TACWiki - User contributions [en]

Factory Frenzy

2007-08-29T16:36:43Z

Admin:

'''THIS MINIGAME IS ON HIATUS'''

This minigame implements a variation of common Embedded Figure Tests.

==Premise==

Many modern factories use a series of monorails to transport items from station to station in their production lines. This game takes place in one such factory.

The construction bots that normally maintain this factory's rail system have gone crazy! They have built way too many tracks which has confused the production trains and hampered the output of the factory. You must override the construction bots' AI and order them to remove these unnecessary track segments to raise the efficiency of this factory.

The Trackalizer 2000 will come in handy. It can identify shapes that contain at least one segment of unnecessary track that you can then remove. However, it is still under development and sometimes identifies shapes that are not actually present in the factory track configuration. If you relay this faulty data to the construction bots they will become confused and actually add more superfluous track.

==Objective==

Produce as many products as possible before the time runs out.

==Characters==

Construction Bots: These bots are actually too small to be seen with the naked eye, but they are capable of erecting or tearing down tracks almost immediately.

Monorail Production Trains: These trains use the tracks to carry works in progress throughout the factory. Once a Work in Progress is delivered to a processor, the new piece is immediately processed and placed on the same train.

Processor: Trains enter these large machines to deliver their Works in Progess. Once a Work in Progress has visited each processor in the proper order, it is considered complete and can then be dropped off at the shipping department.

Trackalizer 2000: An experimental device that can (usually) identify shapes in monorail tracks that contain segments of unnecessary track.

==Gameplay==

The gameboard is separated into a series of connected rooms. Each room contains 6 processors arranged near the walls in a isometric hexagonal fashion. Within the hexagon, between 2 and 6 (this number may change with playtesting) nodes are randomly placed. Straight segments of monorail track form random connections between the nodes and processors.

The rooms are connected by processors on the sides. That is, the right-most processor in one room is directly connected the left-most processor in the next room. The two exceptions are the first and last rooms. There is guranteed to be at least 1 path from the left-most to the right-most processors. The player does not immediately know which path this is, but we will refer to it as the "immutable path."

The game starts with the left-most room. The trackalizer presents a graph to the player. Each vertex of this graph directly maps to a vertex in the current room configuration (where the vertices are nodes or processors). This shape is guaranteed to contain at least one segment of track that is not a part of the immutable path. For positive trials, the edges on the trackalizer map to edges in the monorail track. For negative trials, the trackalizer's graph will have extra edges that are not present in the track.

When the trackalizer presents the graph, the user has about 15 seconds to decide if this figure can be found in the tracks. On hits, all corresponding non-immutable edges from the trackalizer's graph are removed from the tracks. Additionally, any edges that are a part of the immutable path are highlighted on the gameboard. On a false positive, more track segments are randomly added to the tracks, making the plant less efficient (but actually making future trials more likely to correspond to a trackalizer graph). If time runs out on a trial, it is considered a miss or a correct rejection and the tracks remain unchanged. The trackalizer then presents another graph.

While this task is taking place, tiny monorails navigate the tracks autonomously. They begin at the entrance (left-most) processor and randomly walk along the track graph. If a node has an immutable (one way) edge, the train will always use pick that edge. Once all processors have been visited in the correct order the train enters the next room. In the last room, the last processor is the shipping department. If a train brings a finished product to this processor, the product is sent out for delivery.

After some number of trials in one room, the user chooses a different room to visit. This allows the player to work on the rooms that need the most improvement and keep them from having to stare at the same room for the entirety of the minigame.

The game ends when time expires.

==User Interface==

The GUI mainly consists of 2 major sections: the view of the monorail tracks within each room, and the trackalizer. The player does not directly interact with the room view. The trackalizer contains 2 buttons, corresponding to "Yes" (activated by pressing left arrow) and "No" (right arrow).

Additionally, for choosing which room to enter next each room must be displayed one one screen. The user selects a room with the arrow keys and presses space bar to enter that room.

==Scoring==

Each completed product is directly awarded to the player, as well as some cash. When the game ends, players are awarded a prorated amount of cash for Works in Progress that are still in trains on the track.

Spaceship Shenanigans

2007-08-29T16:20:05Z

Admin:

This minigame tests distribution and shifting of attention and the effect of multimodal stimuli.

==Premise==

The WSS White Giant is under attack! It is your job as Tactical Officer to guide the defense system to aid your fighters in shooting down incoming squadrons of enemy fighters and destroyers. Then jump in the hot seat of a C-24 fighter and travel with a fightergroup to counterattack the enemy carrier launching the attacks on the White Giant.

==Objective==

Protect the WSS White Giant and destroy all enemy carriers.

==Characters==

Cheetah C-24 Fighter: See [[Meteor Madness]]

WSS White Giant: One of WSI's Constellation class carriers. It can launch C-24s, shoot EMP pulses that stun enemy ships and damage their shielding. It is also equipped with the Close-in Antiship Turret (CAT) which automatically attacks enemy ships that get close enough.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

Wasp Fighters: Launched from enemy motherships. They attack WSI ships in waves.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

Mantis Destroyer: A medium-sized enemy ship. Attacks the player's carrier in small attack groups.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

OoO Mothership: Enemy carrier, launching hundreds of waves of Wasps.

==Gameplay==

This game is divided into 2 phases. The first phase is Carrier Defense phase. After that, the game moves to the Fighter Attack phase. This completes one level. There are multiple levels, each of increasing difficulty.

'''Carrier Defense'''

The screen displays the WSS White Giant in the center of the screen, floating somewhere in space. This carrier launches C-24 fighters to protect itself against waves of enemy Wasp fighters. The fighters automatically engage each other, but the Wasps will take pot shots at the White Giant if they get close enough. C-24s and Wasps can be spawned at any time, enhancing the user's feeling of partaking in an epic space battle.

In addition to these fighter dogfights, the OoO sends waves of Destroyer Strike Wings (one destroyer escorted by many fighters) to attack the carrier. The arrival of a destroyer strike wing signals the start of a trial. At the beginning of a trial, an arrow may or may not appear over the carrier, pointing either up, down, left, or right. This arrow is sometimes accompanied by a klaxon. Shortly after that, an enemy strike wing appears from one of the four directions and heads towards the White Giant. The arrow correctly identifies the direction of the attack most of the time, but is wrong approximately 25%.

At any time, the player may press the up, down, left, or right arrow keys to shoot an EMP blast in that direction. This blast stuns enemy Wasps and devastates Destroyer shields, helping the C-24s destroy enemy ships. This blast has a cooldown and gradual recharge (similar to a capacitor), so spamming it is not a good tactic.

The White Giant is also equipped with a Close-in Anti-ship Turret (CAT) that automatically shoots at enemy ships that are extremely close to the carrier. Although this weapon is powerful, it can be overwhelmed if enough enemy ships are present.

'''Possible Added Mechanic''' (I cannot add any simultaneous tasks to this game as attention must not be diverted from the approach of a ship for experimental reasons, but I am worried that just watching ships dogfight and occasionally shooting an EMP blast is not engaging enough)

'''Fighter Attack'''

Five C-24 ships appear on the bottom of the screen, arranged in a vanguard that spans almost the entire length of the playing field. One of these fighters is yellow, indicating that it is the player's ship. Above the player's ship is a targeting reticle.

Enemy ships appear from the top of the screen, scrolling down and shooting at the WSI fighters on the bottom. If an enemy moves close enough to the reticle and it changes from blue to red, this indicates that the player's ship has a lock and pressing spacebar will fire a missile. The player only has a small number of missiles, so firing them without a lock is wasteful.

The other C-24 ships fire at the incoming Wasps, but without the player's help will likely be destroyed by the many waves of attacks.

==Scoring==

Cash is awarded for each Wasp or Mantis destroyed in either phase. A special cash bonus is awarded for destroying the Mothership at the end of the last level.

Hacker Havoc

2007-08-29T16:15:24Z

Admin:

This minigame tests theory of mind and detection of embedded figures.

==Premise==

You are a covert operative for the World Space Initiative. The Order of Orion is attacking merchants carrying WSI payloads, stealing their cargo, and stashing the goods on various planets. Your mission is to spy on these raiders to intercept their attacks and recoup as much WSI property as possible.

==Objective==

Save as many merchant vessels and WSI cargo as possible.

==Characters==

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

Bobcat B-3 Interceptor: A small ship outfitted with a nearly infallible cloaking device and devastating ion cannons, capable of taking out ships as big as frigates before they get a chance to respond. Though it excels in firepower, it lacks in defenses, forcing it to rely on guerilla tactics.

Merchant Vessels: Various merchants that ferry goods throughout the solar system. Those carrying WSI goods are targets of OoO raiders. Some merchants are armed and can repel attacks from smaller ships, while others are completely vulnerable.

Raiders: Various OoO pirates target merchants under WSI contracts. Pirate ships range in size and firepower from fighter to capital.

Payload: Ships can carry payloads and deposit them on planets. The OoO is stealing WSI payloads and hiding them on planets to be picked up by other OoO operatives at a later date.

Planets: Merchants can launch from or land on planets. Planets can also hold payloads.

Wormhole: There is only one wormhole in each solar system. Ships use this wormhole to enter or leave the solar system.

==Gameplay==

This game is divided into 2 phases. The main phase is the navigation phase. That phase transitions to the hacking phase, and then back to the navigation phase. The game ends in the navigation phase.

'''Navigation Phase'''

The player is presented with a large map of a randomly generated solar system. Each ship is represented by a small icon. Initially, only the player's ship and any nearby ships are visible. From that point, any ships that enter within the player's radar range become visible. Once visible, any contact remains visibile until it is killed, stealths, or leaves the solar system.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

Clicking on a ship, planet, or area of open space brings up a small context menu with the available actions. Clicking on a menu item activates that action. Actions include (sorted by ship clicked on):

'''Player Ship'''-

-''Toggle Cloak'' Turns the B-24's cloaking device on or off. Cloaking halves its speed. The cloaked B-24 still has a small chance of being discovered by nearby ships.

-''Scanner Sweep'' Pings the nearby area revealing stealthed ships within the player's radar range.

-''Chaff'' Drops a cloud of magnetic particles that confuses enemy radar for a short time.

'''OoO Raider'''-

-''Move'' Moves to the raider's location.

-''Stalk'' Follow that ship and listen to any incoming or outgoing communications. If an encrypted comm is sniffed, the game transitions to the hacking phase. After decryption or sniffing an unencrypted comm, a short cutscene plays, revealing information about some ship's upcoming action. This could mean clueing the player in to the location of a ship, any payloads in ships' cargo bays, or the hiding place of a payload.

-''Attack'' Fire on that ship. Doing so brings the attacker out of stealth. Any ship that is attacked and survives automatically returns fire. If both ships are alive at that point, the victor is determined by the following hierarchy: Bobcat > OoO Raider > Merchant. If the destroyed raider was carrying a WSI payload, the player automatically recoups it.

'''Merchant'''-

-''Move'' Move to the merchant's location.

-''Escort'' Follow that ship and pre-emptively attack any ship that attacks it.

-''Stalk'' Same as OoO Raider.

'''Planet'''-

-''Move'' Move to the planet's location.

-''Scan'' Search the planet for any stashed payloads.

-''Hide'' Land on the planet and hide. If any raiders deposit payloads on that planet, the B-24 automatically intercepts them. While hiding, the B-24 is completely undetectable. Also, the player can destroy any pirate that lands on or searches that planet, regardless of their size.

'''Empty Space'''-

-''Move'' Move to the location in space.

These actions occur in realtime. The raiders and merchants have a preset course of action that is randomly generated at the beginning of the game. These scripted actions should take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete.

For example, say a game is created with planets A and B, merchant M, and raiders P and R. M generates a schedule of launching from planet A (with a WSI payload) at :15 to planet B, and then to the wormhole. Raiders P and R will randomly fly around until they find the player, a merchant, or get a comm. Say P finds M. Since M is carrying a WSI payload, P broadcasts to all other raiders that M is at location (X,Y) and sets a course for that location. The AI carries on in this manner until all merchants and raiders are destroyed or go through the wormhole. At that point, the game ends.

Although the pirates are on the same team, they are each trying to steal the most for themselves. Therefore, some pirates will move payloads without informing other pirates. Also, raiders will deviate from their scripts if they discover the player. When discovered, a raider broadcasts the player's location and all pirates move to that location. If the player escapes detection (via chaff, destroying its pursuer, or outrunning its pursuer) then all raiders resume their scripted actions. Raiders will always attack the player if they can detect it and are within range, even if they are outgunned.

'''Hacking Phase'''

Encrypted comms are represented by shapes that flow from the left to the right of the screen, somewhat akin to ''the Matrix.'' The bottom of the game screen houses the screen of ''the Snifftron ST3,'' a device that hackers use to decrypt data.

In a manner very similar to traditional EFT tests, the ST3 generates an abstract shape and displays it on its screen. As the data stream flows across the top of the game screen, random shapes pop out and appear in the center of the data stream. If this large shape contains the simpler shape displayed on the ST3, then the player should press spacebar before the trial expires. If this happens, the player successfully "filters" the data stream. The player can only fail this process (either by not pressing spacebar on a match or pressing spacebar on a non-match) 3 times before the connection is lost and the message is lost.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

If the player filters the data successfully enough times, then the comm is decrypted and a small cutscene plays before returning to the navigation screen. If the player is unsuccessful, then they return to the navigation screen with no cutscene.

The large shapes are generated according the figure below. Generating smaller shapes that are embedded in the large shapes can easily be done by connecting the dots along edge connections.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

==Scoring==

Players are scored in three categories. WSI payloads protected, WSI payloads recouped, and WSI payloads stolen. Protected payloads are worth twice as much as recouped payloads, and stolen payloads are worth the same magnitude as protected payloads but are deducted from the player's reward.

Each "payload point" is awarded some amount of cash, which will be adjusted in playtesting.

Bonus resources can also be collected when OoO ships are destroyed.

Meteor Madness

2007-08-29T16:07:26Z

Admin:

This minigame tests motion coherence threshold by requiring the player to respond when a noticible portion of dots move in unison amongst a field of random dots. It also tests motor inhibition in a context of focused spatial attention (go/no-go task) by requiring the player to react to friends and foes as they emerge from wormholes.

==Premise==

A "nearby" space colony has been destroyed by marauders! Warp to their location and recover any survivors or flotsam. Be advised that hostiles may still be in the area and should be destroyed on sight. You may have to make several warp jumps to complete the sweep of the wreckage.

==Objective==

Salvage as many survivors and goods as possible whilst keeping your own ship alive.

==Characters==

Cheetah C-24 Fighters: The colony's squadron of high-speed attack ships. They are equipped with magnetic photonic torpedoes. The Cheetah's shields are capable of absorbing substantial energy surges before becoming vulnerable to enemy fire or physical collision.

Wormhole: Requires 2 entities to open; one on each side. These appear during the shooter phase and with the help of the player allow a resource or a hostile to warp through to the player's location.

UFO1,2: Marauding space pirates. Uncrewed and artifically piloted, they are armed and are capable of destroying C-24 Fighters.

Derelict Vessels: Filled with survivors from the destroyed space colony. The player can rescue them by flying into them.

Flotsam: Resources that can be salvaged by the player by flying into them.

Meteorites: Come in a couple of different shapes and sizes. Slamming into one causes a hit on a ship's shields or destruction if the ship's shields have failed.

Mysterious Dot: Random particles that fly through space in a logical manner when piloting at regular speeds, however in warp drive they seem to defy the laws of physics.

==Gameplay==

There are 2 phases to this minigame. The first is a warp-jump phase that lasts for about 15 seconds. After this, the game enters the shooter phase. This is repeated for 4 jumps and 3 shooters (the last warp-jump is the return home) or until the player dies.

The player's shield persists through both phases. After taking a hit, the shield is reduced by 1/2. Thus, 2 hits are enough to deplete the shield, leaving the player only 1 more hit before dying in an exploserous ball of flame. Shields slowly recharge over time (about 10 seconds for a full charge, but this number will likely change upon play-testing), but once a shield is fully depleted it does not recharge.

'''Warp-Jump Phase'''

This phase tests the subject's Motion Coherence. During warp-jumps, the mysterious dots move in a mostly random manner. A small percentage of these particles begin to drift in the same direction indicating that the ship is veering off course. The player must correct the ship's course by pressing space bar. Once the drift starts, the player has several seconds to react. If no correction is made in time, the ship slams into debris and takes a hit. This phase ends after a set amount of time which is not disclosed to the player or the ship is destroyed.

The percentage of drifting stars is determined by PEST.

'''Dog Fight Phase'''

This phase tests the subject's focused spatial attention.

The playing field consists of an invisible cylinder whose caps are parallel to the camera's viewing plane. The player's ship is located at the near cap. All entities can only exist on the cylinder's circumference but may rotate around it or move up and down it lengthwise.

The player may fire, sending projectiles down the cylinder lengthwise. At first, only a single missile, 1 second-cooldown photon torpedo is available, but power-ups appear in columns at the top of the screen. Flying through them upgrades the player's gun. Upgrades can lower the cooldown or add spreadshot.

It may be necessary to add a wingman if many autistic players have trouble with this phase. The wingman would automatically move and fire upon enemies/meteors.

Wormholes appear at the far cylinder cap. The player can align his/her ship with a wormhole and activate it. At short time later, a collectible (survivor or resource) replaces the wormhole or an emeny replaces it. The player should immediately fire and attempt to destroy any hostiles. Should the player fire upon a resource, it is destroyed. If a derelict appears, shooting it will destroy the vessel, but an escape pod will fly away indicating that no digital people were harmed in the making of this game.

''Possibly'' '''Boss Phase'''

This game me be capstoned with a boss battle. If so, any rescued derelicts could appear to assist the player.

Additionally, meteorites appear at the far cylinder cap and scroll down its circumference towards the camera. If they hit a ship, then the meteor is destroyed and the ship's shield takes a hit. Meteors have a lower probability of appearing in a column that is occupied by an enemy ship. Meteors can be destroyed by shooting them. Larger meteors may require more shots to destroy than smaller ones.

==User Interface==

The only HUD necessary is the shield power.

For the warp phase, the only input will be left and right arrow keys to indicate a course correction.

While in the shooter phase, pressing the left arrow key rotates the player's ship clockwise, while right rotates it counterclockwise. This would normally seem counterintuitive, but in this case the player's ship is displayed upright when it is near the bottom of the screen. Therefore, pressing left always shifts the C-24 to its port side. Spacebar will fire weapons. Pressing the up arrow key will attempt to open a partial wormhole. This attempt is successful if the player is aligned with the wormhole (ie, they are near the same position on the opposite cylinder caps). A different color beam will indicate a successful or failed wormhole activation.

==Scoring==

Each completed phase awards X amount of money, for a possible total of 7. A structure is awarded if the player collects enough powerups. Any survivors rescued or resources salvaged are awarded. Money is subtracted for the cost of each derelict ship destroyed by the player. If this dips the reward into negative money, then the money rewarded is set to 0.

Structures

2007-08-28T21:42:19Z

Admin:

There are 3 major types of structures. Buildings (the majority), lines to transport utilities, and paths to reduce the cost of unit travel.

==Buildings==

'''Fusion Generator''' 5x6

Inputs: ''None''

Outputs: ''None''

Since electricity is a utility and not a product, this building has no outputs.

'''Water Pump''' 2x4

Inputs: ''Electricity''

Outputs: ''None''

This building must be built entirely on water.

'''FutureGas1 Generator''' (possibly named the Hydrocarbonic Refinery) 4x4

Inputs: ''Electricity''

Outputs: ''None''

'''Reclaimation Plant''' 6x6

Inputs: ''Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Atomic Clay''

Converts the colony's waste into basic molecules that can be reconstructed into useful raw materials. Output is proportional to colony population.

'''Nanoassembler''' 5x6

Inputs: ''Atomic Clay, Electricity, Water''

Outputs: ''1 type of Resource (excluding Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Vegetables)''

Comes in multiple flavors. Plants tack the name of the output to the front of the building name. For example, a "Gold Nanoassembler" outputs Gold.

'''Nitrogenator''' 2x2

Inputs: ''Atomic Clay, Water, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Nitrogen''

'''Greenhouse''' 4x3

Inputs: ''Nitrogen, Water, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Oxygen, Vegetables''

'''Machine Shop''' 4x4

Inputs: ''Gold, Iron, Steel, FutureMetal1/2/3, or Titanium, as well as Electricity and Water''

Outputs: ''Cast Gold, Cast Iron, Cast Steel, Cast FutureMetal1/2/3, Cast Titanium''

Each metal requires a different machine shop. That is, a ''Gold Machine Shop,'' ''Iron Machine Shop,'' etc. One easy way to increase the number of buildings in the game will be to make a different machine shop for each shape. The shape could be set as a property of the building or an entirely different building. For example, a Gold Machine Shop could output ''Gold Contacts'' or ''Gold Wiring'' and circuitboards would then require ''Gold Contacts'' and ''Silicon'' instead of just ''Cast Gold'' and ''Silicon.''

'''Metal Press''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Steel, Titanium, or FutureMetal1/2/3, as well as Electricity and Water''

Outputs: ''Steel Sheet, Titanium Sheet, FutureMetal1/2/3 Sheet''

The Metal Press is similar to the Machine Shop.

'''Photolithography Lab''' 3x4

Inputs: ''Gold+FutureMetalX Alloy, Silicon, Superconductors, Electricity, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Circuitboards''

'''Optics Lab''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Diamond, Silicon, Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Optical Chips''

'''Kiln''' 2x3

Inputs: ''Carbon, Silicon, Water, Electricity, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Ceramics''

'''Nanotube Synthesizer''' 4x4

Inputs: ''Carbon, Electricity, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Nanotubes''

'''Computronics Lab''' 3x4

Inputs: ''Gold+FutureMetalX Alloy, Superconductors, Circtuiboards, Optical Chips, Crystal1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Computers''

Modern computers are only a couple of milimeters wide.

'''Plastics Refinery''' 3x4

Inputs: ''Carbon, Atomic Clay, Silicon, Water, FutureGas1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Plastics''

'''Steel Furnace''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Iron, Carbon, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Steel''

''Gold+FutureMetal Alloy-ifier'' 3x3

Inputs: ''Gold, FutureMetalX, FutureGas1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Gold+FutureMetalX Alloy''

'''Crystalizer''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Atomic Clay, FutureGas1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Crystal1''

Used heavily in robotics and computronics.

'''Chemical Vapor Depositor''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Carbon, FutureGas1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Diamond''

'''Hospital''' 3x4

Inputs: ''Pharmaceuticals, Computers, Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''None''

X Hospitals are required for every Y citizens.

'''Atmospheric Adjustor''' 4x5

Inputs: ''Oxygen, Nitrogen, Electricity, Water''

Outputs: ''None''

X Atmospheric Adjustors are required for every Y citizens.

'''Animal Husbandry Facility''' 4x4

Inputs: ''Vegetables, Nitrogen, Water''

Outputs: ''Livestock''

'''Slaughterhouse''' 2x2

Inputs: ''Livestock, Plastics, Electricity, Water''

Outputs: ''Meat''

Animal go in, meat come out.

'''Pharmaceuticals Lab''' 2x3

Inputs: ''Atomic Clay, Plastics, Vegetabls, Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Pharmaceuticals''

'''Housing''' Various Sizes

Inputs: ''Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''None''

X population requires Y houses.

'''Commercial Warehouse''' Various Sizes

Inputs: ''Electricity, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''None''

X population requires Y warehouses.

'''Commercial Distributors''' Various Sizes

Inputs: ''Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''None''

X population requires Y distributors.

==Lines==

Lines are used to transport utilities. Place a line adjacent to the appropriate plant to "charge" it. Uncharged lines do not transport their respective utility. Lines will automatically swap in a corner or appropriate crossing tile if the line turns or intersects another line.

Also, any building will act as a line to all adjacent buildings for all utilities. For example, building A is connected to a charged power line and a charged water pipe. Building A only uses electricity. Building B is adjacent to building A (but not the lines it is connected to) but only uses water. Building B is considered to be "powered" and "watered" (the specific types of charge for electricty and water).

'''Power Lines''' 1x1

Carries electricity.

'''Water Pipes''' 1x1

Carries water.

'''Gas Pipes''' 1x1

Caries FutureGas1.

==Paths==

'''Street''' 1x1

Significantly reduces the cost of travel for almost every unit. Turn pieces, T-intersections, and 4-way intersections are automatically swapped out for regular straight pieces where appropriate.

'''Rail''' 1x1(straight) 2x2(turn)

Trains can only travel on rails. Rails can intersect with other rails and streets and will automatically swap the previous structure for a rail-rail crossing or a street-rail crossing.

Colony Mode

2007-08-28T20:08:08Z

Admin:

This mode refers to the bulk of the game (or more accurately "toy") which is spent placing buildings.

'''Premise'''

In the future, humans have depleted nearly all natural resources from all known habitable planets, forcing them to become a nomadic species. They live primarily in colonies that float through space looking for new planets and life forms.

Play as a colony leader, whose job is to build and manage a city contained within a large spacecraft.

'''Objective'''

This is technically a toy, so there is no clear objective. Some players may attempt to make a large city which requires efficient placement of buildings. Others may strive to build specific structures and will need to first build their target's dependencies.

'''Gameplay'''

[[Image:ColonyMode_Mockup.png]]

The main city area is divided into a grid oriented at 45 degrees (to increase visibility). Buildings and units can occupy any number of whole squares. Each grid space may only host 1 structure, but may host as many units as necessary. The game is turn based, but there are multiple turns per second thus giving the game a real-time feel. Units can only move 1 space per turn and must wait a specific number of turns before moving again.

Upon starting a new game, the player is presented with an empty city. Resources are dispersed randomly (and count as structures). If the player has enough resources, (s)he can select a building and then place it on the map to instantly construct it. If the building comes with units, they are launched. A unit has 1 destination and travels along the least-cost path to its objective. Roads lower the cost of travel. Once it arrives, a unit remains at its objective for some randomized number of turns and then returns to its home structure. Citizens travel to work or recreational areas, harvesters travel to resources, transporters travel to industrial complexes, etc.

Certain structures generate resource income upon the return of their unit(s). This accounts for the majority of the player's resources. The one exception is money, which can only be generated by playing the minigames. All structures cost some amount of money, so minigames are inevitable. With minimal effort, a minigame will also reward a special building which is stored in a "Rewards" menu until placement in the city. Some minigames reward more than a structure and money, but these rewards can theoretically be earned through the existence of specific city structures.

Each building has construction costs and operational costs measured in units of various resources and utilities. See [[Structures]] and [[Consumables]]. If a structure's operational costs cannot be met, it shuts down and ceases launching its units. Buildings with harvester or transporter units will increase the player's resource stock each time the unit returns. For example, the Lumber Mill launches a harvester that travels to the nearest forest square and after some time returns to the mill thus increasing the player's supply of wood.

Most structures require certain utilities (see [[Structures]] for the list of utility plants). A meat-packing plant requires Electricity, for example. In order to operate, this plant must be within 3 grids of a Power Line or other powered structure.

The last dependency on structures are its employees. Each structure requires some number of staff and if the city does not have enough citizens then the each new structure does not operate. As the population grows, structures become operational on a first-built first-served basis.

Some structures output products (see [[Consumables]] for a complete list). Each product requires some number of consumables. Once these consumables are delivered, the structure makes one product and sends it to the appropriate location as a delivery or transport unit. The location is determined by the type of product. Food, for example, goes to shops whereas wheels may go to a car factory.

'''User Interface'''

The screen is divided into two major sections. The main area displays the city (with approximately 20x20 tiles visible). A menu bar sits on the right of the screen, approximately 2 inches wide. The menu bar contians buttons that are labelled graphically. When the user hovers over them, the name will appear over the cursor. The buttons are as follows: Build Structure, Build Line, Build Path, Place Reward, Budget, Sell, and Options. If a button is clicked, then a submenu pops out to the left of the main menu bar. This submenu contains a scrollable list of all placable buildings within the selected category. Clicking on one of these brings up the building information in the bottom area of the main menu. With a specific building selected, the cursor is replaced by a transparent image of the building if the user mouses over the main city area. Clicking while the building is in a suitable location places that building permanently (unless it is sold).

When no building is selected in the submenu, the user can click on any placed structure to display its information in the bottom of the main menu. This information contains a picture of the building, and displays (with words and symbols) the build costs, operational costs, output, and units.

to be continued...

'''Scoring'''

Although there are no victory conditions, a player's score is determined by the colony asset value, current pool of resources and city population (both human and android).

Plot

2007-08-28T20:03:12Z

Admin:

It has been nearly a century since the establishment of the World Space Initiative (WSI), a coalition of nations whose mission is to protect citizens and commerce beyond Earth's orbit. WSI has allowed nations to flourish and was an essential factor in the success of the Global Ship Mercury, mankind's first colony out of Earth's orbit. Many lesser colonies have since been constructed, but none have lived up to the prestige of the Mercury.

Not everyone was pleased with the way WSI was being run, however. About 50 years ago, the radical freedomist Johaan Zjemira formed the Order of Orion. This organization claims that WSI exploits the lesser nations and oppressess all non-WSI space stations. Since its formation it has grown immensely and now poses a formidable threat to any vessel aligned with the WSI. This threat was made clear 14 years ago when the OoO attacked and destroyed the Mercury.

WSI has doubled its efforts to put an end to the OoO and as a sign of hope to its citizens, the new ship GS Mercury II is about to recieve its commission. WSI has appointed '''you''' as the captain. Do you have what it takes to take this fledgling space colony and fulfill its legacy as humankind's greatest achievement?

Copyright

2007-08-28T20:01:23Z

Admin:

This content is copyright (c) Cornell University and is freely distributed under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation Licence.

TACWiki:About

2007-08-28T19:53:25Z

Admin:

This is the developers' site for [http://www.autismcollaborative.org the Autism Collaborative]

Copyright

2007-08-25T22:19:54Z

Admin: New page: Free candy!

Free candy!

TACWiki:About

2007-08-25T22:17:52Z

Admin: New page: This is the developer's site for [http://www.autismcollaborative.org the Autism Collaborative]

This is the developer's site for [http://www.autismcollaborative.org the Autism Collaborative]

TACWiki:Privacy policy

2007-08-25T22:15:24Z

Admin: New page: We will not disclose any personal information to anyone without explicit permission, either written or verbal.

We will not disclose any personal information to anyone without explicit permission, either written or verbal.

Help:Contents

2007-08-25T22:08:43Z

Admin: New page: Contact [mailto:webmaster@autismcollaborative.org the Webmaster] for help.

Contact [mailto:webmaster@autismcollaborative.org the Webmaster] for help.

MediaWiki:Sidebar

2007-08-25T22:07:40Z

Admin:

* navigation
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** helppage|help

MediaWiki:Sidebar

2007-08-25T22:07:11Z

Admin: New page: * navigation ** mainpage|mainpage ** helppage|help ** sitesupport-url|sitesupport

* navigation
** mainpage|mainpage
** helppage|help
** sitesupport-url|sitesupport

User:Admin

2007-08-25T21:35:46Z

Admin: New page: The Admin account does not directly represent any one person attached to the Autism Collaborative. Instead, key individuals have access to the Admin login and only use it for configuration...

The Admin account does not directly represent any one person attached to the Autism Collaborative. Instead, key individuals have access to the Admin login and only use it for configuration purposes. These authorized users have their own accounts that they use to edit this wiki.

Spaceship Shenanigans

2007-08-24T02:53:48Z

Admin: New page: This minigame tests distribution and shifting of attention and the effect of multimodal stimuli. ==Premise== The WSS White Giant is under attack! It is your job as Tactical Officer to g...

This minigame tests distribution and shifting of attention and the effect of multimodal stimuli.

==Premise==

The WSS White Giant is under attack! It is your job as Tactical Officer to guide the defense system to aid your fighters in shooting down incoming squadrons of enemy fighters and destroyers. Then jump in the hot seat of a C-24 fighter and travel with a fightergroup to counterattack the enemy carrier launching the attacks on the White Giant.

==Objective==

Protect the WSS White Giant and destroy all enemy carriers.

==Characters==

Cheetah C-24 Fighter: See [[Meteor Madness]]

WSS White Giant: One of WSI's Constellation class carrier. It can launch C-24s, shoot EMP pulses that stun enemy ships and damage their shielding. It is also equipped with the Close-in Antiship Turret (CAT) which automatically attacks enemy ships that get close enough.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

Wasp Fighters: Launched from enemy motherships. They attack WSI ships in waves.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

Mantis Destroyer: A medium-sized enemy ship. Attacks the player's carrier in small attack groups.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

OoO Mothership: Enemy carrier, launching hundreds of waves of Wasps.

==Gameplay==

This game is divided into 2 phases. The first phase is Carrier Defense phase. After that, the game moves to the Fighter Attack phase. This completes one level. There are multiple levels, each of increasing difficulty.

'''Carrier Defense'''

The screen displays the WSS White Giant in the center of the screen, floating somewhere in space. This carrier launches C-24 fighters to protect itself against waves of enemy Wasp fighters. The fighters automatically engage each other, but the Wasps will take pot shots at the White Giant if they get close enough. C-24s and Wasps can be spawned at any time, enhancing the user's feeling of partaking in an epic space battle.

In addition to these fighter dogfights, the OoO sends waves of Destroyer Strike Wings (one destroyer escorted by many fighters) to attack the carrier. The arrival of a destroyer strike wing signals the start of a trial. At the beginning of a trial, an arrow may or may not appear over the carrier, pointing either up, down, left, or right. This arrow is sometimes accompanied by a klaxon. Shortly after that, an enemy strike wing appears from one of the four directions and heads towards the White Giant. The arrow correctly identifies the direction of the attack most of the time, but is wrong approximately 25%.

At any time, the player may press the up, down, left, or right arrow keys to shoot an emp blast in that direction. This blast stuns enemy Wasps and devestates Destroyer shields, helping the C-24s destroy enemy ships. This blast has a cooldown and gradual recharge (similar a capacitor), so spamming it is not a good tactic.

The White Giant is also equipped with a Close-in Anti-ship Turret (CAT) that automatically shoots at enemy ships that are extremely close to the carrier. Although this weapon is powerful, it can be overwhelmed if enough enemy ships are present.

'''Possible Added Mechanic''' (I cannot add any simultaneous tasks to this game as attention must not be deverted from the approach of a ship for experimental reasons, but I am worried that just watching ships dogfight and occaisonally shooting an EMP blast is not engaging enough)

'''Fighter Attack'''

Five C-24 ships appear on the bottom of the screen, arranged in a vanguard that spans almost the entire length of the playing field. One of these fighters is yellow, indicating that it is the player's ship. Above the player's ship is a targeting reticle.

Enemy ships appear from the top of the screen, scrolling down and shooting at the WSI fighters on the bottom. If an enemy moves close enough to the reticle and it changes from blue to red, this indicates that the player's ship has a lock and pressing spacebar will fire a missile. The player only has a small number of missiles, so firing them withouot a lock is wasteful.

The other C-24 ships fire at the incoming Wasps, but without the player's help will likely be destroyed by the many waves of attacks.

==Scoring==

Cash is awarded for each Wasp or Mantis destroyed in either phase. A special cash bonus is awarded for destroying the Mothership at the end of the last level.

Meteor Madness

2007-08-24T02:53:18Z

Admin: New page: This minigame tests the threshold of Motion Coherence by requiring the player to respond when a noticible portion of dots move in unison amongst a field of random dots. It also tests Focu...

This minigame tests the threshold of Motion Coherence by requiring the player to respond when a noticible portion of dots move in unison amongst a field of random dots. It also tests Focused Spatial Attention by requiring the player to react to friends/foes coming out of wormholes.

==Premise==

A "nearby" space colony has been destroyed by marauders! Warp to their location and recover any survivors or flotsam. Be advised that hostiles may still be in the area and should be destroyed on sight. You may have to make several warp jumps to complete the sweep of the wreckage.

==Objective==

Salvage as many survivors and goods as possible whilst keeping your own ship alive.

==Characters==

Cheetah C-24 Fighters: The colony's squadron of high-speed attack ships. They are equipped with magnetic photonic torpedoes. The Cheetah's shields are capable of absorbing substantial energy surges before becoming vulnerable to enemy fire or physical collision.

Wormhole: Requires 2 entities to open; one on each side. These appear during the shooter phase and with the help of the player allow a resource or a hostile to warp through to the player's location.

UFO1,2,3: Marauding space pirates. Either mechanical or horrible space aliens with no souls. They are armed and are capable of destroying C-24 Fighters.

Derelict Vessels: Filled with survivors from the destroyed space colony. The player can rescue them by flying into them.

Flotsam: Resources that can be salvaged by the player by flying into them.

Meteorites: Come in a couple different shapes and sizes. Slamming into one causes a hit on a ship's shields or destruction if the ship's shields have failed.

Mysterious Dot: Random particles that fly through space in a logical manner when piloting at regular speeds, however in warp drive they seem to defy the laws of physics.

==Gameplay==

There are 2 phases to this minigame. The first is a warp-jump phase that lasts for about 15 seconds. After this, the game enters the shooter phase. This is repeated for 4 jumps and 3 shooters (the last warp-jump is the return home) or until the player dies.

The player's shield persists through both phases. After taking a hit, the shield is reduced by 1/2. Thus, 2 hits are enough to deplete the shield, leaving the player only 1 more hit before dying in an exploserous ball of flame. Shields slowly recharge over time (about 10 seconds for a full charge, but this number will likely change upon play-testing), but once a shield is fully depleted it does not recharge.

'''Warp-Jump Phase'''

This phase tests the subject's Motion Coherence. During warp-jumps, the mysterious dots move in a mostly random manner. A small percentage of these particles begin to drift in the same direction indicating that the ship is veering off course. The player must correct the ship's course by pressing space bar. Once the drift starts, the player has several seconds to react. If no correction is made in time, the ship slams into debris and takes a hit. This phase ends after a set amount of time which is not disclosed to the player or the ship is destroyed.

The percentage of drifting stars is determined by PEST. ''More on this soon''

'''Dog Fight Phase'''

This phase tests the subject's Focused Spatial Attention.

The playing field consists of an invisible cylinder whose caps are parallel to the camera's viewing plane. The player's ship is located at the near cap. All entities can only exist on the cylinder's circumference but may rotate around it or move up and down it lengthwise.

The player may fire, sending projectiles down the cylinder lengthwise. At first, only a single missile, 1 second-cooldown photon torpedo is available, but power-ups appear in columns at the top of the screen. Flying through them upgrades the player's gun. Upgrades can lower the cooldown or add spreadshot.

It may be necessary to add a wingman if many autistic players have trouble with this phase. The wingman would automatically move and fire upon enemies/meteors.

Wormholes appear at the far cylinder cap. The player can align his/her ship with a wormhole and activate it. At short time later, a collectible (survivor or resource) replaces the wormhole or an emeny replaces it. The player should immediately fire and attempt to destroy any hostiles. Should the player fire upon a resource, it is destroyed. If derelict appears, shooting it will destroy the vessle, but an escape pod will fly away indicating that no digital people were harmed in the making of this game.

''Possibly'' '''Boss Phase'''

This game me be capstoned with a boss battle. If so, any rescued derelicts could appear to assit the player.

Additionally, meteorites appear at the far cylinder cap and scroll down its circumference towards the camera. If they hit a ship, then the meteor is destroyed and the ship's shield takes a hit. Meteors have a lower probability of appearing in a column that is occupied by an enemy ship. Meteors can be destroyed by shooting them. Larger meteors may require more shots to destroy than smaller ones.

==User Interface==

The only HUD necessary is the shield power.

For the warp phase, the only input will be spacebar to indicate a course correction.

While in the shooter phase, pressing the left arrow key rotates the player's ship clockwise, while right rotates it counterclockwise. This would normally seem counterintuitive, but in this case the player's ship is displayed upright when it is near the bottom of the screen. Therefore, pressing left always shifts the C-24 to its port side. Spacebar will fire weapons. Pressing the up arrow key will attempt to open a partial wormhole. This attempt is successful if the player is aligned with the wormhole (ie, they are near the same position on the opposite cylinder caps). A different color beam will indicate a successful or failed wormhole activation.

==Scoring==

Each completed phase awards X amount of money, for a possible total of 7. A structure is awarded if the player collects enough powerups. Any survivors rescued or resources salvaged are awarded. Money is subtracted for the cost of each derelict ship destroyed by the player. If this dips the reward into negative money, then the money rewarded is set to 0.

Hacker Havoc

2007-08-24T02:52:44Z

Admin: New page: This minigame tests theory of mind and detection of embedded figures. ==Premise== You are a covert operative for the World Space Initiative. The Order of Orion is attacking merchants ca...

This minigame tests theory of mind and detection of embedded figures.

==Premise==

You are a covert operative for the World Space Initiative. The Order of Orion is attacking merchants carrying WSI payloads, stealing their cargo, and stashing the goods on various planets. Your mission is to spy on these raiders to intercept their attacks and recoup as much WSI property as possible.

==Objective==

Save as many merchant vessels and WSI cargo as possible.

==Characters==

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

Bobcat B-3 Interceptor: A small ship outfitted with nearly infallable cloaking devices and devastating ion cannons capable of taking out ships as big as frigates before they get a chance to respond. Though it excels in firepower, it lacks in defenses forcing it to rely on guerilla tactics.

Merchant Vessels: Various merchants that ferry goods throughout the solar system. Those carrying WSI goods are targets of OoO raiders. Some merchants are armed and can repel attacks from smaller ships, while others are completely vulnerable.

Raiders: Various OoO pirates target merchants under WSI contracts. Pirate ships range in size and firebpower from fighter to capital.

Payload: Ships can carry payloads and deposit them on planets. The OoO is stealing WSI payloads and hiding them on planets to be picked up by other OoO operatives at a later date.

Planets: Merchants can launch from or land on planets. Planets can also hold payloads.

Wormhole: There is only one wormhole in each solar system. Ships use this wormhole to enter or leave the solar system.

==Gameplay==

This game is divided into 2 phases. The main phase is the navigation phase. That phase transitions to the hacking phase, and then back to the navigation phase. The game ends in the navigation phase.

'''Navigation Phase'''

The player is presented with a large map of a randomly generated solar system. All ships are represented by a small icon. Initially, only the player's ship and any nearby ships are visible. From that point, any ships that enter within the player's radar range become visible. Once visible, any contact remains visibile until it is killed, stealths, or leaves the solar system.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

Clicking on a ship, planet, or area of open space brings up a small context menu with the available actions. Clicking on a menu item activates that action. Actions include (sorted by ship clicked on):

'''Player Ship'''-

-''Toggle Cloak'' Turns the B-24's cloaking device on or off. Cloaking halves its speed. The cloaked B-24 still has a small chance of being discovered by nearby ships.

-''Scanner Sweep'' Pings the nearby area revealing stealthed ships within the player's radar range.

-''Chaff'' Drops a cloud of magnetic particles that confuses enemy radar for a short time.

'''OoO Raider'''-

-''Move'' Moves to the raider's location.

-''Stalk'' Follow that ship and listen to any incoming or outgoing communications. If an encrypted comm is sniffed, the game transitions to the hacking phase. After decryption or sniffing an unencrypted comm, a short cutscene plays, revealing information about some ship's upcoming action. This could mean clueing the player in to the location of a ship, any payloads in ships' cargo bays, or the hiding place of a payload.

-''Attack'' Fire on that ship. Doing so brings the attacker out of stealth. Any ship that is attacked and survives automatically returns fire. If both ships are alive at that point, the victor is determined by the following hierarchy: Bobcat > OoO Raider > Merchant. If the destroyed raider was carrying a WSI payload, the player automatically recoups it.

'''Merchant'''-

-''Move'' Move to the merchant's location.

-''Escort'' Follow that ship and pre-emptively attack any ship that attacks it.

-''Stalk'' Same as OoO Raider.

'''Planet'''-

-''Move'' Move to the planet's location.

-''Scan'' Search the planet for any stashed payloads.

-''Hide'' Land on the planet and hide. If any raiders deposit payloads on that planet, the B-24 automatically intercepts them. While hiding, the B-24 is completely undetectable. Also, the player can destroy any pirate that lands on or searches that planet, regardless of their size.

'''Empty Space'''-

-''Move'' Move to the location in space.

These actions occur in realtime. The raiders and merchants have a preset course of action that is randomly generated at the beginning of the game. These scripted actions should take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete.

For example, say a game is created with planets A and B, merchant M, and raiders P and R. M generates a schedule of launching from planet A (with a WSI payload) at :15 to planet B, and then to the wormhole. Raiders P and R will randomly fly around until they find the player, a merchant, or get a comm. Say P finds M. Since M is carrying a WSI payload, P broadcasts to all other raiders that M is at location (X,Y) and sets a course for that location. The AI carries on in this manner until all merchants and raiders are destroyed or go through the wormhole. At that point, the game ends.

Although the pirates are on the same team, they are each trying to steal the most for themselves. Therefore, some pirates will move payloads without informing other pirates. Also, raiders will deviate from their scripts if they discover the player. When discovered, a raider broadcasts the player's location and all pirates move to that location. If the player escapes detection (via chaff, destroying its pursuer, or outrunning its pursuer) then all raiders resume their scripted actions. Raiders will always attack the player if they can detect it and are within range, even if they are outgunned.

'''Hacking Phase'''

Encrypted comms are represented by shapes that flow from the left to the right of the screen, somewhat akin to ''the Matrix.'' The bottom of the game screen houses the screen of ''the Snifftron ST3,'' a device that hackers use to decrypt data.

In a manner very similar to traditional EFT tests, the ST3 generates an abstract shape and displays it on its screen. As the data stream flows across the top of the game screen, random shapes pop out and appear in the center of the data stream. If this large shape contains the simpler shape displayed on the ST3, then the player should press spacebar before the trial expires. If this happens, the player successfully "filters" the data stream. The player can only fail this process (either by not pressing spacebar on a match or pressing spacebar on a non-match) 3 times before the connection is lost and the message is lost.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

If the player filters the data successfully enough times, then the comm is decrypted and a small cutscene plays before returning to the navigation screen. If the player is unsuccessful, then they return to the navigation screen with no cutscene.

The large shapes are generated according the figure below. Generating smaller shapes that are embedded in the large shapes can easily be done by connecting the dots along edge connections.

[[Image:ComingSoon.png]]

==Scoring==

Players are scored in three categories. WSI payloads protected, WSI payloads recouped, and WSI payloads stolen. Protected payloads are worth twice as much as recouped payloads, and stolen payloads are worth the same magnitude as protected payloads but are deducted from the player's reward.

Each "payload point" is awarded some amount of cash, which will be adjusted in playtesting.

Bonus resources can also be collected when OoO ships are destroyed.

Functional specifications

2007-08-24T02:52:29Z

Admin:

Welcome to this game's functional spec table of contents. There are two major parts: the colony simulator and the minigames.

'''Colony Simulator'''

[[Colony Mode]]

[[Structures]]

[[Consumables]]

'''Minigames'''

[[Factory Frenzy]]

[[Hacker Havoc]]

[[Meteor Madness]]

[[Spaceship Shenanigans]]

Factory Frenzy

2007-08-24T02:52:06Z

Admin: New page: '''THIS MINIGAME IS ON HIATUS''' This minigame implements a variation of common Embedded Figure Tests. ==Premise== Many modern factories use a series of monorails to transport items fr...

'''THIS MINIGAME IS ON HIATUS'''

This minigame implements a variation of common Embedded Figure Tests.

==Premise==

Many modern factories use a series of monorails to transport items from station to station in their production lines. This game takes place in one such factory.

The construction bots that normally maintain this factory's rail system have gone crazy! They have built way too many tracks which has confused the production trains and hampered the output of the factory. You must override the construction bots' AI and order them to remove these unnecessary track segments to raise the efficiency of this factory.

The Trackalizer 2000 will come in handy. It can identify shapes that contain at least one segment of unnecessary track that you can then remove. However, it is still under development and sometimes identifies shapes that are not actually present in the factory track configuration. If you relay this faulty data to the construction bots they will become confused and actually add more superfluous track.

==Objective==

Produce as many products as possible before the time runs out.

==Characters==

Construction Bots: These bots are actually too small to be seen with the naked eye, but they are capable of erecting or tearing down tracks almost immediately.

Monorail Production Trains: These trains use the tracks to carry works in progress throughout the factory. Once a Work in Progress is delivered to a processor, the new piece is immediately processed and placed on the same train.

Processor: Trains enter these large machines to deliver their Works in Progess. Once a Work in Progress has visited each processor in the proper order, it is considered complete and can then be dropped off at the shipping department.

Trackalizer 2000: An experimental device that can (usually) identify shapes in monorail tracks that contain segments of unnecessary track.

==Gameplay==

The gameboard is separated into a series of connected rooms. Each room contains 6 processors arranged near the walls in a isometric hexagonal fashion. Within the hexagon, between 2 and 6 (this number may change with playtesting) nodes are randomly placed. Straight segments of monorail track form random connections between the nodes and processors.

The rooms are connected by processors on the sides. That is, the right-most processor in one room is directly connected the left-most processor in the next room. The two exceptions are the first and last rooms. There is guranteed to be at least 1 path from the left-most to the right-most processors. The player does not immediately know which path this is, but we will refer to it as the "immutable path."

The game starts with the left-most room. The trackalizer presents a graph to the player. Each vertex of this graph directly maps to a vertex in the current room configuration (where the verticies are nodes or processors). This shape is guranteed to contain at least one segment of track that is not a part of the immutable path. For positive trials, the edges on the trackalizer map to edges in the monorail track. For negative trials, the trackalizer's graph will have extra edges that are not present in the track.

When the trackalizer presents the graph, the user has about 15 seconds to decide if this figure can be found in the tracks. On hits, all corresponding non-immutable edges from the trackalizer's graph are removed from the tracks. Additionally, any edges that are a part of the immutable path are highlighted on the gameboard. On a false positive, more track segments are randomly added to the tracks, making the plant less efficient (but actually making future trials more likely to correspond to a trackalizer graph). If time runs out on a trial, it is considered a miss or a correct rejection and the tracks remain unchanged. The trackalizer then presents another graph.

While this task is taking place, tiny monorails navigate the tracks autonomously. They begin at the entrance (left-most) processor and randomly walk along the track graph. If a node has an immutable (one way) edge, the train will always use pick that edge. Once all processors have been visited in the correct order the train enters the next room. In the last room, the last processor is the shipping department. If a train brings a finished product to this processor, the product is sent out for delivery.

After some number of trials in one room, the user chooses a different room to visit. This allows the player to work on the rooms that need the most improvement and keep them from having to stare at the same room for the entirety of the minigame.

The game ends when time expires.

==User Interface==

The GUI mainly consists of 2 major sections: the view of the monorail tracks within each room, and the trackalizer. The player does not directly interact with the room view. The trackalizer contains 2 buttons, corresponding to "Yes" (activated by pressing left arrow) and "No" (right arrow).

Additionally, for choosing which room to enter next each room must be displayed one one screen. The user selects a room with the arrow keys and presses space bar to enter that room.

==Scoring==

Each completed product is directly awarded to the player, as well as some cash. When the game ends, players are awarded a prorated amount of cash for Works in Progress that are still in trains on the track.

Consumables

2007-08-24T02:51:26Z

Admin: New page: Consumables come in 3 varieties. Resources are gathered which can then be made into products. Plants produce utilities which many other structures require to run. All consumables are...

Consumables come in 3 varieties. Resources are gathered which can then be made into products. Plants produce utilities which many other structures require to run.

All consumables are broken into two tiers. Tier I is the bare minimum that should make it into the game. However, since much of this game's fun will be rooted in creating a complex, diverse economy it may be beneficial to include more consumables. These are listed in the Tier II category and may be added to the game later.

=='''Resources'''==

Harvester units can gather resources by traveling from their home structure to a resource tile in the city, harvesting it, and then returning to its home.

<big>'''Tier I'''</big>

Oxygen

Vegetables (this could be considered a product if it requires nitrates)

Iron

Gold

Carbon

Silicon

FutureMetal1

Titanium

<big>'''Tier II'''</big>

Nitrogen

FutureMetal2

FutureMetal3

=='''Products'''==

Factories and refineries take in resources or other products to make new products. These products are shipped out to other structures through a delivery or transport unit.

<big>'''Tier I'''</big>

Cast/Machined Metal

Rolled Metal

Circuitboards (Gold+Silicon)

Ceramics (Carbon+Silicon)

Superconductors (from FutureMetal1 and/or Ceramics)

Diamond (from Carbon)

Steel (iron+carbon)

Atomic Clay

Plastics

<big>'''Tier II'''</big>

Meat (requires vegetables)

Nitrates (from Nitrogen)

Atomic Clay (broken down molecules that can be reassembled into almost anything)

Nanotube

Pharmaceuticals

Gold+FutureMetalX Alloy

=='''Utilities'''==

Each utility is made by a specific plant. For that list, go to the [[Structures]] page. Utilities are transported through lines.

Water

Electricity

FutureGas1 (possibly called ''Hydrocarbonic Gas'')

Structures

2007-08-24T02:51:03Z

Admin: New page: There are 3 major types of structures. Buildings (the majority), lines to transport utilities, and paths to reduce the cost of unit travel. ==Buildings== '''Fusion Generator''' 5x6 In...

There are 3 major types of structures. Buildings (the majority), lines to transport utilities, and paths to reduce the cost of unit travel.

==Buildings==

'''Fusion Generator''' 5x6

Inputs: ''None''

Outputs: ''None''

Since electricity is a utility and not a product, this building has no outputs.

'''Water Pump''' 2x4

Inputs: ''Electricity''

Outputs: ''None''

This building must be built entirely on water.

'''FutureGas1 Generator''' (possibly named the Hydrocarbonic Refinery) 4x4

Inputs: ''Electricity''

Outputs: ''None''

'''Reclaimation Plant''' 6x6

Inputs: ''Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Atomic Clay''

Converts the colony's waste into basic molecules that can be reconstructed into useful raw materials. Output is proportional to colony population.

'''Nanoassembler''' 5x6

Inputs: ''Atomic Clay, Electricity, Water''

Outputs: ''1 type of Resource (excluding Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Vegetables)''

Comes in multpile flavors. Plants tack the name of the output to the front of the building name. For example, a "Gold Nanoassembler" outputs Gold.

'''Nitrogenator''' 2x2

Inputs: ''Atomic Clay, Water, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Nitrogen''

'''Greenhouse''' 4x3

Inputs: ''Nitrogen, Water, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Oxygen, Vegetables''

'''Machine Shop''' 4x4

Inputs: ''Gold, Iron, Steel, FutureMetal1/2/3, or Titanium, as well as Electricity and Water''

Outputs: ''Cast Gold, Cast Iron, Cast Steel, Cast FutureMetal1/2/3, Cast Titanium''

Each metal requires a different machine shop. That is, a ''Gold Machine Shop,'' ''Iron Machine Shop,'' etc. One easy way to increase the number of buildings in the game will be to make a different machine shop for each shape. The shape could be set as a property of the building or an entirely different building. For example, a Gold Machine Shop could output ''Gold Contacts'' or ''Gold Wiring'' and circuitboards would then require ''Gold Contacts'' and ''Silicon'' instead of just ''Cast Gold'' and ''Silicon.''

'''Metal Press''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Steel, Titanium, or FutureMetal1/2/3, as well as Electricity and Water''

Outputs: ''Steel Sheet, Titanium Sheet, FutureMetal1/2/3 Sheet''

The Metal Press is similar to the Machine Shop.

'''Photolithography Lab''' 3x4

Inputs: ''Gold+FutureMetalX Alloy, Silicon, Superconductors, Electricity, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Circuitboards''

'''Optics Lab''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Diamond, Silicon, Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Optical Chips''

'''Kiln''' 2x3

Inputs: ''Carbon, Silicon, Water, Electricity, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Ceramics''

'''Nanotube Synthesizer''' 4x4

Inputs: ''Carbon, Electricity, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Nanotubes''

'''Computronics Lab''' 3x4

Inputs: ''Gold+FutureMetalX Alloy, Superconductors, Circtuiboards, Optical Chips, Crystal1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Computers''

Modern computers are only a couple of milimeters wide.

'''Plastics Refinery''' 3x4

Inputs: ''Carbon, Atomic Clay, Silicon, Water, FutureGas1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Plastics''

'''Steel Furnace''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Iron, Carbon, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Steel''

''Gold+FutureMetal Alloy-ifier'' 3x3

Inputs: ''Gold, FutureMetalX, FutureGas1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Gold+FutureMetalX Alloy''

'''Crystalizer''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Atomic Clay, FutureGas1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Crystal1''

Used heavily in robotics and computronics.

'''Chemical Vapor Depositor''' 3x3

Inputs: ''Carbon, FutureGas1, Electricity''

Outputs: ''Diamond''

'''Hospital''' 3x4

Inputs: ''Pharmaceuticals, Computers, Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''None''

X Hospitals are required for every Y citizens.

'''Atmospheric Adjustor''' 4x5

Inputs: ''Oxygen, Nitrogen, Electricity, Water''

Outputs: ''None''

X Atmospheric Adjustors are required for every Y citizens.

'''Animal Husbandry Facility''' 4x4

Inputs: ''Vegetables, Nitrogen, Water''

Outputs: ''Livestock''

'''Slaughterhouse''' 2x2

Inputs: ''Livestock, Plastics, Electricity, Water''

Outputs: ''Meat''

Animal go in, meat come out.

'''Pharmaceuticals Lab''' 2x3

Inputs: ''Atomic Clay, Plastics, Vegetabls, Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''Pharmaceuticals''

'''Housing''' Various Sizes

Inputs: ''Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''None''

X population requires Y houses.

'''Commercial Warehouse''' Various Sizes

Inputs: ''Electricity, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''None''

X population requires Y warehouses.

'''Commercial Distributors''' Various Sizes

Inputs: ''Electricity, Water, FutureGas1''

Outputs: ''None''

X population requires Y distributors.

==Lines==

Lines are used to transport utilities. Place a line adjacent to the appropriate plant to "charge" it. Uncharged lines do not transport their respective utility. Lines will automatically swap in a corner or appropriate crossing tile if the line turns or intersects another line.

Also, any building will act as a line to all adjacent buildings for all utilities. For example, building A is connected to a charged power line and a charged water pipe. Building A only uses electricity. Building B is adjacent to building A (but not the lines it is connected to) but only uses water. Building B is considered to be "powered" and "watered" (the specific types of charge for electricty and water).

'''Power Lines''' 1x1

Carries electricity.

'''Water Pipes''' 1x1

Carries water.

'''Gas Pipes''' 1x1

Caries FutureGas1.

==Paths==

'''Street''' 1x1

Significantly reduces the cost of travel for almost every unit. Turn pieces, T-intersections, and 4-way intersections are automatically swapped out for regular straight pieces where appropriate.

'''Rail''' 1x1(straight) 2x2(turn)

Trains can only travel on rails. Rails can intersect with other rails and streets and will automatically swap the previous structure for a rail-rail crossing or a street-rail crossing.

Colony Mode

2007-08-24T02:50:10Z

Admin: New page: This mode refers to the bulk of the game (or more accurately "toy") which is spent placing buildings. '''Premise''' In the future, humans have depleted nearly all natural resources from...

This mode refers to the bulk of the game (or more accurately "toy") which is spent placing buildings.

'''Premise'''

In the future, humans have depleted nearly all natural resources from all known habitable planets, forcing them to become a nomadic species. They live primarily in colonies that float through space looking for new planets and life forms.

Play as a colony leader, who's job is to build and manage a city contained within a large spacecraft.

'''Objective'''

This is technically a toy, so there is no clear objective. Some players may attempt to make a large city which requires efficient placement of buildings. Others may strive to build specific structures and will need to first build their target's dependencies.

'''Gameplay'''

[[Image:ColonyMode_Mockup.png]]

The main city area is divided into a grid oriented at 45 degrees (to increase visibility). Buildings and units can occupy any number of whole squares. Each grid space may only host 1 structure, but may host as many units as necessary. The game is turn based, but there are multiple turns per second thus giving the game a real-time feel. Units can only move 1 space per turn and must wait a specific number of turns before moving again.

Upon starting a new game, the player is presented with an empty city. Resources are dispersed randomly (and count as structures). If the player has enough resources, he/she can select a building and then place it on the map to instantly construct it. If the building comes with units, they are launched. A unit has 1 destination and travels along the least-cost path to its objective. Roads lower the cost of travel. Once it arrives, a unit remains at its objective for some randomized number of turns and then returns to its home structure. Citizens travel to work or recreational areas, harvesters travel to resources, transporters travel to industrial complexes, etc.

Certain structures generate resource income upon the return of their unit(s). This accounts for the majority of the player's resources. The one exception is money, which can only be generated by playing the minigames. All structures cost some amount of money, so minigames are inevitable. With minimal effort, a minigame will also reward a special building which is stored in a "Rewards" menu until placement in the city. Some minigames reward more than a structure and money, but these rewards can theoretically be earned through the existence of specific city structures.

Each building has construction costs and operational costs measured in units of various resources and utilities. See [[Structures]] and [[Consumables]]. If a structure's operational costs cannot be met, it shuts down and ceases launching its units. Buildings with harvester or transporter units will increase the player's resource stock each time the unit returns. For example, the Lumber Mill launches a harvester that travels to the nearest forest square and after some time returns to the mill thus increasing the player's supply of wood.

Most structures require certain utilities (see [[Structures]] for the list of utility plants). A meat-packing plant requires Electricity, for example. In order to operate, this plant must be within 3 grids of a Power Line or other powered structure.

The last dependency on structures are its employees. Each structure requires some number of staff and if the city does not have enough citizens then the each new structure does not operate. As the population grows, structures become operational on a first-built first-serve basis.

Some structures output products (see [[Consumables]] for a complete list). Each product requires some number of consumables. Once these consumables are delivered, the structure makes 1 product and sends it to the appropriate location as a delivery or transport unit. The location is determined by the type of product. Food, for example, goes to stores whereas wheels may go to a car factory.

'''User Interface'''

The screen is divided into two major sections. The main area displays the city (with approximately 20x20 tiles visible). A menu bar sits on the right of the screen, approximately 2 inches wide. The menu bar contians buttons that are labeld graphically. When the user hovers over them, the name will appear over the cursor. The buttons are as follows: Build Structure, Build Line, Build Path, Place Reward, Budget, Sell, and Options. If a button is clicked, then a submenu pops out to the left of the main menu bar. This submenu contains a scrollable list of all placable buildings within the selected category. Clicking on one of these brings up the building information in the bottom area of the main menu. With a specific building selected, the cursor is replaced by a transparent image of the building if the user mouses over the main city area. Clicking while the building is in a suitable location places that building permanently (unless it is sold).

When no building is selected in the submenu, the user can click on any placed structure to display its information in the bottom of the main menu. This information contains a picture of the building, and displays (with words and symbols) the build costs, operational costs, output, and units.

to be continued...

'''Scoring'''

Although there are not victory conditions, a player's score is determined by the colony asset value, current pool of resources and city population (both human and android).

Functional specifications

2007-08-24T02:49:45Z

Admin: New page: Welcome to this game's functional spec table of contents. There are two major parts: the colony simulator and the minigames. '''Colony Simulator''' Colony Mode Structures [[C...

Main Page

2007-08-24T02:49:34Z

Admin:

<big>'''Welcome to the Autism Game wiki.'''</big>

The main objective of this project is to collect scientific data for researching how people with Autism respond differently to certain stimuli than those without Autism. This project accomplishes this task by creating a game that collects and reports the player’s actions to key stimuli.

The main game is a colony simulator. Intermittent minigames will do the majority of the psychological testing, and will provide rewards that benefit the colony.

'''Major Sections:'''

[[Plot]]

[[Functional specifications]]

Plot

2007-08-24T02:48:53Z

Admin: New page: It has been nearly a century since the establishment of the World Space Initiative (WSI), a coalition of nations whos mission is to protect citizens and commerce beyond Earth's orbit. WSI...

It has been nearly a century since the establishment of the World Space Initiative (WSI), a coalition of nations whos mission is to protect citizens and commerce beyond Earth's orbit. WSI has allowed nations to flourish and was an essential factor in the success of the Global Ship Mercury, mankind's first colony out of Earth's orbit. Many lesser colonies have since been constructed, but none have lived up to the prestige of the Mercury.

Not everyone was pleased with the way WSI was being run, however. About 50 years ago, the radical freedomist Johaan Zjemira formed the Order of Orion. This organization claims that WSI exploits the lesser nations and oppressess all non-WSI space stations. Since its formation it has grown immensely and now poses a formidable threat to any vessel alligned with the WSI. This threat was made clear 14 years ago when the OoO attacked and destroyed the Mercury.

WSI has doubled its efforts to put an end to the OoO and as a sign of hope to its citizens, the new ship GS Mercury II is about to recieve its commission. WSI has appointed '''you''' as the captain. Do you have what it takes to take this fledgling space colony and fulfill its legacy as mankind's greatest achievement?

Main Page

2007-08-24T02:48:22Z

Admin: