Dev Diary #2 - Science

Let's talk about customization.

One of the design goals of Station Command is that your fleet should feel like it's yours. You're on the edge of explored space facing an impossible situation. You're surviving by scavenging whatever you can to find clever solutions that defy the odds. Narratively, your ships should be unexpected and unique.

Right now, in the demo, that's somewhat true. Your fleet will likely be a mix of ships from multiple factions, and their equipment will be the same. That's where the personalization ends though. There's no way to really make a ship something unique to you. So, let's change that.

Some items you encounter, both from salvage and merchants, will now have a small addition to their tooltip:

There's a lot changed there from what's currently in the demo. We've noticed in watching people play that affixes were often mixed, so we've adjusted the display to be a little less busy. Hopefully, this will answer the question of "Why can't this ship gain shields?". For this diary though, we're interested in that little green line at the bottom.

Both equipment and ships will be able to be analyzed in your science lab once you've repaired it (part of the main mission chain). Most items will not have this tag. It's reserved for interesting and uncommon items that your science team can learn something from. Analyzing the item is free and instant but destroys it completely which gives us a nice new item/wealth sink. More importantly, it also gives you some very fun choices on whether to use that shiny new weapon or hand it over to your science team for future gains.

So, what does analyzing an item do? It gives your science team new research paths:

Your science lab can research a single project at a time. Each one will unlock something new for you: station upgrades, database entries, ship retrofits, equipment upgrades, and even some other more hidden things. You won't entirely know what any particular research will give you, but the description should point you towards a general idea. Research will take time, so you'll need to go on missions or implement upgrades while you wait for it to be completed. Since you're always up against the clock of your performance review this means you won't be able to research everything. You'll need to pick and choose carefully what options align with your strategies and needs.

So, you've analyzed an item and then spent precious cycles researching the project it gave you. Now what? We'll talk about that next week when we dive into engineering. But here's a preview of what the research we've been showing in this diary leads to:

Want to discuss this diary or the game in general? Join the Respite Games discord! https://discord.gg/KVNHDkgYNf