Hardware & Technical Dangerous life size shuttle project

Housemonkey · Oct 6, 2018

Hi everybody.
Im currently working on a project to create a shuttle size ship as realistic as possible. And wanted some feedback....
THE EFFECT:
a (visitor/s) would arrive at a location here in england. They would be met by a space engineer who will take them into a pod and beam them to the ship. On entering the ship the engineer will show them the cockpit, the nav desk, the amenities and sleeping quarters. The engineer will then briefly show them the controls and workings. The vistors will be surrounded by controls, lights, buttons, screens etc. The whole place will be filled with ship sounds (engine hums and mechanicals etc.) Then the engineer will leave them to enjoy their stay in the Elite Dangerous universe for 24 hours to do as they wish.
During their stay they may encounter out of game issues like leaking valves or cabin pressure problems or low oxygen alarms etc. that they must address using the ships guide book....
Anyway, thats the brief of this project. Any thoughts or advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou everybody.

Bill Clement · Oct 7, 2018

It sounds intriguing!

Have you ever taken on anything like this before?

It strikes me that 24hrs is a very long time in a simulation. Most attractions only last a few minutes, with an almost completely automated customer handling process. Perhaps a shorter mission duration might be in order? An 'escape room' type experience will take about 30-40 minutes, with staff on hand for briefings etc. That's a much easier time commitment for the customer to make and has the potential for many 'flights' each day, for exactly the same cost to you.

Another major hurdle might be licensing. Your attraction will be using someone else's software as it's main feature, so it'd be worth sounding out Frontier to see how they view the situation. They might have some requirements on use, or insist on payment. I'd get them to green light the project before I considered building any infrastructure or taking on staff.

Good luck, Housemonkey.

Housemonkey · Oct 8, 2018

Project

Thanks Bill Clement for some amazing advice.
No have not done anything like this before but i am a huge space nerd, and always have been.
Licensing is definitely something i want to get straight first and may explore other space sim games to see which will be most cost effective to obtain.
I was initially thinking of a 24 hour experience to make it fully immersive and be an overnight stay experience too. However, after reading your advice, it may be the Red letter day type of experience i should be aiming for.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.