Tranquility is a 3D puzzle game for Mac OS, Mac OS X, and Windows. The gameplay is very simple. The playing area consists of the flat ground, numerous floating platforms, and a portal to the next level. You have absolute control over your yaw and your forward/reverse speed, which you change by moving the mouse. You can also control your vertical speed to a degree by holding the space bar; this will produce downward thrust, propelling you towards the floor. The ground and the floating platforms all give you an upward bounce.

Tranquility is unique in that both the levels and the music are created by computers. The application that you run on your computer is actually a browser. All levels and music are created by the TQWorld servers in a language called tq.

Tranquility renders nearly everything without texture-mapping. The game is played amongst the stars, which are all placed according to current star charts. Some of the stars are up to 50 million OpenGL units away. By comparison, the playing field is only 10,000 on each side.

The game browser itself is free, and the servers will create one level for you daily in free mode. You can also build a custom game, play the training levels, and listen to TQRadio (which plays the algorithmically generated game music). The charter lifetime membership normally costs $60, but there is a discount at the moment, which puts the cost at $24.

A Linux port is underway. A multiplayer version, entitled tranquility universe is also in the works.

http://www.tqworld.com

The TQ universe is one of translucent panes swirling over a "floor" set in the middle of....well, it looks like deep space, except for the bizarre physics involved. You see, the floor (and no other part of the Universe) has gravity. You get motive force upwards by bouncing off (from above) or traveling through (from below) a pane. Direction and fine-speed is achieved by mouse control, overall speed by bracket keys, and downward thrust by the space bar. Viewpoint (up and down) are controlled by arrow keys, and the left and right arrow keys control sound volume.

The objective is to travel through a small egg surrounded by a corona of panes, which transports you through to the next level, or to your score. This means that you have to, to a certain extent, forget anything you ever learned about flying an actual craft. The TQ viewpoint is one of gliding through updrafts, not motive power, and crashes are good, not bad. Reaching an objective (whether primary -- the egg -- or secondary -- ricocheting off a pane) is best achieved by matching the objective's speed and direction and then falling onto it. Trying to ram something is usually not recommended: as the tutorial points out, you have to react with twice the speed that you'd use otherwise.

This means that you have to stay calm, not twitchy. Maddeningly so. Soft, New Age music plays in the background, and hitting a pane yields a windchime effect. Sometimes, it's worth just hanging around on a level even though you know where the egg is just to play with the panes, or exploring the Universe outside the gaming floor...sometimes there are rogue panes to bounce off of, and other oddities. Plus, coming upon a gaming floor from far outside has the lovely view that you get when you're out on a stretch of road way out in the boonies, and you see a parking lot with a carnival...

Oh yes, the New Age stuff...Apparently, since you have to exercise an almost Oriental amount of patience to get through the levels, the game's creators decided to freight it with a good deal of New Age bulldada. Paying the $24/year will get you game coaching, "cards" with more advanced points of the game, and a few grandiose titles. Personally, I can do without them...so far...