High-Level Project Summary
making a game that translated these natural algorithms and systems in a fun way. We developed an interactive website game that combine science and art in an accessible way, to creatively educate folks from different backgrounds about Lagrange points in a fun memorable way. Drawn by the way mathematics and physics logically exist in our world .Satellite Journey's main gameplay mechanics revolves around exploring a set track of paths drawn in space. In this environment, players are expected to remember information and clear their missions by applying said information. When is done, players are rewarded with an interactable VR environment.
Link to Final Project
Link to Project "Demo"
Detailed Project Description
NASA’s near limitless resources of news, scientific discoveries, and research about Lagrange points has helped us to learn more everything related to the scientifical aspect of our project.
As such, we were able to develop a game that helps people from different backgrounds, cultures, and ages to better understand Lagrange points and it’s importance in human life. Although the challenge of turning STEM into STEAM is an open question in itself, we were able to find a perfect cross over between art and science.
Our intial process started by creating a website that displays all information required to clear the level in an interesting way. Afterwards, the hero section introduces a short text description of the idea and a button section allows the users to start discovering, what allows them to watch an animated video based on using a sound background of sun and earth in space recorded by Nasa to motivate the user to complete receiving the information gifted by the video to identity the positions( Lagrange points), so they can be ready to access the game , Which you do not need to be a professional electronic player to be able to, all you need is 2 buttons (enter, space) from the keyboard and a response speed that does not exceed 3 seconds in order to pass the stage with distinction and the correctness of the choice; the game is to send a satellite from Earth on a space mission by pressing the button ( enter); while It stays in each position for 3 seconds and continues the journey until you press button (space) to stop it at the appropriate position for the desired mission. If there is a combability between the point’s characteristics and the mission then you move to the next level with an other mission after your gain .
After clearing these challenges, players will unlock a special mode that allows them to freely roam and explore the unique map we’ve set out. By doing this, we hope that players will receive a memorable experience to which they can revisit whenever visit, especially with Virtual Reality (VR) or Metaverse technology.
The unique perspective of our solution to this challenge comes in how we managed to simplify scientific ideas through arts that rely on stimulating visual elements and fun learning techniques.
Benefits of Our Game
As previously mentioned, our game wants to make the process of learning enjoyable to players. By navigating our dynamic roaming 3D environment set in space, players will be able to learn about each Lagrange point along with its impact through quizzes.
By creating and modifying space, sound, color, and animation, we are able to create immersive environments that draws inspiration from different mythologies and ideas.
On top of that, having the future possibility of browsing an open space set in our galaxy, we hope that players of any knowledge-level and background, will live an unforgettable experiences that encourages them to think about science and motivates them to create science-based art.
Finally, we strive to make our informational system a beacon of references such that both scholars and fact searchers can utilize our website/game for all things related to Lagrange points.
The Tools Used:
To help us realize our ambitious mission, we utilized different tools and resources. They are the following:
Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and After Effects: Our team is composed of six members full of creativity and art. The adobe suite of software has helped us tremendously to create all graphical assets needed.
Blender: By the nature of our project, we created some renders of our envisioned 3D space in an effort to deliver the idea of the scale of our projects.
WordPress : These two software programs were used to quickly develop our website, which serves as an introductory platform for our concepts.
Space Agency Data
Thanks to the NASA Space App Challenge’s resource tab, our team had more than enough resources to learn about Lagrange points and its intricacies. Thanks to this database, we had a solid grasp about the subject at hand.
After summarizing key notes and information about Lagrange points, we created a spreadsheet https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12yYj2Fwsnn8TbgQAjztqgjLS7Tla3vZuBC0ms92ChFQ/edit#gid=0 that aided us at making the video and quizzes.
On top of that, referencing the current galaxy model as well as historical artistic data, we plotted our space map that made the VR free mode experience possible.
Hackathon Journey
The Nasa Space Apps Challenge experience was memorable to say the least. In such a short time Astro Tangier made bonds with its six members as well as tread through different challenges together.
Admittedly, none of the team’s members knew each other before hand. Yet all of us shared interest in the STEAM challenge due to our collective backgrounds in creativity and art.
As such, our group set out to conquer this challenge in the most creative way possible. We believe that we did a great job especially with the time constraint presented.
However, the NASA Space App Challenge also came with it’s difficulties. There were many concepts that we had no clue about (scientific data and technical skills) yet through hardwork and perseverance, we experienced first-hand unforgettable concepts.
Overall, we look forward to future hackathons and events where we can participate as our group to clear different obstacles and challenges. Special thanks goes to our local leads.