Create Design Window

Description

| This window allows you to create a new design for your empire. Once a design has been created, you can build ships of that design to use in space. When creating a design, the following steps are usually done in order:

- Select the vehicle size.
- Select the design type.
- Select the vehicle name.
- Add components to the design.
- If you are adding weapons to the vehicle, select a weapon mount as needed.
- Check that there are no warnings being displayed.
- Press the Create Design button.

Controls

| Size | This selection allows you to choose the size of the vehicle you would like to create. Pressing the arrow button displays the Select Vehicle Size Window. Each vehicle size has two important attributes. One is its base cost, the other is how large in tonnage it is. When you select a size, its cost will be added to your total cost. The tonnage size of the vehicle size will determine how much space you have available to fill with components. Certain vehicle sizes also have special abilities that may prove useful. Other vehicle sizes have restrictions on them which are displayed in the Warnings box.
| Design Type | This is a group identifier that you can select for your new design. The Design Type is a kind of classification for the design. For example, some of the selections are Attack Ship, Defense Ship, etc. These allow you to classify your design as being used for a particular purpose. On the Designs Window, each of your designs is listed under the heading of its design type.
| Design Name | This is the name that you would like for your design. You have two options here. You can either click in the box and type your own custom name, or you can press the arrow button to see a list of possible names to choose from. This list of design names is loaded from the file that you selected in the Empire Setup - General Window.
| Space Used | This item displays how much space you have used on the design out of how much is available. When you select a Vehicle Size, that will give you the total space available. As you add components on to your design, that will take up available space. You can not use more space than is available in your vehicle size.
| Total Cost | This is the total cost in resources for this design. This amount is calculated as the vehicle size cost, plus the cost of each of the components that have been added to this design. The total cost is the amount that you will have to pay to construct a ship of this design.
| Movement | This is the total movement that a ship of your design would have in space. Each movement points represents one square that a ship will be able to move. Adding engine components to your design will increase its movement.
| Shields | This is the total amount of shields that a ship of your design will generate. Shields are used to protect your ship during combat. Adding shield generator components to your design will increase its shield capacity.
| Cargo Space | This is the total amount of cargo space that a ship of your design will have available. Cargo space is used to store items on your ship so that it can be transported through space. For example, carriers require cargo space so that they can transport fighters. Adding cargo container components to your design will increase its cargo capacity.
| Supply Capacity | This is the total amount of supplies that a ship of your design will be able to carry. Supplies are the food, ammo, and fuel that your ship uses to run its day to day operations. As your ship moves, it will expend supplies. When it fires its weapon, it will expend supplies. When your ship runs out of supplies, it will lose many of its capabilities. Engines and supply container components will increase your ship's supply capacity.
| Components on Design | This section lists the components on your design. To remove a component from the list, just left-click on it. If you would like more information about one of the components, just right-click on it. If you want to add more components to the list, you need to left-click components in the Components Available list. There are arrows at either end of the list which will allow you to scroll the list in either direction.
| Components Available | This section lists all of the components that are known to your empire. As your empire researches new technologies, more components will become available in this list. To add a component to your design, just left-click on it. If you would like more information about one of the components, just right-click on it. There are arrows at either end of the list which will allow you to scroll the list in either direction. Each component is displayed with its picture, its name, and its size.

You may have noticed that some of the components have a small "I", "II", "III", "IV", etc. in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. As some components become more advanced, they improve their abilities. The component is essentially the same as a previous version, just with better abilities or a reduced cost. Each of these components is labeled with a roman numeral indicating its advancement level. So a component labeled with "I" would be the first component that is available. A component with "IV" would be the fourth in the lineage of this component type. This indicator makes it easier for you to identify different components of the same family. You will almost always want to put the most advanced version of a component on your design.

| Warnings | This box displays any warnings that are present for your design. It indicates that there is a certain requirement that must be met for this vehicle size, or that you have added a component that is not allowed. An example of what might be displayed here is the message "Must have at least 2 Life Supports." This warnings means that this vehicle size requires that you place 2 life support components on it. Another message might be "The total space limit for this size has been exceeded." This warning means that you have used up too much space with components on your design and that you will have to remove some. If there are warnings displayed in the Warnings Box, you will not be able to create your design. Once the box is empty, you will be allowed to create the design.
| Component Details | As you move your pointer over the components that are listed in the Components on Design and Components Available boxes, this area will display information about that component. It displays the picture of the component, its name, its cost in resources, its size, and the first few lines of its description.

Buttons

| Comp Type | This selection displays a window which will allow you to choose a component type. Once you have selected an item, the Components Available list will display just components of this type. Because there are so many components available in the game, the list becomes very long and tedious to scroll through. Using this option, you can have the list display only components of a certain type. To return the list to displaying all of the available components, select the "All" item. The currently selected Component Type is listed in parenthesis after the Components Available List title.
| Weap Mount | Selecting this option will display the Weapon Mounts Window. It will allow you to choose the current type of weapon mount for your weapons. Weapon Mounts are enhancements to existing weapons. For a price of double the space and cost, you can get three times the normal damage of the weapon (each weapon mount gives different modifiers). Weapon Mounts are like taking a normal weapon and building it on a much larger scale. Because the weapon is being built so much larger, some Weapon Mounts have a minimum size requirement for the vehicle.

When you select this option, the Weapon Mount Type will be displayed just above the Components Available List. The weapons that can use this weapon mount will be displayed with a small letter in the top left of the picture indicating the type of weapon mount. All of the costs and sizes will change to reflect this weapon mount enhancement. You can then left-click the weapon and have it added to your design. The letter identifier on the picture will remain in the Components on Design list.

It is perfectly acceptable to mix weapon mounts on your design, not all of the weapons have to be using the same weapon mount. In fact you don't have to use them at all if you don't want to. But Weapon Mounts are very valuable for your larger ships. It is much better to have 1 weapon in a weapon mount then 3 normal weapons without weapon mounts.

| Condensed View | This option changes the way that the components are listed in the Components on Design list. Normally, each component is displayed separately. With this option selected, the components will be displayed only once, with a number displayed in the bottom right to indicate how many of these you have on your design. Using condensed view does nothing to your design, it just shows your components in a more concise manner.
| Only Latest | This option will restrict the items listed in the Components Available list to only those that are the very latest. For example, as you research the Shields technology area, you will attain Shield Generator I, then Shield Generator II, and so on. Now when you are creating your design, you may not care to see all of the different Shield Generator components which you have discovered. By selecting this option, you will only see the very latest Shield Generator available to you.
| Weapons Report | This button will display the Weapons Report Window. This window will display all of the weapons that you have discovered, and display their damages at different ranges. This window is very useful in helping you pick a weapon that best suits your design.
| Create Design | This selection will create your design, close this window, and return you to the Designs Window. If there are any outstanding Warnings being displayed, you will not be allowed to use this button.
| Cancel | This will cancel your current design and return you to the Designs Window.

Special Notes

| Once you have created a design, you should mark any old designs as obsolete in the Designs Window. You may also want to change the default strategy for this design as well. If this is a combat ship, you should test your new design in the Combat Simulator. |

Related Areas

| Designs Window, Weapons Report Window,, Weapon Mounts Window |