Project Space Station

Project Space Station
Developer(s)	HESware
Publisher(s)	HESware
Designer(s)	Lawrence Holland
Platform(s)	Commodore 64, Apple II, DOS
Release	1985
Genre(s)	Simulation
Mode(s)	Single-player

Project Space Station is a simulation game written for the Commodore 64 computer published in 1985 by HESware.^[1][2][3] It was ported to the Apple II and DOS in 1987.^[1][4][5][3]

The game puts the player in control of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and tasks them with building and maintaining a space station while also generating enough money with commercial contracts to make up for an anemic yearly budget. This can be seen as a discrete set of phases, except that they all proceed simultaneously. The exception is at the beginning of the game where the player has unlimited time in the planning phase before the game clock starts.

In the planning phase, the player first allocates the funds they have to various budget items, like crew selection, station modules, and research and development. Then they choose their crew, who have intrinsic task sets (like piloting and physics), and varying levels of competence and compatibility with other potential employees. From there the player purchases equipment like space suits and satellites, and station modules like laboratories and solar arrays. Then they schedule their launches using the two Space Shuttles available (Atlantis and Discovery,^[6] though the initial release used the Space Shuttle Challenger), and have their budget approved. In the final stage of the planning phase the player can create a simulated station with an unlimited number of parts, and without dealing with the later constrictions of the EVA.

The launch phase has the player decide whether launch conditions are stable enough to merit launch. If they give the implicit go-ahead, they engage in a light arcade sequence where the player attempts to keep the shuttle on course throughout its orbital burn. The more successful the player is, the closer the shuttle will be to the station.

Once the shuttle is in orbit, the player is tasked to assemble the components they brought up (or to fire off any satellites they have contracts for) in the Extra-Vehicular Activity, or EVA phase. Here the player directly controls an Orbital Construction Pod, a small ship with mechanical arms that an astronaut can use to move large equipment. Being careless here could have consequences as the pod or equipment may become damaged, and it may run out of fuel and become stranded until another pod can rescue it. Consequences were not limited to equipment damage: Stranded astronauts in pods could die when oxygen ran out. Other crew hazards included solar flares, which could kill astronauts on the station or shuttle if precautions (using an emergency module in station design) were not taken. Crew died in reverse alphabetical order from solar flares.

The player then transfers crew to and from the space station and assigns them to research tasks. Completing these tasks awards the player with government contracts that supplement NASA's budget. A math bug (or intentional cheat) in the game allowed an infinite supply of money, if the player allocated more than $10,000K to any budget. For example, if $800k is spent, the budget would be recalculated to $19,200K instead of $9,200, as expected.

Finally the player lands the shuttle. After determining that landing conditions are adequate, the player again keeps the shuttle on course as it turns from the station and enters its descent. Skill here determines how close the shuttle will be to the optimal point from the runway. After this the player controls the shuttle with a simple landing simulator viewed from the side. The more abrupt or overshot the landing, the more damage will be done to the shuttle and the longer it will need to be repaired before it can venture out on another mission.

The game is played using a menu system. Every option can be queried for in-game help, and every major task has a tutorial that simulates that task without the consequences of failure, and sometimes with additional assistance (like being able to pause a landing attempt). Another major feature is the message system that alerts the player when there are changes to mission status, wherever the player might be within the menu system.

Info rated Project Space Station five stars out of five, describing it as "probably one of the most ambitious programs ever developed for the Commodore 64 ... a fun, complex simulation".^[7]

Computer Entertainer rated the Apple II and IBM PC versions with two and a half / three stars.^[8]

• Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space — a US-Soviet Space Race simulator
• E.S.S. Mega
• Shuttle (video game)
• Earth Orbit Stations

• MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.^[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".^[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.^[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.^[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.^[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.^[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.^[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.^[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.^[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.^[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).^[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,^[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.^[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.^[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.^[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.^[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.^[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.^[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.^[17]

• IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

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• Project: Space Station manual for C64, Apple II, IBM (1987 Avantage)

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