The theme of "Beneath the Surface" immediately made me think of the first episode of the new Cosmos. There is an amazing shot of Jupiter, and the significance of how big its cloud forms are, and we know what the surface of Jupiter looks like, but can only speculate as to what is beneath its surface; I often wonder if we will ever see under the surface of Jupiter's massive clouds in my lifetime.

This game is a take on the classic "Lunar Lander", whereas landing on the Moon is a 'simple' task of fighting gravity, Jupiter would be a bit more difficult. I wanted to play with the idea that beneath the surface of what we see on Jupiter, the storming clouds would shear in different directions at different speeds, creating significant turbulence and an impossible scenario for trying to get a lander on the surface, especially compared with recent successes on Mars.

My original goal was to put particle clouds and dust flying through the mid sections, and asteroid-like boulders being tossed around in the gale force winds, but those were considered more "wishlist" and had to remain out as I did normal husband/dad duties for the weekend of the competition.

In my head I had imagined making the landing area tumultuous and rocky, with only a single safe spot to land (much like the original Lunar Lander), but figured it was hard enough as it was I wanted people to be able to play it (and included a picture of the victory screen to show that it is possible, albeit difficult). Even in the updated directors cut, the gravity is much stronger near the surface, and the unpredictable winds are random so topping it off with uneven terrain seems unfair. But I also like to justify it (and imagine a sort of back-story) by assuming a space agency such as NASA would pick out a relatively flat and safe location for landing, though weather conditions would be more unknown and need more reaction and decision making during the experience.

I hope everyone can check it out!