Now that Im actually starting the game things are getting cemented in place. I have decided not to use box2d after all in order to save time. I think it would be faster for me to program some simple collision detection. The reason I wanted to use box2d was for easy rotating the player and for checking collision for shapes that are rotated.
Instead Im just going to strong-arm collision by checking ~40 or so points on the player. In order to do this all asteroids and space debris will described by a 2D array and I will check each cell that the player is in to see if you come into contact with a solid part. This will also be an easy way to have the player drill through the asteroid by changing a value in the array.
Now everything I have to do before I finish my game:
-Finish art assets and find some free auido space sounds.
-Make a character and simple on the fly editing system for parts.
-Physics for collisions and rotation.
-Make all the parts and add all the physics that describe them. (wheels/rope swinging/magnet wheels/ etc)
-Asteroids and parts/fuel spawning and despawning.
-Come up with a name.
I have a strong enough physics background that angular acceleration/ swinging on ropes/ orbiting around asteroids shouldn't be too hard. Right now there is not much of a point to my game other than explore and customize your robot. Maybe my game theme will be that life in space for a robot doesnt have a lot of meaning ant that its up to the player to decide what your goals are.