Building a starter ship
To build a space-worthy ship, you will first need some essential components. Assuming you have set up a factory on a starter planet, these shouldn't be a problem to make:
Mandatory components
- HyperDrive - Allows you to travel faster than light. It is important for traversing around the universe. You will be unable to go to other regions (excluding planets and their orbit if you are in either of the two) without it.
- StarMap - Important for navigating around the universe. It will allow you to view your surroundings (nearby stars and your solar system).
- AirSupply - Provides oxygen for you to breathe. Remember; you can't breathe in space! Without this component, you would quickly suffocate in the void of space, or in planets without a breathable atmosphere.
- VehicleSeat - The vehicle seat allows you to control your ship by rotating it. You can configure it to use the mouse, or WASD + Q/E: whichever you prefer.
- SpawnPoint - Allows you to spawn back at your ship after dying. Make sure that it is locked.
- A propulsion device - You can choose between a rocket, an IonRocket, or a thruster.
- Ensure that sufficient cooling is provided while they are active as they generate heat. An IonRocket requires 2 coolers of default size, while a rocket requires 3. The cooling requirements of a thruster depend on its size, with the amount of coolers you'll need being equal to
(0.025*V)/20, with V being equal to the volume of the thruster (its x, y, and z sizes multiplied together). Round the number you get to the nearest integer.
- Ensure that sufficient cooling is provided while they are active as they generate heat. An IonRocket requires 2 coolers of default size, while a rocket requires 3. The cooling requirements of a thruster depend on its size, with the amount of coolers you'll need being equal to
Optional components
- GravityGenerator - Provides gravity in space. Without it you will not fall down.
- Telescope - The telescope allows you to view the properties of planets. Useful so you know the conditions of the planets you are entering, and their resources.
- Anchor - Allows you to anchor your ship, which makes it immovable.
- StudAligner - Stud aligns your ship, snapping it to integer coordinates and aligning it to the grid (making it level). Not being stud-aligned while working on core parts (e.g. the baseplate) of your ship may cause catastrophic results. It's also good practice to stud align before leaving the game (See the StudAligner page for more detail).
- Seat - If anyone else is coming with you, they will (as will you: don't forget to do this or you ship will warp away without you) need to sit down before you use the HyperDrive. As only one person at a time can control a ship, they'll need a regular seat instead of a VehicleSeat.
The ship you'll build following this guide uses all of these components (except the seat): both mandatory and optional. The total raw material cost will vary depending on what you decide to put on your ship; to give you a good idea of roughly how much of every resource you'll need, the total raw material costs for the ship you'd build if you were to follow this tutorial to the letter are:
- 1122 quartz
Given you have enough resources, go ahead and craft all of the components listed at the beginning of this guide.
Once you are done crafting all of the components, return to this wiki page. Note you'll also be crafting some more less ship-specific components later.
Building the ship
! Before crafting anything always make sure all of your ship's parts are locked so you do not accidentally use them for crafting !
To begin, try to find a large, open clearing near your base. It'll be easier to lift off if there are no obstructions: especially if your ship has large wings to house solar panels.
After you've found a suitable spot to build your ship at, begin by placing a small pillar. You will place your ship's base on it. If the base was on the ground, you wouldn't be able to unweld it later. For the material, grass or sand is fine: it just needs to be a few studs high. To this, attach and resize a piece of iron which will serve as the baseplate for your ship. The baseplate should be fairly large, about 20x40 studs in width and breadth.
For your ship to operate, it will need a source of power. It'll use PowerCells to store it. One PowerCell should be enough; however, in this guide, 2 will be used. Craft them, and place them onto the ship.
You will now set up the controls and life support. Craft 2 switches, 3 buttons, 2 antennae and 1 polysilicon.
Grab the VehicleSeat you already crafted, placing it onto the front of the ship.
Attach the buttons to the VehicleSeat and configure their KeyInput (the keybinding you'll use to activate them). Set it to whatever you prefer.
Attach the switches to your power cells. On one of them, place your life support (AirSupply and GravityGenerator). On the other, you should place your propulsion device and coolers. Attach an antenna to the button you'll use for toggling your engines on and off. Attach the piece of polysilicon (cofigure it to be FlipFlop) to the switch used for your engines, then attach the second antenna to it. You should also configure the antennas to use a unique ID, as others may otherwise mess with your ship.
Connect your StudAligner and anchor to the other 2 buttons.
You only need to place a few more components. First, place your telescope and StarMap; after that, your HyperDrive. These can be wherever you prefer. Activating the HyperDrive will require a button. Craft one, and place it onto the HyperDrive.
You should now ensure that they are getting power. If possible, connect them to both PowerCells. You may want to have your navigation systems on a switch as they use power. You should also craft and place a spawn on your ship. If you don't like seeing it, you can always place it right below your base plate. You'll still spawn on top.
The only remaining step is to power it! SolarPanels are used in this guide, as they are relatively cheap and require no upkeep. This makes them a great choice for your first ship. Other sources of power would also work, though.
Simply connect some SolarPanels to your PowerCells using wires. You'll want at least 6 or so, though more is advisable if you can afford it. Make sure they are resized to their maximum size for the best power output.
Where to go from here
Hooray 🎉! You've built your first ship! All that's left to do now is to charge, and then reach for the stars! If you have any resources left at your base, you should pack those onto your ship. Don't forget to turn on your life support systems before going into space.
Once you feel you're ready to depart, remove the pillar you've just built your ship on, turn on your engines, and point your newly built ship at the sky. You will eventually reach the planet's orbit. From there, your next goal should be to find a suitable planet to build a base on. Consult Finding A Planet for more details.
