CisLunarFreighter/Detailed requirements analysis

An overview of major requirements: What do we and the users want from a/the game?

1. Entertainment -- Should be fun.
 * Hands on ship control against fairly realistic G fields is fun.
 * Dodging debris and asteroids is fun.
 * Blasting asteroids to mine for valuable ore, artifacts, or other resources is fun.
 * Working together as a team to accomplish some giant task is fun.
 * Communicating with online buddies is fun.

2. Social -- Interaction with other people via
 * Chat -- most mud environments allow this
 * Possible IRC integration.
 * Possible GAIM integration.
 * Email -- useful or not?
 * Potentially useful.
 * Game consequences -- Makes the game more interesting
 * Loads delivered begin to pile up or generate demand for missions. Player or others may undertake new missions.
 * There could be a combat component
 * You could be a smuggler and have to smuggle space contraband

3. Educational - Exposure to some science, engineering, and operations concepts
 * Links to applicable background reading of various levels
 * Internal math and reading requirements
 * Math practice - Examples
 * Loading of fuel and cargo mass vs. destination decisions in math assistance screen demonstrating use of spreadsheets in load balancing calculations with easy reference and reading showing sample problem solutions to control the center of mass. Java applet with sliders to allow easy selection for within specification loading.
 * Learn about how gravity affects space crafts
 * Learn about theoretical fuel requirements to attain certain amounts of power and speeds
 * Malfunctions might occasionally require mission abort or manual calculations.
 * Misfortune (hijacked to Saturn by pirates) might require decisions about how much cargo to abandon or redistribute manually as fuel
 * Or how to combat/outsmart pirates using strategy or finger twitching
 * Reading around the web
 * Use of open source tools for modding
 * Software design and coding techniques

4. Reinforcement of Societal Norms
 * Aliens and Pirates are best avoided but blasting is ok for self defense. Self defense applies only if your ship has taken demonstrable damage from the other side of the battle.
 * Mistakes blasting other freighters results poor reputation, Space Patrol pursuit, and eventual game session loss or incarceration, ship lockdown.
 * Responding successfully to distress signals can improve standing with police.
 * Maybe have a karma system where you can be "bad" or "good". Why not allow the gamer to be a "good guy", a police man, a pirate, or alien?
 * Do we want aliens?
 * Mistakenly blasting a Space Patrol ship is not survivable since escalating levels of Space Patrol show up to capture or blast miscreants.