History VideoGame / BuzzAldrinRaceIntoSpace

** You don't even need to load your astronauts in a space capsule to kill them - they can die in routine training (based on the fates of [[UsefulNotes/YuriGagarin]], [[TearJerker the first man in space]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Henry_Lawrence_Jr. Robert Henry Lawrence Jr]], the [[TokenMinority first black person accepted into an astronaut program]]), or in a traffic accident (based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Givens Edward Givens]], who was a crewmember assigned to the Apollo Program).

* AlternateHistory: The game attempts to explore not only the historical route to the moon (capsule and lander launched on a single rocket) but also several other methods that had been proposed, along with some programs that either were never used or weren't used during the time period.

** Moon footage is a mixture of Apollo 11 and 15, even if relating to the landings of Soviets, single person landers, direct ascent capsules or robotic probes.
* AnyoneCanDie: Don't get too attached to your astronauts ([[BlackComedy including Aldrin himself]], or for that matter, [[TakeThat future]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrator_of_the_National_Aeronautics_and_Space_Administration administrator of]] [[UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} NASA]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_H._Truly Richard H Truly]]). A small fault in the rocket can send them on a one-way trip to Arlington Cemetery (or the Kremlin Wall, if you're Russian).

** For playability reasons, the Soviet space program actually has its act together and is no more politically-challenged than the American program. There's one leader and one design bureau, instead of the InterserviceRivalry-laden mess that the Soviets actually had, and [[CriticalExistenceFailure Korolov doesn't die]] in midgame.

* CosmeticallyDifferentSides: Can be played straight if you use the basic model. Otherwise, both sides have slightly different technology that leads to subtle differences in strategy. In fact, [[http://www.raceintospace.org/images/manual.pdf pages 29-31 of the manual]] treat various pieces of US and Soviet space equipment as equivalents.

** The ways to die range from the [[KillItWithFire fiery]], to the [[AlmostOutOfOxygen suffocating]] to [[StuffBlowingUp explosive]]. Or they can die as anticlimactically as a [[LifeWillKillYou traffic accident]].

** Neil Armstrong will always have 4 for Capsule Piloting, as well as being a {{jack of all stats}}, unlike some other astronauts who are either {{shop fodder}} or suffering from {{crippling overspecialization}}. This is partly based on [[MemeticBadass Armstrong's fame]] but mostly on Aldrin's real life views that Armstrong was "a true American hero and the best pilot I ever knew".

** The Soviet spacecraft featured in-game were not strict with their carrying capacity - the carrying capacity was decided by {{executive meddling}} from [[PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny the CPSU]]. The ostensibly 2 person Voskhod capsule flew with 3 astronauts ([[ClownCar the cramped space]] [[TemptingFate meant none of the astronauts were equipped with space suits]]) on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voskhod_1 Voskhod 1]], while [[WeAreStrugglingTogether political infighting hampered organizing a crew for Voskhod 1]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Yegorov one of whom]] got a place on board by using [[{{Nepotism}} his father's Politburo connections]] to get the CPSU to allow him as one of the 3 astronauts. Meanwhile, the ostensibly 3 person Soyuz capsule could carry 1 astronaut ([[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_1 as in the disastrous flight of Komarov]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_3 Beregovoy's failed docking attempt]] to 3 astronauts, but was downgraded to 2 astronauts after the only deaths due to space exposure (namely [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11 the 3 astronauts of Soyuz 11]]) and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_T-3 only in 1980 was it upgraded back to a 3 person capacity]], after which it became the [[EarnYourHappyEnding the most frequently used and most reliable launch vehicle in the world to date]].
** The in-game [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-105 Lapot]] and XMS-2 (based on the proposed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-20_Dyna-Soar Dyna-Soar]]) reusable minishuttles carry strictly 3 crew members. In real life they were small spaceplanes intended for short-duration low earth orbit satellite launches and space warfare missions rather than space exploration, due to similar objectives from both sides of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. The aircraft shown on videos of the Lapot and XMS-2 are small test aircraft that could only take 1-2 crew members like the real Lapot and Dyna-Soar. Namely, the footage features the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_HL-10 experimental Northrop HL-10 Lifting Body]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj2whetlp3g this video from 12:32 to 13:33]].
** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_program Ranger satellites]] [[UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} produced by the US]] was an [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness attempt to obtain closeup images]] of the lunar surface from 1961-1965 by launching the spacecraft towards the moon and waiting for images to be sent by the satellites prior to lunar impact. As mentioned on Website/TheOtherWiki, the program was at one point called [[LuckBasedMission "shoot and hope"]]. However, they were never used, nor could they have been used for flybys of other planets - for that the US had the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_program Pioneer Program]], 2 of which flew by Jupiter and Saturn, and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_program Mariner Program]] for exploring the Inner Solar System (Mercury, Venus and Mars) while the Soviets had the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera Venera Program]] for exploring Venus, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_1 Mars 1]] ([[TheAllegedCar which failed to communicate data from its Mars flyby]], the Zond Program for exploring Venus and Mars (but failed to explore Mars), and the further Mars satellites of which #2 failed to land, #3 had a successful lander for 14.5 seconds, and #5-7 had partial successes, and later on the Soviets made the failed Phobos 1 and Phobos 2 (note how failing to reach Mars is a strange {{Running Gag}} for the Soviet Union).

** [[CloakAndDagger Spy agencies]] play a big, but luck based role in game. On one hand, your country's spies can steal your opponents blueprints and thus improve equipment reliability and save on research spending. On the other hand, your opponent's spy agencies may be caught working in your space programs and falsifying results, leading to a need to spend money on re-researching equipment, lest you suffer the consequences of unreliable equipment.

** You don't even need to load your astronauts in a space capsule to kill them - they can die in routine training (based on the fates of[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin Yuri Gagarin]], [[TearJerker the first man in space]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Henry_Lawrence_Jr. Robert Henry Lawrence Jr]], the [[TokenMinority first black person accepted into an astronaut program]]), or in a traffic accident (based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Givens Edward Givens]], who was a crewmember [[WhatCouldHaveBeen assigned to the Apollo Program]]).

* StuffBlowingUp: Rockets [[IAmTheNoun are THE]] ultimate {{incendiary exponent}}. Go Figure:

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: InUniverse, Several plausible scenarios are possible:
** Reaching the moon earlier than 1969 with a much smaller [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan_rocket Titan Rocket]] and a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gemini 2-person Gemini Capsule]]
** Reusable spacecraft by the late 60's
** Exploring Jupiter and Saturn by the early-mid 60's
** Landing 4 people on the moon at once with no need for docking or kicker boosters through the use of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_ascent Direct Ascent Lunar Landings]].
** Putting women on the moon
** Taking so long to put anyone on the moon that you cause the US economy to [[ShockinglyExpensiveBill enter recession due to the costs]] and the Soviet economy (which was always weaker than the US) to implode so dramatically that the Soviet Union either suffers a {{military coup}} or even [[EnemyCivilWar disintegrates into civil war]].

''Buzz Aldrin's Race Into Space'', frequently abbreviated BARIS, is a 1993 space simulation and strategy game for MS-DOS. The player takes the role of Administrator of NASA or head of the Soviet space program with the ultimate goal of being the first nation to conduct a successful manned moon landing. A creator-approved open version (titled simply ''Race Into Space'') has since been released, adding support for Macintosh and Linux.

** The ways to die range from the [[KillItWithFire fiery]], to the [[AlmostOutOfOxygen suffocating]] to [[StuffBlowingUp explosive]]. Or they can die as anticlimactically as a [[WeaksauceWeakness traffic accident]]).
** Astronauts have every right to quit when they want to and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere they often do]]. Reasons include the fear of being one of those who experience {{anyone can die}}, not getting the glory they want, personal reasons, or [[SkewedPriorities preferring a job in the military]].

** [[LuckBasedMission If you are unlucky]], your research would be hampered by a top rocket designer dying in surgery. This is one of the many factors that screwed up the Soviets' real-life attempt at a moon mission as this was the fate of the aforementioned rocket designer [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Korolev Sergey Korolov]].

* BoringButPractical: For the Americans, Gemini. It's a workhorse capsule that can do just about anything short of a moon shot on its own - and even a moon shot, if you want to fiddle with some expensive additional equipment. It's also much cheaper than doing everything with Apollo. (Voskhod is really not reliable enough to say the same.)

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_program Ranger satellites]] [[UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} produced by the US]] was an [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness attempt to obtain closeup images]] of the lunar surface from 1961-1965 by launching the spacecraft towards the moon and waiting for images to be sent by the satellites prior to lunar impact. As mentioned on Wiki/TheOtherWiki, the program was at one point called [[LuckBasedMission "shoot and hope"]]. However, they were never used, nor could they have been used for flybys of other planets - for that the US had the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_program Pioneer Program]], 2 of which flew by Jupiter and Saturn, and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_program Mariner Program]] for exploring the Inner Solar System (Mercury, Venus and Mars) while the Soviets had the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera Venera Program]] for exploring Venus, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_1 Mars 1]] ([[TheAllegedCar which failed to communicate data from its Mars flyby]], the Zond Program for exploring Venus and Mars (but failed to explore Mars), and the further Mars satellites of which #2 failed to land, #3 had a successful lander for 14.5 seconds, and #5-7 had partial successes, and later on the Soviets made the failed Phobos 1 and Phobos 2 (note how failing to reach Mars is a strange {{Running Gag}} for the Soviet Union).

** Taking so long to put anyone on the moon that you cause the US economy to [[ShockinglyExpensiveBill enter recession due to the costs]] and the Soviet economy (which was always weaker than the US) to [[UpToEleven implode so dramatically]] that the Soviet Union either suffers a {{military coup}} or even [[EnemyCivilWar disintegrates into civil war]].

** Neil Armstrong will always have 4 for Capsule Piloting, as well as being a {{jack of all stats}}, unlike some other astronauts who are either {{vendor trash}} or suffering from {{crippling overspecialization}}. This is partly based on [[MemeticBadass Armstrong's fame]] but mostly on Aldrin's real life views that Armstrong was "a true American hero and the best pilot I ever knew".

** The game designers tried to follow historical patterns and extrapolations wherever possible, but sometimes fudged things to make a better game, or to encourage trade-offs between programs that were, in real life, not comparable; in particular, the BARIS version of the Voskhod (an altered Vostok craft created mainly so the Soviets can beat the Anericans to having [=EVAs=] and multi-man crews) is made a parallel to the Gemini capsule (a strictly 2-person capsule designed to allow dockings, [=EVAs=], space missions longer than 1 week and could theoretically be used for Moon landings), which is actually an apples-and-oranges comparison.

* CosmeticallyDifferentSides: Can be played straight if you use the basic model. Otherwise, both sides have slightly different technology that leads to subtle differences in strategy. In fact, [[http://www.raceintospace.org/images/manual.pdf pages 29-31 of the manual]] treat various pieces of [[NotSoDifferent US and Soviet space equipment as equivalents]].

** The in-game [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-105 Lapot]] and XMS-2 (based on the proposed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-20_Dyna-Soar Dyna-Soar]]) reusable minishuttles carry strictly 3 crew members. In real life they were small spaceplanes intended for short-duration low earth orbit satellite launches and space warfare missions rather than space exploration, due to [[NotSoDifferent similar objectives from both sides]] of the UsefulNotes/ColdWar. The aircraft shown on videos of the Lapot and XMS-2 are small test aircraft that could only take 1-2 crew members like the real Lapot and Dyna-Soar. Namely, the footage features the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_HL-10 experimental Northrop HL-10 Lifting Body]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj2whetlp3g this video from 12:32 to 13:33]].

** Minishuttles. They're a leapfrog into next-generation technology with three-man teams and reusable craft! They also do absolutely nothing that the more practical two-man capsule can't do, and they lack the equipment (kicker and docking module) built into the three-man craft (e.g. the Apollo capsule). In the SourceForge version, they are reusable (even when they blow up, you still have the same number in stock), but take more turns to research, add to this that they need a Saturn V or joint launch to lift off with any additional equipment.

** The game designers tried to follow historical patterns and extrapolations wherever possible, but sometimes fudged things to make a better game, or to encourage trade-offs between programs that were, in real life, not comparable; in particular, the BARIS version of the Voskhod (an altered Vostok craft created mainly so the Soviets can beat the Anericans to having EVAs and multi-man crews) is made a parallel to the Gemini capsule (a strictly 2-person capsule designed to allow dockings, EVAs, space missions longer than 1 week and could theoretically be used for Moon landings), which is actually an apples-and-oranges comparison.

* CosmeticallyDifferentSides: Can be played straight if you use the basic model. Otherwise, both sides have slightly different technology that leads to subtle differences in strategy. In fact, [[http://www.raceintospace.org/images/manual.pdf pages 29-31 of the manual]] treat various pieces of [[NotSoDifferent US and Soviet space equipmeant as equivalents]].

* OneStatToRuleThemAll: Capsule piloting is the most important stat by far, especially in the early game, since it provides the largest bonus to mission success. Conversely, Endurance is the most useless, with even some of the programmers not sure if it actually does anything!

* StuffBlowingUp: Rockets [[IAmTheVerb are THE]] ultimate {{incendiary exponent}}. Go Figure:

* OfferedTheCrown: Achieving victory as the Soviet space program before 1969 means that you get a spot on the Politburo. Achieving it by 1966 ([[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard as the AI sometimes does]]) makes you a "potential successor to [[UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev Brezhnev]]" and the victory screen tells you straight up: "[[DeadlyDecadentCourt Beware of your enemies!]]"

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_program Ranger satellites]] [[UselfulNotes/{{NASA}} produced by the US]] was an [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness attempt to obtain closeup images]] of the lunar surface from 1961-1965 by launching the spacecraft towards the moon and waiting for images to be sent by the satellites prior to lunar impact. As mentioned on Wiki/TheOtherWiki, the program was at one point called [[LuckBasedMission "shoot and hope"]]. However, they were never used, nor could they have been used for flybys of other planets - for that the US had the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_program Pioneer Program]], 2 of which flew by Jupiter and Saturn, and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_program Mariner Program]] for exploring the Inner Solar System (Mercury, Venus and Mars) while the Soviets had the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera Venera Program]] for exploring Venus, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_1 Mars 1]] ([[TheAllegedCar which failed to communicate data from its Mars flyby]], the Zond Program for exploring Venus and Mars (but failed to explore Mars), and the further Mars satellites of which #2 failed to land, #3 had a successful lander for 14.5 seconds, and #5-7 had partial successes, and later on the Soviets made the failed Phobos 1 and Phobos 2 (note how failing to reach Mars is a strange {{Running Gag}} for the Soviet Union).

* StuffBlowingUp: Rockets [[IAmTheVerb are THE]] ultimate {{incendiary exponent}}. [[CaptainObvious Go Figure]]:

* VendorTrash: Once Basic Training for astronauts is completed, you may find some who are literally good for nothing.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything/HarsherInHindsight: The failures you can experience:
** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_1 Parachute failure causing a capsule to hit the Earth like a meteor and kill its occupant(s)]] (for the NSFW {{Nausea Fuel}} [[RealityEnsues that ensues]], [[http://rarehistoricalphotos.com/astronaut-vladimir-komarov-man-fell-space-1967/ click here]] [[BodyHorror for images of]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Komarov Vladimir Komarov's]] [[DeadGuyOnDisplay open casket funeral]])
** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Columbia_disaster A failed heat shield causing a spacecraft to burn up or break up in the upper atmosphere]], which could still happen while returning from a successful Moon Landing.
** Having the Oxygen supply contribute or cause a fire inside a space capsule. This happened to both [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentin_Bondarenko the Soviets]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_1 the Americans]].
** Losing the atmosphere inside a spacecraft while in space, usually resulting from damage due to failed docking, but can also be a design flaw as in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyuz_11 Soyuz 11]].
** [[StuffBlowingUp A rocket explodes on the launchpad]]. This happened to the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanguard_TV3 Americans' first attempt at an orbital satellite]] and much more spectacularly with all attempts with the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N1_(rocket) Soviets' N1 rocket]], which was intended for manned Moon Landings and serves as the Saturn V equivalent in this game.

** Neil Armstrong will always have 4 for Capsule Piloting, as well as being a {{jack of all stats}}, unlike some other astronauts who are either {{vendor trash}} or suffering from {{crippling overspecialization}}. This is partly based on [[MemeticBadass Armstrong's fame]] but mostly on Aldrin's real life views that Armstrong was "[[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming a true American hero and the best pilot I ever knew]]".

** [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranger_program Ranger satellites]] [[UselfulNotes/{{NASA}} produced by the US]] was an [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness attempt to obtain closeup images]] of the lunar surface from 1961-1965 by launching the spacecraft towards the moon and waiting for images to be sent by the satellites prior to lunar impact. As mentioned on {{The Other Wiki}}, the program was at one point called [[LuckBasedMission "shoot and hope"]]. However, they were never used, nor could they have been used for flybys of other planets - for that the US had the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pioneer_program Pioneer Program]], 2 of which flew by Jupiter and Saturn, and the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_program Mariner Program]] for exploring the Inner Solar System (Mercury, Venus and Mars) while the Soviets had the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera Venera Program]] for exploring Venus, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_1 Mars 1]] ([[TheAllegedCar which failed to communicate data from its Mars flyby]], the Zond Program for exploring Venus and Mars (but failed to explore Mars), and the further Mars satellites of which #2 failed to land, #3 had a successful lander for 14.5 seconds, and #5-7 had partial successes, and later on the Soviets made the failed Phobos 1 and Phobos 2 (note how failing to reach Mars is a strange {{Running Gag}} for the Soviet Union).

* TheSpaceRace: The setting. You can play as either superpower.

* Retirony: Astronauts may announce their retirement 2 turns early to give you warning time. This gives players time to put them on one last mission, and this trope applies if the mission gets the retiring astronauts killed. This can also happen without the player's actions if the astronaut announces retirement and gets [[WeaksauceWeakness killed in one of several potential accidents]] shortly afterwards.

* FridgeLogic:
** Minishuttles remain in your inventory even if you get them stranded in space or exploding on atmospheric re-entry.
** Astronauts can, and often do die due to hypoxia from being stranded in space; from crashing into the moon; or from lunar passes/orbits {{gone horribly wrong}} in which they fail to manoeuvre back to Earth and thus enter heliocentric orbit. [[CaptainObvious This makes their bodies unrecoverable]], and thus their is nothing to bury. However, deaths on re-entry may still provide bodies to bury as with the aforementioned case of Komarov, or with the crew of Space Shuttles Challenger and Columbia.

* NightmareFuel
** [[RageQuit To burn up on reentry from a successful moon mission]].
** For manned orbital labs having the worst possible docking outcome (spacecraft colliding with docking module) leading to both spacecraft being destroyed and [[TotalPartyKill all astronauts on both teams being killed]].
** When rocket scientists go forward and say that "the next mission has a 50% chance of exploding on launch".

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Several plausible scenarios are possible:

** The in-game [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-105 Lapot]] and XMS-2 (based on the proposed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-20_Dyna-Soar Dyna-Soar]]) reusable minishuttles carry strictly 3 crew members. In real life they were small spaceplanes intended for short-duration low earth orbit satellite launches and space warfare missions rather than space exploration, due to [[NotSoDifferent similar objectives from both sides]] of the {{Cold War}}. The aircraft shown on videos of the Lapot and XMS-2 are small test aircraft that could only take 1-2 crew members like the real Lapot and Dyna-Soar. Namely, the footage features the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_HL-10 experimental Northrop HL-10 Lifting Body]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj2whetlp3g this video from 12:32 to 13:33]].

* UsefulNotes/ColdWar: Serves as the backdrop to the events of the game.

** The in-game [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-105 Lapot]] and XMS-2 (based on the proposed [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_X-20_Dyna-Soar Dyna-Soar]]) reusable minishuttles carry strictly 3 crew members. In real life they were small spaceplanes intended for short-duration low earth orbit satellite launches and space warfare missions rather than space exploration, due to [[NotSoDifferent similar objectives from both sides]] of the {{Cold War}}. The aircraft shown on videos of the Lapot and XMS-2 are small test aircraft that could only take 1-2 crew members like the real Lapot and Dyna-Soar.