combining ship parts

[esckay]

Is it possible to have in the factory several modules that make up a ship?
the idea is that you build a smaller cheaper ship but can add more space cargo etc at a later time
by adding a ready built module from the factory.
i am assuming each module would need a core and once have spawned that module it would dock or "join" to existing ship you would remove the core before "joining"
i have had a bit of a play but not sure if its worth pursing the idea if its a no go and i am wasting my time.

[Graf Schokola]

Yes its possible but each "module" need its own core, generator and fuel tank.

But "join" to ship is impossible.

[zaphodikus]

You can only do this kind of joining using commands, it's not really useful, I recall that it only worked with BA bases actually. Docking is an option, but it's a broken way of doing it because weapons and shields got disabled by the developers because they did not design all the other game rules in ways that prevented abuse.

Upcycling a ship via the factory sounds like a cool idea, and has been mooted before as a feature, where the "factory" is an actual thing.

[Midas]

Doesn't really work unfortunately. Two ways to handle this kind of thing would be
1) deconstruct your ship when you want to upgrade and feed the materials into the factory so you only have to put in materials for the upgrades
2) build a ship that already includes the space needed for the upgrades but just has empty slots or placeholders for the upgrades.

I have an SV that works like the second solution, basically it has a lot of interior space and a lot of slots where weapons and additional thrusters can go, and the basic blueprint can be built fairly cheap at a reasonably low level, but it has room for a lot of additional devices and upgrades to make it stronger as your tech improves.

[rphillips1986]

In survival the best you can do is to dock each modual to the main ship. They won't be able to use shields of weapons while docked though and their thrusters won't function with the main ship since they'll still be seperate. What could work is after spawning the modual you use the console command CM to swith the game mode to creative, then use the build tools in the N menu to select the module, copy it. Then open the build menue and click on the main ship to select it, hit paste, line the module up how you want it, and press paste again to attatch it to the ship. Open the console and enter CM again to switch back to survival mode.

[VulcanTourist]

Best you could do is design modules for the less critical roles of a ship - ones that don't involve thrust or weapons - that can fit through hangar doors and dock inside the main ship. That way the modules would at least benefit from the shielding the main ship could provide. It wouldn't be easy and it would be pretty restrictive. The best you could do to exploit it would be to use long thin modules that would dock lengthwise parallel inside the ship. You might get enough volume in the modules to be useful that way. Farm? Storage? Medical? Logistics would help make up for the isolation from the main ship. The modules would have removable thrust and cockpits, etc., to minimize the duplication once docked in place. What I describe is just an upscaled version of the same concept that I used when I made my little "oxygen station" SV to replace dedicated Oxygen Stations. Other people have made furniture and more in the same fashion.

[zaphodikus]

Originally posted by VulcanTourist:

...Other people have made furniture and more in the same fashion.

My design Heart Of Gold from HHGTTG has a small SV inside it, which is the central console and surrounds the ship core.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=772604045
and the central console SV
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=772603950