On December 11, 1972, Apollo 17 landed on the moon with two American astronauts. This is the last time humans have left footprints on the moon, and it has been exactly 50 years.
More than 50 years ago, the world was in a bipolar pattern of the United States and the Soviet Union competing for hegemony. At that time, the performance of computers was not as good as today's children's electronic watches, but it allowed humans to enter space for the first time and touch the vast stars.
Although there is turmoil in the world of great strife, it has also left a strong mark on the history of human spaceflight.
The science fiction script killing "Stars" tells an overhead Cold War period space story, and the author uses a very delicate writing to depict the faces of the beings of that era.
When astronauts of different nationalities, of different faiths come together for the goal of "saving humanity," what happens to the story between them? When faced with a choice between ideals and family, emotions and missions, how do they choose?
Script name: Stars
Number of players: 6 (3 men and 3 women)
Script Type: Alternate/Sci-Fi/Emotional/Idea/Mechanics
Game duration: 4 hours
Screenplay Author: Stars
Distribution Team: Created by The Mountain River in the Table
Release date: 2022
Synopsis
In 1986, a meteorite from a light-year away crashed into Earth... Creatures go extinct, famine breaks out, and humanity faces an uncertain fate...
Under the crisis, a self-rescue plan called "Stars" is secretly unfolding in the bipolar pattern.
There is only one act in this world that cannot be conquered by the indifference of the stars and the eternal sound of the rivers: the struggle of mankind against death!
Unity or division, cooperation or competition...
The Stars Plan unfolds slowly...
Biography
Bass: Female, in her twenties. The widow of the American scientist Kinsky, Musk's niece, an nihilist, a prospective doctor of astronomy, was once a hippie.
Sophia: Female, in her twenties. Soviet female astronaut, brave and resolute on the outside, tender on the inside.
Daria: Female, in her thirties. Alek's daughter, Zhang Beidou's wife, Xingchen's mother, and a communications scientist, weak at heart, thinking of her daughter.
Musk: Male, nearly fifty years old. Nearly fifty years old, Beth's uncle, cheerful and lively. He is a substitute astronaut for NASA.
Zhang Beidou: Male, in his thirties. Chinese scientists have a deep and steady personality. Born in the countryside of Gansu, he was appreciated after joining the army and eventually worshiped under Alek.
Ivan: Male, nearly fifty years old. A civil servant of the Far East Maritime Service of the USSR, he had a strong personality and was an alcoholic.
A fusion of science fiction and emotion
"Stars" is another masterpiece released in 2022 after the big hits such as "A Thousand Buddhas' Dream" and "Polar Night", and it is also the second work of the "Biaoli Shan He Machine Core Series".
Many people may say, "The Stars is an emotional book cloaked in science fiction", but in my opinion, science fiction and emotion have never been two opposing styles. Whether it is Liu Cixin's "Bring Her Eyes" or Ted Jiang's "The Story of Your Life", it is a work that integrates science fiction and emotion just right.
The style of "Stars" is generally similar to the above two science fiction novels, the writing is delicate and timeless, the plot is touching, and the use of some science fiction terms and proper nouns is also quite professional, which is enough to attract science fiction fans like me. In addition, the reading of the script killing the first perspective is also more convenient for the player to substitute into the character, and the bgm of the scene also increases the player's immersion.
The 6 characters in the script, each with their own emotional line, some are love, some are family affection. The vast universe has lengthened their time and space distance from the earth's homeland, and when the transmission of a letter takes decades, people's loneliness will be infinitely magnified, and their desire for home will increase day by day. Therefore, when the player is immersed in the characters and carefully reads each scene of the script and clue cards, they will be deeply shocked by the reversal in the play. If you are a faucet player, you are more likely to be moved to tears by the emotional lines of the characters in the play.
Interesting game mechanics
The overall gameplay of Stars is around 4 hours, half of which is spent on mechanics. This reasoning is very difficult, and there is no particularly brain-burning murder design, so the game mechanics become the focus of the script.
The game mechanics are divided into two parts, the first is the ice-breaking cocktail mini-game, this game refers to some of the "sake" gameplay, the store and the player can decide whether to drink or drink. Considering that this ben does not particularly require hardcore reasoning, it is not impossible for players to drink a little drunk. Players also get some "material cards" during the cocktail party, which are very useful in the next game.
The second stage of the game is played similarly to flying chess, the game background is that 6 players need to be paired in two groups, flying three spaceships to compete, the first team to reach the base of Pluto wins. Space voyage is a classic gameplay in which the number of steps is determined by rolling dice, interspersed with various random events and character skills, which is highly playable. This link of the game not only tests the player's luck, but also tests the ability of teammates to cooperate, and it is easy to play into a happy book.
However, the longer mechanism link and the story immersion still create some sense of separation. After all, the tone of this script is still relatively heavy and tear-inducing, if the player plays a happy book in the game link, the next immersion will be some drama.
Profoundly inspired
When players reach the final stage, DM will unveil the intention of the entire script of "Stars", that is, to pay tribute to the 7 astronauts killed in the Challenger accident. This idea can be said to form a closed loop of the whole script: human beings enter space because of the space race, and then have to stop because of a space disaster. But the shadow of disaster cannot bind us forever, and one day, humanity will touch the stars again.
Personally, I think this idea is very applicable in the present. 2022 happens to be the 50th anniversary of the last human landing on the moon, and the world is once again plunged into the quagmire of division and confrontation and anti-globalization. Under the challenges of the epidemic, war and economic recession, should human beings unite or divide, cooperate or compete?
Bad bumpers
The player who chooses the script of "Stars" is most likely a science fiction fan, and as a science fiction enthusiast, it is most likely that he has seen a movie called "Interstellar". So there is a very embarrassing situation here, and it is also the biggest slot point of "Stars": colliding with "Interstellar".
Bumpers are common, and in science fiction works they are even more common. To put it simply, science fiction works based on concepts such as time-space travel, parallel universes, one-day prison, and inverse entropy can each be listed in a large number. But colliding with such a famous movie, and the final emotional immersion is completely based on the same setting as the movie, will indeed arouse some players' desire to complain. So, if you've watched Interstellar and are mindful of crashing into a meme, then I don't recommend playing this one.
Stills from Interstellar
In addition, as an emotional book, "Stars" and many scripts have set up the opening "suicide note" link, this link I don't remember how many scripts have been killed, it is indeed a bit of a bad street. Some players who are more immersive may like it, but some players may also find it uncreative.
Overall, "Stars" is a faucet suitable for developed tear glands, novice players who don't like to burn their brains, and sci-fi fans who have not seen "Interstellar".
Article Author: Needle in a haystack