Can we make it possible to build ships with no FTL capability? Yes, I know it will never be able to leave the system. For some routes. I’m not going to use the FTL engine, FTL Fuel tank, and FTL emitters that have to be built onto the ship.
It’s already possible to select no FTL drive, but there is a bug where you still need to choose a FTL fuel tank anyways.
I would really like to see FFC and maybe FTL drive or advanced drives only require WAI, and replace the other usages of WAI with something out of the SE and/or Electronics Plant so that an STL only spaceship can be built with techs and engineers only. It’s kind of silly that we need 3 WAIs to support a single life support system right now.
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Thanks for bringing that to my attention. I did not realize that.
You need to have some free FF storage. But that’s only a temporary glitch which will be addressed. STL ships are fully possible and there’s currently a couple in flight.
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FF storage sounds like a good idea, buts its not free, I’m having a tough time buying an SFL (Small FTL Fuel Tank) off the market. There are none for sale yet. I am willing to forgo it if I can get a ship up and running sooner.
Think of it as free 
Can you sell me one?
I took a look at the blueprints again. If one does not select an FTL drive, one still needs FTL emitters. If one could make a ship with no FTL capability, FTL field controller, FTL Emittes, FTL engine, and FTL Fuel storage, that could save a large amount off the costs of constructing the ships. It would be a ship that can only travel in-system. It would actually make sense that these STL-only ships be more fuel efficient too. Without these ship parts, the entire ship would be lighter. Why haul around all that extra weight of an FTL engine when you don’t use it.
I could easily imagine systems where non-FTL/STL-only haulers bringing bulky ore and high-volume gas to a central trade/manufacturing planet in the system where it is processed. FTL capable ships would arrive and depart from that trade/manufacturing planet. It would be like a hub-and-spoke model of shipping that reduces cost and increases efficiency.
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The problem with STL ships IS that there is no way to get them out of the system.
The massive cost of building a shipyard and relatively light demand to build ships due to cost means that it makes no sense to have more than 1 shipyard in the galaxy.
We currently seem to have one shipyard at Montem that appears to have 1 ship in its queue.
So, unless you are in that system, on multiple worlds, you will never build a STL ship.
If there are to be STL ships, then you need either a tug to move them about the galaxy, make them small enough to package up as cargo, or you need a relatively cheap “shipyard light” (sublight shipyard?) that can not deal with any of the technologies to do with FTL.
Or maybe an upgradeable shipyard that becomes capable of building STL once all the components are in place and FTL once all THOSE components are in place.
I don’t think this is strictly true, moving all your items halfway across the galaxy to get to the only shipyard would be time consuming and expensive. If it were truly the case, we would not have built 2 shipyards already when players could have just put down a base kit on one of the uninhabited planets that came with a shipyard on Ignition release.
As of now the:
- Promitor shipyard has completed 20 projects
- Montem shipyard has completed 9 projects.
- XT-992b shipyard has completed 1 project (probably before Montem shipyard was built)
- CR-911d shipyard has completed 0 projects.
- WN-428c shipyard has completed 0 projects.
1 project total has been completed by the shipyards that were added for free, even though all three planets are just 1 jump away from a CX world. The two player built shipyards were made on the CX worlds and have been used for the majority of the projects.
As we can see, logistics is an important factor in shipyard placement. If a system makes sense for STL only ships and they are cheap enough and provide sufficient benefit, players will make a shipyard to take advantage of it. More importantly, the actual cost of building a shipyard is actually rather minimal when taken as a percentage of the total cost of setting up the necessary supply chains to build ships.
The Shipyards are still blocked by A-Fabs -> Engineers.
Which make the new Technician based STL Ships still very expensive or limited in use in Systems with seeded Shipyards (if we get any)
Is the new map / tech ships available on the test server?
I assume it wouldn’t be too difficult to implement a tech lvl shipyard that can only make the cheap STL ships…
No its not.
Because the test server works with the old account system and the new map works with the new account system.
Hence no sneak peak.
ok, understandable 
.
Maybe @molp could tell us if there will be a lower level shipyard available in the next universe?
It is not planned atm.
A shipyard currently needs
A-Fabs are made in a PP4 which needs Engineers.
So Techncian only ships still need Engineers.
Well thats somewhat better than needing Scientists.
Afterall PP4 can be run with just Technicians too.
So Ships should be doable on just technicians!
It’s doable, but not logical.
If we ( and the devs ) really want to develop systems, and have a use for the system ships, I would urge the devs to make a “small shipyard” buildable with Rfabs.
Else we won’t see much technician level ships used.
If we have Afabs readily available, why not go for the big ships ?
There will be a few shipyards from the get go in the new universe.
@Counterpoint
Yes, I understand that, but with no possibility to transport STL ships, you can only use them in the system where a shipyard is available.
That being said, people will either all settle around these premade shipyards, or won’t have access to STL ships, and won’t settle systems that would be ideal for STL only ships, before we reach the Afab / FTL stage production.
I hope you understand that would be dissapointing for players / corps who want to settle and develop systems. And it would be made easier available with a “Small Shipyard” that costs for instance Rfabs to build.
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Fully Agree.
Why not make the Shipyard a upgradeable Project, like the Warehouse?
Level 1 -> STL Ships -> slow construction speed. | Needs R-Fabs, TRU and other construction Parts (we really dont use much of them anyway)
Level 2 -> STL Ships -> faster speed | Needs more R-Fabs, Electronics and what not, to optimize assembly.
Level 3 -> FTL Ships -> slow construction speed | Needs A-Fabs and all the bling
Level 4 -> FTL Ships -> faster speed | More A-Fabs and Scientist Electronics (WAI maybe?) to optimize assembly.
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