I've been brainstorming off-and-on for almost a year about how to scratch an itch in Star Trek gaming that all these action-focused games don't satisfy for me. At first, I conceived of it as a thorough and comprehensive simulation of running a starship (like, where each individual crewmember would be a distinct entity in the game), but practical considerations of what a solo developer could actually do gradually winnowed that down to a much more simple concept, which would involve a small fleet of ships running missions similar to the away missions in Star Trek Timelines or the Duty Officer assignments in Star Trek Online (but hopefully with more strategic thinking about who does what where, and no microtransactions). At this point, I don't think I can honestly say it's some grand new idea that will fill a niche where no Star Trek game has gone before, but it does still sound like something that I'd enjoy playing, that does things a little differently than other Trek games do, so I'd still like to pursue it and see where it goes. I could just jump into coding it and maybe spend 500 hours programming in all the elements, only to find (when I'm finally able to play it) that it isn't fun and I don't know how to fix it. So I was hoping instead, that I could do some prototyping where another person would act as the guinea-pig player, and I would take on a role like a GM, where I handle all the calculations or hidden information that the computer would do if it were programmed, and I just relay to the player the information that they need to know. That would make it much easier to try different things and test them on the fly. I'm not gonna try too hard to sell "if you like X, then you would like this" when I don't even know whether the game is actually fun yet, but what I'm hoping for it to be eventually is a game for people who like strategic decisions, but want the strategy in a Star Trek game to be about more than how to outmaneuver your opponent so you can blow them up. Something along the lines of the strategy or planning in games like Pandemic and Forbidden Island (again, I'm not saying that's what the game is, but what I want it to be). If that sounds like something you'd enjoy, then helping me with the playtesting might increase the chances that it'll come to fruition eventually.
Sounds interesting. I have played ST: Online and I still play Timelines. Love the challenge of Pandemic. Played hundreds of times, won dozens of times. I have an old B-52 simulator that did the various stations thing and it gets tough to run them all by yourself, especially if the plane had been damaged. I can't tell you how many times I flew into a mountain while sitting in any of the other stations but pilot. "Speed too high for a wheels up landing" was the polite way the program told me I was now a smear on a rock. I'd be interested in helping you.
It's not on any platform at this stage of basic prototyping, but whenever I do get around to programming it, I would be making it for Windows first (just because that's what I'm used to). The game engine I'm familiar with is Unity, so it theoretically shouldn't be hard to convert it to Mac, but I haven't ever actually done that yet. Sounds like you're right in the target audience. As soon as I stop having new ideas that I feel the need to write down before I forget them, I'm gonna work up a summary of how the game works, maybe with some example turns. I'll PM it to you, and we can go from there (maybe transition to email). By the way, that old B-52 simulator kinda reminds me of Bomber Crew. You ever played it? (It's a real-time game, so not at all what my game would be like, I just thought you might enjoy it as an unrelated thing. It's kinda like FTL mixed with a WWII flight sim.)
@RPOW0614 - I'm ready to send you some stuff, but it looks like you have private messages turned off.
I think I have changed the settings so you can send me stuff. To be sure I will send you a DM to start. Bomber Crew looks right up my alley, LOL. My B-52 simulator was based on the book "Flight of the Old Dog" by Dale Brown. It's a very realistic flight simulator. Tough but fun game that came and went quickly. But you could probably find a copy online.