Starship Corporation

Hello everyone, and particularly, hello David!

I thoroughly enjoy simulation games that allow me to manage and design something; be it cities, bases or spaceships. That makes me a happy bunny with the concept of SC, especially given the chance to simulate and play with the starship later, reminding me of the weird pleasure that comes with games like Simcopter and Streets of Simcity, although some tower defense games also come to mind. Even in alpha I am really enjoying this game, giving me a challenging assignment to balance design, layout, functionality, space and so on. So thank you for that, and keep up the fabulous work David!

I've already noticed some discussions in terms of tuning the specific numbers (like #personnel to quarter space etc), and I would like to add my five cents. Before diving into that, let me make a distinction between design niceties that come with later play (such as power switches for missiles and what not) and the more rudimentary balancing. I personally have little to say about the former, but I have nothing against it either! I just want to draw the distinction for a clear focus, and put the emphasis more on the latter in this discussion. For me the balancing act contributes a lot to whether the game is overly difficult, overly challenging or satisfying; a sense of realism being the middle ground, I suppose, that contributes to challenging but satisfying gameplay. Especially for the layout design there is the challenge of balancing issues like space constraints, crew logistics, vulnerability and the implementation of optional subsystems like cannons etc.

What I've noticed while playing:
- A lot of choices have to do with the particular floor plan of the ship relative to the floor plan of the rooms. I like this puzzle and do not have concrete suggestions, but I am a bit stumped sometimes by the angular front of the only ship design available so far compared to the straight layout of the rooms. It adds to the puzzle, but I am erring on the side of frustration for lack of real usability so far. It could be interesting to be able to slightly lengthen, shorten or stretch certain rooms, although I appreciate that this may not be easy to do in terms of game design.
- The layout designer blocks putting doors at 90 degree angles, as though a single 2x2 room with four doors were impossible. I don't really see why this is necessary. I think it has something to do with rooms not being allowed to touch at the corners?
- It seems a bit ridiculous to have the air and water tanks serve only 10 resp. 20 people for one month; I am sure future technology will have a way to circulate this just as much as our present naval technology can circulate something like 90-95% of their water supply already. There are some nice touches to consider adding here, for example giving the choice whether or not to add a water/air purification system. Short vs long flights, etc. The game already gives a feel for this distinction, and I think the logistics of it add a feel of realism already, but I do see room for improvement.
- The constraint that certain rooms need connections to the hull of the ship is already a very nice touch! And I like where you're going with this - also in relation to later issues like potential boarding etc.

Those are my thoughts so far, but I will be sure to share more later; either through further play or in discussion with other tinkerers here

Engineer Mack signing off!

Thanks for the kind words and great suggestions. There will be a lot of Game Design Tunig going on as the game progresses. Expecially the posted Designs and Lets plays are very helpful for me to understand how you guys play the game. Its very important for me to know if you ever experience the feeling of "there should be something like X" - because I love games that feel "right" be providing you with tools you´d expect naturally, and not frustrate you into problem-solving that feels "forced".

On the subject of air/water recycling, I too think that the number of air tanks required for such a small ship is too much. Personally, I think having more air/water tanks would be a safety measure, in case of damage or loss of power to the life support and recycling systems.

As it is now, there is barely enough space for the water and air for the bare minimum crew for the cargo ship: 6 pilots and 4 technicians. If I'm not mistaken, those 4 technicians would need to be in the engine room 24/7. Unable to increase crew count, there would be no one to maintain the other systems, making the current design requirements unfeasible.

Yes, water and air supplies are to low now, it should be cut by 50 or 100%., its almost impossible supply 15 man crew for 4 months in shuttle hull. I cant imagine how much air and water tanks carrier must have for 1-2 year and 100 + crew.

It is possible to have only small emergency air tanks or none and have some tech room to make 02 from water. Also ship can find water in space, so long range ship can resupply in mid flight.

I found another problem and its armor placement, we need 1x1 armor plate, so i can have gun batteries with minimal spaces between.
I can properly rotate 1x2 armor in some L segments.
Another suggestion for armor is place alow placement inside ship, for reinforcing core systems. Its possibility players are abuse it and make very thick armor in some areas, so we need some limitation for internal armor placement.

The way I see it, a small ship should be able to survive with one water and one air tank, as long as the recycling systems are working normally. Larger ships would need either more recycling systems, or more tanks.



The limitations would be a ridiculously expensive and slow craft, since it would be so massive.