Project: Space Station

Project: Space Station has you taking command of NASA with the express goal of building a profitable space station.  The game starts by giving you a budget, with which you have to purchase space station modules and equipment required to build your space station.  Modules range from hubs, which are used to link other modules in four directions (up, down, left and right), lab modules for running experiments, solar power modules for providing power to the station and radiator modules for dissipating heat from the power modules.  Once you've purchased the cargo you need it's time to schedule a day for the space shuttle.  Shuttle launches must be spaced a certain number of days apart and there must be an operational space shuttle available.  Then select a crew.  Space shuttle crews normal consist of a shuttle pilot, a shuttle commander and any personnel that is required on the space station or eva.

So you're ready to build your space station, now it's time for launch day.  Launching the space shuttle would probably be considered a mini-game by today's standards.  Your first obstacle is the weather.  If the weather becomes too sever before you're able to launch then it will be scrubbed until the next launch date.  Once the shuttle launches you must pilot it into orbit.  This is done via a little box in the center of your space shuttle's hud that displays a representation of the shuttle and three little boxes inside one another.  The goal is to keep your shuttle in the middle of those boxes in order to make your target window.  If you're off then you'll have to haul your cargo from the shuttle to it's proper place in orbit.

Once you're in orbit it's time to make a space station.  This is done via an EVA pod that will be launched from your shuttle's cargo bay, it can also be launched from the space station once the correct module is attached to it.  Using the EVA pod you must move and orient the new space station modules so that they attach to the existing infrastructure.  After you've completed all of your extra-vehicular activity it's time to land the shuttle. 

Landing the space shuttle it a lot like launching it, you have the same little mini-game where you have to keep the shuttle in the middle of three little boxes.  Once that section of the landing has been completed you need to actually land the shuttle on a runway.  This part of the game is important because if you come in too fast you'll damage your shuttle and if you come in too slow you'll miss the runway, also damaging the shuttle.  When that happens you'll require additional repair time before that particular shuttle will be available to launched again.

The rest of the game consists of trying to balance your budget, commissioning project to be run on the space station and trying to staff your space station with personnel that won't fight amongst themselves.  The game also allows you to pick up missions to launch satellites and such as an added income to your budget.