Hello everyone, here are the progress notes of the week 5 of 2022!
This week's progress notes focus on the status of Capital Ships. The ships and a lot of what we're working on can already be tested out in the Public Test Universe, but there are also several additional features and improvements in the works. The previous Capital Ship update is from week 45 of last year.
You can find the latest extensive overview of all items in development, including Capital Ships, in last week's progress notes: Starbase Progress Notes: Week 4.
Please note that the "Progress Notes" are different from the Starbase "Patch Notes". Progress Notes are snippets from the development team and what has been worked on during the previous week, and many of the features might not be present in the current or upcoming builds of the Starbase Early Access. Some features, especially in the design portion, can be subject to change as the development continues.
Starbase Progress Notes: Week 5 (2022) - Capital Ship insight
January 31 - February 4
- ❌ = Not started
- 🟡 = In progress
- ✔️ = Completed
- ➖️ = Not applicable (work not required in this phase)
| Feature | Description | Design | Art | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Building a Capital Ship | Capital Ship Docks can be built on stations and then used to create a Capital Ship of your own in the Easy Build Mode. After leaving the Dock via fast travel, the Capital Ship can be modified again in space by entering EBM. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Capital Ship devices and resource network | Capital Ships need a set of specific devices in order to fast travel, as well as a Supply Conduit Network that connects these devices to each other and moves the required resources, namely Liquid Exorium, Exorium Fuel and electricity. The connected devices are controlled with the Supply Conduit Terminal, while the Resources Terminal is used to check resource statistics. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Integrity check: Frame | To inspect the frame of your Capital Ship, created by attaching beams together to form the ship's "bone structure", and to make sure it can withstand fast traveling, you can use the integrity check to visualize the durability of the structure and its potential weak points. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Integrity check: Outer shell | The integrity of your Capital Ship's outer shell is also examined for fast traveling. Each ship gets a shell rating, which can be checked from the Fast Travel Terminal's system check tab, and the more encompassing the outer plating, the better rating you get. For large Capital Ships with multiple build areas, the rating is a combined result of them all. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Capital Ship Fast Travel | Capital Ships can fast travel to known destinations in space by using a Navigation Chip, provided that all the necessary systems are ready. This means that the ship integrity passes the inspection and all required devices are functional. The Fast Travel Terminal is used for a final check and initiation of fast travel. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Finer nuances of shell integrity | Certain materials, such as Alium alloy, boost the rating for the shell integrity when used in plating, while others have the opposite effect. For example, leaving devices such as the Generator Unit or Exorium Tank that contain Kutonium exposed and without cover impacts the shell rating negatively. | 🟡 | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Feature | Description | Design | Art | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Capital Ship expansion | Similar to stations and moon bases, the Capital Ship build area can also be expanded once a certain voxel mass has been reached. New build areas can be claimed after leaving the Capital Ship Dock where the ship was originally built. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Expansion minimap | To better visualize the available expansion areas, a minimap showing for example the available areas, build levels, ship direction and player location is added to the Capital Ship Easy Build Mode UI. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Modifying the ship during Fast Travel countdown | It's possible to keep building on and modifying your Capital Ship during the countdown phase of fast traveling, though there are some differences: You can't expand to new build areas, and there are additional notifications when trying to remove any parts of the ship that handle resources. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ❌ |
| Different expansion shapes | After the initial support for expansion, players will also be able to choose the overall shape of their Capital Ship. | 🟡 | ❌ | ❌ |
| Feature | Description | Design | Art | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Navigation Data Logger and Navigation Chips | The Navigation Data Logger is a device that saves station locations as coordinates on Navigation Chips for Capital Ships to use when fast traveling. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Navigation system improvements | Improved Navigation Chips for fast traveling. When choosing your destination, you can pick either the general station area or more specifically any of the Capital Ship Docks there. | ✔️ | ➖️ | ❌ |
| Capital Ship destination visualization | Visualization to indicate the spot where a fast traveling Capital Ship is about to arrive. This is to alert other players and let them know that they should vacate the area quickly, since staying within it when the fast travel ends means death. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Initial refueling mechanics | Both the Liquid Exorium and Propellant tanks can be refilled with single-use tank filler tools that players can craft with materials from their inventory. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Refueling V2 | Rather than being single-use items, the tank filler tools can be refilled like other resource containers, and the fuel material itself becomes craftable. | ✔️ | 🟡 | 🟡 |
| Capital Ship Fast Travel VFX | Visual effects for both the charging phase as well as the actual fast traveling. | ✔️ | 🟡 | ✔️ |
| Flyby audio | Audio system for the sounds of Capital Ships fast traveling. | ✔️ | ➖️ | 🟡 |
| Fast journey start | Players can embark on a fast travel journey quicker, without charging, but this comes with the downside of a slower travel speed. | 🟡 | ❌ | ❌ |
| Fast Travel to moon bases and cities | For the next iteration of Capital Ship Fast Travel, traveling to moon bases and cities will also be supported. | 🟡 | ➖️ | ❌ |
| Feature | Description | Design | Art | Code |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military type Capital Ships | Civilian Capital Ships can be turned into military models, which can both initiate and participate in siege battles. | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Capital Ship size classes | The attacking Capital Ship has to be in the same size class as the target station (or bigger) to be able to declare a siege to them. | ✔️ | ✔️ | 🟡 |
| Siege Terminal | A similar screen as the Fast Travel Terminal, the Siege Terminal can be used on Capital Ships to initiate siege battles against suitable stations. | ✔️ | ✔️ | 🟡 |
Gallery
Comparison of the different shell rates for a group of Capital Ships. The biggest factors are
how encompassing the shell is and whether the devices containing Kutonium are inside it or exposed.
Videos
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