00:00Hi, I'm Tim, game designer at GameXide and in this video we're diving into the building
00:09strategy layer of Star Trek Voyager Across the Unknown to show you how to rebuild and
00:14manage Voyager, customizing your ship for different gameplay styles and narrative branches
00:19as you have seen in our What-If trailer.
00:23In Star Trek Voyager Across the Unknown the goal is to get home.
00:28But to get home, you have to survive.
00:32While a lot of people compare our game to live simulation games based on the iconic side
00:35view, from a gameplay perspective we actually had survival strategy titles in mind when
00:40designing the core loop.
00:42You are under constant pressure to balance crew morale and resource scarcity.
00:46And while some resources can be produced or traded, the vast majority must be gathered
00:51by exploring, forcing you to keep moving.
00:54Watch our exploration deep dive video for more information.
01:00Ship and crew management takes place in a detailed side view of the USS Voyager, reminiscent of
01:05the panel at the back of the bridge, with most of the ship's systems represented by rooms.
01:10This cross-section gives you a complete overview, from the bridge down to main engineering.
01:17When you first arrive in the Delta Quadrant, the ship is heavily damaged.
01:21In our game, most rooms were destroyed and the majority of the crew died.
01:26Entire decks are blocked by rubble and life support systems are offline.
01:32You can clear this rubble, which provides some resources early on and frees out building space.
01:38Our main goal was to force you to prioritize.
01:40You cannot build every room or research every technology in a single playthrough.
01:46Do you lean into building a strong warship to survive the next battle?
01:49A science vessel to maximize resource production?
01:53Or do you prioritize the crew's morale above everything else?
01:58Your build defines your story.
02:01Rooms unlock specific dialogue options and unique solutions during missions.
02:05You have to choose the right strategy to write the story you want.
02:10The heartbeat of the game are cycles.
02:13A cycle passes when the ship moves.
02:15Every cycle consumes deuterium to power the warp core, which in turn provides energy.
02:21The cycle counter indicates how many cycles you have until your deuterium runs out.
02:29Building, repairing or upgrading rooms takes a certain amount of cycles.
02:33An available work team and different resources.
02:38Duranium and Tritanium are the basic building resources and mostly gathered in missions or
02:43at points of interest.
02:45Deletium is a rarely found substance mostly used to upgrade the warp core, build shuttles
02:51and progress research.
02:54Bionural gear packs are one of the two advanced building resources and exclusively produced in
02:59bio labs as if they are specific to Voyager.
03:03Nanites are used to operate Borg technology and are produced in the bio lab or gathered
03:09at Borg points of interest.
03:12To rebuild Voyager and survive the increasingly difficult challenges of the Delta Quadrant you
03:17have to expand.
03:18You need additional decks which provide more building space.
03:22But unlocking new decks isn't free.
03:24You must repair life support to make them accessible, which is expensive and takes time.
03:31But even if you have the space, you face other limits.
03:34In order to function, rooms consume energy and need available crew to operate.
03:41Rooms may get damaged during combat or exploration.
03:45With repairs costing resources.
03:48But your biggest concern is hull integrity.
03:51If it hits zero, Voyager is destroyed.
03:57Assign work teams and engineering offices to repair the hull, which then are not available
04:02for other building tasks.
04:04Or look out for repair stations during your journey, but their services aren't cheap.
04:10If you want to upgrade and further improve your ship, you need to look into the tech tree
04:14to research technologies, which unlock passive improvements, new rooms and upgrades.
04:21Research takes time, but also costs science points, which are generated in science labs.
04:26The more, the merrier.
04:29The tech tree is divided into multiple categories.
04:32For example, if you want to get more self-sufficient and produce resources on board, take a look into
04:37the science category.
04:39Or you might want to enhance your combat power by investing in the Combat tab.
04:43If you want to unlock higher quality quarters to improve morale, you have to research in
04:47the Crew tab.
04:49If you struggle with Loterium upkeep, you could enhance the Warpcore's efficiency in the Engineering
04:54tab.
04:55And later on, the Borg tab is unlocked.
04:59Furthermore, placing heroes with the associated skills into rooms will improve the rooms' efficiency,
05:06making them valuable rewards in missions or adding weight to their death.
05:13As mentioned at the beginning, morale is absolutely critical.
05:17There are many factors impacting morale.
05:19From a lack of accommodation and rations, over dialogue choices, to sickness, injury or
05:24simply homesickness.
05:26And in turn, it impacts the efficiency of the ship.
05:31But most importantly, when morale drops to zero and you don't react quickly, the crew
05:36eventually mutinies and it's game over.
05:41It's a constant balancing act between expanding your capabilities and keeping the ship from
05:45falling apart.
05:47As well as keeping your crew happy and keeping them alive.
05:52With the basics out of the way, let's continue explaining the key rooms and associated decisions
05:57that go into your ship build.
05:59Main engineering house is the Warpcore and is vital for energy management.
06:04As explained, each room requires a certain amount of energy.
06:10The amount of energy produced, in turn, depends on the Warpcore level.
06:14But the higher it is, the more deuterium it requires per cycle.
06:19As resources are scarce, you will regularly find yourself turning off rooms and prioritizing
06:23systems.
06:25And beware, if all deuterium is depleted, the Warpcore falls back to grey mode, which produces
06:30just enough energy for movement and other basic functions, but leaves the ship defenseless
06:36and the crew without amenities, quickly dropping morale.
06:41Batteries store excess energy of the Warpcore.
06:44They serve as a temporary energy source when the energy demand is higher than the energy output?
06:49Or when deuterium is depleted, delaying the activation of the grey mode, if enough energy
06:54is stored.
06:56If you build enough batteries, you can power the ship's systems for a while.
07:01Maybe just long enough to reach the next deuterium deposit.
07:08Holodecks and observation lounges improve your morale.
07:11But the former requires lots of energy, while the latter reduces your hull integrity as a
07:16side effect.
07:21Another important decision awaits in the mess hall.
07:23Do you want to serve freshly cooked meals using food?
07:27Or offer replicate erasions that boost morale at the expense of deuterium?
07:32In contrast, emergency rations do not require anything, but are really disliked by the crew,
07:37draining morale.
07:38Luckily, food can be grown in hydroponic bays, both small and large, to make you more self-sufficient,
07:45especially in Borg sectors, where collecting food is difficult.
07:50Likewise, waste deassemblers can produce small amounts of deuterium, duranium or, if upgraded,
07:57tritanium.
07:59You may also repair the Aero Shuttle Bay, only hinted at in the show, and used in our
08:04game to trade resources, or to decrease the sector threat level, which defines the chance
08:09of random attacks while traveling.
08:12If you focus more on resource production or morale, and less on your offensive or defensive
08:16capabilities, the bridge allows you to hire an allied ship that supports you in combat,
08:21for both initial as well as recurring expenses.
08:25But don't forget to keep upgrading your allies in the tech tree, or they won't stand a chance
08:29against later enemies.
08:32The Shuttle Bay is a place to build in-house shuttles.
08:37Upgrading this room allows you to build more shuttles, increasing your chances at certain
08:41points of interest.
08:44The Cloaking Device is one of the rarest technologies you can acquire throughout your journey and requires
08:48vast amounts of energy, but allows you to flee combat, or in some cases, avoid it entirely.
08:54And finally, there are the combat rooms.
08:59From basics like shield generators, torpedo launchers, and phasers, to more exotic systems
09:04like disruptors, energy dissipators, metaphysic shields, or even a Borg cutting beam.
09:11You can learn more about combat by watching our combat deep dive video.
09:17Whether you stick to Starfleet protocols, or embrace Borg technology, the ship you build
09:22will determine if and how you make it home.
09:27Thank you for your time, and we hope to see you in the Delta Quadrant soon.
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