Ship System

Frames, modules, blueprints, production costs, and ship build mechanics.

Frame Definition

A frame is the structural hull of a ship. It defines slot counts, power budget, and build costs.

Frame {
  id
  name
  category        // Ship | Station
  hull_class      // Frigate | Destroyer | Cruiser | Battleship | Carrier | DefensePlatform | TradeHub | ProductionHub
  base_hull       // Total hit points
  base_power      // Total power available for modules
  weapon_slots
  defense_slots
  engine_slots
  utility_slots

  // Production costs
  metal_cost
  crystal_cost
  gas_cost
  rare_cost
  base_build_ticks   // Ticks to produce one ship
}

Ship Frames

Frame	Hull	Power	W	D	E	U	Build Ticks
Frigate	500	100	2	1	1	1	2
Destroyer	800	150	3	2	1	1	3
Cruiser	1500	250	4	3	2	2	4
Battleship	2500	400	6	4	2	2	6
Carrier	2000	350	2	2	3	4	5

Station Frames

Frame	Hull	Power	W	D	U	Build Ticks
Defense Platform	3000	500	8	6	2	8
Trade Hub	1500	200	1	2	6	6
Production Hub	1500	200	0	2	6	7

Module Definition

Modules are installed into frame slots. Each module has a power cost and stat contributions.

Module {
  id
  name
  type           // Weapon | Defense | Engine | Utility
  power_cost
  stats {
    damage
    shield
    armor
    speed
    cargo
    targeting
    counter_tags[]
  }

  // Production costs (added on top of frame cost per ship)
  metal_cost
  crystal_cost
  gas_cost
  rare_cost
}

Weapons

Module	Damage	Targeting	Counter Tag	Power
Railgun	80	1.2×	armor_piercing	20
Plasma Cannon	100	1.0×	shield_breaker	25
Missile Battery	60	1.5×	armor_piercing	15
Ion Burst	120	0.8×	shield_breaker	30
Point Defense Turret	20	2.0×	anti_missile	10

Defense

Module	Shield	Armor	Counter Tag	Power
Shield Array	200	—	—	20
Armor Plates	—	150	—	5
Reactive Plating	—	100	piercing_resistance	10
Deflector Grid	300	—	breaker_resistance	25

Engines

Module	Speed	Power
Ion Drive	100	15
Warp Booster	200	30
Fusion Thruster	130	20

Utility

Module	Cargo	Effect	Power
Cargo Bay	500	—	5
Sensor Array	—	+0.3 targeting	10
Repair Drones	—	+20 armor regen	20
Logistics Pod	300	—	5

Blueprint

A blueprint is a player-authored design that combines a frame with a specific set of module assignments.

Blueprint {
  id
  owner_id
  frame_id
  version         // Incremented on each save
  role            // Striker | Brawler | Tank | Scout | Support | Logistics | Interceptor | Bombardier | Escort
  slots[]         // { slot_type, slot_index, module_id }
}

Constraints

Each slot must match the slot type of the module installed
Total power cost of all modules cannot exceed frame.base_power
Slot count per type cannot exceed the frame's slot count for that type

Ship Production

Ships reference a specific blueprint version. Once produced, a ship is immutable — it always reflects the blueprint version it was built from.

Ship {
  blueprint_id   // Fixed at build time
}

Production Cost

total_cost = (frame.cost + sum(module.cost)) × quantity

Resources are deducted upfront when an order is queued. The planet must have all resources available.

Build Time

ticks_per_ship = frame.base_build_ticks

Each economic tick advances all active production orders on the planet. When a ship completes, it is added to the owner's docked fleet at that planet.

Retrofit

Retrofitting an existing ship to a new blueprint version costs 30–50% of the base build cost and requires dock time.

Planet System

Planet size, population, food mechanics, housing efficiency, stability, and the energy system.

Fleet System

Fleet model, movement, missions, and the ship production queue.

On This Page

Frame Definition
- Ship Frames
- Station Frames
Module Definition
Blueprint
- Constraints
Ship Production