how do you unlock shipbuilding?

[AJD]

How do you unlock the ability to modify or build a ship? In the shipbuilder menu any change to the ship whatsoever results in an error that there is not enough grav drive and there is no grav drive for sale that is powerful enough to overcome this. Even removing parts seems to trigger this too much mass error so I assume there is some secret that has to be unlocked?

[BlackD]

not enough grav drive? never had this error, unless, did you by any chance remove the grav drive?

[Will it Blend]

If you improve your piloting skill you get access to better paerts
also different ship docks have different parts for sale

[wtiger27]

No unlock is needed once you get your first ship, the Frontier. But you are locked at class A components for the ship. Until you put some points into a higher class ship build. So don't try to use class B or C components on the Frontier at first.

[alien_tickler]

you turn all the other ship powers down, then max the grav...you can only star jump so far with your ship, once you get to the other star do the same thing. having a bigger grave drive just means you can jump further at once instead of shorter.

[Will it Blend]

Originally posted by BlackD:

not enough grav drive? never had this error, unless, did you by any chance remove the grav drive?

It means the ships has too much mass for the current grav drive to handle

[Mathias Giovanni]

There are three classes of ships. Class A, B and C. You need to have the appropriate reactor of A, B or C type for the parts you have active of that rank. I think some parts don't count but most do. You can have lower level parts but not higher than the reactor.

So you likely have a class A reactor but there is a class B or C part. I haven't tried it on one of my ships that I grabbed from some cultists. It has class C fuel tanks but I've never tried to modify it. Not sure if the error would occur as I only have a class B license. At the same time the ship is considered class B for flight as default.

[suprpiwi]

just complete the tutorial? hoe is this a question? jesus ♥♥♥♥ man

[Will it Blend]

Originally posted by alien_tickler:

you turn all the other ship powers down, then max the grav...you can only star jump so far with your ship, once you get to the other star do the same thing. having a bigger grave drive just means you can jump further at once instead of shorter.

The only thing adding energy to the grav drive does is shortening the countdown before a jump

Grav drive THRUST is what allows you to have heavier ships

[AJD]

i have not been able to add any components or remove any. There is always a grav drive error.

[aquaricorn]

Ship design is a skill, if that's what you mean. But it could also be you're trying to do too much with your ship? Like if you're rocking a Class A ship there's really only so much tinkering you can possibly do. Shipbuilding is unlocked from the getgo, but what you can build and what you can buy is limited without skill points.

Deimos Shipyards and Hopetec may be your best bets for vendors selling the things you can use.

[Stone]

Originally posted by AJD:

How do you unlock the ability to modify or build a ship? In the shipbuilder menu any change to the ship whatsoever results in an error that there is not enough grav drive and there is no grav drive for sale that is powerful enough to overcome this. Even removing parts seems to trigger this too much mass error so I assume there is some secret that has to be unlocked?

Are you trying to build a huge ship? Because you can't just jump into the ship builder mode and build whatever. You have to build a functional ship, and that includes making one that's not massive and heavy to the point the grav drive can't move it.

Start small.

[AJD]

I spent hours messing with it. I was just trying to make the Hab larger, add some firepower and some engines. I tried all of that, was rejected, so I tried.... ANYTHING... I was not able to get it to accept any modifications of any kind to the ship and I cant do anything in the game because if I leave a planet Im immediately destroyed by someone.

[wtiger27]

Originally posted by AJD:

i have not been able to add any components or remove any. There is always a grav drive error.

You need to watch some YouTube videos on "Ship Building in Starfield". There are lots of them you can pick from.

[Happy Birthday!]

When you go to the Starport Technician, you can choose "Modify my ships"
On PC, press B, then G to modify. You can entirely start from scratch.
Every starport have different habs, and some have other systems that are exclusive to them.
Even some colonist starports have special parts.

It's recommended to have at least 16 grav jump thrust after all your mass weighs you down.
If your ship has less than 16 after having all the other parts to your ship, you'll need a stronger grav drive.

System parts like grav drive, shields, engines, and weapons have classes from A, B, or C. You can only use those parts if you have a matching Reactor equipped. If you have a class A reactor, you can't have class B weapons.
If you have a Class C reactor, you can have class C engines.

A is what we start at, C is where we end at in potential.
A can move at 150 top speed, B can move at 140 top speed, C can move at 130 top speed. If you want to outrun your opponents and be able to stay on them forever, stay A.

As you reach higher character level, starports will offer stronger parts and this doesn't always just mean "new B and C parts" you'll also see much stronger A parts eventually. Habs are universal, and you have all of them unlocked at level 1; different starports have different ones to select from.

[BlackD]

Originally posted by Shark:

It means the ships has too much mass for the current grav drive to handle

oh. ok then. guess i never had this because i dont want to get below 75 maneuverability