Guests:  Kim Holder, John Jossy;  Topics: Introducing the new Moonwards, the demo, Moonwards details and plans, why Moonwards, open source platform to experience a realistic simulation of a town on the Moon.

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We welcomed back both Kim Holder with John Jossy as our co-host, to introduce us to the new and updated Moonwards.  Visit www.moonwards.com to play the demo and experience a "technically realistic simulation of a town on the Moon." In addition, check out Kim's demo post on our blog for this program.   During our two segment 103 minute discussion both Kim and John went back and forth regarding the demo as John spent time playing it and has good feedback.  Kim took me into the demo but not being a gamer with some other issues, while I had a great time and enjoyed being in  the rover on the Moon and seeing what I saw, you will find John and Kim's demo narrative more valuable than my input.  I do want to call to your attention a question I asked Kim very near the end of the show.  This should have been a very early on question but as we were moving to the end, I asked Kim how in the world she came up with the idea and plan to create Moonwards.  Her Moonwards lightbulb went off in her head several years as you will hear as she tells us the story.  Believe me, you do not want to miss what she said about how she came up with the Moonwards idea and why it was important for her to develop Moonwards.

John asked Kim multiple questions about Moonwards ranging from the most basic question, what is Moonwards, to more technical and detailed questions based largely on what Kim was discussing.  Since Moonwards is a game, John asked Kim about Moonwards being a game and what sort of games would be available in the town.  This prompted a listener to send in a note asking for a clarification of the game concept, wanting to know what one could win by winning the game as well as wanting to know what one had to do to win the game.  Kim spent time explaining the game nomenclature for us, saying the game had no goals, no score, and nothing to win.  Listen to how Kim explained how and why Moonwards was a game.  Remember to post your commentary on the blog for all of this discussion, not just this or a few other questions.

Additional questions asked by John included asking about the "library" that Kim mentioned, how one would make presentations or hold events on Moonwards, plus he asked Kim about using the Godot game engine and GitHub.  One of the key questions Kim was asked was just how the Moonwards technology would change our lives.  Note that a similar question was by a listener near the end of the program.  The second time the question came up Kim connected the dots to her telling us why Moonwards was started in the first place.   Talk about having and making a Bold Vision come to life!  Perhaps on our last Open Lines program of the year Dec. 27, we will give out some special awards.  An award for the person with the best bold vision that is being brought to life may be in order. 

The Moonwards rover was the subject of additional discussion.  Six legs and 50 mph later, Kim said the rover was accurate in the way it would be able to move on the Moon's surface.  Once again, listen to all of what Kim had to say on the subject of her Moonwards rover.  I asked Kim if when building my house in a Moonwards neighborhood, could I bring my dog with me and have a dog in Moonwards.  The simple answer was yes but the more complete a slightly more complex answer was, well, let's say involved.  By the way, construction on Moonwards for a long time to come would be robotic.  Kim spent much time during our discussion talking about robotic construction. 

Kim was asked about her developmental timeline and what was next on the agenda for Moonwards.  She said Moonwards was approaching the point of being funding dependent though we did not spend much time talking about Moonwards finances, investment opportunities, or funding needs.   Moving on from funding issues, John wanted to know about special events on Moonwards, say an art exhibit with Bonestell paintings.  Kim said all of that would be possible, including advanced animations, videos and more. 

In approaching the end of the program, John inquired about possible constraints using the open source format to protect the integrity and programming of the game.  Kim had much to say about maintaining game security so be sure to listen to this segment.  Before ending, Kim was as about medical attention for human factors issues regrading long duration human spaceflight. Listeners wanted to know how she was planning to simulate that reality for human spaceflight.  At this point both Kim and John offered closing comments.

Please post your questions/comments on our blog for this show.  Kim can be reached through me or www.moonwards.com.  John can be reached through me or his excellent blog, https://spacesettlementprogress.com.