Matrix Games

Welcome to the fifteenth Dev Diary entry of 'Space Station Designer'. In the previous entry (Dev Diary #14), we discussed some of the influences behind the game, including NASA's Space Station Freedom and various technical and history books we used for reference. In this entry, we'll expand on some of the games that inspired the design and aesthetics behind 'Space Station Designer'.

Project Space Station (HESware, 1985)

'Project Space Station' front cover of the Commodore 64 version (source: MobyGames).

'Project Space Station' is a simulation game originally released for the Commodore 64 back in 1985. It puts the player in charge of NASA, and the main goal is building a functional space station using a fleet of space shuttles while keeping a positive cash flow.

'Project Space Station' intro screen (source: MobyGames).

The game was very advanced for its time in terms of UI/UX design, and featured a wide variety of interesting mechanics, including outlining the layout of the station, providing commercial services, and managing crews.

'Project Space Station' station design screen (source: MobyGames).

'Project Space Station' crew management screen (source: MobyGames).

Moreover, it also sprinkled some 'arcade' elements on top, where players had to use their joysticks to keep the shuttles correctly centered during the launch, guide them back to Earth through the re-entry and landing phases, and move around astronauts conducting Extravehicular Activities (EVAs) in pods to perform installation and maintenance duties.

'Project Space Station' space shuttle launch minigame (source: MobyGames).

'Project Space Station' space shuttle landing minigame (source: MobyGames).

'Project Space Station' is a game that perfectly captures the optimism and the possibilities opened by space exploration in general, and setting a permanent presence in orbit in particular. Unfortunately, the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster -which took place the year after the game's release- had a negative impact that greatly affected the public perception on crewed space exploration and the risks associated with it. Regardless, 'Project Space Station' was one of the main sources of inspiration for 'Space Station Designer' and its mechanics, including station design, crew management, and the launch of resupply spacecraft.

'Project Space Station' space shuttle launch preparations (source: MobyGames).

There's plenty of great information online about 'Project Space Station', including the original game manuals and extensive playthrough videos. Its MobyGames entry has screenshots for all the platforms where it was originally available, including the Apple II, Commodore 64, and DOS. Lastly, 'The Digital Antiquarian' blog has a three-part series of articles about the game (Part I, Part II, and Part III) that are well worth a read.

Space Station Manager (Mistaril, 2003)

'Space Station Manager' is a game made by solo developer Kai-Peter Backman back in the early '00s. Unfortunately, his website www.mistaril.com is now defunct, and a lot of information about the game is now lost. You can find an announcement in the flipcode.com forums from March 2003, shortly after the game was released.

'Space Station Manager' gameplay, featuring a station with large solar panels.

Just like 'Project Space Station' back in the 1980s, 'Space Station Manager' was very unique for its time. Before writing this article, we thought it was the first game that allowed players to build plausible space stations in Earth orbit in 3D, but we found out that this other game that came out in 1998 did it first!

'Space Station Manager' was rebranded as 'Shorthike' a few years later, and it was eventually discontinued. Luckily, the developer made the last build available online for free.