[DEVBLOG#318] Vanilla Gravships Expanded - Chapter 2

Welcome again everyone to this brand new development blog. Today, we’re incredibly excited to pull back the curtain on our next major milestone: Vanilla Gravships Expanded - Chapter 2: The Battle.

Building directly on the framework introduced in Chapter 1, this second chapter significantly expands your tactical options and the threats you'll face in space. While Chapter 1 gave you the keys to the sky, Chapter 2 ensures you have to fight to stay there.

True to the RimWorld universe, gravship technology remains exceptionally scarce. You aren't going to be fighting massive fleet battles every Tuesday. Instead, gravship-versus-gravship combat is designed as a rare, multi-phase "boss fight" event. It’s an epic, world-map-spanning shoot out that will momentarily dominate your playthrough.

Here is a broad overview of what’s coming in Chapter 2.

Gravship Visibility

The core driver of Chapter 2’s encounters is the Gravship Visibility mechanic. Every time you utilize your gravship, especially for long jumps or operating larger vessels, your detection rating slowly builds up. This rating decays at an incredibly slow pace naturally. Generally, the rating is a hidden stat and you're only reminded by the game that your actions are being noticed when you pass certain thresholds. We want to avoid players trying to game the visibility mechanic.

While there will be future devices to help mitigate this, right now, a high visibility rating means you've entered the danger zone. Once your visibility crosses the threshold, you are officially "spotted." This doesn't mean immediate combat, but it triggers the game to randomly determine exactly what out there has found you.

New Research Progression

Chapter 2 continues the tech progression established in the first module. We are introducing four new research projects, all situated after the Advanced Gravtech node.

Gravship Defenses

Reinforce your vessel to withstand massive orbital bombardments.

Cost: 1600 Gravdata

Unlocks: Gravship subarmor, Gravship armor, Gravship shield generator, Large gravship shield generator, Decoy flare launcher.

Advanced Gravship Weaponry

Turn your flying base into a mobile fortress.

Cost: 1600 Gravdata

Unlocks: Targeting console, Gravship minigun turret, Gravship autocannon turret, Gravship uranium slug turret, Gauss howitzer, Javelin launcher, Anticraft emitter, Gravship bombardment targeter.

Advanced Orbital Tech

Ensure your colonists can survive and operate in the harsh vacuum of space.

Cost: 1600 Gravdata

Unlocks: Combat vacsuit, Combat vacsuit helmet, Astrorig, Astrofuel pod launcher, Airlock doors (1x1 to 5x1 sizes), Vacuum warning light, Escape pod.

Warpods

Develop specialized munitions and boarding vessels for orbital superiority.

Cost: 1600 Gravdata

Unlocks: High-explosive warpod, EMP warpod, Incendiary warpod, Antigrain warpod, Hellpod.

Offensive Capabilities: Artillery & Targeting

In the late game of Chapter 1, a fully-kitted gravship faced very few genuine threats. Chapter 2 changes that - gravship artillery is now a mandatory survival tool.

To help manage this new arsenal, we’re introducing the Targeting Console. Unlike standard terminals, a single targeting console can link up to three different turrets, allowing one colonist to coordinate massive barrages.

Compact Turrets: New 1x1 defensive turrets (autocannon, uranium slug, and minigun) protect against local boarding raids. They require a direct line of sight and cannot fire over walls.

Heavy Artillery: Massive 5x5 emplacements, including a three-barreled Gauss Howitzer, a 12-missile Javelin Launcher, and a large Anticraft Emitter.

Bombardment Targeter: An equippable accessory that links to a specific piece of your gravship’s artillery. You can send expeditions down to the planet and have them call in devastating orbital strikes from your ship above.

Defense: Armor, Shields, and Flares

If you're going to dish it out, you need to be able to take it.

Subarmor: A new substructure type that is entirely immune to being destroyed by enemy artillery. It also completely negates the damage normally taken when crash-landing onto objects.

Gravship Armor: A high-HP hull type that actively intercepts overhead flying projectiles. Enemy artillery will strike this armor rather than flying over it to hit your vulnerable internals.

Shield Generators: The shields you know are now buildable, but they come with a new heat-management mechanic. Intercepting projectiles generates heat; once your heatsinks are full, the generator stores heat internally until it overheats and fails.

Decoy Flare Launcher: Shoots astrofuel flares into the surrounding space to scramble enemy targeting, drastically reducing the accuracy of incoming bombardments.

Orbital Tech & The Pod Arsenal

Fighting in space requires specialized gear. Combat Vacsuits allow your pawns to fight in the zero G, while Astrorigs function like oxygen tanks that also remove the movement penalty of traversing space tiles. We've also streamlined base construction with new Airlock Doors, which combine a vacuum checkpoint, autodoor, and vac-barrier into a single, leak-proof unit.

To launch strikes, the new 1x1 Astrofuel Pod Launcher will send out our brand new munitions:

Warpods: Think of these as orbital torpedoes. You construct them, load them into the launcher, and fire them at the enemy ship. Thanks to their massive velocity, they are devastatingly effective at crippling enemy gravships.

Hellpods: A specialized warpod featuring an internal cargo space. You load your best melee fighters into what is essentially a hollow missile, and fire them directly into the hull of the enemy ship to initiate a boarding action.

The Destruction System

Losing high-end technology is incredibly painful, so we are implementing a new destruction system. When a piece of gravship machinery takes lethal damage, there is now an 80% chance it will convert into a "destroyed variant" rather than disappearing into a pile of generic scrap.

You can safely deconstruct these ruined variants to recover 50% of the original building materials. This makes taking a few hits during a boss fight far less punishing, and provides excellent salvaging opportunities when you finish clearing out an enemy vessel.

Threats in Space

When your visibility peaks and an entity locks onto you, an event chain begins. You'll receive a warning detailing exactly what is tracking you. You can reduce the likelihood of detection by utilizing signal jammers, quest-reward cloakers, or running electric thrusters.

When a threat locks in, the game rolls from the special encounter table.

Warplatform - Weight: 10

Salvager station - Weight: 4

Enemy gravjumper - Weight: 2

Enemy gravship - Weight: 2 - Condition: Player owns a gravship or gravhulk.

Enemy gravhulk - Weight: 2 - Condition: Player owns a gravhulk

Mechanoid destroyer - Weight: 3

If you fail to escape before the timer expires, a new map generates containing the enemy vessel. They will relentlessly bombard you until you escape or they are destroyed. Because this raid doesn't happen on your local map, you have multiple ways to engage:

Return fire with your own heavy artillery.

Board them using shuttles, cargo pods, or hellpods.

Jump your gravship directly to their map to fight them broadside-to-broadside.

Flee the area entirely.

Defeating these encounters and looting the wreck guarantees a Gravcore, alongside massive amounts of salvage.

There is much more to come, including insectoid-infested wrecks, orbital beam platforms, and new space events. Stay tuned for future devblogs where I will break down these individual mechanics in even greater detail.