Space Station Designer News

Welcome to the ninth Dev Diary entry of 'Space Station Designer'. In the previous entry, we covered two important revenue-generating mechanics: Modules Leasing, and Commercial Services. In this article, we'll cover two more mechanics related to the LEO Station: 'Earth Facilities' and 'Space Tourism'.

[h3]Earth Facilities[/h3]
Behind every successful network of space stations, there's a large structure of facilities on the ground that provides the necessary support. In the early stages of the game (i.e., 'Phase I') there's an 'Earth Facilities' research technology, which enables a button in the Global Screen and allows us to construct a series of buildings that can help us optimize our operations.



Note that the first time we access the Earth Facilities, there's only a handful of patches of land.



After unlocking one of these patches and clicking on it, the game will present a series of buildings that we can choose from. Some of them are locked, and they only become available after acquiring their corresponding research technology from the tech tree. Moreover, there's only a limited number of patches available, so we need to choose carefully.



Once the construction process ends, the facility becomes fully functional, and it gives us access to a series of bonuses and Continuous Improvement Programs (CIPs). Bonuses are only active when there's an astronaut with the required special skill assigned to them, whereas CIPs allow us to upgrade astronauts, modules, resupply spacecraft, or a general aspect of our operations. For example, the 'Micrometeoroids Avoidance Detection Center' Earth Facility shown below includes a series of expensive CIPs for researching radar systems that decrease the chances of experiencing micrometeoroids showers across multiple orbits.



Note that astronauts assigned to bonuses have a minimum commitment time, so keep that in mind before assigning them to one, as they won't be available for other activities during this period. In the case of our astronaut assigned to the first bonus shown in the screenshot below, the waiting time is six months.



[h3]Space Tourism[/h3]
Space Tourism is another tool in our revenue-generation toolbox, and it becomes available shortly after acquiring the 'Expansion in LEO' research technology, which marks the start of Phase II. Once we have researched the 'Space Tourism Level I' technology, we're able to install spaceport-types modules, which come in three flavours: Small, Medium, and Large, and feature one, two, and three docking ports for space tourism shuttles, respectively.

In the screenshot below, our small spaceport is already engaged in an ongoing space tourism group, whereas the medium spaceport has its two slots fully available.



After selecting one of the slots, the game will present us with three space tourism shuttle options with different costs and capacities.



After selecting one of these options, we'll be presented with a screen that lets us select the space tourism modules we want to allocate for this tour. The selection of these modules will define the maximum number of seats available from each one of the available tiers (i.e., Standard, Premium, and Deluxe).

By using the sliders in the lower area of the dialog, we can define the number of tourists from each category we actually want to bring. The number and type of these tourists will define an 'astronaut Space Tourism skill points' requirement (in this case, 17). These two factors, combined with the duration of the tour (in this case, 7 months), yields a potential maximum revenue of $326,930. Larger, more prestigious, and lengthier tours will bring more revenue, but obviously will require a larger allocation of skilled astronauts to run them.



Once the selection of space tourism modules and the allocation of seats is complete, the game will present us with all available astronauts in the station that can be assigned to the tour. If we're planning to make space tourism a big part of our sources of revenue, then it's important for us to invest in the training of astronauts.



In addition to the waste management challenges related to large groups, ongoing space tourism tours can and will be affected by random events, but we'll let you discover those!

[h3]Coming Up Next[/h3]

This blog post covered the last two main concepts associated with the LEO station. In the next article, we'll start covering some of the main aspects of running our space stations in higher Earth orbits, including Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO) and the Lagrange Point 2 (L2) orbit.

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)

Join the community on Discord: https://discord.gg/qxSJXAZ6ZJ
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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)

Join the community on Discord: https://discord.gg/qxSJXAZ6ZJ

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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
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1447650/Space_Station_Designer/

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)

Wishlist Now
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1447650/Space_Station_Designer/