User Tools

Site Tools


spaceship_upgrades

How to Upgrade a Spaceship

This is the guide to spaceship configuration in LITE Space. It tells how to set up your ship to accept component modules and upgrades, and how to buy and install those modules. Any errors noted in this document should be sent to staff members who specialize in the space system (currently Karinne, Zobeid, and Hagalaz), so revisions can be made.

All ships approved to operate on the grid MUST be configured for module installation, and must have all the configured module slots filled prior to use. Even if you have no intention to fight other ships, you must have cargohold modules installed to take up the space. The days of having a spaceship with just engines and hull protection installed - and then pretending it's a space-going battleship with a corresponding weapons loadout - are gone.

Configure Your Spaceship's Module Slots

The first step of setting up your ship is to configure its module slots, or mounting points. You must go outside the ship and use this command:

'shipconfigure <shipname>'

You can only configure a ship that you personally own. Currently, even wizards cannot configure someone else's ship for them using this command.

The configuration program will first ask you about the ship's landing capabilities. Here are the options:

What should be your landability status?
(1) Landable anywhere, includes atmospheric flight
(2) Cannot land in an atmosphere.
(3) Can only land on carriers
(4) Cannot land anywhere

By entering a more restrictive option, you will make more space available on your ship for installing component upgrades. At the same time, however, you will be restricting the options you have for parking your ship in a secure location. After choosing your ship's landing capability, you will see a menu something like this:

<your ship's name>
Mount Type Have Cost Mount Type Have Cost
Turret Mounts Hardpoints
- tiny 0 1 - tiny 0 1
- small 0 2 - small 0 2
- medium 0 3 -medium 0 3
- large 0 6 -large 0 6
Block mounts Vehicle bay mnt
- tiny 0 2
- small 0 3 - small 0 30
- medium 0 8
- large 0 22 - large 0 60
Nose mounts
- tech mounts 0 1
- gun mounts 0 1
- multimounts 0 1
Points left to spend 016
[ADD] [REMOVE] [ABORT] [DONE]

Here, you can see mounts listed with various types and sizes, along with their costs and the amount of configuration points you have available to spend on them. Mounts which are available on your ship class, and which you can afford, will be shown in white. Mounts which are not available will be shown in red. The add and remove commands both need an argument. So, for example you could type:

'add medium turret'

Then the program will add a medium turret to your ship, and subtract 3 configuration points. You can also 'remove medium turret' to uninstall the turret mount and get your points back.

Turret mounts are usually used for cannon or beam weapons. Hardpoints are usually used for carrying missiles (for example, the underwing mounting points for missiles on a modern-day fighter), although future revisions may allow for sensor pods or extra fuel. Block mounts are interior compartments, such as cargo bays or anything else that belongs inside the ship's hull. Nose mounts are a specialized mounting point intended for smaller ships, such as mecha. It is best to go to a shipyard and shop the component sales catalog, and have some idea what components you want to install, and what mounts they require, before performing ship configuration. Note also that not every shipyard sells every component.

After you have configured all your ship's mounts that you want or can afford to, you will type 'done'. The program will ask for confirmation that you really want to store this configuration. Once you have stored it, the number and type of mounts on your spaceship is permanently set and can only be changed by wizardly intervention!

You can check your configuration by going into your ship's control room and entering '@set here=_status:Allow', and then typing 'damage status'. It should list the mounts you configured as being available, and it should also list a standard engine and hull as being already installed. The damage status (or damage report, or dmg) command can show the condition of your ship at any time.

Buying and Installing Modules

This section describes how to buy any kind of upgrade module, including weapons modules. Before loading any modules into your ship, you must set up one room as a loading bay. Go into whatever room ICly serves as your cargo bay and enter this:

'@set here=_Loadingbay:yes'

Component modules are only sold at shipyards. At the time of this writing, we have shipyards at Alpha Dome Spaceport on Luna, Amundsen Base on Mars, New Philadelphia Shipyard on 253 Mathilde (no weapons sold here, though), Jupiter Station Docking Ring, Annyrion City Spaceport on Annyrion, and Newport Spaceport on Oceania.

Park your ship in the spaceport's repair yard, and then go into the component sales building.

You should find some mechas standing around (they may have names like “CLM Unit”). There are also two or three store rooms. You should 'enter' a mech and power it up ('enter <mecha name>' and 'mecha on'), and then walk into one of the storerooms. Then you can power down the mecha ('mecha off') and step 'out' of it.

Now type 'catalog'. This will bring you into the menu-driven sales system. Modules are listed in yellow, while collections or categories of module types are listed in white. Just enter the name of the module or collection you want to browse. When you have found a module you want to buy, type 'select'. It will show the price and let you 'proceed' or 'abort' the sale.

Be sure you buy a module that can be installed on a mount of the correct size and type that you have configured on your ship!

Once you exit the catalog, you will find the module (or modules) that you bought lying in the room. You can't pick up the modules by yourself, that's what the mecha is for. Climb back into it and power it up, just like before, and pick up the modules using the 'get' command. Find your way back to where you parked your ship, and enter this command:

(NOTE: While the module sales system creates modules that, for purposes of handling OOCly, are easily carried by a mecha, you should almost NEVER treat these modules as portable for purposes of roleplaying. ICly, the majority of ship upgrade modules are huge constructs, and would require large shipyard handling equipment to move and position for installation. Armor (including plain hull plating), engines (which include the powerplant and main drives), cargo holds, and vehicle bays should only be installed or uninstalled in a shipyard facility, from an IC perspective, as they usually represent integral parts of a ship's structure. To put this into context, you wouldn't uninstall an aircraft carrier's flight deck, a battleship's armor belt, or a supertanker's cargo hold, and throw it on any old flatbed truck for transport to the black market. Weapons modules (specifically turrets and hardpoint-mounted weapons) may be transportable, but double-check with staff first. - Hagalaz)

'load <module name> onto <your spaceship name>'

For example, if I were loading a cargo module into 'Max Valier DU-10':

'load cargohold onto max valier'

This moves the module into the room you previously designated as your ship's loading bay. Once you have loaded all the modules you are carrying, take the mecha back where you found it, power it down, climb out, and return to your ship. You will need to go inside, to the loading bay… where you should find the upgrade module(s) waiting.

You must enable the installer command by entering this:

'@set here=_install:Allow'

Then:

'install <module name>'

It will ask for confirmation, and tell you how many seconds it will take to install that module. After you confirm, the module(s) have been installed. You must remain onboard the ship for the duration of installation.

In the event you want to uninstall components, but instead of the module name, you must tell the installer which mounting point you want uninstalled, like this:

'uninstall small block mount 1'

Once your modules are installed, you can go to your ship's control room and type 'dmg' so you can make sure the new module(s) show up on the report.

Hull Slots Available By Size Class and Landability

(Note: This table applies to civilian ships. Dedicated military spacecraft belonging to government factions may be set up differently. - Hagalaz)

Class Full No Atmo Carrier only Unlandable
M 4 4 4 N/A
1 8 8 9 10
2 16 17 18 20
3 32 35 36 40
4 64 71 73 80
5 N/A N/A N/A Custom
spaceship_upgrades.txt · Last modified: 2011/08/10 06:28 by hagalaz