Thanks for your nice (and insightful) response, SolidSC. I appreciate what you said about exploring new ideas and map-making concepts, but you give me too much credit. I think that we should be pushing to redefine what the role a custom map can play. So yes, I will continue to work on this, though I just moved back to school so I'll be a little slow to update or post in the coming weeks.
I also liked what you said about the financial troubles for NASA. You're absolutely right that there should be something gained from the operation. Whether that "something gained" is scientific knowledge or a products mined on the planetary surface, it better be something worth the billions of dollars that are spent for their acquisition. Perhaps the most valuable thing to try to gain from the operation is a sustainable, reusable base that can be expanded upon (sound like base-building/expanding in sc2?)
I appreciate all the support. I see my maps as prototypes for future NASA-inspired maps to be made by myself or other map-makers out there. I used only publicly-available information like anyone else could, and I aimed to make custom maps that feature several of the overwhelming number of parallels between space exploration science and Starcraft 2. I am only an amateur map-maker. Hopefully in time there will be great space-science related custom maps to play. For now I'll keep updating my maps according to feedback, waiting to upload to Blizzard's server.
Thanks, DrSuperEvil, I think it was a good use of tax dollars too :-P
Also, since I was just working at a NASA center, I can best respond to your comment, Hobrow. The plan that you're referring to, that was to build a permanent lunar base on the Moon, was officially part of the Constellation Program of Pres. Bush's administration. Recently, though, under Obama, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden scrapped the Constellation Program because of a lack of funding and instead we are now following what is called the "Flexible Path" as recommended by the Augustine Committee. This new program is much less well defined (there's no specified schedule as of yet) but it has the ultimate goal of settling the moon, Mars, and other planetary destinations in the solar system.
Regardless of what the plan for NASA is right now, human beings will soon reach the moon with either international or private space ventures and we will soon set out to establish permanent bases there. In order to be successful, any venture will need to understand the lunar environment and be able to utilize the resources there, but the venture must also have the ability to reuse old infrastructure and build upon previous missions...these are two key concepts that I hoped to convey with my map collection.
Also, Hobrow was completely right by saying that Shackleton Crater is a primary destination and that there are permanently dark regions in the crater that very likely hold vast amounts of frozen water and perhaps even other resources like the isotope Helium-3. Thanks, Hobrow, for also mentioning that water can be used for everything from drinking water to breathing air to rocket fuel. Actually, most of the necessary technology to do this has already been developed...at NASA's Desert RATS, they have an ISRU device that transforms water ice into usable breathing air, among other things.
Getting to the moon and sustaining a base there is relatively easy...convincing Congress that they should put up the money to do it is the hard part.
Thanks for the responses. And thanks, Eiviyn, I've definitely been visiting TeamLiquid and plan on posting soon. Also, b0ne123, I don't know how to upload to EU servers...do you have some advice as to how I can do that? I'd appreciate that.
Alright, so here's the story. This summer I worked as a student intern in a NASA program called LARSS (Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars). My job was to make NASA-inspired maps that could include cutting-edge information about NASA concepts and technology and still keep the Starcraft 2 feel. I was not technically a NASA-employee since I was funded with a Virginia Space Grant, so I was just an intern for NASA. Also, the maps aren't officially associated with NASA because they employ only publicly-available information. The series is definitely still a work-in-progress, though I think it could be fun to play for anyone interested in manned space exploration or Starcraft 2.
I am new to the SC2Mapster community, but I have been visiting the site all summer. My job these past 10 weeks was to build NASA-inspired Starcraft 2 maps at NASA's Langley Research Center, and it was a blast. Two of the four maps are classic melee maps, but I've tweaked the normal starting conditions to reflect the demands of a realistic mission to Shackleton Crater on the moon...basically, you start with limited resources, forcing you inside the crater to find the better deposits.
Search "LunarHarvest" to find and play my maps. Thanks in advance for checking it out. I'll be updating, so any feedback is much appreciated. I hope you enjoy!
Also, if you want to check out the trailer for the map series that these maps are part of, check out the Lunar Harvest !
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Thanks for your nice (and insightful) response, SolidSC. I appreciate what you said about exploring new ideas and map-making concepts, but you give me too much credit. I think that we should be pushing to redefine what the role a custom map can play. So yes, I will continue to work on this, though I just moved back to school so I'll be a little slow to update or post in the coming weeks.
I also liked what you said about the financial troubles for NASA. You're absolutely right that there should be something gained from the operation. Whether that "something gained" is scientific knowledge or a products mined on the planetary surface, it better be something worth the billions of dollars that are spent for their acquisition. Perhaps the most valuable thing to try to gain from the operation is a sustainable, reusable base that can be expanded upon (sound like base-building/expanding in sc2?)
I appreciate all the support. I see my maps as prototypes for future NASA-inspired maps to be made by myself or other map-makers out there. I used only publicly-available information like anyone else could, and I aimed to make custom maps that feature several of the overwhelming number of parallels between space exploration science and Starcraft 2. I am only an amateur map-maker. Hopefully in time there will be great space-science related custom maps to play. For now I'll keep updating my maps according to feedback, waiting to upload to Blizzard's server.
:-) Thanks dude
Thanks, DrSuperEvil, I think it was a good use of tax dollars too :-P
Also, since I was just working at a NASA center, I can best respond to your comment, Hobrow. The plan that you're referring to, that was to build a permanent lunar base on the Moon, was officially part of the Constellation Program of Pres. Bush's administration. Recently, though, under Obama, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden scrapped the Constellation Program because of a lack of funding and instead we are now following what is called the "Flexible Path" as recommended by the Augustine Committee. This new program is much less well defined (there's no specified schedule as of yet) but it has the ultimate goal of settling the moon, Mars, and other planetary destinations in the solar system.
Regardless of what the plan for NASA is right now, human beings will soon reach the moon with either international or private space ventures and we will soon set out to establish permanent bases there. In order to be successful, any venture will need to understand the lunar environment and be able to utilize the resources there, but the venture must also have the ability to reuse old infrastructure and build upon previous missions...these are two key concepts that I hoped to convey with my map collection.
Also, Hobrow was completely right by saying that Shackleton Crater is a primary destination and that there are permanently dark regions in the crater that very likely hold vast amounts of frozen water and perhaps even other resources like the isotope Helium-3. Thanks, Hobrow, for also mentioning that water can be used for everything from drinking water to breathing air to rocket fuel. Actually, most of the necessary technology to do this has already been developed...at NASA's Desert RATS, they have an ISRU device that transforms water ice into usable breathing air, among other things.
Getting to the moon and sustaining a base there is relatively easy...convincing Congress that they should put up the money to do it is the hard part.
Thanks for the responses. And thanks, Eiviyn, I've definitely been visiting TeamLiquid and plan on posting soon. Also, b0ne123, I don't know how to upload to EU servers...do you have some advice as to how I can do that? I'd appreciate that.
Alright, so here's the story. This summer I worked as a student intern in a NASA program called LARSS (Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars). My job was to make NASA-inspired maps that could include cutting-edge information about NASA concepts and technology and still keep the Starcraft 2 feel. I was not technically a NASA-employee since I was funded with a Virginia Space Grant, so I was just an intern for NASA. Also, the maps aren't officially associated with NASA because they employ only publicly-available information. The series is definitely still a work-in-progress, though I think it could be fun to play for anyone interested in manned space exploration or Starcraft 2.
Does this make things clearer?
Hi All,
I am new to the SC2Mapster community, but I have been visiting the site all summer. My job these past 10 weeks was to build NASA-inspired Starcraft 2 maps at NASA's Langley Research Center, and it was a blast. Two of the four maps are classic melee maps, but I've tweaked the normal starting conditions to reflect the demands of a realistic mission to Shackleton Crater on the moon...basically, you start with limited resources, forcing you inside the crater to find the better deposits.
Search "LunarHarvest" to find and play my maps. Thanks in advance for checking it out. I'll be updating, so any feedback is much appreciated. I hope you enjoy!
Also, if you want to check out the trailer for the map series that these maps are part of, check out the Lunar Harvest !