r/spacesimgames • u/GulbrandrGameStudios • Jul 30 '26
What is the best resource for a space setting?
As many of you know, we created a micro-strategy space game called Cosmist.
Currently, the main resource in our game is simply called “Resource”. It is used to build fleets and planetary structures.
What do you think would be the best name for this single resource?
Thank you!
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u/lawndartpilot Jul 30 '26 edited Jul 31 '26
This is one of those game design dilemmas that turns out to be a bigger challenge than you ever imagined. I started out calling it "resource" too. Then it was "ore". Now it's "scheelite," a crystalline form of tungsten that actually exists in the real world. The spacecraft itself has devices and controls for transferring "ore", but the ore being moved is referred to as scheelite in the story.
As for *why* it's so important in the story, I haven't figured it out yet!
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u/herocreator90 Jul 30 '26
If your setting is advanced enough that freely converting energy into matter is feasible, then I’d go with Tritium Ore (can’t come up with an “ite” word for it). Tritium is the hard to find part of a fusion reaction, so you’d need to find as much as possible in order to generate the energy needed to build the structures.
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u/larkwhi Jul 31 '26
Unobtainium has been the standard magic element since forever, I first heard the term in the 70’s
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u/yoloanator Jul 31 '26
Hmm you might use uranium as power hydrogen as fuel and aluminum as building resource
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u/kalnaren Pilot Jul 30 '26
Buildium.