Willem van Heemstra: OGRE

OGRE (Object-oriented Graphics Rendering Engine)

To all GAME GEEKS who would like to follow my development for our DareToBeDigital: SPACEPORT Game.

To run a Game, one needs an Engine. Just like a Driver needs a Car ;o)
Our team has decided on using OGRE 3D, a free available Games Engine.

OGRE = An efficient, object-oriented hardware accelerated 3D engine. It abstracts the differences between APIs and platforms and allows scene-oriented coding through an easy to use object model. Adaptable to multiple scene types (indoor, outdoor, whatever).

see also http://sourceforge.net/projects/ogre/

It is a basic set of software Objects as depicted below:

See also http://www.ogre3d.org/docs/manual/manual_4.html#SEC4

Designing our Game
source Designing Video Games for Dummies

A game is more than the sum of its pieces; a game has a synergy that, after the game is complete, makes it something unique. Creating this synergy takes a lot of technical know-how, as well as a sense of design and art. Basically, you need to be a Leonardo da Vinci and an Albert Einstein all in one.

As a game designer, the paramount rule you must obey is to make sure that the core experience is appealing before you worry about the story. If story is your only concern, write a book.

Alex Garden, Relic Entertainment

The basic sequence of game design is as follows:

Come up with an idea for a game.

Create storyboards and rough sketches of your game world, the main characters, and the action.

List the details of your game and take into consideration everything about the game "universe."

Finally, put these concepts all together into a design document, something like a movie script that contains everything about your game.

Ad Idea

Before you write a game, you need an idea — a story, something to start with. Brainstorm and come up with an idea for a game; the idea should be loosely based on something that has at least a fleeting resemblance to a story. Then you need to come up with the goals of the game. Ask yourself questions such as "What will the player do?" and "How will the player do it?". This is what we have come up with:

SPACEPORT is an exciting new hybrid simulation game, driven by people as much as profit.
You can select your staff and choose your style of spaceport, then begin a new life orbiting the Earth where success relies on co-operation in this story-driven game.

You walk around inside, interacting with your crew and guests, and watch through internal and external CCTV. You extend your spaceport as your community grows.

You trade staff and parts online. You contend against a variety of antagonistic sources, including wily business competitors, disgruntled staff, fluctuating market reports and opinion-swaying radio news, in order to ensure financial and social survival.