Evangeline

Giza | On the Way to the Sun

Sol Tactus

High-Level Project Summary

Sol Tactus is an alternate reality game that will be determined by ciphers. To unlock the story, players must solve the ciphers. It will help young players learn more about the Parker Solar Probe and its story, as well as space weather and other sun-related phenomena such as (sun wind, dust, aurora, solar eclipse, etc.). Players will learn about space while having fun while playing the game, which can be played alone or with friends. The use of Sol Tactus is significant because it provides an interactive way to tell the story of the Parker Solar Probe's journey while also piquing the players' interest and enthusing them.

Link to Final Project

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/13I4JNu2Q4jh98a4NduSKCXpzoA0MLX6U?usp=sharing

Link to Project "Demo"

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/10gEaEliKVyNUDIYbbozoOIMbtgsxrdHp?usp=sharing

Detailed Project Description

In accordance with the challenge “On the Way to the Sun”, the “Sol Tactus” is a game in which the journey of the Parker Solar Probe will be displayed under the sequence of events of Parker Solar Probe Journey events in ciphered codes.

Having the Probe as the “Main Character”, ciphers will be the means of communication and transmission of messages between the scientists (User) and the Probe.

The main reason behind choosing ciphers is that it will give the player a conflict of interest that will boost his engagement and interaction with the game by challenging him to think to locate the ciphered information, which will advance until he understands the entire probe's journey events. The user, who is described in the game storyline as the "scientist,” will thrive and challenge himself to solve cipher codes for which he extracts the desired information the probe wants to tell.

Besides, by progressing through each level, a short update from the probe will pop up on the screen, informing you of what the probe is experiencing and what challenges it is undertaking.

The Parker solar probe will be through the whole game talking in a mechanical way where he may appear to have a connection error or and so forth in a way that pushes the user to believe he is talking to a machine.

The fictional aspect, or storytelling aspect, of the solution to the challenge, is the artificial intelligence that they equipped the probe with. The AI is the main character of the story, and is talking, or sending messages, to the monitoring intern (the user). The messages that are sent by the probe contain information about the journey of the probe, the phenomena that it discovers, and briefly detailed information about the various phenomena that are required to be mentioned in the “Objectives” and “Potential Considerations” sections on the NASA Space Apps website.

The beginning of the game will be an introduction video that tells the user the story behind the Probe’s making. The beginning of the story, however, starts with the launching of the Parker Solar Probe into space. The AI at first has a conflict with its making as it is struggling to realize its existence and what it should speak like. That appears in the parts of the script where the probe is saying “I. I. I AM?" I AM.” And the error messages that appear whenever it is talking about itself as a probe.

Phase 1 comprises 3 levels where the player is still getting to know the probe, the system of the game, and the operating system that the player is working on. Phase 1 has extra subtitles that assist the player and guide them to solve the problems.

Level 1 talks about the launch.

Level 2 talks about the WISPR instrument and shows images of it.

Level 3 talks about the first Venus flyby and the gravity assist.

Phase 2 is the phase where the probe shares more information with the player. The ciphers in this phase get progressively harder for the player to decode. The levels get longer, and the information given to the player by the probe will be more than the information given in the first phase. This phase occurs during the middle of the probe’s journey, where most discoveries take place, and when the fictional AI overcomes the conflict it is having with realizing its being and is having another conflict with the communications between it and the player (troubles sending media files, sending distorted media files, or text).

Level 4 talks about the solar eclipses phenomenon

Level 5 talks about the orbit of the Parker Solar Probe.

Level 6 talks about magnetic switchbacks and the extreme temperature of the sun.

Level 7 talks about the second Venus flyby.

Level 8 talks about the second Venus flyby.

Level 9 talks about the solar wind and solar storm and their relationship with the aurora.

Level 10 talks about the solar wind and solar storm and their relationship with the aurora.

Phase 3 is near the end of the journey, where important milestones such as entering the solar corona for the first time occur. The most difficult ciphers are in this phase, and the conflict is whether PSP wants to continue exploration beyond the date when its journey will end.

Level 11 talks about galactic dust.

Level 12 talks about the fourth Venus flyby and its findings.

Level 13 talks about entering Corona

Level 14 talks about the future of the Parker solar probe in space.

The Game was developed through the Flutter framework platform using Dart Programming language.

Space Agency Data

We used the data that NASA offers regarding space weather phenomena such as solar wind, dust, and solar storms. Data from NASA provides us with valuable information about how they form, why they occur, and how astronauts cope with them.

We use this information to present it in the game as ciphers so that the player does not feel an information overload and children do not get bored while playing. And they interact with the game. Information about Parker Solar Probe's journey and its structure is all based on information found on the NASA website.

For example, the data provided by the Parker solar probe about the corona of the sun, such as videos and images, are all taken from the NASA website and blogs. This information inspired us to create more ciphers about the images and records of the Parker Solar Probe.

Another example is the data provided by the Parker solar probe Exploration of Venus. It is the geological surface of Venus, which we used to create the story of our game.

We used data from the videos of NASA about flybys of Venus and parhelion provided and revised by expert astronauts.

Finally, we used data provided by NASA about the earth's magnetosphere, aurora, and Langerin point 1, and it helped us increase the length of the story, which is beneficial as it provides more facts and scientific information and increases the fun at the same time.

Hackathon Journey

Our experience with NASA Space Apps was quite satisfying. We worked as a team to produce the best work we could; we brainstormed ideas and our vision came to life, and meeting in person helped us communicate and improve our soft skills. The hackathon was exhausting but rewarding, and we expanded our space awareness while learning more about the Parker Solar Probe, the first human-made object to touch the sun. We studied our star, the sun, and related phenomena such as solar wind. We also learned about the Earth and its relationship with the sun, as well as how the sun influences weather and natural events on earth, such as the aurora, which is caused by the earth's magnetosphere and solar wind. We discovered Venus's geological structure and how it is Earth's twin. Finally, we learned about the sun and its corona, as well as hypotheses regarding why the corona of the sun is hotter than the sun's surface.