Spacecraft Design: Difference between revisions

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{{OldSpacecraft}}
This page focuses on designer rulers and functions specific for [[spacecraft]] designing.
{{Revision|The new spacecraft (See [[Spacecraft Update]]) are slowly coming together, so we can start rewriting this page now. The [[Spacecraft Design/OldSpacecraft|old spacecraft design]] page has been archived on a separated page.}}
{{Revision|Let's rewrite this! I'll start [[User:Celarious|Celarious]] ([[User talk:Celarious|talk]]) 23:38, 17 February 2017 (MST)}}


==Design Studio==
See the [[Designer]] page for common designer information.
Spacecraft are designed inside a Design Studio. Each story of a Design Studio enables a separate studio for players to design spacecraft.
 
Players may work together in the same studio to develop a spacecraft design. In this case, the first player to enter the vacant studio is registered as the architect and owner of the design.
 
To enter a studio, display the Labor (F10) window and click on the "Enter" button of a studio. When a studio is "Vacant", you may leave the password box blank or you may enter a password of your choice. The password you enter establishes that studio's password until the studio becomes vacant. To join an "Occupied" design studio, you must enter the password that was established by the first person to enter the studio.
 
Once inside a studio, display the Spacecraft Design (F6) window. Nearly every function and button has a usage tip that appears once clicked which describes what the function does. Use the exit button to return to the game environment.
 
===Spacecraft Designer Interface===
 
[[file:NewDesignerInterface.png|400px|thumb|right|An image of the new designer interface.]]
 
The new designer interface is accessible through both the offline launcher and in-game while online. Upon entering, you are inside a bounding box (yellow lines) that define the design area, with a grid underneath you and two axis.
 
The interface is heavily based on menus as seen at the top of the screenshot. This means there are a lot less buttons on the F6 menu, which might seem less confusing than the previous designer. The F6 hotkey or the designer button on the left toggles both the Parts list on the right of the image and the black bar seen at the top of the screenshot. However, it does not toggle the white menu buttons seen at the top above the black bar.
 
'''Note that the black bar is not able to be moved like most other interface windows, only the Parts list seen on the right can be docked and re-positioned.'''
 
===The Parts list===
 
The parts list contains every single part that is within the current spacecraft design. This includes hull objects, imported meshes, rooms, berths, etc. This allows you to easily see everything within the design at once, and also provides buttons for toggling the visibility of each part, the lock state (whether or not you can make changes to the part), whether or not the part is included within the final design, and a seal (which allows other users to modify the design afterwards). <code>Will attempt to provide more screenshots here</code>
 
===Equipment===


==Equipment==
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
! Module                                         !! Function                             !! Module                     !! Function
! Module
! Function
! Module
! Function
|-
| [[Berth]]
| Personal respawn location for two people. Stateroom berths can accomodate two colonists instead of people. Can choose what type of berth is provided, such as Captain, Officer, Crew, Troops, or Civilians.
| [[Sensor Station]]
| Operates Sensors.
|-
| [[Engineer Station]]
| Tunes maneuver drive performance.<br>Required to operate FTL drive.
| [[Space Vehicle Recovery System]]
| The recovery system displays an approach lighting system that guides the pilot toward the recovery system. When the vehicle enters the recovery system, it is captured and moved instantly to a vacant parking spot, if one is available.
|-
|-
| [[Berth]] || Personal respawn location for two people. Stateroom berths can accomodate two colonists instead of people. || [[Sensor Station]] || Operates Sensors. Only one permitted per room.  
| [[Weapon Station]]
| Required for each weapon bay to operate the weapon. Only one permitted per bay.
| [[Shield Station]]
| Operates energy shields. Only one permitted per room.  
|-
|-
| [[Engineer Station]] || Tunes maneuver drive performance.<br>Required to operate FTL drive. || [[Shield]] || Defends against missile, energy weapon, tractor beam and transporter attacks based on total shield units aboard.
| [[Maneuver Drive]]
| Provides thrust for maneuvering. Enables a station to hold its position. Provides artificial gravity inside spacecraft. Required for all spacecraft.
| [[Water Vehicle Parking Spot]]
| A water vehicle parking spot indicates a place to park a water vehicle. Ship policies determine which specific water vehicle will be stored. These are 12m x 17m in size and require this space to be available.  
|-
|-
| [[Fire Control Station]] || Required in each weapon bay to operate the weapon. Only one permitted per bay. || [[Shield Station]] || Operates energy shields. Only one permitted per room.  
| [[Helm Station]]
| Controls attitude and velocity of ship. Required for all spacecraft. Only one permitted per bridge.
| [[Ground Vehicle Parking Spot]]
| Ground Vehicle Parking Spot. Indicates where a ground vehicle should be parked, and ship policies determine what type of vehicle is spawned here. These are 6m x 12m in size and require this space to be available.  
|-
|-
| [[Maneuver Drive]] || Provides thrust for maneuvering. Enables a station to hold its position. Provides artificial gravity inside spacecraft. Required for all spacecraft. || [[Space Fighter F1 Location]] || Space fighter parking location. Spacecraft automatically fetch friendly fighters from the solar system to refill empty space fighter parking locations. One fighter location is filled per minute until the total number of fighters aboard equals the number of fighter parking locations.
| [[Surgery Unit]]
| Performs complex anatomical operations.
| [[Space Vehicle Parking Spot]]
| A space vehicle parking spot indicates a place to park a space vehicle. Ship policies determine which specific space vehicle will be stored. These are 12m x 17m in size and require this space to be available.  
|-
|-
| [[Helm Station]] || Controls attitude and velocity of ship. Required for all spacecraft. Only one permitted per bridge. || [[Space Fighter F2 Location]] || Space fighter parking location. Spacecraft automatically fetch friendly fighters from the solar system to refill empty space fighter parking locations. One fighter location is filled per minute until the total number of fighters aboard equals the number of fighter parking locations.
| [[Transporter Pad]]
| One pad is required per person transported simultaneously. Total pads in room determines maximum object size
| [[Pod Bay]]
| '''Unimplemented'''. A pod bay indicates a place to store a drop pod. Drop pods can be used as life boats. They can also be used to deploy troops. These are 5m x 5m in size and require this space to be available.  
|-
|-
| [[Hull Opening]] || Large wall-length opening through hull wall. || [[Surgery Unit]] || Performs complex anatomical operations. Place only one in each sickbay.
| [[Medic Station]]
| Required in each sickbay to operate surgery unit. Place only one in each sickbay.
| [[Transporter Station]]
| Operates matter transmission equipment. Place only one in each transporter room.
|-
|-
| [[Life Support]] || Maintain a habitable environment. Required for all spacecraft. || [[Transporter Pad]] || One pad is required per person transported simultaneously. Total pads in room determines maximum object size
| [[Navigator Station]]
| Displays solar system and wormhole information. Plots courses to travel among the stars. Only one permitted per bridge.
| [[Turret]]
| Provides a standard mount for various weapons on hull walls.
|-
|-
| [[Medic Station]] || Required in each sickbay to operate surgery unit. Place only one in each sickbay. || [[Transporter Station]] || Operates matter transmission equipment. Place only one in each transporter room.
| [[Space Vehicle Launcher]]
| A space vehicle launcher is a place to position a space vehicle for launch. It also determines the direction in which the vehicle is launched. These are 12m x 17m in size and require this space to be available. The launch pad requires direct access to the outside through a door or opening.
| [[Power Relay Station]]
| Distributes power between ship systems. Displays status of ship systems.
|}
 
===Panels===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
| [[Navigator Station]] || Displays solar system and wormhole information. Plots courses to travel among the stars. Only one permitted per bridge. || [[Turret|Turret (Side)]]  || Provides a standard mount for various weapons on hull walls.
! Module
! Function
! Module
! Function
|-
|-
| [[Power Plant]] || Generates power for all ship systems and drives. Required for all spacecraft. || [[Turret|Turret (Top/Bottom)]] || Provides a standard mount for various weapons on hull top and bottom surfaces
| [[Alert Status]]
| Shows the spacecraft's alert level.
| [[Mission Status]]
| Shows the current mission status. For example current [[Solar_System|solar system]] name and ETA to destination.
|-
|-
| [[Power Relay Station]] || Distributes power between ship systems. Displays status of ship systems.
| [[Room Life Support Status]]
| Shows the life support status of the associated [[Room_Void|room void]].
| [[World Map]]
| Shows the [[Locator|world map]] of the current [[world]].
|-
|-
| [[Sensor Station]] || Detects objects within range based on total sensor units aboard. Range adjectives refer to the following distances. || [[FTL Drive]] || Enables interstellar travel through wormholes or faster than light travel.
| [[Service Panel]]
| A service panel is used to repair or upgrade a spacecraft's systems.
|}
|}


===Doors===
==Volumes==
Some equipment is typically placed in multiples. These are Maneuver Drive, Life Support, Power Plant, Sensor, Shield, Weapon, and FTL Drive units. Brush size assists in placing these units. Brush Size is increased and decreased using and buttons at the right side of the toolbar. Brush size allows more units to be placed in the room that is clicked. Units are not placed in neighboring rooms as a result of brush size.
Below are the functions for each of the "sliders" that can be seen on a spacecraft design's properties. This controls hull volume allocation.
 
Equipment can be erased one-by-one using the Erase Equipment button.
 
Multiple equipment units can be erased using the Erase Equipment in Area button. Brush size determines the area that equipment will be removed. Only equipment of the type that is clicked, and in the same room, will be deleted. Other kinds of equipment in the brush area are not deleted. In other words, if you click on a maneuver drive unit, only maneuver drive units inside the brush area are deleted; doors and hatches are not deleted.
 
 
==Valid Design==
 
A valid spacecraft design must define a Spaceport, Starbase, Spaceship, or Starship with one contiguous hull. When your design is complete and valid, do the following things.
 
*1. Press F6 to take the Design window away; this is important because the model behaves differently when the design window is visible.
*2. Walk through the design to be sure you have placed adequate doors and hatches to get into every room.
*3. Select a Blank Disk as your current item.
*4. Store the design onto the disk by pressing the button with a green triangle icon . If the button is not visible, verify the design is valid and try saving the design using the grey file cabinet button . The current working design must be valid, saved and unmodified before it can be stored onto a blank disk.
*5. Go to a spacecraft factory.
*6. Display the Labor (F10) window. Select the design to manufacture. This will cause the factory to mass produce spacecraft using the design.
*7. Alternatively, the Labor (F10) window enables you to purchase a design outright. Ship purchased this way are privately owned. When the ship spawns, you are immediately assigned the Captain's berth and teleported to somewhere in the vicinity of your new ships helm.
*8. The implications of private vs subsidized ownership are described on the [[Spaceship]] page.


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|-
|  '''Spawning'''
! Volume
! Function
! Volume
! Function
|-
|-
|   Space stations automatically spawn in orbit with crew. The space station will not spawn if there is one already of equal or higher TL design.
| [[Framework]]
| Unused volume. Cheap and provides some extra health.
| [[Armor]]
| Provides protection from damage as the name implies.
|-
|-
|   A spacecraft that fits on or inside a box 21x21 squares and 5 decks will spawn on the road slabs directly bordering the spacecraft factory. As long as they are empty of vehicles and spaceships.
| [[Cryo Berth]]
| Berths for naked passengers that don't require physical berth placement.<br>Good for transporting thousands of civilians.
| [[Power_Plant_(Subsystem)|Power Plant]]
| Power generation per second.
|-
|-
|   A spacecraft over 21x21 squares and 5 decks will spawn outside the space station of the planet it was built on (as long as it is empire owned). The space station has room for upto 4 craft to spawn this way. Removing a space station will not reset the spaces. You'll have to hunt down the old spaceships and move them to free up room.
| [[Capacitor]]
| Electricity storage capacity, useful for beam weapons or harvester bays.
|}
 
==Spawning==
A valid spacecraft design must define a Station, Spaceship, or Starship with one contiguous hull. When your design is complete and valid, do the following things.
 
{| class="wikitable"
! Spawning
|-
| Space stations automatically spawn in orbit with crew. The space station will not spawn if there already is a space station of the same blueprint with equal or higher [[quality]].
|-
|-
|   A Privately bought ship will always spawn in orbit directly above the city it was bought at.  
| A spacecraft that fits within the inside size limits of ground construction will spawn on the spacecraft factory. As long as they are empty of vehicles and spaceships.
|-
|-
| A spacecraft that doesn't fit within the inside size limits of ground construction will spawn outside the space station of the planet it was built on (as long as it is empire owned). The space station has room for upto 4 craft to spawn this way. Removing a space station will not reset the spaces. You'll have to hunt down the old spaceships and move them to free up room.
|}
|}
When you return to a design studio, the previous working design you were editing is usually present in the studio. This is true even if you did not save the design before exiting. This is a convenience; do not depend on it to preserve your working design every time. Sometimes the working design is lost. It is safest to save your working design before exiting a design studio.


==Construction==
==Construction==
The maximum size for a spaceship to be manufactured on the ground on a planet is 72m / 236ft along each axis. Maximum size for any spacecraft is 1 600m / 5 250ft along each axis.


The maximum size for a spaceship to be buildable on a slab on a planet is 21x21 tiles and 5 decks high. Purchased ships always spawn in space, without any fuel, and do not necessarily spawn near space stations (at least if the space station is also privately owned). It may be wise to have hydrogen in your inventory when you buy your ship, so that you can put some into its fuel tanks. Having a large number of power plants also helps the ship keep power longer initially, since its capacitors will not go empty as fast.
It should be noted that if a blueprint has a set minimum [[quality]] defined in it, all materials used in its construction must gave a quality equal to or higher than that.


It should be noted that resources must be above a certain [[Quality]] to be harvested/produced at each [[Technology|TL]], and that each TL spaceship or space station requires that all the components and materials that it is constructed from be at least that TL. The relationship is 8 levels of Quality per Tech level from base zero. E.g. Resources with a Quality of 0-7 are limited to TL1, resources with a Quality of 8-15 are limited to TL2, and so on. You need resource Q248 or above to produce TL32 resources.
A spaceship can be constructed one of two ways. Either it can be manufactured or purchased. If it's manufactured, then it is labelled as a 'starforce' ship and is owned by the empire where it was built, although people from that empire will be able to claim berths in it and fly it. A starforce ship receives free repairs and refuelling at all cities and space stations owned by the same empire as where it was built.


A spaceship can be constructed one of two ways. Either it can be manufactured or purchased. If it's manufactured, then it is labeled as a 'subsidized' ship and is owned by the empire where it was built, although people from that empire will be able to claim berths in it and fly it. A subsidized ship receives free repairs and refueling at all cities and space stations owned by the same empire as where it was built. Lastly, when a subsidized ship is destroyed, it must be rebuilt and all cargo and funds on board are lost.
A purchased ship is owned by the avatar who purchased it, but must be purchased with that avatar's personal funds. These are known as Company Ships. These ships do not receive free repairs or refuelling, but cannot be captured by other empires. A single person may buy any number of private ships, but may only captain one of them.
 
A purchased ship is owned by the player who purchases it, but must be purchased with that player's personal funds. These ships do not receive free repairs or refueling, but if they have an officer or captain (player, not AI!), they will respawn above the city they are spawn-tied to when they are destroyed instead of being destroyed forever. The cargo and money they carry is also saved when they respawn. A single person may buy any number of private ships, but may only captain one of them. It can be wise to use a privately purchased ship as an automated trading vessel, due to the rather high rate at which those disintegrate in atmospheres, stars, wormholes, and whatever else the AI crew decides to plow into. Bear in mind that they do not respawn in pristine condition, and that (theoretically) if your officer manages to get killed and you are not the captain, the ship may fail to respawn due to lack of an officer or captain.


==Notes on designing a ship==
==Notes on designing a ship==
When designing a ship, keep in mind, that:
When designing a ship, keep in mind, that:


1. One berth (if ship have <u>any</u> berths) is always reserved for a captain.<br/>The order of precedence for reserving a captain's berth:
1. You should always place a Captain Berth so that other berths are not used for a Captain. If you do not have a Captain Berth on your ship, one of the other berths are reserved.
The order of precedence for reserving a captain's berth:
  Officer > Passenger > Crew > Troop berth.
  Officer > Passenger > Crew > Troop berth.


2. If you want your ship to fly, instead of bounce around aimlessly, you need Engineer console. And an engineer to operate it.
2. If you want your ship to fly, instead of bounce around aimlessly, you need an Engineer console, and an engineer to operate it.
 
3. If you want your ship to leave a planet's orbit and reach for other planets, and stars, you need a Navigation console.


3. If you want your ship to leave planet's orbit and reach for other planets, and stars, you need Navigation console.
4. You can import external meshes into the designer. Format must be 3ds or stl. You can even design your meshes in a software like Blender and import them when finished. Keep in mind you'll still need to texture them and add voids, pathing etc. Also, all meshes that are imported will be triangulated.


[[Category:Spacecraft]]
[[Category:Spacecraft]]

Latest revision as of 21:44, 27 August 2024

This page focuses on designer rulers and functions specific for spacecraft designing.

See the Designer page for common designer information.

Equipment

Module Function Module Function
Berth Personal respawn location for two people. Stateroom berths can accomodate two colonists instead of people. Can choose what type of berth is provided, such as Captain, Officer, Crew, Troops, or Civilians. Sensor Station Operates Sensors.
Engineer Station Tunes maneuver drive performance.
Required to operate FTL drive. 		Space Vehicle Recovery System The recovery system displays an approach lighting system that guides the pilot toward the recovery system. When the vehicle enters the recovery system, it is captured and moved instantly to a vacant parking spot, if one is available.
Weapon Station Required for each weapon bay to operate the weapon. Only one permitted per bay. Shield Station Operates energy shields. Only one permitted per room.
Maneuver Drive Provides thrust for maneuvering. Enables a station to hold its position. Provides artificial gravity inside spacecraft. Required for all spacecraft. Water Vehicle Parking Spot A water vehicle parking spot indicates a place to park a water vehicle. Ship policies determine which specific water vehicle will be stored. These are 12m x 17m in size and require this space to be available.
Helm Station Controls attitude and velocity of ship. Required for all spacecraft. Only one permitted per bridge. Ground Vehicle Parking Spot Ground Vehicle Parking Spot. Indicates where a ground vehicle should be parked, and ship policies determine what type of vehicle is spawned here. These are 6m x 12m in size and require this space to be available.
Surgery Unit Performs complex anatomical operations. Space Vehicle Parking Spot A space vehicle parking spot indicates a place to park a space vehicle. Ship policies determine which specific space vehicle will be stored. These are 12m x 17m in size and require this space to be available.
Transporter Pad One pad is required per person transported simultaneously. Total pads in room determines maximum object size Pod Bay Unimplemented. A pod bay indicates a place to store a drop pod. Drop pods can be used as life boats. They can also be used to deploy troops. These are 5m x 5m in size and require this space to be available.
Medic Station Required in each sickbay to operate surgery unit. Place only one in each sickbay. Transporter Station Operates matter transmission equipment. Place only one in each transporter room.
Navigator Station Displays solar system and wormhole information. Plots courses to travel among the stars. Only one permitted per bridge. Turret Provides a standard mount for various weapons on hull walls.
Space Vehicle Launcher A space vehicle launcher is a place to position a space vehicle for launch. It also determines the direction in which the vehicle is launched. These are 12m x 17m in size and require this space to be available. The launch pad requires direct access to the outside through a door or opening. Power Relay Station Distributes power between ship systems. Displays status of ship systems.

Panels

Module Function Module Function
Alert Status Shows the spacecraft's alert level. Mission Status Shows the current mission status. For example current solar system name and ETA to destination.
Room Life Support Status Shows the life support status of the associated room void. World Map Shows the world map of the current world.
Service Panel A service panel is used to repair or upgrade a spacecraft's systems.

Volumes

Below are the functions for each of the "sliders" that can be seen on a spacecraft design's properties. This controls hull volume allocation.

Volume Function Volume Function
Framework Unused volume. Cheap and provides some extra health. Armor Provides protection from damage as the name implies.
Cryo Berth Berths for naked passengers that don't require physical berth placement.
Good for transporting thousands of civilians. 		Power Plant Power generation per second.
Capacitor Electricity storage capacity, useful for beam weapons or harvester bays.

Spawning

A valid spacecraft design must define a Station, Spaceship, or Starship with one contiguous hull. When your design is complete and valid, do the following things.

Spawning
Space stations automatically spawn in orbit with crew. The space station will not spawn if there already is a space station of the same blueprint with equal or higher quality.
A spacecraft that fits within the inside size limits of ground construction will spawn on the spacecraft factory. As long as they are empty of vehicles and spaceships.
A spacecraft that doesn't fit within the inside size limits of ground construction will spawn outside the space station of the planet it was built on (as long as it is empire owned). The space station has room for upto 4 craft to spawn this way. Removing a space station will not reset the spaces. You'll have to hunt down the old spaceships and move them to free up room.

Construction

The maximum size for a spaceship to be manufactured on the ground on a planet is 72m / 236ft along each axis. Maximum size for any spacecraft is 1 600m / 5 250ft along each axis.

It should be noted that if a blueprint has a set minimum quality defined in it, all materials used in its construction must gave a quality equal to or higher than that.

A spaceship can be constructed one of two ways. Either it can be manufactured or purchased. If it's manufactured, then it is labelled as a 'starforce' ship and is owned by the empire where it was built, although people from that empire will be able to claim berths in it and fly it. A starforce ship receives free repairs and refuelling at all cities and space stations owned by the same empire as where it was built.

A purchased ship is owned by the avatar who purchased it, but must be purchased with that avatar's personal funds. These are known as Company Ships. These ships do not receive free repairs or refuelling, but cannot be captured by other empires. A single person may buy any number of private ships, but may only captain one of them.

Notes on designing a ship

When designing a ship, keep in mind, that:

1. You should always place a Captain Berth so that other berths are not used for a Captain. If you do not have a Captain Berth on your ship, one of the other berths are reserved. The order of precedence for reserving a captain's berth: 

Officer > Passenger > Crew > Troop berth.

2. If you want your ship to fly, instead of bounce around aimlessly, you need an Engineer console, and an engineer to operate it.

3. If you want your ship to leave a planet's orbit and reach for other planets, and stars, you need a Navigation console.

4. You can import external meshes into the designer. Format must be 3ds or stl. You can even design your meshes in a software like Blender and import them when finished. Keep in mind you'll still need to texture them and add voids, pathing etc. Also, all meshes that are imported will be triangulated.

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