Japanese developer historia released the space simulator game Real Moon on December 16. The title is available for free on Steam, with English language support.
Developed in collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Real Moon is a realistic lunar exploration game built in Unreal Engine 5. It uses actual scientific research and data related to moon topography, crater and rock distribution, and the relative positions of the Sun, Earth and Moon to recreate a true-to-life explorable lunar environment.
In the game, you’ll become an astronaut tasked with tracking down a specific location on the Moon. Your only hint is a photo left behind by a probe. You’ll be able to hop onto a rover or explore the Moon’s surface on foot as you search for the right coordinates.
While its gameplay loop is around 15-30 minutes, Real Moon will also come with a Free Mode, in which you can control time and place objects such as rockets, flags, balls and lights. This mode likewise lets you freely wander the Moon, watch the Sun set, observe how lights and shadows change, and take photos.
This interesting freebie game is just a part of developer historia’s collaboration with JAXA, serving as a bridge between video game technology and the space industry. “We’ve created a fully comprehensive lunar simulation that reproduces a wide area of the lunar landscape in great detail, including simulated physics. We aim to use this environment for various other applications in the future, including lunar rover operation simulations. (…) Through this research partnership, we are advancing the framework to enhance space environment reproduction technology to contribute to the space industry.”
Real Moon is out now for PC (Steam).
Japanese space probe that “sent Miku Hatsune into space” ends operations 15 years later
