and the Exodus Project logo are trademarks of Exodus Publishing/Keith
Watt, 2007.