Space Colony
Encyclopedia
Space Colony is a real-time strategy
video game developed by Firefly Studios
and published by Gathering
in 2003. Aspyr Media
released a Mac OS X
port in 2004.
in that the player has to care for the needs of a several individuals - here each with a unique predefined personality and different abilities. However the game is mission orientated and involves setting up a futuristic base and carrying out missions which involve mining minerals, developing relationships, harvesting resources to prevent running out of oxygen and power, collecting food, and fighting back alien attacks.
is also an issue in a small colony in space
, so meditation
spaces, psychotherapy
and even detention pods can be of use.
. She has to fight back alien attacks and try to rescue Space Colony's hard-working Scandinavian biker Stig, plus she has to prevent running out of oxygen. Alien Horde is open-ended, and the gameplay becomes more intense with each level. Beside the same setting the gameplay of the minigame has not much in common with the more strategic-oriented gameplay of Space Colony.
band Chromeo
.
Real-time strategy
Real-time strategy is a sub-genre of strategy video game which does not progress incrementally in turns. Brett Sperry is credited with coining the term to market Dune II....
video game developed by Firefly Studios
Firefly Studios
Firefly Studios is a computer game developer that has offices in London, England and Canton, Connecticut, with a QA department in Aberdeen, Scotland. The Company was formed in August 1999 by Simon Bradbury, Eric Ouellette and David Lester who had worked together on numerous titles such as the...
and published by Gathering
Gathering of Developers
Gathering of Developers was a Texas-based PC and video games publishing company, founded in January 1998 with the mission to bridge the gap between publishers and independent game developers, allowing independent developers creative control over their projects, ownership of their IP, and...
in 2003. Aspyr Media
Aspyr Media
Aspyr Media, Inc. is an Austin, Texas based company that specializes in porting Windows games to Mac OS. It has been in business since 1996, and as of 2003 owns 60 percent of the Mac entertainment market...
released a Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
port in 2004.
Gameplay
The basic premise is similar to The SimsThe Sims
The Sims is a strategic life-simulation computer game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Its development was led by game designer Will Wright, also known for developing SimCity...
in that the player has to care for the needs of a several individuals - here each with a unique predefined personality and different abilities. However the game is mission orientated and involves setting up a futuristic base and carrying out missions which involve mining minerals, developing relationships, harvesting resources to prevent running out of oxygen and power, collecting food, and fighting back alien attacks.
Characters
There are 20 main characters in this game. All the characters' attitudes are determined by their happiness. It is necessary to meet the characters' needs and demands so their work levels don't drop. Therefore they need enough oxygen, power and food or entertaining with bars, clubs, saunas and over other 100 buildings available. Mental healthMental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
is also an issue in a small colony in space
Space colonization
Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
, so meditation
Meditation
Meditation is any form of a family of practices in which practitioners train their minds or self-induce a mode of consciousness to realize some benefit....
spaces, psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
and even detention pods can be of use.
- Venus Jones - The main character, a generally affable, red-headedRed hairRed hair occurs on approximately 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations...
woman. She is extremely versatile ability-wise, being able to run oxygenOxygenOxygen is the element with atomic number 8 and represented by the symbol O. Its name derives from the Greek roots ὀξύς and -γενής , because at the time of naming, it was mistakenly thought that all acids required oxygen in their composition...
and power facilitiesPower stationA power station is an industrial facility for the generation of electric energy....
, gather plants for nutritionNutritionNutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
, and the other basic jobs, and extremely effectively. She comes from the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
- Stig Svensson - Also versatile, but not as skilled. Due to his muscular build, eating is very important to him and increases his happinessHappinessHappiness is a mental state of well-being characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. A variety of biological, psychological, religious, and philosophical approaches have striven to define happiness and identify its sources....
more than other factors. He is said to come from NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
however the game developers have given him a thick SwedishNorth Germanic languagesThe North Germanic languages or Scandinavian languages, the languages of Scandinavians, make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages, a sub-family of the Indo-European languages, along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages...
accent.
- Tami La Belle - A TexanTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, with fairly good abilities. Loves chatting with liked base members, but can often become needy and prone to drinkingDrinkingDrinking is the act of consuming water or a beverage through the mouth. Water is required for many of life’s physiological processes. Both excessive and inadequate water intake are associated with health problems.-Physiology:...
.
- Dean Jefferson Brown - A basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
playing medical student from Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. He has an obsession with cleanliness, making personal hygieneHygieneHygiene refers to the set of practices perceived by a community to be associated with the preservation of health and healthy living. While in modern medical sciences there is a set of standards of hygiene recommended for different situations, what is considered hygienic or not can vary between...
very important to him.
- Candy Simpson - 24-year-old CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
n airhead. Because her life revolves around shoppingShoppingShopping is the examining of goods or services from retailers with the intent to purchase at that time. Shopping is an activity of selection and/or purchase. In some contexts it is considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one....
, she doesn't do much, as shown by her pitiful ability chart, which only features basic cleaning abilities.
- 'Nailer' McBride - A former death row inmate with a ScottishScottish EnglishScottish English refers to the varieties of English spoken in Scotland. It may or may not be considered distinct from the Scots language. It is always considered distinct from Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language....
accent. Loves exercise, but has average ability area.
- Barbra Leechworth - A motivatedMotivationMotivation is the driving force by which humans achieve their goals. Motivation is said to be intrinsic or extrinsic. The term is generally used for humans but it can also be used to describe the causes for animal behavior as well. This article refers to human motivation...
sour person who is Blackwater's vice president; her paycheck is her important need. She and Venus are rivals and cannot stand each other.
- Babette Devereux - Spoiled lazy daughter of a rich French diplomatDiplomatA diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
. She soon realizes that life in space is far worse than living under her father's rules on Earth.
- Daisy Willowreed - A GranolaGranolaGranola is a breakfast food and snack food, popular in North America, consisting of rolled oats, nuts, honey, and sometimes rice, that is usually baked until crisp. During the baking process the mixture is stirred to maintain a loose, breakfast cereal-type consistency...
girl. She can do all planting single-handedly.
- Billy-Bob Perkins - A friendly but dumb former chicken farmerFarmerA farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
that is always willing to help out wherever and whenever he can. But he needs extremely precise and simple instructions as his brain is not nearly as large as his heart.
- Greg Chesterton - A egotistical sexist jerk. His social and entertainment needs are intense.
- Hoshi and Kita - Inseparable Japanese punk duo. They are connected deeply by their souls.
- Capt. Charles Worthington - Stereotypical officer and a gentlemanGentlemanThe term gentleman , in its original and strict signification, denoted a well-educated man of good family and distinction, analogous to the Latin generosus...
type guy.
- Nikolai Volkov - UkrainianUkrainiansUkrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
scientistScientistA scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...
. He has a positive can-do attitude and learns very quickly.
- Ashia Green - Former athlete obsessed with fitness. She has come to the colony to forget about an injury that ended her sport career.
- Vasilios Cosmos - Extremely quiet and shy guy. He keeps going on about the stars. Vasilios came to the colony to escape "them." Who "they" are remains unanswered.
- Bhoomi Sharma - Elderly lady from IndiaIndiaIndia , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. She loves life but that don't keep her on her feet for too long. Bhoomi will seek transcendency in sleep.
- Mr Zhang - Cool 80-year-old guy that joined the crew so he could see space before he died. He is filled with ancient Chinese wisdom and the only cybernetics expert in the game; can build androids and such.
- 'Slim' - Mopy, thrill-seeking, sleep-obsessed 15-year-old skater punkSkate punkSkate punk is a sub genre of punk rock, originally a derivative of the West Coast hardcore punk scene, that is named after its popularity among skateboarders and association with skateboarding culture. Skate punk most commonly describes the sound of melodic hardcore bands from the 1990s with an...
who was abandoned by his parents for being annoying.
Bonus campaign
An official bonus campaign was released in 2004. It has 5 missions and takes place on the planet Cobash.Minigame
A small 2D action-oriented game called Alien Horde was created to promote Space Colony. Players assume the role of Space Colony's leading lady Venus in this minigameMinigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
. She has to fight back alien attacks and try to rescue Space Colony's hard-working Scandinavian biker Stig, plus she has to prevent running out of oxygen. Alien Horde is open-ended, and the gameplay becomes more intense with each level. Beside the same setting the gameplay of the minigame has not much in common with the more strategic-oriented gameplay of Space Colony.
Music
Space Colony's theme song "You're So Gangsta" was contributed by the electro funkFunktronica
Funktronica is an underground subgenre of electro music characterized by the use of recent digital mastering techniques in order to produce a sound similar in terms to its 1980s precursor...
band Chromeo
Chromeo
Chromeo is an electrofunk duo formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2004.-History:Chromeo is composed of P-Thugg on keyboards, synthesizers, and talk box, and Dave 1 on guitar and lead vocals...
.
External links
- Official site
- Most extensive Space Colony Fan Site
- Space Colony at TV TropesTV TropesTV Tropes is a wiki which collects and expands on various conventions and devices found within creative works. Since its establishment in 2004, the site has gone from covering only television and film tropes to also covering those in a number of other media such as literature, comics, video-games,...
- Space Colony discussion group