Line #36 VideoGame/SpaceChem


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/spacechem-sleepless_2408.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:CO + 2H = CH[[subscript:2]]O.]]
3	In [[http://www.spacechemthegame.com/ SpaceChem]] by Creator/{{Zachtronics}}, you are a "reaction engineer" in charge of running chemical processes through literally nanotechnological processes: you pick up atoms from one end of your reactors, add and remove bonds to transform them into the desired atoms or molecules, and then spit them out the other side. As the game progresses, you end up with more complicated inputs -- from single atoms to molecules to randomized assortments of molecules (which then must be sorted and shipped out) and beyond.
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5	As you progress through the game, a plotline is slowly revealed, starting as you begin your employment at the eponymous company, [=SpaceChem=].
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7	Compare VideoGame/OpusMagnum, a similar game by the same devs.
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9	!! This game provides examples of:
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11	* AbsurdlyShortLevel: The tutorial level that teaches players that pipes can cross has no reactors. The entire point of the game is to program reactors, so the level is solved very quickly.
12	* AIIsACrapshoot: Seemingly the case with the Isambard MMD in the Danopth defense mission. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that it was most likely sabotage by a technician mind-controlled by the local EldritchAbomination.]]
13	* AnyoneCanDie: And will. If there is a named character, they are probably doomed, usually due to one of the [[EldritchAbomination local horrors]] you're unfortunate enough to encounter on your journey. Notable deaths include [[spoiler:Joel]] ([[TheBlank blanked]] and put out of his misery via gunshot), [[spoiler:Tim]] ([[YourHeadAsplode exploding head]]), and [[spoiler:Marianne]] ([[ColonyDrop asteroid impact]]).
14	* ArtMajorPhysics: Chemistry doesn't actually work like this--molecules are ''three''-dimensional, a machine to pick up single atoms could never be built, different elements are different sizes, fusion and fission Do Not Work That Way, etc. -- [[RuleOfFun but that doesn't really matter, does it?]]
15	* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: Although the game is reasonably accurate with regards to certain details, and is in fact used as educational software in chemistry classes for certain topics, most of the chemistry is vastly oversimplified, inaccurate or plain impossible. Most notably, near the end of the game, the reactions introduce [[spoiler: elements that don't exist]].
16	* AttackOfTheFiftyFootWhatever: The defense missions consist of the player character fighting off a gargantuan EldritchAbomination that easily dwarf them, whatever buildings happen to be in the level and even the surrounding terrain.
17	* BigCreepyCrawlies: [[spoiler:Yarugolek, the Cydnidae Adept]] takes the form of a giant insectoid that uses the remnants of a ''mining robot'' as its shell.
18	* BossSubtitles: For the EldritchAbomination bosses at the end of each planet. Amusingly, even the "boss" of the 63 Corvi DLC campaign gets one, namely "Corvi - Type K Main Sequence Star".
19	* CombatTentacles: [[spoiler:Gorgathar]] uses these to attack the [=SpaceChem=] facilities during the defense mission on Sikutar.
20	* DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu: The boss missions end up very much like this. The player, a simple chemical engineer who diddles with molecules, finds increasingly creative ways to destroy massive monsters that could otherwise easily obliterate the ''very planet'' they are standing on.
21	* DemoBonus: You can load a demo save into the full game to continue where you left off.
22	* DemonicPossession: The monsters largely seem to be capable of this, killing the host in the process. This happens to [[spoiler:Joel]] and eventually to [[spoiler:Bruce Novak]].
23	* EarthShatteringKaboom: Fail to defend your control center, and the proprietary Reaction Mediation Device in said center annihilates the planet--which includes you. At least in theory--the events on-screen are a simulation, and a failed solution means only means you go back to the drawing board.
24	* EldritchAbomination: The last level on each planet (save the tutorial) is a battle to destroy one of these. They typically end up remotely possessing and/or causing the gruesome deaths of several named characters, and killing large swathes of the company's local workforce in their rampages.
25	* FutureFoodIsArtificial: One of the products [=SpaceChem=] manufactures is ... fish cakes. Apparently, that's all [=SpaceChem=] employees get to eat.
26	* GratuitousGreek: The input and output regions are labelled with Greek letters. Also, [[spoiler: the fictional elements]].
27	* GuideDangIt: Certain quirks of the game's mechanics are never explained to the player; most are never explicitly required, but can make a huge difference in cycle or symbol efficiency. One notable example is bonder priority, which determines how atoms are bound together when using a "Bond +" instruction while multiple mutually exclusive bonds are possible.
28	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Implied in the Alkonost boss-battle. [[spoiler:Said boss is introduced as a "Defiler-Alchemist". In that level, you sort "tainted water" pumped from the sea; apparently some of the hydrogen atoms in the water have been transmuted into uranium. (ArtisticLicenseChemistry at work here, since those molecules would be unstable IRL, and would look nothing like water.) You then feed those same uranium atoms into a particle accelerator to fire the beam that kills the boss.]]
29	* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: Certain levels are named "[[ThisIsGonnaSuck Prelude to a Migraine]]" and "No Ordinary Headache". It makes complete sense with the associated story chapters, but as you would expect, this is where the game starts throwing curveballs at you (randomized input, etc.).
30	* LevelEditor: The Research Net's Journal of Reaction Engineering, which contains a comprehensive editor and nearly 200 official user-made levels.
31	* MacGyvering: Defense missions always require you to supply a machine built from whatever you have on hand at the base. One memorable boss requires you to turn a transport rocket into a ''nuke'', using ''water'' as your only raw material.
32	* MegaCorp: [=SpaceChem=], the titular company. They primarily deal in exploiting exoplanets for resources, but dabble in most anything else that is necessary for them to be self-sustaining during lengthy space missions.
33	* MindOverMatter: [[spoiler:Bha Shogth, the Controller]] apparently manipulates objects within Atropos Station using this method. [[spoiler:It can also manipulate much larger objects from outside the station, as Marianne finds out the hard way.]]
34	* NintendoHard: The game is infamous for its rapidly increasing difficulty level. Only a handful of players have ever had the patience to finish the game, as by the end, designing a solution can take a dozen hours or more, depending on if the basic concept is sound or not.
35	* PyramidPower: [[spoiler:Quororque, the Defiler-Alchemist]] takes the form of a giant floating pyramid [[EyeOfProvidence topped by a single giant eye]].
36	* RemixedLevel: World 6 level "Danger Zone" and World 7 level "The Blue Danube" are identical, the only difference being that the latter is where you are introduced to the flip-flop command.
37	* ShoutOut:
38	** The first level of Hephaestus IV is titled, "[[Music/TheLonelyIsland Like a Boss]]."
39	** An optional challenge on the same planet is named "[[GratuitousRussian KOHCTPYKTOP]]", after a previous work (''Kohctpyktop: Engineer of the People'') by the author. The level has you produce silicon fragments, which are the main element you use in that game.
40	** One of the user-made puzzles involves creating [=C3H8=]. The name of the level is "[[WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill Propane Accessories]]".
41	* StarKilling: The "boss" of the "63 Corvi" DLC mini-campaign is the titular star, billed as "Corvi - Type K Main Sequence Star". The goal of the "battle" is to fill a drop container with a "proton moderator" that will slow the thermonuclear fusion inside the star so that it collapses under its own gravity.
42	* StealthPun:
43	** One of the user-made puzzles requires you to sort a randomized sequence of hydrogen and helium atoms, without access to a sensor. The name of the level? [[spoiler:"Nonsense!"]]
44	** Another user-made puzzle requires you to correct impossible isomers of sodium hydroxide; the name of the level is [[spoiler:"Lies" (a pun on "Lyes")]].
45	* StopPokingMe: Click on the cargo ships that pass in the background on the main menu. [[StuffBlowingUp See what happens.]]
46	* UnexpectedGenreChange: While most of the levels have you designing machines to meet quotas of output molecules, the defense missions require you to design a machine that you can use to respond to external events.
47	* {{Unobtainium}}: With fusion reactors, it's possible to make atoms of elements of very high atomic number (up to 109), some of which in reality are postulated to exist but cannot be sustained for any realistic length of time.
48	** [[spoiler:Elements Θ, Ω, Σ, and Δ, which if you managed to split one (require user-made level), you'll discover that they are actually atom with super-large atomic number, with Θ having atomic number of 200 and Δ 202.]]
49	** A cross-promotion with ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' added a new set of levels based on the Australium atom.
50	* {{Unperson}}: [[spoiler:You -- it's heavily implied that sometime during or after the events of the ending, [=SpaceChem=] expunged every last trace of evidence of your employment.]]
51	* TimeLimitBoss: The bosses must be defeated before they destroy the command center, with no exact time remaining shown. The first one, ''Isambard MMD'', requires three targets to be filled up within individual time limits and not done too early either.
52	* WeHaveReserves: [=SpaceChem=] has a lot of [[DeadlyEuphemism "unfortunate accidents" and "anomalies"]] at its colonies. Doesn't stop them from expanding across the galaxy.

Context VideoGame / SpaceChem