Space/subspace
In some ways, this game started as a science question that I asked claude.
Conversation with Claude
Me:
in physics, if space is compressed, does mass take up more, less or the same volume as normal…
Claude:
The three-regime picture:
- Undetectable regime (everyday matter, current universe): the metric term exists but is many orders of magnitude below the binding forces. Atoms, planets, orbits — all completely unmoved in any measurable way. This is where basically everything we interact with sits.
- Detectable-but-survivable regime: you could imagine a scenario where the metric term is strong enough to produce a real, measurable shift in equilibrium size — a slightly bigger or smaller atom, a perturbed orbit — without being strong enough to break the structure entirely. This isn’t purely hypothetical; it’s the same kind of physics invoked in discussions of “dark energy” growing strong enough in the far future (phantom energy scenarios) to first stretch galaxies, then solar systems, then planets, before finally exceeding molecular and nuclear binding — the so-called Big Rip. So there’s a genuine intermediate zone of “affected, but not yet destroyed.”
- Catastrophic regime: the metric term exceeds the binding force outright, and there’s no new equilibrium nearby — collapse or disruption follows quickly. Neutron star formation, black hole formation, or (on the expansion side) the terminal stage of a Big Rip.
But I also mixed in some space game ideas that have been floating round in my head for years, including lots of inspiration taken from the original elite that I played many years ago on the BBC B computer. The game is still in prototype mode, and lacks a story and quite a few other features I might add, but I find it fun at least.
Docking mechanic is quite different from the original but I think retains the same charm of being hard enough to feel like you’ve accomplished something when you manage to dock.