Games in the Planetarium, PAX East weekend! Feedback needed.

Elenym

Got any ideas for games in a planetarium?

A tiny bit of background: I'm a huge fan of games and of PAX (I've attended East since it began). I also happen to work at the planetarium in the Museum of Science here in Boston. I've recently been pushing pretty hard to get gaming into the planetarium as much as possible. Some of you may recall events we held during last year's PAX East weekend - Space Station (Parsely #4), and a Rock Band/Amplitude event.

We're currently trying to figure out if we'll be doing a gaming event this year around PAX East. But I'd love to hear from you guys about what you would be interested in seeing! Any game(s) you think would be awesome in a planetarium? I make no promises as to what we'll be able to do, but I'm excited to hear what ideas you all might have!

Thanks!

Xenigma

Having attended Harmonix's event last year I'd certainly love to see them return. Playing Space Oddity in the Planetarium was definitely one of my highlights for PAX East 2016, and it just made for a really fun event to wind down with since it was Sunday evening.

ilta

maybe a space sim? Elite Dangerous, or Star Citizen Arena...

divisionten

Music games in a planetarium for sure! They have the most interesting acoustics. Either way, you probably want to stick with pick up and play titles, with pretty graphics.

craiola

You might also look into some table top games that could be played outside of the planetarium but still in the general vicinity? It's morning so my brain is a little fried but there should be plenty of science/ sci fi themed table top games out there

Artemis could also be fun. Its a simulation game where you play the role aboard a starship (think star trek) its been a super fun party game for friends and I in the past. Here's a link to their site. artemis.eochu.com/

It also might be neat to get some VR stations set up. I know there are various games and "demos" where you can explore the universe and the solar system and it's honestly really cool.

divisionten

I was thinking about that game too but couldn't remember he name. Artemis would be awesome, but in addition to the planetarium screen, you'd need four connected computers for the individual job terminals.

Elenym

You guys are the best.

Xenigma - You're the one who played 'Space Oddity'? That was definitely one of the highlights for me too. And 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. Hope I didn't make you all too sick with the effects behind the game. :biggrin: (Also, I'm super glad you enjoyed the event!)

Craiola - Funny you mention it, I love Artemis and I've been thinking of bringing it into the planetarium for a while. The biggest hurdle is that it would only be six people actually getting to play at a time. Would people enjoy being spectators? I know other planetariums have run it, but they are usually smaller places so there are only like a dozen people actually in the dome at any given time.

If I can spread things out beyond the planetarium I definitely love the idea of doing sci-fi tabletop and astronomy VR.

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

Beker

Elenym wrote: »

Craiola - Funny you mention it, I love Artemis and I've been thinking of bringing it into the planetarium for a while. The biggest hurdle is that it would only be six people actually getting to play at a time. Would people enjoy being spectators? I know other planetariums have run it, but they are usually smaller places so there are only like a dozen people actually in the dome at any given time.

I have seen conventions have Artemis rooms where 5 people play and they have spectator seating so up to 50 could watch. When I saw it the spectator area was about half full. Whether it is fun to watch really depends on who is playing, if the players are being entertaining, either because they RP well, or maybe comically inept, it can be very fun to watch. Best of luck.

Elenym

Beker wrote: »

I have seen conventions have Artemis rooms where 5 people play and they have spectator seating so up to 50 could watch. When I saw it the spectator area was about half full. Whether it is fun to watch really depends on who is playing, if the players are being entertaining, either because they RP well, or maybe comically inept, it can be very fun to watch. Best of luck.

Oh that's great to know, thank you!

ilta

since star trek: discovery got pushed back, i'd be perfectly happy to watch a group of people run a starship live.

Upmind

Not easy, but Space Pirate trainer in a planetarium sounds so god damn cool

Sepioth

Anyone take any videos of last year. BE cool to see what it looks like playing games there :P

All I could find

Lindsay Lohan

Rock Band sounds like it would be awesome. It's a Wii U game only (I think) but Runbow might be neat projected that way too and allows for quite a few players.

Xenigma

Sepioth wrote: »

Anyone take any videos of last year. BE cool to see what it looks like playing games there :pop:

That video gives a good idea of what to expect, at least for Rock Band. Gameplay projected on one side, while also projecting a wide variety of visualizer-type graphics across the whole dome. Meanwhile everyone (save the band) is sitting in nice reclining seats and enjoying the music and atmosphere. 10/10 would do again without hesitation.

@Elenym Wasn't my intention going in but I had one of the first band slots (playing Bass) and it seemed almost obligatory. Next time I have to go for an ultra-exclusive planetarium 100% full combo. :P

Elenym

Yeah, unfortunately there weren't a lot of great videos from the Rock Band event (it's really dark in the dome). I'll check and see if I can dig anything up, but the one you found is a pretty good representation. Just imagine it being really big!

Also thanks for the recs for Space Pirate Trainer and Runbow. If nothing else my personal Steam account will be growing as a result of this thread (Runbow does appear to be on Steam). :biggrin:

@Xenigma We were all stupidly happy that people were picking spacey songs. It was obviously not a requirement, but it warmed our little planetarian hearts!

smorggie

Here's my video from last year https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzTD4YN-629UMFFsTUZ3Z1pSYXM

The videos don't do it justice.

schuss

Would Rez work? That seems like it would be mindblowing in there.

Elenym

@smorggie Awesome!! Thanks for posting that!

@schuss Ooooh, that would be pretty cool. I will look into this.

macrogeek

What about Geometry Wars?

theadman2315

Definitely Elite Dangerous
Maybe a driving simulator like Forza that it helps to have the wide view

JDubs

As far as Artemis goes, you can do multiple bridges and have PvP or co-op play. So you can involve at least 10-12 people at a time, perhaps with viewscreens on opposite ends of the planetarium. I'd say you would need a desktop per bridge, but the stations could potentially be tablets. I've heard the tablet versions can be unstable, but Amazon had Fire tablets on sale for $40, so the cost of entry is low. Potential players could also just grab the app from their respective App Stores and hop if you supply the bridge servers.

Xenigma

Any update with this? I'd love a good excuse to visit the planetarium in a couple weeks time!

robirex

Xenigma wrote: »

Any update with this? I'd love a good excuse to visit the planetarium in a couple weeks time!

Yeah, this sounded pretty cool. I hope they are going to do it again this year.

Elenym

Thank you all so much for the feedback, it's been really helpful! Unfortunately, due to a few things that were out of our control, I don't think we will be able to put on a gaming event this year around the time of PAX East. I'm very sorry, as I was also really looking forward to it! For those of you that live in the area, we're hoping to start trying some new things in the future. I'm hopeful that we can put something together for PAX East 2018, so please message me here if you come up with more awesome ideas.

Also, feel free to message me if you're coming to town and just feel like visiting a planetarium! I'm always happy to say hi to fellow awesome PAX people! :biggrin:

ClannMorgan

That's too bad. I know how hard it is to put something together like that and then to have things come up that detonate it really sucks. I hope you are able to put it on for next year, as it sounded like a really fun event.

craiola

That's unfortunate but we totally understand. I live in Lowell and absolutely love visiting the Science Museum so I'd be more than happy to check out any future events you plan whether they are scheduled around PAX or not.

Xenigma

Disappointing but completely understandable @Elenym. Good luck setting up more events in the future!

Elenym

Thank you guys for being totally understanding! PAX people are the best people! :biggrin: