Debris Hunters

Debris Hunters| Orbital Scrap Metal – The Video Game V2.0

Awards & Nominations

Debris Hunters has received the following awards and nominations. Way to go!

Global Nominee

Orbital Scrap Metal – The Video Game V2.0

Orbital debris is an ever-increasing threat to space assets such as Earth observation satellites and space stations and explorers. Your challenge is to create an orbital debris collection videogame web-app and imagine the possibilities of new companies that collect orbital debris and salvage the scrap metal to manufacture new products in space.

Summary

Using Unity’s 2D game engine we created a game where players jump on platforms and try to collect debris and avoid satellites in order to generate in-game currency. Players will jump from platform to platform and continue to rise and will lose if they fall. We also included spots (Debris processors) to save your collected currency thus informing players of the profit that can be generated through collecting debris. Players will be rewarded a predetermined amount of in-game currency depending on the type of debris they collect and how much debris was collected. We will also use factual data to educate players on space debris information and different satellites in space.

How We Addressed This Challenge

For our project, we developed an exciting and fun 2D platformer game that can inform people about the hazards of space debris. In short, players collect debris while jumping on platforms and try their best not to fall. This collected debris gives players in-game currency to buy cosmetics and upgrades.

Our project is important because it helps inform all age groups about the dangers of orbital debris and asks players to think of creative ideas to help solve this problem. It also introduces a new concept of profiting by collecting debris (this might be the motivation needed to find a solution).

Because of its simple design, our game can be enjoyed by both children and adults. And our info button will allow people to educate themselves upon the orbital debris problem and satellites.

How We Developed This Project

After looking through all the challenges, we were inspired by the Team Power of Pop (Winners of NASA space apps Osaka, Japan 2019). We instantly fell in love with their games simplicity, 2D design and its use of Nasa’s space data. So we decided to brainstorm our unique idea for a 2D game, and that is how we came up with Debris Hunters.

Orbital debris is uncommon knowledge for most people and we planned to create something that was both fun and informative. To create this game, we used Unity’s game engine (which uses the coding language C#) and we also used Adobe illustrator to make most of the in-game designs by ourselves (background, characters, platforms, etc.).

We faced multiple problems trying to implement the circle equation in our game and other problems when randomly generating debris, but the internet and local NASA mentors helped us find solutions.

One of our accomplishments was our ability to create a shop for players to buy cosmetics and upgrades. However, as a team, we all agree that are greatest accomplishment was our ability to work together using only online chat, video calls and sending data through emails. We were all very cooperative and positive throughout the making of our game.

How We Used Space Agency Data in This Project

We used space agency data in an attempt to give orbiting satellites in our game accurate locations and names. Using Unity Game engine, we were able to accurately name some of these Satellites. This influenced us to plan and hopefully include data regarding these satellites if hit by the player.

Also Included in our game is an info section were players can learn more about debris and their harmful effect on space exploration. This info was collected through multiples websites (including NASA’s website) and can help inform people of the serious debris problem. This section also encourages players to think of creative ways to solve this problem.