Problem Solving is one of my inspirations for Games. The stakes are high and so is the stress, but when we succeed the payoff feels great. I like the Scifi that draws inspiration from the NASA projects as well as many other practical engineering real world projects. Eliyahu Goldratt taught his Theory of Constraints as a Narrative Fiction - of a company in Dire straits - and the living history of the Space Program is also a great source of inspiration.
One of the reasons I went into harder scifi is because I love exercising the concepts in the safety of a game. I was free to fail in a game and try again.
So I found Dustin’s talk about NASA very important and inspiring because this critical thinking is unlike a ROLL, its us coming into the problem which is the main conflict of the story. The friction that raises the stakes and engagement of the players. if the facts and the limitations doesnt get absorbed and concrete to the person - then they have no engagement and will not enjoy the payoff of figuring out the problem.
I wont spoil the really bad problem he highlights. But yeah that is where the DO-ers start thinking and start working to figure out the solution with the finite amount of time. This is where the montage of hard work, or rolls the PCs make to get ready before the big show down.
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