History VideoGame / DysonSphereProgram

''Dyson Sphere Program'' is a three-dimensional, third-person [[ConstructionAndManagementGames construction and management game]] developed by ''Youthcat Studio'', a small but talented team of programmers from China. It was released into Early Access on Steam on January 21, 2021, to critical and commercial success.

* UnrealisticBlackHole: Most cluster seeds spawn a black hole system somewhere. [[ShownTheirWork Their design takes cues from what scientists currently assume black holes to look like]], but their spherical nature can often only be seen from specific angles, so most of the time they look more like the stereotypical swirly whirlpools of death IN SPACE they're usually depicted as. You can also pilot your mecha straight into one and back out without problems.

* IndustrialWorld: Technically speaking, every world becomes one of these once you start exploiting them, but you can take it UpToEleven by paving over the entire surface and covering it in production lines from pole to pole. Your starting world will most likely end up looking like this after a while.

* MadeOfIndestructium: As of the time of writing, no damage model exists in the game, making the mecha completely indestructible even if you smash it into a planet's surface going at Mach 10.

* SimpleYetAwesome: Solar panels are one of the early-game renewable power sources. They're relatively cheap and easy to mass-produce, and unlike wind turbines can be placed in direct contact with each other, letting you squeeze a lot of them into any given space. Installing a ring or three of solar panels around a planet's equator is a bit tedious but looks awesome and generates enough constant power that you won't have to worry about it again until well into the late game. It even works decently well on outer planets that don't get a lot of sunlight.

* SciFiWritersHaveNoSenseOfScale: Mostly averted. The game takes some liberties with distances and planet size for the sake of gameplay convenience, but the units of measurement are both appropriate and accurate, and the mere fact that you can exploit up to 64 star systems with multiple planets each shows that the devs are well aware of the monumental amount of resources required to construct a stellar megastructure like a Dyson shell.
* SingleBiomePlanet: Every planet in the cluster has only one biome. You start out on a temperate earthlike world with plenty of basic resources, but some like titanium can only be found off-world on lava planets or ice planets, and special resources like fire ice can only be harvested from gas giants. More planet types exist, each with their own unique properties and resources.

* UnrealisticBlackHole: Most cluster seeds spawn a black hole system somewhere. [[ShownTheirWork Their design takes cues from what scientists currently assume black holes to look like]], but their spherical nature can often only be seen from specific angles, so most of the time they look more like the stereotypical swirly whirlpools of death IN SPACE they're usually depicted as.

* SimpleYetAwesome: Solar panels are one of the early-game renewable power generation options. They're relatively cheap and easy to mass-produce, and unlike wind turbines can be placed in direct contact with each other, letting you squeeze a lot of them into any given space. Installing a ring or three of solar panels around a planet's equator is a bit tedious but looks awesome and generates enough constant power that you won't have to worry about it again until well into the late game. It even works decently well on outer planets that don't get a lot of sunlight.

** All celestial objects have gravitational pull. Taking off into space is not a big deal once you have the technology, but reaching escape velocity draws ''a lot'' of power from the mecha's core, as does every course correction during the trip. Getting too close to planets or stars while in transit will drag the mecha off course, potentially causing it to crash-land on that planet instead of where you wanted to go. It may also slow the mecha down or, if used correctly, increase its speed if you manage to perform a slingshot maneuvre. Last but not least, missing your target planet usually means you end up hurtling off into deep space because only a late-game mecha has enough power reserves to turn around and try again.

* BlindIdiotTranslation: It's painfully apparent that English is not the developers' mother tongue. Pretty much every tooltip and everything the Advisor says butchers the language in countless ways. Fortunately, they're usually understandable enough to work with.

** Belts don't physically exist for the mecha - it can walk right through them regardless of how high you built them, and unlike in similar games their movement also doesn't affect the PlayerCharacter.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: All planets, even ones that never hosted organic life, have at least one little coal patch to allow you to refuel your mecha for the return trip.

* ShownTheirWork: The game has a remarkably intricate stellar orbit simulation.

* SceneryPorn: The game is very pretty to look at no matter where you are or what you're currently doing.

* OneProductPlanet: Some planets have a resource mix that simply doesn't allow the production of one or maybe two products in any amount worth mentioning. The upside is that their main resources are usually extremely abundant, potentially making this a case of CripplingOverspecialization on a planetary scale.

* MadeOfIndestructium: As of the time of writing, no damage model exists in the game, making the mecha completely indestructible even if you smash it into a planet's surface going at 2,000m/s.

** All celestial objects have gravitational pull. Taking off into space is not a big deal once you have the technology, but reaching escape velocity draws ''a lot'' of power from the mecha's core, as does every course correction during the trip. Getting too close to planets or stars while in transit will drag the mecha off course, potentially causing it to crash-land on that planet instead of where you wanted to go. It may also slow the mecha down or, if used correctly, increase its speed if you manage to perform a slingshot maneuvre. Last but not least, missing your target planet usually means you end up hurtling off into deep space because only a late-game mecha has enough power reserves to turn around and try again.
* TheyCallHimBarkeep: The PlayerCharacter is only ever referred to as "the Engineer".

** All celestial objects have gravitational pull. Taking off into space is not a big deal once you have the technology, but reaching escape velocity draws ''a lot'' of power from the mecha's core, as does every course correction during the trip. Getting too close to planets or stars while in transit will drag the mecha off course, potentially causing it to crash-land on that planet instead of where you wanted to go. It may also slow the mecha down or, if used correctly, increase its speed if you manage to perform a slingshot maneuvre. Last but not least, missing your target planet usually means you end up hurtling off into deep space because only a late-game mecha has enough power reserves to turn around and try again.

** All celestial objects have gravitational pull. Taking off into space is not a big deal once you have the technology, but reaching escape velocity draws ''a lot'' of power from the mecha's core, as does every course correction during the trip. Getting too close to planets or stars while in transit will drag the mecha off course, potentially causing it to crash-land on that planet instead of where you wanted to go. It may also slow the mecha down or, if used correctly, increase its speed if you manage to perform a slingshot maneuvre. Last but not least, missing your target planet usually means you end up hurtling off into deep space because only an late-game mecha has enough power reserves to turn around and try again.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: All planets, even ones that never hosted organic life, have at least one little coal patch to allow you to refuel your mecha.

** Wind turbines are less efficient on worlds with thin atmosphere. Solar panels lose or gain efficiency depending on the planet's position in the solar system - the closer to the sun, the more solar power.

In its current Early Access state, most of its essential features are complete, including all relevant buildings and almost the entire TechTree. However, the developers have announced their plans to implement additional features like combat and mecha customization in future updates.

* PowerGlows: Research, the basis of your entire mission, takes the physical shape of brightly glowing cubes in various colors.
* SimpleYetAwesome: Solar panels are one of the early-game renewable power generation options. They're relatively cheap and easy to mass-produce, and unlike wind turbines can be placed in direct contact with each other, letting you squeeze a lot of them into any given space. Installing a ring or three of solar panels around a planet's equator is a bit tedious but looks awesome and generates enough constant power that you won't have to worry about it again until well into the late game. It even works well enough on outer planets that don't get a lot of sunlight.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: All planets, even ones that never hosted life, have at least one little coal patch to allow you to refuel your mecha.

** Wind turbines are less efficient on worlds with thin atmosphere. Solar panels lose or gain efficiency depending on the planet's position in the solar system - the closer to the sun, the more solar power.
* UnitsNotToScale: To be expected in a game on an interstellar scale. Planets are only a couple hundred meters in diameter, and although their distances from each other are given in AU[[note]]Astronomical Units, ~150,000,000km[[/note]], traveling between them only takes a few minutes at most.

* SimpleYetAwesome: Solar panels are one of the early-game renewable power generation options. They're relatively cheap and easy to mass-produce, and unlike wind turbines can be placed in direct contact with each other, letting you squeeze a lot of them into any given space. Installing a ring or three of solar panels around a planet's equator is a bit tedious but looks awesome and generates enough power that you won't have to worry about it until well into the late game.

** Planets orbit around their star and even each other constantly, entering summer and winter phases as their distance to their sun changes.

* DysonSphere: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Duh]]. Building a Dyson shell around one of the stars in the cluster is the game's ultimate goal, and the game makes a simplified yet still impressive show of what a monumental undertaking this is, both technologically and resource-wise. Before you get to completely encapsulate a star in a rigid shell, you're given the option to establish a Dyson swarm in its orbit as an intermediate stage.

''Dyson Sphere Program'' is a three-dimensional, third-person ConstructionAndManagementGame developed by ''Youthcat Studio'', a small but talented team of programmers from China. It was released into Early Access on Steam on January 21, 2021, to critical and commercial success.

[[TheFuture In the far future]], mankind has passed through TheSingularity and exists primarily in cyberspace. To feed the virtual civilization's ever-growing energy needs, a lone engineer is put in a mecha suit and sent to a distant star cluster with but one task: the construction of a DysonSphere. It is now up to them to exploit the cluster's natural resources, set up automated production and research lines to manufacture increasingly complex components, and eventually develop the technology and capabilities required to harvest the power of an entire star.

In its current Early Access state, most of its essential features are complete, including all relevant buildings and almost the entire TechTree. However, the developers have announced that they plan to implement additional features like combat and mecha customization in future updates.

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