VI. Unit Design

Shattered Galaxy incorporates an advanced unit design system that allows players to customize their units from thousands of viable designs.

A. General Design Principles

To design a unit, head to the Lab (Unit Design Facility) and select 'New' if you wish to create a new unit from scratch or 'Upgrade' if you would like to enhance a unit your hero already owns. Some players will find the design process difficult at first. It is recommended that you begin your design experiments by upgrading a pre-made chassis from the Factory. The basic procedure of unit design is explained below. Experimentation with the interface will be much more beneficial than a textual description.

1. Design Interface
   
   At the top of the screen are seven buttons: Chassis, Engine, Power, Computer, Weapon, Armor, Sensor, and Misc. At any given time, one of these buttons will be highlighted. (Note: you may not proceed to select Engine, Power, Computer, Weapon, Armor, Sensor, or Misc. until a Chassis type has been selected). That is the category of item that you are considering. Directly below these buttons is the Available Items area, which contains the items of that category that your unit can equip. Scroll arrows allow you to consider different items. Right-clicking on an item will often provide help information.
   
   To the right and below the Available Items area is the Item Display area, which contains pertinent information about the currently selected item. Left-click on item to see its stats in this area.
   
   To the left and below the Available Items area is the Unit Schematic, which shows the unit being designed/upgraded, and its current equipment. Double-clicking on an Available Item equips it. Items that already occupy the active workspace will have to be either sold or unequipped; the user will be prompted to make a choice. Unequipped items are either sold or put into your hero's inventory for later use.
   
   The bottom right area of the design interface is the Design Overview. This region informs you if all design constraints are being met.
   
   
2. Design Constraints
   
   Eight design constraints must be considered. If these constraints are not met, you will either be prohibited from completing the design or your unit will be ineffectual in combat.
   
   a) Influence Level
   
   Each chassis type has an Influence requirement that must be met when creating a new unit or purchasing a pre-made unit. Your hero's influence in each division is equal to his rank in that division plus his clout/2. Chassis types within 10 of your hero's influence appear grayed out so that you may preview them.
   
   b) Technology Level
   
   Each item has a technology level. A unit can equip items with technology less than or equal to the unit's level plus your hero's Education/2. For example, if your Education is 10 and your unit is level 4, that unit can equip items of technology level 9 or less. Items that are within 10 of your unit's technology level appear grayed out. You cannot equip these items, but you are able to preview them.
   
   c) Weight
   
   Each chassis can hold a certain amount of weight. The sum of the weights of all of your unit's items cannot exceed the weight capacity of the unit chassis. Your hero's Mechanical Aptitude increases the effective weight capacity of your units by approximately 1% per point (at a maximum Mechanical Aptitude of 120, the total bonus is 100%), allowing them to use more and/or more powerful (heavier) items. The weight bar in the Design Overview area shows the fraction of your unit's weight capacity that is currently being used. This constraint must be met for a design to be accepted.
   
   d) Space
   
   Each chassis can hold a certain amount of space. The sum of the weights of all of your unit's items cannot exceed the space capacity of the unit chassis. Your hero's Mechanical Aptitude increases the effective weight capacity of your units (at a maximum Mechanical Aptitude of 120, the total bonus is 100%), allowing them to use more and/or more powerful (larger) items. The space bar in the Design Overview area shows the fraction of your unit's space capacity that is currently being used. This constraint must be met for a design to be accepted. [not fully implemented]
   
   e) Complexity
   
   Most items require some computing power to be employed effectively. Unlike weight and space, the unit's computer therefore governs maximum complexity, as opposed to being governed by its chassis. The complexity bar in the Design Overview area shows the fraction of your unit's maximum complexity that is currently being used. This constraint must be met for a design to be accepted.
   
   f) Engine Strain
   
   Your unit's engine is responsible for locomotion during battle. The engine must be powerful enough to move the entire weight of the unit (the weight of the unit's chassis plus the weight of the unit's items) or the engine will be strained. Strained engines consume much more energy, increasing your unit's passive energy requirements. The engine strain bar shows how badly strained your unit's engine will be. Ideally, your units will have no engine strain. This constraint is only a guideline and you are allowed to design units with high engine strain.
   
   g) Energy Reserves
   
   The Energy Graph displays your units energy reserves. The importance of energy is discussed in Section V.A.3. The darkened pie slices represent the energy that will be consumed after the specified amount of time has elapsed. For example, if you specify 3 minutes and 1/4 of the pie is darkened, your unit will have approximately 12 minutes of power.
   
   Note that the Energy Graph initially only reflects passive energy requirements. If your unit employs special abilities or fires weapons, its energy reserves will be depleted much faster. Select an energy-consuming item, such as a weapon, and select a number of uses in the Active Energy area. The Energy Graph will then display the impact of that active energy use on your power reserves.
   
   Remember that units can be refueled during battle. Also keep in mind that solar units generally produce more energy than is required by their passive systems. Thus, they should show no energy loss regardless of the length of time specified under Passive Energy.
   
   The Energy Graph is merely a guideline. If you so desire, you can design units that are capable of only short periods of activity.
   
   h) Purchase Cost
   
   You can check the cost in money and resources of all upgrades you are considering by moving the mouse over the resource icons in the bottom center of the screen. These icons will light up if you have insufficient reserves of that resource to purchase the upgrades.
   
   Higher technology items and more powerful items tend to have the highest costs. Additionally, because higher technology items must be individually manufactured, their costs are primarily in resources. Similarly, lower technology items are available off the shelf and a higher percentage of the total cost is in money instead of resources.
   
   
3. Design Procedure
   
   Initially Chassis is lit up and the others are grayed out. The chassis types your hero can buy (if you are making a 'New' unit) or your existing units (if you are 'Upgrading' a unit) are shown.
   
   You may left-click on a chassis to see information on it in the Item Display area. Double-click on a Chassis to select one to design/upgrade. Then click on the item class you wish to consider. Note that you can select your hero as the Chassis type. Doing so will allow your hero to purchase items for use later (see Section VI.A.4).
   
   For example, to try out different weapons click on the 'Weapons' button. Left-click on a weapon to see its statistics in the Item Display area. Compare it to your currently equipped weapon to consider if you want to upgrade. Double-click on the weapon to equip it.
   
   The 'Exit' button leaves the design screen without making any changes to your unit. The 'Cancel' button resets the unit's design to what it was before you made any changes. 'Purchase' confirms your changes to the unit's design. The design is verified by the game server and if accepted, a dialogue box for the unit's name appears. If your design is not accepted, you will receive an error message explaining why.
   
   
4. Field Design
   
   Units can also be redesigned outside of the Lab. Through the 'Wrench' button (available in Hero Mode), units can be upgraded using the items in your hero's inventory. The interface is the same as with unit design except that only the items your hero has will be shown. Additionally, unequipping items places them in your hero's inventory; items cannot be sold in this way.

B. Chassis

Shattered Galaxy contains over 40 unique unit chassis types. The unit chassis governs the design as it determines the appearance, speed, base health, base endurance, experience point requirements and available equipment for the unit.

Chassis types belong to one of the four divisions: infantry, mobile, aviation, and specialist. Many chassis types are not available to novice heroes. A hero's Influence (level + clout/2) determines which chassis types he can buy in each division. The chassis types available at higher influence tend to be faster, sturdier, and/or have access to better equipment than lower influence chassis types. Of course, experience point requirements and purchase/repair costs are generally higher for higher influence chassis types.

C. Engine

Unit engines account for most of the health and endurance of a unit, above and beyond the intrinsic durability of the chassis. Cyborgs employ biodrives, biologically engineered, living engines. Other units are equipped with traditional mechanical engine systems, which are typically identified by manufacturing name and model. Some engines confer special abilities on their host. For example, cyborgs equipped with the rare Mutated Biodrive gain cloaking abilities.

Engines have one other critical attribute: power. If a unit's power is less than the total weight of the unit, passive energy requirements will be greatly increased (see Section V.B.3). The 'Engine Strain' bar indicates any negative effects of insufficient power. Note that even a small amount of engine strain can have a considerable effect upon energy consumption.

D. Power Supply

Almost all unit equipment consumes power. Without adequate power reserves, a Disruptor is nothing more than expensive cargo. Power supplies come in three primary varieties, though rumors of more advanced types persist.

1. Methane Reactors
   
   Methane-burning reactors have the largest storage capacity. The methane storage containers have thick walls to both contain the compressed methane and to reduce the chance of rupture. Thus, methane reactors tend to be quite heavy and thus are often best suited for vehicles. Methane reactors are refueled at methane springs during battle. Unfortunately, methane reactors refuel rather slowly.
   
   
2. Batteries
   
   Advanced batteries are popular alternative to methane, especially for units where weight allowance is at a premium. Batteries have only moderate reserve capabilities, but can be quickly recharged during the battle at rejuvenation pads.
   
   
   
3. Solar Cells
   
   The third of the most popular power supply types is solar. Unlike batteries and methane reactors, solar power supplies only have minimal storage capacity. However, solar power systems regenerate a considerable amount of energy constantly. Typically, solar cells are unable to meet energy demands during combat situations, but the solar regeneration far overcomes passive energy requirements. Thus, solar powered units will tend to withdraw from battle periodically while recovering their spent energy.

E. Computer

While each unit chassis has memory storage to allow units to learn from their battles, processing power must be supplied separately. Without sufficient computing capacity, units would be unable to support and coordinate all of the other systems such as weapon firing and energy management. Most equipment has associated with it a "Complexity" value. The computer's "Maximum Complexity" must exceed the sum of the complexity of all of the other equipment.

Computers can bestow other effects as well. One fairly common advantage of some computers is sophisticated artificial intelligence algorithms, which allow the unit to learn and adapt more rapidly. The result of these algorithms is an experience point bonus for their host unit. Previously earned experience points are unaffected when a unit's computer is changed.

F. Weapon

The primary purpose of most units' engines, power supplies, and computers is to support weapon systems. The following discussion of weapons explains their use from the player's perspective, not the unit's.

1. Standard Weapons
   
   Standard weapons (autorifles, lasers, etc.) are the simplest to use. Units will automatically fire standard weapons at enemies within range and the simple (A)ttack command allows a player to change the unit's target.
   
   Every standard weapon has a cooldown time, which represents the time required to reload and aim the weapon. If a weapon has a cooldown time of 3 seconds, then after the weapon is fired 3 seconds will pass before the unit fires again. Each time a weapon is fired, energy is consumed, reducing a unit's energy reserves. When a unit has less energy than is required for the weapon, it can no longer fire.
   
   The other important attributes for standard weapons are damage and range. Damage is the amount of health the target loses when hit (modified by armor; see Section VI.G). Range is the distance at which targets can be hit. To address concerns about internet lag, Shattered Galaxy does not include penalties for range; as in most RTS games, Shattered Galaxy weapons always hit.
   
   The four most common types of standard weapons belong to one of four categories: ballistic, missile, energy, flame.
   
   a) Ballistic weapons
   
   Ballistic weapons involve firing a projectile at high speed towards the target. Kinetic energy is relied upon to penetrate the target's armor and damage internal systems. Ballistic weapons include autorifles and vulcans. With low cooldown times and decent range, ballistic weapons are very common.
   
   b) Missiles
   
   While missiles are also launched projectiles, their damage is inflicted primarily by explosives contained in the missile. Missiles therefore tend to inflict damage over a larger area of the target than ballistic weapons. Missiles employ a combination of heat, physical impact, and concussive force to damage their target. Missiles tend to have long cooldown times, long range, and high damage.
   
   c) Energy Weapons
   
   Energy weapons such as lasers and masers (microwave amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) employ concentrated radiation of some sort to inflict great damage. Fortunately for the target, the intense levels of radiation quickly dissipate, limiting the range of these powerful weapons. The most common energy weapons are beam lasers and pulse lasers.
   
   d) Flame-based Weapons
   
   Flamethrowers are popular for their ability to damage a large surface area. Flame-based weapons are the only standard weapons capable of damaging multiple targets simultaneously.
   
   
2. Advanced Weapons
   
   Advanced weapons are more complicated to use than standard weapons. They are used through hot keys or buttons on the Command Wheel. Unlike standard weapons, advanced weapons are not used automatically by units; the player must direct their units when and where to use these weapons. The most common advanced weapons are outlined below.
   
   a) Artillery
   
   Usable only by the Artillery specialist unit, artillery is a power support weapon for any force. Artillery weapons have extremely high range and inflict a great deal of damage. Artillery is an area of effect attack, damaging all units near the point of impact.
   
   Unfortunately, it is impossible to hit nearby targets and the cooldown time is considerable. Additionally, the artillery unit must (I)nstall before it is capable of firing high recoil artillery. The artillery unit must then un(I)nstall to target a different area. Finally, the artillery unit must have sensor information of the target area. Therefore, an artillery unit generally requires a spotter.
   
   b) Electromagnetic Pulse Weapons
   
   Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) weapons deliver no damage, but disrupt the power systems of their target, effectively draining some of its energy. These specialized weapons are all but useless against aliens. They also tend to consume much energy when used. EMP weapons are available for infantry, mobile, and aviation units.
   
   c) Mines
   
   The sapper specialist unit is capable of placing mines which detonate when enemy units are detected within the mine's range. Fortunately, friendly units are able to avoid their effects. A variety of mines are available, including EMP mines. Experienced sappers can be equipped to detect enemy mines.
   
   

G. Armor

Armor protects a unit from enemy attacks. While some chassis types inherently have resistance to enemy attacks, even the sturdiest units will benefit from armor.

Armor generally has up to two possible effects. First, some armor is ablative, meaning that it is worn away as it absorbs damage. Armor with ablative qualities effectively increases the health of your units, but does not actually reduce the damage received. Second, armor can deflect some of the damage, effectively reducing the damage of every attack that hits the unit. The deflective property of armor is not reduced during combat.

Most armor requires neither energy nor computing power. Many types of armor excel against specific types of enemy attacks. For example, Reflec armor is only modestly effective against ballistic and missile attacks, but is excellent at deflecting laser fire.

H. Sensors

All units have primitive sensory systems installed. Sensors refer to items designed to somehow enhance the ability of a unit to detect terrain and enemy units nearby. Sensors can increase viewing range and some provide units with 360 degree vision. A few sensor types, such as the Tachyon Scanner available to the Red Eye unit, provide the Inspection special ability, which can appraise enemy units.

I. Miscellaneous Items

Miscellaneous items range from power couplers to armor piercing shells to first-aid kits. Each miscellaneous item bestows some bonus or special ability upon a unit. Two general types of miscellaneous items are available: standard and chassis-specific. Each unit can have one miscellaneous item of each type equipped at any given time.

1. Standard Miscellaneous Items
   
   For infantry, mobile, and aviation units, standard miscellaneous items are available. For example, any infantry unit can equip a Personal Coupler and any mobile unit can have a Cargo Hold installed. Some common miscellaneous items and their effects are:
   
   a) Cargo Containers
   
   Items such as Cargo Packs (infantry) and Cargo Holds (mobile) are required for a unit to gather resources during combat. While weighty, they require little computing power for operation.
   
   
   b) Energy Couplers
   
   Energy couplers are devices used to transfer power from one unit to another. The two units do not need to be using the same type of power supply; energy is energy. The transfer process is not 100% efficient, however. Larger and/or more advanced couplers are generally more efficient.
   
   c) Weapons Accessories
   
   A variety of weapon accessories, such as improved ammunition, advanced targeting systems, cooling systems, etc. provide damage, range, and/or cooldown bonuses. In some cases, the appropriate type of weapon must be used to obtain the bonus. For example, equipping a unit with Armor-Piercing Shells will not improve the effectiveness of its Beam Laser.
   
   
2. Chassis-Specific Miscellaneous Items
   
   Specialist units have unique miscellaneous items that allow them to perform their specialized roles in combat. Additionally, each infantry, mobile, and aviation chassis type has one or more miscellaneous items available only for it. For example, only the Red Eye unit can equip Radar.
   
   Some chassis-specific miscellaneous items are improved versions of standard miscellaneous items, representing the suitability of a chassis type for a specific task. As a unit gains levels (and/or as a hero gains education), more advanced chassis-specific miscellaneous items become available. A few common chassis-specific miscellaneous items are described below.
   
   a) Radar
   
   Radar systems are extremely useful in detecting enemy forces. When used, the mini-map will reveal to all allies the location of all forces in the province. The radar is only active for a brief moment, which is fortunately long enough to identify concentrations of enemies and their current course of movement. Only the Red Eye can equip radar systems.
   
   b) Medical Kits
   
   Medical kits can be used to heal cyborg units during combat. While energy intensive and often too slow to keep an embattled unit alive, medkits are excellent for regrouping and rallying weakened forces. Only Medics can use medkits.
   
   c) Transport Hold
   
   Transport Holds are required to pick up units as cargo. Transport holds can only contain one unit at a time and some units are too large to be transported. The transported unit is protected from harm during transport, but should the transport be destroyed, both units are lost. Only the huge Roc can employ this item.