Witwat.net

I've been working on a bunch of backburner projects and one's coming to the point where I'm going to be looking for aid in the near future. This is the initial summary of one such idea which I have been working on during some down time.

Set in a currently ill-defined, nebulously sci-fi space opera sort of environment, there exists a racing league for modular grav sleds (heavily inspired by good old Wipeout). The game is a campaign-style series of tactical level races, with the goal of the campaign being to win the season. Players each take control of a team and develop their stable of drivers, garner sponsorship deals and, naturally, buy bigger and better vehicle components with their winnings.

The game itself is PBEM-style and turn based. Working with a browser-based flash front end, players take a few moments to log in, submit their next move in the current race and can then go about their daily business. Meanwhile, once everyone's turns are in, the phase plays out and the game rolls on. In between races, players can trade, upgrade, talk smack, etc...

I've got a text-only version with the very basic physics model (think arcade-style physics... ease of use over realism) and my notepad mockups of the interface. Essentially, all control is done through the diversion of power from the powerplant (roughly akin to the classic X-Wing/Tie Fighter series, which had engines, weapons and shields). By choosing whether to throw all your available energy into thrust or split it between forward thrust and banking to the right, you choose whether you're going straight ahead 5 or forward 3 and right 1, for example.