Roscosmos will turn its plans into a video game

Roskosmos has announced a video game, the scenario of which will be “closer to the plans” of the state corporation. This was reported in the official Telegram channel of Roscosmos. The game was called “Space – the space of the future.” The release of test samples of the game is scheduled for April 12, and the release of the first version of the game is scheduled for September 1, 2023, according to the message of Roscosmos.

“The scenario will be close to the plans of Roskosmos! You will be able to manage finances, people, an invention roadmap, and in the future, build extraterrestrial bases! The project will also allow you to get acquainted “with the real infrastructure of the industry, achievements and developments.”

As follows from the message, the project is being developed with the support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. Roscosmos itself only provided information support to the project, a representative of the state corporation specified to Vedomosti, without commenting on further details.

The Fund allocated about 3.7 million rubles for the project. on the terms of co-financing, the total cost of the project is 7.38 million rubles, indicated on the website of the fund. The implementation period for this project is from September 2022 to September 2023.

“The creative concept of the project “Space is the space of the future” corresponds to the thematic direction “Nation of creators”, as it contributes to the formation and strengthening of the tradition of world leadership of domestic astronautics in the minds of young people, generates interest in this industry through the game, is aimed at popularizing domestic astronautics in a cognitive and game form,” the Foundation’s materials state.

The recipient of this grant is the Kaliningrad innovation center Technocenosis. This company, as follows from the SPARK-Interfkas database, belongs to micro-enterprises and has been operating since 2008. The sole owner is Alexander Merkulov.

As follows from the objectives of the project, it is not only about creating a computer game, but also about attracting young people to this work, that is, the project will be created partly on a voluntary basis and have an educational component. Among the tasks is the creation of conditions for the education and participation of children and youth in the creation of cognitive and educational games.

We are really talking about co-development, Merkulov confirmed to Vedomosti. “At the moment we are at an intermediate stage: elements of the game itself, lessons, films have been created. Already several thousand people are engaged in the creation of the game,” he said. Merkulov stressed that he considers Cosmos a project with a great future, precisely due to this co-development.

“All the developed elements of the game, as well as the game itself, will be published on the Kosmiks.rus digital platform,” Roscosmos said in a statement.

Another grant for 3 million rubles was allocated for the development of this platform. from the Innovation Promotion Fund, indicated on the Cosmiks.rus website, made on the Tilda platform. Cosmiks.rus LLC and Technocenosis have a common collaborator Alexander Merkulov, indicated in SPARK.

According to Dmitry Nazarov, CEO of Kosmiks.rus, the game is created on the Unity engine, its technical characteristics will allow it to be played on standard PC users. He noted that the implementation of the project involves the creation of a course on 3D modeling on the Blender platform for independent study of the basics of video game programming, as well as work in groups with instructors for training. “In the end, we have to present at least 70 people who have developed 3D models that we could use in the game,” says Nazarov. According to him, now the technical team for the project has 7 specialists who are developing it and attracting user-developers.

According to Nazarov, the Cosmiks.rus platform is now only partially implemented on Tilda – we are talking about the start page. “Otherwise, the portal is an independent project, for which we have already reported,” he added. According to the top manager, now the functionality of the platform is in the process of changes: when the creation of the game is completed, the platform will also include a database of 3D models that can be further used in various online projects, Nazarov noted. Also on the platform there will be a database of specialists for developing games, as well as scenarios.

According to Yegor Tomsky, the founder of the Watt studio game studio, it will not be a game, but rather a short-term interactive project. As follows from the information on the website of the Cosmix project, at the moment the platform has already presented a package of seven games with a total duration of about an hour, including Gagarin’s first flight, the first flight to the Moon and the operation of the ISS. According to Tomsky, in general, the budget is 7 million rubles. small, but if there are developments, it will allow “to assemble a decent interactive textbook-game.” “Modern education is moving towards gamification, and schoolchildren like such stories,” said Tomsky. “I think projects about real astronautics are needed, even if they are not so spectacular, but they can inspire children to choose a profession.”

Information about any notable achievements in the development of video games at Technocenosis has not been presented in the public field, says Vasily Ovchinnikov, head of the Organization for the Development of the Video Game Industry. “But, judging by public sources, the company has some experience in educational projects,” he said.

“The educational potential of video games is enormous. There are examples in the world when video games are included in the school curriculum (Minecraft, This war of mine). It happens when the developers themselves integrate an educational mode (Assassin’s Creed) or a detailed historical guide (World of Tanks) into a video game,” Ovchinnikov believes. Of the space-themed projects, the expert also noted an educational modification to the spaceship building simulator Kerbal Space Program (developed by the Mexican studio Squad).

Now in Russia as a whole they pay great attention to the development of video games and e-sports, Konstantin Sakhnov, the founder of the Vengeance Games studio, agrees with him. “Gamedev is a growing area that is interesting for the younger generation. It is financially attractive and has become a new media capable of conveying information,” he explains. In his opinion, this explains the interest in the gaming industry on the part of various government agencies and near-state structures.

At the same time, 7 million rubles. it is not enough to create a commercial game project, he continues: usually such budgets start from 60-70 million rubles, if you do not take into account indie projects from independent ambitious teams. “Rather, it is the work of involving people in the gaming industry, education, PR and contact with young people,” he added.

Vedomosti sent a request to the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives and the Innovation Promotion Fund.