(note: there is ambiguity about where the line is drawn between raypunk - or raygun gothic - and atompunk as used in games like Fallout. I have attached a couple of images to illustrate the style I am talking about)
Lately I have started browsing artwork and pictures of old science fiction movies from the 50's/60's again and started wondering - why isn't that aesthetic explored in videogames more frequently? It's a fresh and most of the times vibrant look at a future that never was, far away from the sleek designs of Mass Effect and the bleak colour palette of your average first person shooter. Let's face it, how many games can you name where the skies are a nice and warm yellow colour?
Illustrators and film makers alike didn't care about realism and explored the realms of their imagination while throwing the laws of physics out of the window of their saucer shaped spaceships, and they gave us movies like This Island Earth or Forbidden Planet and the classic Star Trek series in return.
So I have been trying to come up with a genre or game mechanic and I think a more campy and over-the-top version of something like Age Of Wonders would work great (yes, Planetfall might be set in a sci-fi setting but it's going in the complete opposite direction). Who wouldn't want to engage in diplomatic conversation with this friendly fellow while your fellow band of spacemen and -women fight off strange creatures with their trusty rayguns?
What do you all think - is this a theme/idea worth exploring? What would make you want to play the 4X version of a 50's science fiction movie? Or would this lend itself better for a different genre instead?
