METZTLI - Space Apps Challenge

METZTLI| Breakthrough

Breakthrough

Faster-than-light travel is the key to humanity’s dreams of inter-galactic space travel. Your challenge is to create an app, tool, game, or other interactive application that showcases both existing, as well as next generation/theoretical, breakthrough spacecraft propulsion in an engaging way.

Unknown Space: Rockets

Summary

Metztli is a video game that aims to show the principal different types of propulsion. The user has to take and adventure into the unknown by traveling through the universe while explodes the resources from the different destinies as well as control their ship at the same time.

How We Addressed This Challenge

Our team developed a video game where we could show the different types of propulsion system, displaying the ones that are already existing and being used, as well as the ones that are yet in theoretical research.

It is important because, as we said, the game exposes information about propulsion systems, with the goal of creating conscience about the immensity of the universe and the current limits for the human, motivating the users to create and develop new propulsion systems able to take humanity to the next level.

We hope that younger users become interested in rockets and astronomy, through curious and interesting dialogues on these topics, of course, having a good time playing at Metztli!.

How We Developed This Project

We got inspired by the principal challenges humanity face in the spatial realm, such as the huge distances between interesting and important places for scientific research or the difficulties that science and technology have when developing propellers able to reach a wider scope of destinies.

This project has a recreational, playful and educational purpose, since it aims that the user learn the basic performance and use of propulsion systems in an interactive and dynamic way, taking as reference the current propulsion systems in use as well as the ones in theoretical development; not to mention some interesting data we expose through short dialogues.

As far as execution is concerned, we used Unity, a free software for 2D video game development, which is based on C# programming language. Moreover, we employed Photoshop, Paint 3D and Piskelapp for image creation.

On the other hand, due to current sanitary conditions, the team organization and the approach of the game were complicated because everything was in a remote way; in addition to the fact of working with members which no one of us had previous experience as crew.

How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project

In the first place, we consult and read NASA’s documents (draft) about propulsion systems, such as the chemical ones, non chemical and advanced propulsion technologies to select and include some of them in the game.

We also used NASA data to get curious and real facts about the Solar system's planets; as well as the NASA gallery to get pictures of them.