Dev Diary #3 – Engineering
Last time we talked about Science and all the different unlocks it can give you. Chief among them are equipment upgrades and ship retrofits. So, what are those and how do you use them? Welcome to Engineering.
In the new story flow for chapter 1 you'll unlock Engineering very early. Here is where you'll get to customize your equipment and ships. Let's start with equipment.
You'll have a small number of equipment upgrade options available to you automatically. Most equipment can be upgraded twice, each time gaining a new affix from the options you've unlocked via story, science, and other secret ways. Each upgrade option can be applied only to certain equipment types (no adding point defense to a shield generator), and over time you may find ways to improve the upgrades you've unlocked.
The first upgrade you apply is a reasonable price and we expect players to upgrade a good number of items at least once. The second upgrade is significantly more expensive and exists as a mix of money sink and way to really make some critical items shine.
And then there's unique items.
When you manage to find these special items, you'll have a difficult decision on your hands. Each one will have a unique technology you can learn from analyzing it, but you'll lose the item in the process. Alternatively, you can upgrade every unique into one of two upgraded versions that can no longer be analyzed or further upgraded. You'll have to choose between the most powerful items in the game, or new research options (and in some cases entire research trees). It's not easy being Commander.
But what about ships I hear you ask. After all, if you're building these powerful custom items you should have something equally powerful to load them into. Fair enough.
Most every ship will have one or two upgrade options to pick from. Some of these will lead to further options as you advance along the tech progression. Some are straight upgrades with better numbers, more affixes, or more slots. Some are retrofits where the ship's purpose is altered.
For example, the Shovel retrofit to the Spade lower the ship's speed and shield capacity in exchange for a new missile weapon slot. A powerful damage upgrade if the ship isn't on your front line.
The Eagle option instead gives you a shield that continuously recharges making it much more durable.
So, when can you play with these new systems? We'll be bringing the new chapter 1 flow to the demo at the end of this month. This will give you a small taste of both science and engineering as you fight back the pirate threat.
But what about after that?
Well, we're happy to announce that the full Station Command game will be available on August 18! We're very excited to open up the world of Gate 13 to you for the first time. We can't wait to see what wonderful and terrible choices everyone makes as they step into the role of Commander. In fact, let's talk about those choices some more next time.