Note: the exact prices, abilities, and ratings of ships, installations and equipment (and technologies too, but to a lesser extent) can vary a bit from one campaign to another. These tables show typical values, but if you want more precise information for the campaign you play, you can use the game's "describe" command to get information about anything you can build or develop.
| Ship Type | Tech Level | Cost | Speed | Attack Strength | Defensive Strength | Scan Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonizer | 1 | 42 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | Can establish a colony. |
| Cruiser | 1 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | Low-tech, all-purpose warship. |
| Explorer | 1 | 35 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | Every player starts with (at least) one of these. |
| Scout | 1 | 10 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
On higher techlevels, other ship types becomes available:
| Ship Type | Tech Level | Cost | Speed | Attack Strength | Defensive Strength | Scan Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Destroyer | 3 | 25 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 1 | |
| Surveyer | 5 | 12 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 3 | An improved scout ship. |
| Guardian | 2 | 25 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 0 | Useful for guarding systems. |
| Interdictor | 3 | 25 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 2 | When not moving, this ship can prevent enemy ships from leaving. |
| Starbase | 4 | 75 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
More ships become available on even higher techlevels, and some new ship types become available when special technologies are discovered. (The "technology report" section of each turn report will contain more precise cost and ability information for all ship types you can build.)
Speed is measured in terms of how many sectors a ship can travel in one turn, assuming it has enough fuel. Each ship recovers at least one unit of fuel per turn, and more if it is in a friendly system with a fuel depot or other fuel-providing installation. (The distance is computed in the ordinary Euclidian way, as the square root of the sum of the squares of the differences along the X and Y axis.)
The scan rating is similar, but distance of the scan is (1+scan_rating)/2. Using `+' to indicate visible sectors and a digit to indicate the location of the ship, ships with scan ratings 0 through 6 see this far:
+ +++
+ +++ +++++ +++++
+ +++ +++ +++++ +++++ +++++++
0 +1+ +2+ ++3++ ++4++ +++5+++ +++6+++
+ +++ +++ +++++ +++++ +++++++
+ +++ +++++ +++++
+ +++
A fifth ship rating is the equipment capacity, which is a measure of how much equipment the ship can have mounted at the same time. The sum of the individual sizes of all equipment onboard the ship cannot exceed the equipment capacity. Most ships have an equipment capacity of at least 3, and most kinds of equipment are size 1. (Use the "describe" command to find out exact values for your campaign.)
In addition to the abilities and ratings listed above, some ships may have special abilities. Three such abilities are "interdict" (ability to prevent enemy ships from leaving, providing the ship with the interdict ability doesn't move itself), "intercept" (ability to do a short `jump' to a nearby sector if enemy ships are detected there), and "fuel transfer" (automatically transfers a little fuel to other friendly ships in the sector if the fuel transfer ship has more than enough fuel to move its maximum range this turn).
Without special technologies or rather high techlevels, the only ship with "interdict" ability is the "Interdictor", and the only ship with "intercept" ability is the "Interceptor". Two low and medium techlevel ship have fuel transfer ability: the Fuelship, and the Starbase. (Again, use the "describe" command to find out details about the particular campaign you play.)
INSTALLATION TECH TYPE LEVEL COST NOTES disruptor_factory 6 40 Automatically builds quantum_disruptors equipment_factory 4 20(U) Extra equipment building capacity fuel_depot 1 10 Collects fuel for faster ship refuelling fuel_refinery 2(R) 20 Converts fuel resources in +3 fuel per turn fuelscoop_factory 2 20 Automatically builds fuelscoops hydroponic_plant 2(*) 8 Makes a system support a larger population infrastructure 1 5 +2 production and +1 effective system size jumpgate 5(*) 20(U) Enable fast system-to-system travel mining_station 1(*R) 12 Convert ore(R) into 4 RU per turn orbital defense 3 16 Improve a system's defensive ability repair_station 3 25(U) Repair damaged ships research_facility 1 30(U) Cost-efficient research scanner_array 1(*) 12 Increase a system's scan range to 5 shipyard 1 30 Makes it possible to build ships space_station 1 25 Provides fuel and minor repairs warpdrive_factory 3(*) 20 Automatically builds warpdrives(R): the installation needs a particular resource to work
The `factory' installations build their respective equipment at about half the normal building price, and also lets you build something else in the system in the same turn. However, the factories will only build something if there isn't already one piece of its kind of equipment in the local equipment stores, and only if the system's local budget can pay for the construction without bringing the remaining local funds below 3 RU.
The `equipment factory' is special: it doesn't build any equipment automatically, but rather takes over the first equipment build order issue in a system each turn. It will then build the equipment at about half the regular price. The resources will be taken from the imperial economy, although possibly with local sponsoring.
EQUIPMENT TECH TYPE LEVEL COST NOTES cloaking_device 3(*) 10 Makes a ship harder to detect cloak_scanner 4(*) 15 Makes it possible to detect cloaked ships deflector 3(*) 12 Increase a ship's defense rating by 1 fuelscoop 1 7 Gather one extra fuel unit per turn hyperdrive 4(*) 18 Makes a ship travel faster (speed +3) krang_scanner 2(K) 9 Increase a ship's scan rating to 5 laser_cannon 3 15 Increase a ship's attack rating by 1 long_range_scanner 1(E) 12 Increase a ship's scan rating to 4 quantum_disruptor 5(*) 25 Increase a ship's attack rating by 2 trialch_fuelscoop 3(T) 14 Gather three extra fuel units per turn trialch_scanner 3(T) 15 Increase a ship's scan rating to 6 warpdrive 1(*) 15 Makes a ship travel faster (speed +2)(E): requires the `earth_legacy' technology to build.
TECHNOLOGY REQUIRES NOTES
aegis 5+forcefields How to build "aegis" shield ships
biotech 5+cloning(*) Portal tech: use of boilogical technology
cloaking krang_legacy How to cloak ships and detect cloaked ships
cloning 6+genetics How to clone creatures
earth_legacy - The technological heritage from Earth
fastcrops 4+genetics Helps colonies grow a bit faster
forcefields 3+warpdrive The physics of solid force fields
genetics 4+earth_legacy Portal tech: the secrets of human DNA
hydroponics 2+earth_legacy How to build hydroponic_plant installations
hyperdrive 5+hyperphysics How to build hyperdrives
hyperphysics 6 Deeper understanding of hyperspace physics
javelin 4 How to build Javelin ships.
jumpgate 5 How to build jumpgates
krang_legacy 4 The basics of Krang technology
mining 2 How to make use of ore resources
quantum_disruption How to build quantum_distruptor equipment
5+quantum_phys.
quantum_physics 4 Portal tech
scanner_array - How to build scanner_array installations
robotics 5 How to build equipment factories.
trialch_legacy 6 The basics of Trialch technology
warpdrive 2 Make ships travel faster
wenjee_legacy 3 The basics of Wenjee technology
(Digits in the "requires" column indicate required techlevel. For
biotech, you don't need "cloning" if you have "wenjee_legacy".)
The development costs of the technologies will be presented in the turn update as you become able to develop the various technologies.
No player can develop the `legacy' technologies, only trade them or discover them by indirect means.
You cannot usually receive technologies that belong to a higher techlevel than your current, but your empire's research will advance somewhat if anyone tries to give you a higher-level technology. (With luck, you may be able to acquire technologies belonging to the techlevel one step above your current.)
More information about the various technologies are given in the StarCluster Technology List.