Map screen of Aurora illustrating radar and fire control ranges, tracking multiple hostile contacts. From "The Coldest War"
Aurora is a semi-turn based strategy game reminiscent of a blend of traditional 4X gameplay (such as Master of Orion) and military naval simulators (such as Harpoon or Jane's Fleet Command). It's sometimes referred to as "Dwarf Fortress in space", as it possesses the same depth and storytelling capability as Dwarf Fortress, as well as the incomprehensible UI and frustrating bugs. The game follows the management and military deployments of one or more player races as they colonize the galaxy and encounter other lifeforms. Aurora was specifically designed with storytelling features designed to easily support Let's Plays, making it one of the first games specifically containing features for Let's Players. For instance, characters in Aurora possess personality traits that have little or no effect in game, but can be easily parlayed into developing a personality for that character when writing a narrative LP.
An epic, multi-year, crowd participation LP of Aurora entitled The Coldest War is ongoing on the Something Awful forums, beginning in March 2012 and as of February 2016 is still active (most likely slightly past the "midpoint" of the LP's plot). The Coldest War has proven extremely popular with nearly 18,000 posts and close to 1,000,000 views as of February 2016.
Due to Aurora's nature (turn-based with variable-length turns of between a few seconds and several months), it is only really suitable for SSLPs.
External Links[]
- The Coldest War game thread
- Official Aurora site/forum
- Aurora official "rules" Wiki
- Main list of Aurora LPs on the official Aurora forums
- Subforum for Aurora LPs authored by Steve, creator/designer of Aurora
- NATO vs. Soviet LP, an excellent LP that, though likely permanently unfinished, is as long and as detailed as a Tom Clancy novel.
- Trans-newtonian Campaign, another excellent LP.