So I've never seen a game based on orbital mechanics. Let some spaceships kill each other in space, but let the challenge be getting a distance/velocity configuration that favors your weapon/tactics. Eg. Long range lasers favor slow, conservative movements in high orbit, while an autocannon favors fast, rapidly changing engagements. Those who are better at accurate clicking will favor highly elliptical orbits. Active missiles favor being in the same orbit as your opponent, but ont he other side of the planet. I bet you could drop sand or something into a lower orbit with a good deal of effectiveness. The type of orbit seems to eb a heavy balancing factor. heavier weapons are harder to aim, so do better with a stable platform. Being far from your target reduces the neccessary slew rate for the weapon. Naturally, high orbits are good, because that puts you farther away, even if your opponent comes up to a similar orbit. But higher orbits require more fuel to get to. so give ++ to the weapons that are most effectively used in a higher orbit. People do not naturally think about orbits. Perhaps it would be good to include a plotter, so it show the ellipse you are travlling on in your team color, for example. Do any games Like this exist?

It is much simpler than what you describe, but Gravity is based around a similar idea.

I got interested in this subject as well. I thought it could be very fun to have realistic orbital mechanics in a multiple moon system like Saturn. It turns out that realistic orbital mechanics are pretty boring and don't amount to any fun gameplay in my humble opinion.

If you are willing to have unrealistic speeds, timerate, and distance, however, there are some funny things to do with a gravity-like force. Switching one's orbit for a transition orbit and then to another altitude orbit is interesting. It is however highly counter-intuitive.

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So I've never seen a game based on orbital mechanics.

Spacewar!