Richard Garriott won't be able to play Tabula Rasa on his way to the International Space Station as he wanted -- but tells Gamasutra how he'll communicate with players from his seat in space and brought the game code with him, making _Tabula Rasa
October 15, 2008
Author: by Staff
On his journey to the International Space Station, Richard Garriott wasn't able to play his Tabula Rasa, as he explains in new comments from our latest Intel-supported Gamasutra feature. "I do think Tabula Rasa does capture the feeling of space exploration in that players are taken to alien worlds and discover all the ways those worlds are different, and the same, as Earth," says Garriott. "I really wanted to be able to play the game from the ISS [International Space Station], but unfortunately the security issues were too problematic." The next-best thing, the designer-turned-astronaut says, is to connect with Tabula Rasa players from space. Garriott will be relaying messages from space that will be broadcast in-game. "Additionally, I will be taking the game code with me, so Tabula Rasa will probably be the first video game launched into outer space. And I'm bringing the players with me, as a part of Operation Immortality," Garriott explains. "I'm taking a digital time capsule into space called the Immortality Drive that will include a history of humankind's greatest achievements, personal messages from people all over the world, Tabula Rasa player character data and -- for a few -- digitized DNA sequences of select Tabula Rasa players. So while I'm not able to play the game from space (which I really think would have worked if not for the security issues it brings!), we are finding ways to share this experience with our player base in a fun and meaningful way." You can now read the full feature at Gamasutra (no registration required, please feel free to link to this feature from other websites), where Garriott talks about the influence of his parents -- and Tolkien novels -- on his life and career.
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