Okay, so not as cool as your idea, but still oddly similiar.

i was looking around for an old DOS PC game i used to play back in the early 90’s where you connected building bubbles on the surface of the moon (like populous or sim city), and i think you had to worry about meteor strikes and solar flares and stuff… couldn’t find the game but i came across this, which looks like its beta-test nickname was Luna:

http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/moon-tycoon

i think, if done right, a moon / space simulation could feel really immersive to the point of being spooky. minimalist sound effects (no sound in space), stark, unfriendly, lonely landscapes, death always waiting if you forget to zip up your space suit or fill up your air tank… just by being realistic the effect could be pretty cold, and cool! and i don’t think you’d have to sacrifice fun… the parts where you interact with other players / NPCs through radios or in person in some kind of collaborative mission / game wouldn’t be lonely and quiet… you’d forget about that part till your character is alone again, and all you can hear is your breath.

you could consider using gritty black & white resolution on the moon orbiter’s camera system to give certain parts that 60’s feel.

lastly, i think the moon is locked in position so one side’s always facing the earth. which means there’s always a “dark side of the moon” (i.e. a side that earth never sees), but i’m not sure if that side actually gets sun or not. i’m imagining it does. point is, it’d be interesting to figure out how light/dark patterns actually work on the surface of the moon. i don’t think it’s perfectly analogous to the way it works on earth. i can imagine there’s long periods of light & dark.

anyways, sounds fun. keep ‘em coming!