Artifacts versus common sense, or how to make science fiction engaging.
If you look at a wide range of works of fantastic direction, then in 90% we will see a fairy tale, but in space. Neither physicist nor common sense stops the flight of the authors’ imagination, and even logic is often powerless. It's beautiful. Bombers in space drop sic! bombs on the enemy ship, and it is necessary to fly closer. And slowly. It's not facepalm anymore. It's a diagnosis. If anyone hasn't seen the Last Jedi, it's there. From an artistic point of view, this scene is quite understandable and the references in it work perfectly. But the viewer needs to abstract from the brain, so as not to throw up. Well, or repeat the mantra about what it is a fairy tale, a space opera ... well, etc.
But what is this reference to? The fact that this scene is a vivid example of the confrontation between beautiful and realistic. How would it be more realistic? Cluster unmanned missile, throwing near the enemy ship a large number of ammunition, if for some reason so necessary. Same effect. It's smaller. The drone is not a pity and cheaper. “Speed” even in their “liquid” space is probably greater. What designer in the SW universe ever came up with the idea of creating such an ineffective combat platform? The authors just didn't think about it. And that was not their job.
It's in ours. And show beauty, and not get logical holes or superpowers. And this task takes a lot of design hours.
In our game, the player will periodically face the unknown or unexplained. And now it's important! There are explanations for all artifacts and events. Some of them are on the verge of physical theories, some are beyond the bounds, but based on some very real theoretical assumptions. This does not mean that the player will get all the answers. Many secrets are likely to remain undisclosed. Which, in turn, will give a beautiful flair of mystery and fantasy of what is happening. Speaking of secrets. I plan to give different grains almost randomly to all the players. Whether the gaming community will be able to put these puzzles together, I don’t know. However, this is just an interesting element, one of many. So, in our game there will be many artifacts with fantastic properties, but they will all be subject to logic, rules, will have an explanation, and if the player somehow acquires information about the manufacturing technology (which is unlikely, but not impossible), then they can be produced (very unlikely, but not impossible).
One of the most striking examples of artifacts is the engines with which ships will move in space and make jumps from star to star. It is a well-known fact that no one makes them. Nobody knows how. They are only found or received as a trophy or as a result of the transaction. No one was able to take them apart. In case of extreme impact, the sphere of the engine simply rapidly decreases and disappears. How this works is unknown. However, everyone has learned to use them. One of the most popular theories in the Exodus universe is that it is an intangible object, but there are others.
To sum up. With miracles - wonderful, without miracles - boring. I spent about five years putting these puzzles together. Thinking through the gameplay in such a way that while remaining within the framework of science fiction, you can enjoy the riddles and the feeling of an unknown, new world that is very slow to reveal its secrets. And I'm sure it did. Welcome to Exodus! It'll be interesting!