We like a good video game as much as the next person. Heck, a few hours wasted with “Team Fortress 2” on a couple of big monitors is a guilty pleasure we’ll never be ashamed of. But this starship bridge simulation console brings immersive gameplay to a new level, and we wholeheartedly endorse it even if we don’t quite get it.
The game in question is “Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator”, a game played by anywhere from 2 to 11 players, each of whom mans a different station on the bridge of a generic starship, from Engineering to Communications to the vaunted Captain’s chair. The game is generally played on laptops linked together in a LAN with everyone in the same room, and as cool as that sounds, it wasn’t enough for [Angel of Rust]. The whole mousing back and forth to control the ship seemed so 21st-century, so he built detailed control panels for each of the bridge stations. The level of detail is impressive, as is the thought put into panel layouts and graphics. The panels are mostly acrylic in MDF frames, which allows for backlighting to achieve the proper mood. With the help of a bunch of Arduinos, everything talks to the game software over DMX, the protocol used mainly for stage lighting control. There’s a cool demo video below.
This is uber-nerd stuff, and we love it. Pyrotechnics and atmospherics would be a great addition for “realistic” battles, and dare we hope that someday this ends up on a giant Stewart platform flight simulator for the ultimate experience?
[Keith Olsen] sent in this rabbit-hole tip, because he apparently hates us. But we thank him anyway.
Dont forget http://daid.github.io/EmptyEpsilon/ :)
And https://smcameron.github.io/space-nerds-in-space/
It’s not a proper simulator unless the controls are rigged to explode at the slightest sign of trouble. ;)
Ah, yes. Flying through the air as one’s console explodes is so…athletic.
You reminded me of this scene:
https://youtu.be/m6tWmSckE40?t=214
Oh great, the link didn’t start at the time I wanted…
the place where Dr. McCoy said “Aren’t you going to rate my performance?”
I’ve played the game in question, and even on just a bunch of networked laptops, it’s quite fun. This is a very cool addition.
I hate to admit when Microsoft has a good idea, but tablet or convertible computers with touchscreens are the way to go, here.
artemis is a ton of fun, even better since the release of the mobile version too. tablets are great for engineering, and give you that next gen feel.
the games even more fun with multiple ships fighting
At first glance, before reading the post, I thought this was a Kerbal Space Program mod.
Is Artemis what 2 bit will be using in their new arcade?
Wow
i was working or something similar looking (although different in function) for a spaceship themed escape game. https://galacticpioneers.cz/en – there is unfortunately not many pictures of the stuff on the internet as that would be quiet massive spoiler, but if somebody is nearby, likes escape games and spaceships than maybe check that out :)
Fantastic! That is just the kind of escape room I’d play.
Long before the current escape room trend hit, a friend and I were planning a starship based escape room experience. We didn’t call it an escape room. Then he got diagnosed with cancer, and naturally his priorities changed.
It would be nice if you said SOMEWHERE on the website maybe what continent you are on? Maybe a country, or even a city? That way I can be immediately disappointed that I’m too far away.
The .cz domain should have been a hint about what country it’s in. Also, their postal address is on the contact page on the website.
They’re in Prague, Czechia.
Czechia…
Hmmm, Thanks! all this time (since the breakup), I thought it was called Czech Republic…
Sorry for missing info, yes as Kevin said, Prague, Czechia, Europe – that’s actually the biggest problem of Escape Games (compared to computer games for example) – they are on some exact place in the world and you need to go there to play :(
The use of Eurostile really completes this. I’d do mine in Futura in black on grey powdercoat, but different spacecraft for different folks <3
This is cool, but wow those square buttons in round holes are driving me nuts…
It’s not hard to buy some square drill bits after all!
Or some round buttons? Perhaps dremeling things? Perhaps I’m just spoiled by my tool and parts selection.
There’s also the AvE way, which is to make a broach to turn round holes into square ones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n1r5XfVkyk
I played this at NorWesCon a few years ago and it was amazing!
I understand the desire for physical buttons – but most of the consoles look like the size of smartphones and tablets.
I could imagine that a bunch of old phones and tablets could be loaded with a UI app. One for each console.
Is such an app available?
You guys should reach out to the guys that run DiscoverySpaceCenter.com to see if you can get the scoop on how some of their stuff is set up. Here’s a cool video about what they do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2RuUMAwzf4.
“a guilty pleasure we’ll never be ashamed of.” I think you may be contradicting yourself.