During the first hours of any new campaign in Terra Invicta, you’ll spend your time solely on Earth, expanding your influence across the globe and researching technologies that will allow you to reach the stars.
Once you’re in space, you’ll find that sending out probes is the easy part. If you want to actually travel between planets and efficiently transport resources, you’ll need ships. And, it must be said, this system is more complex than any other in the game.
Should you design ships yourself?
Here’s the most interesting part. If you enjoy delving into the technical details of grand strategy games, you’ll love ship creation. There are no pre-made models or predefined classes in the game. Before building any ship, you must first design it. No exceptions.
Of course, the game can automatically create a project based on the selected hull and role, and it will be perfectly functional. However, it’s worth taking the time to understand the system yourself—this will allow you to understand how it works and create the most effective design.
Auto Design is a great tool that gives you insight into what is expected from each hull type and role, helping you create even better designs of your own.
Once created, the ship design is saved as a template. You can build this ship as many times as you like or make minor changes to the template. If you need a completely new type of ship, the process begins again.
Ships are an integral part of the game as you progress into space, and their design is, frankly, one of the most complex mechanics. You can spend hours fine-tuning the characteristics of a single vessel.
How to design and build ships
Designing and building ships requires two key components: a place to build them and the modules from which the ship will be composed.
For the first one, you will need a Space Shipyard module or better, which can be built on any space station or settlement on the planet.
Once the shipyard is built, you can begin designing ships in this location. However, the materials you can use to build ships are limited by the modules you’ve researched.
There are certain modules required to build any ship, and they’ll need to be researched. And there are a lot of them. Lots and lots of them. So it’s wise to invest in researching ship modules as early as possible to give yourself an advantage when it comes to actually building your ship.
Once you’ve assembled your ship, run a Test Calculation . This will show you where the ship can travel in the Solar System and how long it will take to travel from one point to another. After this, you can save the project.
The construction itself is then simple. But it’s also likely very, very expensive in terms of space resources. It would realistically be difficult to build ships until you’ve established mining operations at several mines, which means reaching Mars and the asteroid belt to gain access to a wider variety and greater quantity of resources.
Selecting a case and role
Now let’s get to the heart of the matter with ships. While you do have to build your ship almost entirely on your own, there is a small guideline you should follow—the hull selection. Many other hull types can be unlocked through research, but you’ll be given a decent selection to start with.
The hull determines the number of modules that can be installed on a ship and their configuration. The shape of the components is important, as it determines what can be installed. For example, not every hull will have room for certain weapons, while components for engines, power plants, and radiators will always be available.
After selecting a hull, you need to select a role. This is somewhat less important, as it doesn’t determine what exactly the ship you built can do once you take control of it.
However, you can also put ships into automatic mode, allowing AI to take control. The selected role determines the ship’s behavior in this mode and is necessary for completing the design.
All ship modules and their functions
Once you’ve selected your hull, you can begin assembling your ship. Modules are divided into eight main categories, though many have additional parameters and settings.
Engines
Engines are what propel your ship. They determine key performance characteristics: delta velocity (ΔV), thrust, and acceleration. As you research, many options become available, especially more advanced ones. Ideally, you want a low-mass engine to allow your ship to accelerate faster.
After selecting the engine, you need to determine the number of nozzles and the propellant load. A maximum of six nozzles can be installed—each increases acceleration but adds mass, which can reduce ΔV. Fuel load directly increases ΔV. More efficient thrust allows for faster movement with less weight, which means proportionally less fuel is required.
Power plants
After selecting an engine, you’ll need a power plant. Power plants and engines must be compatible in terms of power consumption, so take this into account when choosing. The power plant is also the primary power source for the entire ship, so before making a final decision, consider the ship’s intended uses and how much power it might require.
Radiators
The next step is radiators. Ships generate a lot of heat, and it needs to be removed from critical components. Radiators operate constantly and have a certain capacity, so their capacity must exceed the actual heat output to prevent the ship from overheating.
Overheating can cause fires on board and ultimately lead to the death of the crew.
However, heatsinks are very fragile and should ideally be removed during combat.
For this purpose, heat sinks can be installed in the service module, but their throughput is significantly lower.
Service modules
This is where you truly define your ship’s role. Service modules cover a wide range of functions: from construction modules that allow you to quickly and inexpensively build new stations and modules on other planets, to mobile laboratories for probing planets on the move, and military barracks for housing a defensive crew capable of repelling boarding attacks.
Guns on the hull
Hull guns are weapons mounted along the sides of a ship. They are typically weaker than bow-mounted guns, but have a much wider engagement range.
Bow guns
The bow guns are significantly more powerful than the hull guns, but can only hit targets in a cone directly ahead, which requires more precise positioning.
Armor
Each ship can have armor installed in three sections: the stern, the side, and the bow. Installing armor on the stern and bow is the same cost, while the side, the length of which varies depending on the hull, will always be more expensive.
After armor placement, you can also determine the number of layers. This will significantly increase the ship’s mass, but will make it much more survivable.
Understanding Ship Performance Data
As the ship is being assembled, its stats are updated in real time, giving an idea of its future performance. There are quite a few metrics, so let’s break them down.
| Characteristic | What does it mean? |
|---|---|
| Gross weight | The total weight of the ship. More mass means less ΔV, acceleration, and turning speed. |
| Crew | The total number of crew members who will serve the ship. |
| Cruising acceleration | The speed at which a ship can change its speed. High acceleration allows it to more easily overcome the gravity of celestial bodies. |
| Combat Acceleration | The speed at which a ship can change its speed in combat. High combat acceleration is necessary for pursuing targets. |
| Cruising reserve ΔV | This is the determining factor in where a spacecraft can go. For example, a flight between Earth and the Moon requires at least 8 km/s ΔV, and to reliably reach other planets without relying on launch windows, at least 20 km/s. |
| Turning speed | The speed at which a ship can turn in combat. Small ships turn faster, larger ones slower. |
| Heat sink capacity | How much excess heat can a ship accumulate while its radiators are retracted during combat? The heat dissipates after combat. If the capacity is exceeded, internal fires may occur. |
| Battery capacity | Batteries store energy from the power plant when it is not possible to obtain it directly. |
| Cost of construction | How many different resources are required to build a ship. |
| Construction time | How long does it take to build a ship? Large shipyards reduce this time, but the base time is determined by the hull type and adjusted by modules. |
| Content | Monthly cost of ship maintenance. |
You’ll never be able to create a ship that’s absolutely the best in everything , so don’t worry too much about its stats. The main thing is that it gets the job done—you can always build better models later.
