Ship Configuration

I've been spending this week working on something that doesn't really lend itself to sexy videos or screenshots, but is going to be very important for the game: Ship Configuration.

In Starcom: Nexus, every ship consists of a hull that has a number of hard points where modules can be placed. Everything a ship can do comes from its modules: Converting fuel into energy your modules can use comes from reactors. Detection and long range radar comes from scanners. Plasma bolts come from your plasma cannons. Shield generation comes from your shield generator. And so forth.

All modules are stackable. If you have 5 plasma cannons, that's five times the fire power. If you have 2 scanners, you'll have twice the detection capability.

Technologies unlock and improve the capabilities of the modules you already have. Your 5 plasma cannons may only fire once a second at a range of 50, for 30 points of damage, but with Plasma Coherence and Helium Cooling, you get improvements to all of them. As mentioned in a previous post, technology comes from Research Points which are a non-grindable resource-- you have to discover and do new things to get them.

Very preliminary gif of the ship builder screen. The actual builder screen will also show the cargo hold, and give detailed information on your ship's capabilities and the selected module.