I’ve uploaded the 2nd video about Orion Sphere LRP event 1, this time focusing on the wonderful UK Starship Bridge Simulator (UKSBS).
Focusing on the ship missions at Orion Sphere, the combined efforts of the Orion Sphere (Conan Daly, Michael Rees & Nathan McDonald) and UKSBS (Wayne Street, Raymond Toghill & James Balls) teams was very impressive. Like any creative project, creating the ideas for a new game universe can become a black hole, filled with constant research. Add to this the care of managing the inspiration of other universes, whilst giving things your own spin; all of course with the time pressure of: eek the event draws ever closer! It was revealed at the end of the event that the two teams had not worked together before, making things more impressive.
As a coder that has also dabbled with the Unreal Engine and Blender, I have an appreciation of how much effort & time it takes to design assets and populate a map, never mind the tweaking and playtesting that comes after that. This then leads back to the point I mention in the video about being able to moderate ship missions in real time, plus staying In Character (IC), bringing together a collection of ‘a very particular set of skills’ 😉
Of course there were teething problems, I don’t want to misrepresent things and imply perfection. Plus as I mention in the video the learning curve of the players. I think the foundations for this aspect of the LARP has been well established, providing a solid basis for future events. Another important part of both software development and world building is building up a library of assets to help speed up the creation of new assets easier. A quick reality check is that this is being done by small teams, so health, work, etc., can get in the way, so I remind myself not to demand excellence just appreciate it when it is there 🙂
Orion Sphere has been designed to be a living universe, to allow the players to add lore and their own stories, to strive to maximise player agency. The UKSBS has helped create and run a key part of that universe, setting a high bar, which technically was not required to make Orion Sphere event 1 so impressive. To repeat what I say in my video: amazing!
Check out this video for a tour of the system used in event 1:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UKStarship/permalink/2204873423131460/
Orion Sphere Links
https://www.facebook.com/orionspherelrp/
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/conan3994/boards/
https://www.facebook.com/SJEganPhotography/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UKStarship/
http://daid.github.io/EmptyEpsilon/
https://www.facebook.com/WhiteStarClothing/
Batjutsu 