IN PROGRESS: This article is still in progress. Its information is accurate as of API 44, but it is woefully incomplete.

Introduction

A ship class is like a template for creating ships. Ships of the same ship class share many things in common. This article contains guidelines for designing and balancing ships classes in Human Space in the late 24th century to early 25th century.

Example

Let's start with a simple example and examine the different components of a ship class:

<ShipClass UNID="&scSapphireYacht;"
      manufacturer="Zubrin Systems"
      class="Sapphire"
      type="yacht"
      defaultSovereign="&svCommonwealth;"

      attributes="commonwealth, genericClass, zubrin"
      inherit="&baHumanTechShip;"
      >

   <!-- Hull -->

   <Hull
      size="31"
      mass="30"
      cargoSpace="50"

      maxReactorPower="10000"
      maxCargoSpace="150"
      maxDevices="8"

      maxArmor="heavy"
      stdArmor="medium"
      />

   <Drive
      maxSpeed="20"
      thrust="300"
      powerUse="20"
      />

   <Maneuver
      maxRotationRate="9.0"
      rotationAccel="2.0"
      rotationStopAccel="9.0"
      />

   <DeviceSlots>
      <DeviceSlot criteria="p +property:omnidirectional;" ... />
      <DeviceSlot criteria="w" ... />
   </DeviceSlots>

   <!-- Configuration -->

   <Armor
      armorID="&itReactiveArmor;"
      count="4"
      />

   <Devices>
      <Device deviceID="&itRecoillesCannon;"/>
      <Device deviceID="&itClass1Deflector;"/>
   </Devices>

   <!-- Image and Effects -->

   <Image imageID="&rsWolfenGunshipHD;" ... />
   <HeroImage imageID="&rsWolfenLarge;" ... />

   <Effects>
      ...
   </Effects>

   <!-- AI and Behavior -->

   <AISettings
      ...
      />

</ShipClass>

Hull Types

Ships may be categorized into different types. Use the following table as a guideline:

TYPE                 MASS       SLOTS   ARMOR      ARMOR
                    (tons)             SEGMENTS    TYPE

Battlepod            <20         2-3      1        light
Light Gunship        20-40       4-6     1-2       light
Medium Gunship       40-80       5-7     2-4       medium
Heavy Gunship         80+        7-9     4-6     medium/heavy

Light Freighter     100-1,000    7-9     4-6       light
Medium Freighter  1,000-5,000    12+     6-12      light
Heavy Freighter   5,000-25K      12+     12+       light
Superfreighter      25K-100K     12+     12+       medium
Hyperfreighter       100K+       12+     12+       medium

Corvette            120-1,000    9-12    6-12    medium/heavy
Monitor           1,000-5,000    12+     8-12      heavy
Frigate           5,000-10K      12+     8-12      heavy
Destroyer           10K-20K      12+    12-16    super-heavy
Cruiser             20K-50K      12+     16       massive
Dreadnought           50K+       12+     16+      massive

Levels and Balance Types

Treasure

Ships often contains fuel or other items that can be looted by the player. The amount of treasure should be commensurate with the difficulty in defeating the ship. We use level and balance type to determine difficulty.

Minion and standard balance-type ships generally do not have any treasure. For elite, boss, capital level ships, consult the tables below:

Elite Treasure

LEVEL  TREASURE

 1     1d6 H3 rods
 2     2d6 H3 rods
 3     1d2 H3 assemblies
 4     1d6 H3 assemblies
 5     2d6 H3 assemblies
 6     2d6 Xenotite rods
 7     1d6 Pteracnium rods
 8     2d6 Pteracnium rods
 9     1d6 Hadron cells
10     2d6 Hadron cells

Boss Treasure

LEVEL  TREASURE

 1     2d6 H3 rods
 2     4d6 H3 rods
 3     1d6 H3 assemblies
 4     2d6 H3 assemblies
 5     2d6 Xenotite rods
 6     4d6 Xenotite rods
 7     2d6 Pteracnium rods
 8     4d6 Pteracnium rods
 9     2d6 Hadron cells
10     4d6 Hadron cells

Capital Ship Treasure

LEVEL  TREASURE

 1     trStdTreasureLevel1 + 2d6 H3 rods
 2     trStdTreasureLevel2 + 4d6 H3 rods
 3     trStdTreasureLevel3 + 1d6 H3 assemblies
 4     trStdTreasureLevel4 + 2d6 H3 assemblies
 5     trStdTreasureLevel5 + 2d6 Xenotite rods
 6     trStdTreasureLevel6 + 4d6 Xenotite rods
 7     trStdTreasureLevel7 + 2d6 Pteracnium rods
 8     trStdTreasureLevel8 + 4d6 Pteracnium rods
 9     trStdTreasureLevel9 + 2d6 Hadron cells
10     trStdTreasureLevel10 + 4d6 Hadron cells

See Also