Space Station Designer News

Welcome to the eight Dev Diary entry of 'Space Station Designer'. In the previous article, we discussed the process for manufacturing commercial goods in microgravity and selling them on Earth. In this entry, we'll cover the basics of two more revenue-generating mechanics: Modules Leasing, and Commercial Services.

[h3]Modules Leasing[/h3]

As our space stations evolve and get larger, we may find that we may have some spare capacity that we can temporarily lease to external entities so that they can make use of it.


This functionality can be accessed by acquiring the 'Modules Leasing' research technology in the research tree, which has a dependency on 'Expansion in LEO'.


Once the acquisition of 'Modules Leasing' is complete, a new button in the 'Revenue Generation Group' will become available.


Initially, there's only one leasing slot available. Further slots can be unlocked via the 'Modules Leasing Management Center' Earth facility, which we will cover in a future entry.


After selecting a slot, we can choose the modules that we would like to include as part of the leasing contract. Note that only certain modules can be included in a lease (for convenience, unavailable modules are shaded in red). The selection screen also shows us an estimate of the financial rewards based on the number and type of modules selected.


After concluding the selection process, we'll be presented with six potential customers: three Contractors, and three Private Companies. These options feature a range of upfront/end payments, and lengths. Selecting a Contractor will also increase their experience points (XP), whereas selecting a Private Company will grant us a certain number of Public Reputation points depending on their alignment. For example, selecting a Private Company with a 'bad' reputation, such as 'WBC Broadcasting' will grant us a larger financial reward at the expense of a negative public reputation, so choose wisely!


After selecting an option, the main leasing screen will be updated accordingly. In this particular example, our leasing contract with 'Brighton Aerospace Ltd' offers both an upfront and an end payment, and lasts for 10 months. Note that modules won't be available for other uses while the engagement is active.


[h3]Commercial Services Engagements[/h3]

The second revenue-generation mechanism we're going to cover in this entry are Commercial Services. These are services provided by individual modules that feature 'Commercial Services' capabilities, and they can be acquired after researching the 'Commercial Services Base Technology' and its dependencies. Similar to modules leasing, once the acquisition of the 'Commercial Services Base Technology' is complete, a new button will become available as part of the 'Revenue Generation Group'.


In this example from the late stages of the game, we already have three commercial services modules in our LEO station, and all of them are currently available.


If we select the 'Open Space Dock', we're presented with a series of options: three Contractors and three Private Companies. Unlike the modules leasing process, when setting up a Commercial Services engagement we need to assign astronauts to it. There's also a possibility that the engagement can fail, in which case we'll be required to pay a penalty.


After selecting an option (in this example, we've chosen the 'Boston Institute of Nanotechnology'), we are presented with a list of available astronauts so that we can select the ones who will be assigned to this engagement. Note that this module requires four astronauts, and that there's a list of recommended special skills. Selecting a group of astronauts that possesses the recommended special skills will have a significant impact in the chance of delivering a successful engagement.


Once the astronaut selection is complete, we'll be taken back to an updated 'Commercial Services' screen. The 'Open Space Dock' and the selected astronauts will be unavailable throughout the whole duration of the contract which, in this case, is nine months.


[h3]Coming Up Next[/h3]

This blog post covered the main concepts behind 'Modules Leasing' and 'Commercial Services Engagement', which are two more tools in our belt for generating revenue. We'll be discussing more revenue-generating mechanisms in future entries.

We're currently running a closed beta for 'Space Station Designer' (more information here). If you're interested in trying it out, please consider applying and help us shape its future.

See you in the next Dev Diary!

--Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)

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Welcome to the seventh Dev Diary entry of 'Space Station Designer'. In the previous entry, we covered the details behind resupply spacecraft which, in addition to transporting astronauts, are used to keep stations operational and to transport the goods manufactured in orbit to Earth. In this article, we'll explain the basics behind two other mechanics: the manufacturing of Commercial Goods in a microgravity environment, and the process of selling these goods back on Earth.

[h3]Manufacturing Commercial Goods in Microgravity[/h3]

Microgravity provides an excellent environment for producing elements to a level of quality that can be difficult, or even impossible, to replicate on Earth. 'Space Station Designer' features a manufacturing system that uses a technology similar to 3D printing and allows us to create exotic compounds we can sell as commercial goods in a dynamic market.


The various types of goods available can be found in the panel located in the lower-left part of the screen.



From top to bottom, these are:

• Intermediate Goods A
  
• Intermediate Goods B
  
• Intermediate Goods C
  
• Intermediate Goods D
  
• Ceramics
  
• Chemicals
  
• Crystals
  
• Pharmaceuticals
  
• Fiber Optics
  
• Carbon Nanotubes (Only available for manufacturing in the GSO station)
  
• Organic Scintillators (Only available for manufacturing in the L2 station)
  
• Refined He-3 (Only available for manufacturing in the Lunar Orbit station)
  

Note that the Intermediate Goods are used as building blocks for the rest of the goods. They have no value on their own and, as such, they cannot be sold on Earth.

The main ingredients for creating goods are the 'Raw Materials', which are brought to the station via resupply spacecraft, as we've already covered in the previous Dev Diary. The formulas for creating intermediate and commercial goods can be found in the information cards of the various manufacturing modules. For example, the small version of the Ceramics module ('Ceramics Production Module - Model I: Small') takes four 'Intermediate Goods A' units as input, and produces a single unit of 'Ceramics'.

Note that manufacturing the more valuable types of commercial goods requires not only intermediate goods, but also other types of commercial goods. For example, in order to produce a unit of 'Fiber Optics', we need 2 units of 'Intermediate Goods D' and 2 units of 'Ceramics'. This presents an interesting dilemma, and it will be up to us to decide whether to sell our existing 'Ceramics' as they are, or use them as an ingredient for manufacturing 'Fiber Optics', which have a higher nominal value.

Manufacturing modules need to be put together in production lines, which can be managed by using the 'Production Lines' button located on the right-hand side area of the screen:


In this particular example, we've already created two production lines named 'Inter A' and 'Ceramics'. Note that modules that belong to the same production line must be contiguous, which is required to streamline the production.


The production lines management screen allows us to create/delete production lines, add/remove modules from an existing production line, and even assign astronauts to them. It also features two handy buttons to enable and disable all production lines.


When assigning astronauts to a production line, their 'Intermediate Goods' and 'Commercial Goods' skills will help increase its throughput. In the example above, Timmy Nguyen's 'Intermediate goods' and 'Ceramics' skills are boosting the output of said type of goods by 2% and 9%, respectively.

[h3]Selling Commercial Goods[/h3]

Manufactured commercial goods are stored in the station. In certain cases, we may want to transfer them to another station, but most of the time they will be ferried back to Earth using a bidirectional resupply spacecraft. Once they have reached Earth, we will normally keep some of them in storage (sometimes they come in handy when dealing with random events), or we may want to sell them in the commercial goods market. This market can be accessed via the 'Sell Commercial Goods' button located on the right-hand side of the screen.


The commercial goods market screen provides a historical graph featuring the values of all types of commercial goods. The various individual graphs can be enabled/disabled by using the toggle buttons located in the left area of the screen.


By using the two buttons on the right of the graph, we can review historical and projected data, and place limit orders, respectively. The historical data screen provides all-time minimum and maximum values for each type of commercial goods. We can even commission forecast reports and obtain projected data, which can help us decide the best course of action for our manufactured goods (i.e., shall we sell now, or should we rather wait?).


Lastly, if we have a target price for a specific type of good in mind, we can place a limit order, which will trigger once the value of the good reaches the target value. This can be handy as a 'fire and forget' mechanism, as the prices in the market are constantly changing, and keeping an eye on them constantly can be quite taxing.


[h3]Coming Up Next[/h3]

This blog post covered the basics behind the manufacturing and commercialization of goods. There are more mechanics and subsystems around these two systems, but we'll let you play the game and discover them by yourself!

Remember that we're currently running a closed beta for 'Space Station Designer' (more information here). If you like the premise of the game, please consider applying and help us shape its future.

See you in the next entry!

--Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)

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Welcome to the sixth Dev Diary entry of 'Space Station Designer'. In the previous entry, we went deep into the various mechanics available for hiring and managing astronauts. In this post, we'll cover the mechanisms for requesting and dispatching resupply spacecraft.

[h3]Requesting Resupply Spacecraft[/h3]

In order to keep our stations functional, we need to ensure that (1) there's a permanent presence of astronauts, (2) that these astronauts have enough supplies units available to perform their tasks, and (3) that there are enough raw materials available to keep a steady output of manufactured goods. To achieve this, there's a wide range of resupply spacecraft available, including options that can carry both cargo and crew, and cargo only.

The toggle button to expand the 'Resupply Spacecraft' options can be found on the right-hand side area of the screen.


This reveals three buttons. From left to right, these are: 'Request Resupply Spacecraft', 'Dispatch Resupply Spacecraft', and 'Transfer Resupply Spacecraft'. The third option is only applicable to multi-stations setups, and will be covered in a future entry.


After selecting the 'Request Resupply Spacecraft' button, the game will display a list of options, which are inspired by both real-life and hypothetical spacecraft. Further types of resupply spacecraft become available after unlocking more advanced technologies from the tech tree.


In this example, we select the Vulcan spacecraft, which is the in-game equivalent of the 'Progress' series of spacecraft. It's a cargo (i.e., uncrewed) ship with the following attributes:

• A cost of $4,000.
  
• A build time of 2 months.
  
• An extra propulsion of 40 units.
  
• An autonomy of 6 months, which is the amount of time it can stay docked to the station.
  
• A cargo capacity of 120 units.
  
• Zero crew seats.
  

In addition to this, the Vulcan spacecraft can only reach the LEO station. This means that it is not suitable for servicing stations in higher orbits (e.g., GSO, L2, etc), which are available in later stages of the game. Lastly, the spacecraft is 'unidirectional', which means it can reach the station and bring goods, but it will burn on re-entry.

The process for selecting the 'target' docking port is the same as the one used when installing regular modules. Note that resupply spacecraft can only be attached to 'universal' docking ports, which are identified by using green squares.


Before launching the spacecraft, we'll be able to determine the load in its cargo bay and, if applicable, the crew. In this particular example, we select 30 units of supplies and 90 units of raw materials. These elements are used to keep the astronauts crews active, and as the basic ingredient for manufacturing commercial goods in orbit, respectively.


Once the spacecraft integration process ends after 2 months, we'll be taken to the launch screen, where we can supervise the launch.


The launch process of a resupply spacecraft is composed of a series of steps. Most of them will go smoothly but, from time to time, there will be setbacks, and we'll be presented with a series of options and interesting decisions to make involving fees, loss of reputation points, or reduced chances of success.


Note that after the first successful launch, the game will give us the option to automate the process and skip directly to its outcome. And yes, launches unfortunately can fail, sometimes with catastrophic outcomes, so we need to be careful and don't push our luck too much.

[h3]Dispatching Resupply Spacecraft[/h3]

Unfortunately, since our Vulcan spacecraft is unidirectional, it will burn on re-entry. For this example, we're going to use a 'Union M' resupply spacecraft attached to the GSO station, which is available in the later stages of the game (in this example, there are some of the modules required to build the 'Lunar Space Elevator', which will be covered in detail in a future entry).


The 'Dispatch Resupply Spacecraft' is the second button, starting from the left.


After selecting the resupply spacecraft we want to send back to Earth, the game presents a screen to specify the types of goods we want to send back to Earth, along with the crew. Note that, in addition to being able to include a large range of commercial goods, a resupply spacecraft can be used to discard 'Waste' units, which are generated by the astronauts on a monthly basis.

In real life, it is a common practice to load the Progress freighters reaching end-of-life with trash, and have the whole resupply spacecraft incinerated during re-entry. In 'Space Station Designer' both options are available, though it's preferable to use bidirectional spacecraft to carry valuable goods and leave the 'waste' for the unidirectional ones.


The process for dispatching a resupply spacecraft is very straightforward and, after clicking the 'Dispatch' button, the game will show a dialog summarizing the type and number of goods dispatched, and the astronauts that returned to Earth, along with any paid overtime fees (in this case, zero!)


[h3]Coming Up Next[/h3]

This blog post covered the basics behind resupply spacecraft. Resupply spacecraft can also be transferred between stations, but we'll cover that in a future entry.

There's an ongoing closed beta for Space Station Designer (more information here). If you like the premise of the game, please consider applying and help us shape the future of the game.

--Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)

Wishlist Space Station Designer
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Welcome to the fifth Dev Diary entry of 'Space Station Designer'. In the previous entry, we covered the mechanics found throughout the initial stages of the game (a.k.a, 'Phase I'), and went through various key concepts, including currencies, research, and the maintenance of the space station modules. This entry will focus exclusively on astronauts.

[h3]Astronauts[/h3]

Astronauts are key players of your space company. In addition to conducting activities in the various space stations, they also provide support on Earth by contributing their knowledge and expertise in specialized Earth Facilities (more about this in an upcoming entry). There are two main activities related to astronauts: 'Hiring' and 'Managing', and they can both be accessed via the 'Astronauts options' button located on the right-hand side panel of the orbital outpost screen.


[h3]Hiring[/h3]

The 'Hiring' button is the leftmost one in the 'Astronaut options' group:



The hiring screen features a batch of candidates, which have a range of attributes, such as 'Age', 'Max Rank', 'Autonomy', and 'Monthly Salary'. Some of them can already be strong in areas such as 'Maintenance', 'Research', or 'Space Tourism', which are known as 'standard skills'. In the initial stages of the game, a well-balanced hiring strategy is preferable, but once you've decided to focus on certain revenue streams, hiring more specialized candidates might be preferable.


During the first year (i.e., 1998), astronauts can be hired any time, and you can even hire multiple rounds of astronauts during that year. After that, the hiring can only be done within predefined seasons. At the time of writing, these seasons open on a yearly basis, and they last for three months. This frequency may change before the final release based on the feedback we get from our beta-testers.

[h3]Management[/h3]

The astronaut management screen can be accessed via the second button in the 'Astronaut options' group:



This screen features a series of radio buttons (top-left) and toggle buttons (top-middle), which allows you to sort and filter astronauts based on certain criteria, respectively. In the following example, we can see all astronauts on Earth sorted alphabetically


Astronauts on Earth can be sent to training to advance their 'standard' skills (i.e., 'Intermediate Goods', 'Commercial Goods', 'Research', etc). Every time they are sent to training, their Rank goes up by one. Once they reach their limit (normally 10), they can no longer be sent to training.


In addition to the 'standard' skills, all astronauts have four slots for 'special' skills. Initially, these four slots are usually empty.


By clicking on any of them, you can select a special skill from a long list. These special skills have an impact across other areas of the game, such as repairing space station modules, providing commercial services, contributing to the 'Lunar Space Elevator' megaproject, and many more. Having a diverse astronaut corps with a wide range of special skills will increase your chances of success.


You may have noticed that all astronauts have a colored circle behind their portraits. These are used to identify the 'crew' they belong to. 'Crews' in Space Station Designer are simply a tool for you to organize astronauts using whichever criteria you deem best. For example, you can put together a crew of astronauts skilled in 'Maintenance', and use this as a mechanism to quickly find them when needed.


Lastly, all astronauts have an associated 'Morale' value. Unexpectedly, all astronauts join the company with a 100% morale value (our hiring process ensures that all new joiners are really motivated!). Throughout the game, astronauts will experience events that will make their morale go up or down. Not being sent to training every now and then, or not visiting the station for a while, will make their morale go down. Whereas participating in a successful module repair will make the morale go up. The details behind the various morale events that have affected a given astronaut can be accessed via the 'Information' button located in the top-right corner of their card.


[h3]Coming Up Next[/h3]

This blog post covered the high-level mechanics behind astronauts. There's a lot more to discover while playing the game. In the next entry, we'll be focusing on another key element: resupply spacecraft.

Don't forget that we have an ongoing closed beta for Space Station Designer (more information here). If you like the premise of the game, please consider applying and help us shape the future of the game.

--Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)

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Welcome to the fourth Dev Diary entry of 'Space Station Designer'. In the previous entry, we started a multi-part series that covers the mechanics found throughout the initial stages of the game (a.k.a, 'Phase I'), and covered concepts such as the time controls and the various station's stats. In this entry we'll discuss currencies, research, and modules' attributes related to their maintenance.

[h3]Currencies[/h3]

Space Station Designer features a series of currencies, though note that not all of them are relevant in the early stages of the game. The ones we care the most are:

• Funds: These are the lifeblood of your space company, as they allow performing basic tasks such as hiring and managing astronauts, buying modules, and launching resupply spacecraft.
  
• Research Points: These can only be acquired by conducting 'Research' activities (more on this later), and they allow you to acquire more advanced research technologies from the Research Tree. These advanced research technologies grant access to more capable modules, orbital outposts in higher orbits, Earth facilities, and other things.
  

The current amount of Funds and Research Points can be found in the left part of the 'Currencies' area, located in the mid-top area of the screen.


[h3]Research Modules and Generating Research Points[/h3]

As mentioned earlier, Research Points can be acquired by performing research activities. To do this, you need to install a module with 'Research' capabilities first. When starting a new Campaign, the 'EVA Experiments Research Facility' is already included as part of the set of modules provided by the 'Base Space Station Technology".


Additional Research modules become available after acquiring more advanced technologies from the tech tree. This doesn't include the specialized modules that are only available in higher orbits, but we'll let you discover them while playing the game!


At the time of writing, all active Research modules generate Research points every month, with an additional boost if we assign an astronaut to it. Note that we've changed this behaviour a few days ago: in an upcoming update, astronauts will become a requirement for generating Research points. We made this change because it better captures the fact that humans play a very important role in research.


[h3]The Research Tree[/h3]

The Research tree shows all available research technologies, along with their various dependencies. It can be accessed using the button located in the right-panel of the screen.


The Research tree features over 60 unique technologies. Although we've provided a zoom in/zoom out feature, we cannot fit them all in a single screen! The following screenshots shows all the technologies leading up to 'Expansion in LEO', also known as 'Phase I', with a lot more to discover afterwards.


[h3]Modules' Service Life, MTBF, and Refurbishments[/h3]

All installed modules have an associated ‘Service Life’ attribute, which is measured in months and determines how long the module can function before requiring a refurbishment. The initial service life depends on which contractor was used when placing the purchase order. The remaining service life can be accessed via the module's information screen.


Modules can be refurbished anytime by pressing the 'Replace critical components' button. There's no need to wait until its service life reaches 0, and planning things ahead is often a good idea!


All modules come with an associated Median Time Between Failures (MTBF) value, which is the predicted time in months between failures. Note that a module with a MTBF value of, say, 100, won't experience a failure exactly 100 months after being installed. Instead, this is an average (or mean) value used as part of a probability calculation.

It is important to mention that all modules at some point will fail, but we can significantly reduce the chances of that happening by (1) procuring modules from a contractor that focuses on quality, and (2) ensuring we have enough astronauts assigned to 'Maintenance' duties. This assignment can be done by accessing the 'Maintenance' screen via the button located in the right-hand side panel:


This screen features a series of stats on the left, including the overall maintenance capability of the astronauts assigned to maintenance duties, the required maintenance (which is a function of the number and type of modules in the station), and the current maintenance level and trend (not having enough astronauts assigned to maintenance duties causes a negative trend that significantly increases the chance of experiencing failures).


[h3]Station Maintenance Modules Failures[/h3]

When a failure happens (and they do happen, unfortunately!), you'll be required to assign astronauts to repair it. Depending on the type of module, assigning astronauts that possess specific special skills (like ‘Electronics’ or ‘Refrigeration’) will significantly improve the chances of a successful repair.


There's further nuance around the maintenance and repair mechanics, but we'll let you discover that while playing the game yourself.

[h3]Coming Up Next[/h3]

In the next entry, we'll be focusing on astronauts (hiring them, managing them, etc), and resupply spacecraft.

If you like the premise of Space Station Designer, remember that we have an ongoing closed beta (more information here). Please consider applying if you want to help us shape the future of the game.

--Ignacio, Mauricio, and Nicolas (Polar Motion)


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[h3]Wishlist now[/h3]
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