The first thing is to establish that the spectating aliens have full control over every aspect of this environment, including but not limited to the amount of gravity, day night cycles, what resources are placed and where, and various challenges in the the world. This world will appear to have been made completely out of triangular column blocks laid out in a hexagonal grid. The main point is to keep the graphics simple because players will be able to interact with each and every element of this world and the world will hopefully be randomly generated, much like the game of Minecraft. So you may ask why triangles and hexagons. From the list of shapes that tessalate( also known as a pattern of plane figures that fills the plane with no overlaps and no gaps) there are only 3 basic shapes that can do this, the equilateral triangle, the square, and the hexagon. Because the hexagonal tessalation occurs naturally in the honeycomb of beehives and lends itself well to strategy based games in general, and 6 triangles together makes a hexagon anyway, then the use of triangles seems to be the best choice for the basic geometry of the game.
The upper limit of the world will be 200 meters high and the lower limit will be 60 down. Outside of the world will be a rotating day night cycle, which if a player makes it all the way to the bottom they will see the opposite of what is seen above the surface. The indestructable outer walls of the world will be opaque and when a player moves to the outer edge they will thunk like they are running into glass (think of it as a bee’s revenge). Flying vehicles and players in general will have a cap of 100 meters with the exception of the commander’s unmanned vehicle which will remain at the 200 meter level at all times. The smallest unit will be a triangular column with sides that are .5 meters for all three sides and a height of .5 meters. One of the rules of this world is that blocks must always be placed so that the shapes are the same, eg triangles with triangles and squares with squares.
One triangle from the above diagram will look like this diagram below
Once a player gets to the edge of a hexfield they must push through to the next hexfield which may be a different biome and environment completely. The player will always be at ground level in the middle of the side of the entered hex field regardless of where they push through. There is an area right next to the entrance where building and digging will not be permitted. Each hex field will have randomly generated landscape ranging from 30 meters below the standard level up to 70 meters above with some relative relation to the neighboring blocks so that movement through the hex field is possible ( although the occasional pit or tower will be possible). Each time the aliens shake the world this landscape will change unless there is a stabilizing structure which will be player constructed, with the area stabilized relative to the level of the structure. ( Just a side note the battle simulator will be 1 hex field and will have as many customizable options for the player as possible.). At the time of winning conditions the world will rotate so that the faction with the least amount of area under their control will be on the eastern side, which will give them a bonus of some sort to encourage balance.
In order to help people feel as though they have a part ownership of the game there will be areas in which people will be able to build structures without fear of griefing( other players intentionally destroying their creations). This will be accomplished by means of plots of land on which only the owning player may change anything. This aspect of the game will have no impact on the battle simulations. Players will be able to teleport to their various plots via portals which will be set up in the main base and in each hex field that the player’s faction is in full control.
The control of hex fields is determined by being the only faction with certain structures (like lets say just a teleport or a teleport and a communications ) standing. There also needs to be some sort of direct line to the main base of the faction via controlled hex fields. If enemy forces were to flank and cut off lines to the main base then players will only be able to teleport to the farthest point still connected to the main base.
In analyzing games such as Ace of Spades and Minecraft I feel that the actual removal of blocks from the field would be unwise and would lead to a very messy landscape in a short amount of time. Because collection will still be necessary a player can clone the blocks which they can reach with their melee weapon into their backpack for use in crafting and for building up their personal space. As far as the make up of the blocks, each one will be one specific type, similar to Minecraft. The basic classes of blocks will be dirt, sand, water, gravel, stone, lava and possibly more. Specialized blocks will include metals (like iron, titanium and possibly a strange one like apoidium) and energy crystals. I want to make it so that the further one travels into and below the field the better the class of metal or crystal they get. Metals are going to be key for making armor, weapons, vehicles, and structures. When used for personal armor higher end metals will make it so the armor takes up less pack space and when used in vehicles or structures it will increase the total hp of said item. When used in weapons higher quality metals will also decrease the pack space used. Energy crystals will provide the power source for all weapons, vehicles, and structures. These materials will be on the surface in small quantities, but the real wealth of them will be found underground. Possible upgrades later on will be different color stone and plant life according to biomes.
Gravity is something I would like to have be variable from 0 gravity to 20 meters/sec in increments of 1 meter/sec. In 0 gravity environments players will be able to propel themselves with their weapon discharge. This will add an extra challenge as one will need to choose their shooting carefully so as to not bounce off the 100 meter ceiling and or get stuck.
Winning conditions are going to be a possibility as the field will need to be reset every so often. One possibility is if any one faction takes control of the six inner hex fields. Another is if a faction gains control of more than 50% of the field. This is something that could change as time progresses or from one game to the next. In this way players could suggest conditions for winning and map reset. Of course there will also be the unexpected shaking just to keep players on edge too. The idea is that players are like the playing pieces on a giant game of risk.
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