Here is my entry blog for this years compo!
"Oil Rush" is the working title, the core of the game is delivering oil between locations on a 3D map with the help of pipelines. For the scenario part, things aren't fully settled, but at this point, it would involve some evil locust-like alien civilization, whose sole purpose is to invade worlds, squeeze them dry of oil and then move onto another world.

The pipelines game core will hopefully be derived in variety of levels, which would involve any or all the following aspects:
  • - network building: build pipelines, worming your way around terrain hazards in the most effective fashion (like track laying in Railroad Tycoon)
    - network control: flip switches to control valves, pumps and storage tanks to achieve the best flow, and/or survive disasters
    - network defense: defend your pipelines from natural disaster, enemy attacks and angry natives
    - network offense: take down enemy pipelines
    - first person: jump inside vehicles/turrets

The pipelines part will involve a flow simulation, so it won't be "just connect the pipes to get the oil"! For instance if you open a huge pipe going downhill all at once, you'll see a brutal pressure buildup at the bottom, which could damage the lower pipelines, leading to an oil spill!
The combat part will involve static defenses, aircrafts and maybe ground troops. The plan there is to reuse some of the AirBlast AI and simulation mechanics, so you'll have the choice of jumping right into the action, or standing back, giving broad orders to your units.
When attacking an enemy network, you'll have to figure out the weak spot, because there won't be enough firepower around to destroy everything. Similarly, when attacked or designing your pipelines, you'll have to avoid undefended weak spots, and control the network to avoid pressure buildups which would result in more indirect damage... :twisted:

Here is a very early screenshot:

I still have obvious scale issues to sort out: for the pipeline flow simulation to work out, the scale has to be realistically huge, so maps are 40km x 40km... and the pipeline here is supposed to be 10m above ground... :roll: