Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus told us to look beyond the earth and consider the rest of the universe in its own right. In this new game, named Copernicus, you will explore a galaxy of nearly endless possibilities.

Everything in this game is based on the number 5.

Overview
Copernicus is an MMORPG that takes place on thousands of planets throughout the Copernicus Galaxy. While you are in space, it acts like a single-player game, where your actions do not affect any other players. But once you land, on a planet, the multiplayer aspect kicks in. A few planets will be huge open-world hubs that can hold up to 10,000 players at a time. But most planets will be small combat arenas that can accomodate only 10-20 players. This is where small multiplayer skirmishes will take place.

Character Design
What makes this game great is that your character can be not just anyone, but any THING. You get to customize your species, using a set of guidelines. Serpent? Werewolf? Man-eating Lobster? All of the above? You name it, it's possible. Even with 100,000 people playing, they will all look extremely different.

You can also be human, but other than that, there are no pre-set "races."

Your species design will affect many aspects of the game. For example, being a cold-blooded reptile might make you able to regenerate health quickly, but will slow you down in cold environments. Being a bird will give you limited flight, but will make your bones fragile. Different species will have scores in five "natural points" categories: At the start of the game, once you've customized your character, you can also customize your starship. Starships come in 5 different classes: Within each class, your ship can be customized to look like whatever you want. However, you will have a starting budget that you cannot go over. As you gain money and minerals throughout the game, you can upgrade your ship with new gadgets and fortifications.
 * Strength points (melee attack)
 * Health points (total health, regen rate)
 * Hand points (weapon skills)
 * Body Points (speed, flight, agility, and stamina)
 * Intellect points (tech skills)
 * Cruiser: fastest travel time, average weapons, average capacity, average armor.
 * Tanker: slowest travel time, average weapons, high capacity, high armor.
 * Raider: average travel time, good weapons, weak armor, low capacity.
 * Scouter: fast travel time, weak weapons, average armor, average capacity.
 * Mothership: slow travel time, highest capacity, good weapons, average armor.

The Galaxy
The Copernicus Galaxy is filled with glory, and filled with danger. In space, non-playable pirate fleets will attack players at any moment, engaging them in space combat. The Galaxy will be an enormous map that contains wormholes that transport you from one solar system to the next.

The Galaxy will be divided into 5 regions called Belts - the Storm Belt, the Fire Belt, the Light Belt, the Rock Belt, and the Dark Belt. Each Belt will be divided into 1000 or so solar systems. Each solar system will have an average of 5 playable planets.

That makes 25,000 planets.

The planets will be randomly generated. Sure, some of them will be pretty much identical copies of others, but you'll never know. There will be at least 50 different "themes" for arena planets. Themes could be something like desert, jungle, ocean, fire pit, ice world, metropolis, etc.

And there will be five hub worlds, one in each rim: Anyone can go to a hub whenever they want. If they have to wait in a lobby first, then the wait will be short. Combat in hubs is highly discouraged. Save that for the arena planets. Hubs are for trading, conversing, and leveling up.
 * Celestos is located in the Light Belt. It consists of a floating city where the sun shines brightly and players can challenge each other to starship races in the vast skies. Celestos has a commercial theme, where the citizens are carefully watched by NPCs and fighting is punishable by permanent exile.
 * Nyotheron is located in the Dark Belt. This planet of eternal night consists of high-rise apartments with mile-long bridges, as well as an expansive cave system. Nyotheron has a criminal theme, where authority is loose and murder, theft, and gambling are frequent sights.
 * Fazraada is located in the Storm Belt. The primary city is situated on a large island in the middle of a deadly ocean. Fazraada has a scientific theme, where weapons and vehicles can be upgraded, and the powers of the storms can be harnessed to craft new technology.
 * Grakkos is located in the Rock Belt. High in the mountains, a giant fortress of steel and stone towers over the barren landscape. On this military-themed planet, NPC guards patrol the hallways constantly to break up any fights - but they can also provide valuable combat training.
 * Hratekor is located in the Fire Belt. On this planet, buildings are made out of organic material that grows out of the soft terrain. Inside, the buildings have a religious theme, where deities of all races can be worshipped. Outside, wild animals and fire storms are common sights.

Combat
Combat will occur mostly on arena planets, where the rules can be set before entering a game. You can have a rumble pit free-for-all, or a team match where points are deducted for betrayals. Since this game has five of everthing, there will be five main weapon types: In each fight, you can bring 2 weapons with you. You can pick up other weapons and ammo during the fight. Some arenas will be stacked with ammo, money, and useful tools. Others will be barren with nothing at all.
 * Grenades: come in varieties such as basic, flash, smoke, dark matter, or ice.
 * Assault Rifles: fire rapid bursts of ammo, can hold 25-50 bullets per clip. Special ammo can be equipped.
 * Shotguns: fire 1 shell per second, can hold 5 shells max. Shells can be upgraded.
 * Sniper Rifles: on an arena world, can hit anywhere on the map from anywhere else. Clips hold 5.
 * Staffs: a close-combat weapon that needs energy instead of ammo. Comes in fire, ice, or dark varieties.

Each fight will last 10 minutes. Players get unlimited respawns. Before each fight, players will vote on the "wager," or how much the fight is worth. Can be anywhere from 1 to 5. This number will multiply the "bounty" or "penalty" each player receives for their combat. Players will also receive experience points based on their performance.

Important: Even if your team wins, you can still lose money due to your bad performance.

Technology
Like almost everything else, tech comes in 5 categories. Each will have a tech tree, which can be accessed at labs throughout the game. Players with the highest "intellect" rating (See Character Design) will advance through each tech tree faster. Tech trees influence all areas of the game. You should try to specialize in one of the five areas.
 * Weapon Tech: Advancing in this tech tree will require mining resources, welding plates, and testing your strength through combat. You can also create super-weapons that have limited firepower.
 * Bio Tech: In this field, you will harvest the traits of non-sentient animals you find throughout the galaxy. Learn how to inflict diseases on your enemies, or train plants and animals to fight for you.
 * Computer Tech: This field involves hacking into security systems and making your opponent's weapons malfunction against them. Advancing in this tech tree will require long hours of research.
 * Shield Tech: You can use this tech tree to create bullet-proof barriers around yourself. These can be very strong, and specialized to stop different kinds of ammo. Shields cost lots of energy and can be hacked.
 * Dark Tech: The most mysterious of the tech trees, Dark Tech involves the manipulation of Dark Matter, which can found throughout the game. You can use Dark Tech to teleport, slow time, and make a vortex.