我已经有30年没有编程了。然后我用Godot制作了一个太空游戏。
两年前，我偶然发现了用于制作游戏的Godot引擎。我的编程经验可以追溯到30年前。当时我是一名雷达设计师，花了多年时间开发用于模拟电磁波传播的软件。为此，我甚至获得过一个科学奖项。我按照Godot网站上的教程进行学习，结果深深吸引了我。
我并没有为游戏制定具体的计划，而是让它自然发展。然而，我有一个愿景：随着地球资源的日益稀缺，人类将不得不超越地球，甚至超越我们自己的太阳系去开采资源。在这个过程中，人类将面临天体的危险，可能会遇到外星人，还有一些坏人，即海盗。故事开始于一名宇航员收集金矿石。随后，我当然添加了采矿机器人。为了增加趣味性，我加入了流星暴风和可以击碎流星的激光枪。接着，我设计了海盗作为反派角色，因此开发自主机器人枪（类似于空间战争无人机）就显得合情合理。然后，我设计了攻击宇航员的外星人。在我看来，外星人就像是保护自己领土不受侵略的西部土著人民。于是，开发其他技术，比如磁力收集器、磁力排斥器和电磁武器，便显得顺理成章。
两年前，我开始在一台Linux笔记本电脑上构建这个游戏。没有团队，没有预算，也没有任何人会玩它的保证。只有一个想法和大量的时间。还有与我妻子之间的紧张关系，她对我长时间面对电脑屏幕感到不满。这就是《宇宙淘金热》诞生的故事。
**我为什么要制作这个游戏**
我曾是《模拟城市》的粉丝。我喜欢《团队要塞》的快速动作。我喜欢《帝国时代》和《将军》中战术战斗与战略资源之间的平衡。我觉得许多AAA游戏在3D华丽效果上表现强劲，但在目的和机制上却显得薄弱。我想要一些原创的东西，因此我忽略了其他科幻/太空游戏，专注于我个人的愿景。我知道许多人可能不喜欢它，但我相信它会找到一群喜欢它的人。
**为什么选择Godot**
我信仰开源。多年来，我知道我必须离开Windows，因为它的监控遥测。完全转向Linux花了我整整一年，而人工智能在这个转变中帮助了我很多。因此，Godot是一个显而易见的选择。此外，我对Unity的定价丑闻感到失望。即使当时Godot的功能较弱，我仍然觉得这是正确的选择。如今，Godot越来越成为显而易见的选择。我的Godot使用经验是，它从未让我失望过。我从未被任何事情阻塞。我喜欢它加载速度极快的方式。我喜欢GDScript语言。我对它优雅的面向对象结构充满热情。唯一的不足是：我希望在编辑器中能够打开两个并排窗口，并且希望插件库更加丰富。但这都是小问题。
**目前的进展**
游戏功能已完整，处于测试阶段。核心循环运作良好，9项技术已实现，7个太阳系可供探索。两个敌对派系——海盗和外星人——都已全面运作，拥有自己的AI行为和武器。现在我需要的是玩家。真正的玩家，他们会推动系统，发现边界，并告诉我哪些地方感觉不对，哪些地方感觉不错。游戏名为《宇宙淘金热》。它已经上架Steam，演示版是免费的。
查看原文
Two years ago, I accidentally discovered the Godot Engine for making games. My coding experience was 30 years back. I was a radar designer and I spent years making software for simulating propagation of electromagnetic waves. I even got a scientific prize for it. I followed the tutorial on the Godot website and I was hooked.<p>I did not have a plan for the game. It grew organically. However I had a vision: with Earth's resources getting scarcer, Humanity will have to go beyond Earth and even beyond our own solar system in order to mine for resources. It will face celestial dangers, probably aliens, and also bad humans, ie, Pirates. It started with a single astronaut collecting gold ore. Then of course I added mining robots. For fun, I added meteor storms, and a laser gun to shatter the meteors. Then I designed villains as pirates, so it made sense to develop autonomous robot guns, sort of spatial war drones. Then I designed Aliens, that are attacking the astronaut. In my mind, Aliens are like the indigenous peoples of the Far West that are protecting their territory from invasion. Then it made sense to develop other technologies like the Magnetic Harvester, the Magnetic Repulsor and an Electro Magnetic weapon.<p>Two years ago I started building a game on a Linux laptop. No team. No budget. No guarantee anyone would ever play it. Just an idea, and a lot of hours. And some tension with my wife that resented my long hours facing a computer screen.
This is the story of how Cosmic Gold Rush was born.<p>WHY I BUILT IT
I was a fan of Sim City. I loved the fast action of Team Fortress. I love the balance between tactic fights and strategic resources in Age of Empires and Shogun.
I felt that a lot of AAA games were strong on 3D glitz and weak on purpose and mechanics.
I wanted something original, so I ignored other Sci-Fi/Space games in order to concentrate on my personal vision. I know that many will not like it, but I am certain that it will find its niche of people who will enjoy it.<p>WHY GODOT
I am a believer in open source. For years I knew that I had to leave Windows because of its spying telemetry. It took me a full year to switch completely to Linux, and AI helped a lot in making that transition easier. So Godot was an obvious choice. Plus I was put off by the pricing scandal around Unity. Even if Godot was weaker at the time, I felt that it was the right choice. Now Godot is increasingly becoming the obvious choice.
My experience with Godot is that it never failed me once. I was never blocked by anything. I love the way it loads super fast. I love the language GDScript. I am enthusiastic about its elegant object oriented structure. Only weaknesses: I wish that I could open 2 side by side windows in the editor, and also that the plugin library was richer. But this is very minor.<p>WHERE IT STANDS TODAY
The game is feature-complete and in beta. The core loop works. The 9 technologies are implemented. The 7 solar systems are explorable. The two enemy factions — Pirates and Aliens — are fully operational with their own AI behavior and weapons.
What I need now is players. Real players who will push the systems, find the edges, and tell me what feels wrong and what feels right.
The game is called Cosmic Gold Rush. It is on Steam and the demo is free.