00:03Hi, 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.
00:27But to get home, you have to survive.
00:31While 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.
00:53Watch 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.
01:16When 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.
01:31You can clear this rubble, which provides some resources early on and frees out building space.
01:37Our main goal was to force you to prioritize.
01:41You cannot build every room or research every technology in a single playthrough.
01:45Do 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?
01:57Your build defines your story.
02:01Rooms unlock specific dialogue options and unique solutions during missions.
02:04You have to choose the right strategy to write the story you want.
02:10The heartbeat of the game are cycles.
02:12A cycle passes when the ship moves.
02:15Every cycle consumes doterium to power the warp core, which in turn provides energy.
02:21The cycle counter indicates how many cycles you have until your doterium runs out.
02:29Building, repairing or upgrading rooms takes a certain amount of cycles.
02:32Builds, an 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.
02:54Bioneural gear packs are one of the two advanced building resources and exclusively produced
02:59in biolabs as they are specific to Voyager.
03:03Nanites are used to operate Borg technology and are produced in the biolab or gathered at
03:09Borg points of interest.
03:11To rebuild Voyager and survive the increasingly difficult challenges of the data quadrant you
03:17have to expand.
03:18You need additional decks which provide more building space.
03:21But unlocking new decks isn't free.
03:24You must repair life support to make them accessible, which is expansive and takes time.
03:30But 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, with repairs costing resources.
03:48But your biggest concern is hull integrity.
03:50If it hits zero, Voyager is destroyed.
03:56Assign 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.
04:20research takes time, but also costs science points, which are generated in science labs.
04:26The more, the merrier.
04:28The 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 the
04:47crew tab.
04:49If you struggle with loterium upkeep, you could enhance the warp core's efficiency and the
04:54engineering tab.
04:55And later on, the borg tab is unlocked.
04:59Furthermore, placing heroes with the associated skills into rooms will improve the room's efficiency,
05:05making them valuable rewards in missions or adding weight to their death.
05:12As mentioned at the beginning, morale is absolutely critical.
05:16There are many factors impacting morale.
05:18From a lack of accommodation and rations, over dialogue choices to sickness, injury or simply
05:24homesickness.
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.
05:40It's a constant balancing act between expanding your capabilities and keeping the ship from
05:45falling apart.
05:46As well as keeping your crew happy and keeping them alive.
05:52With the basics out of the way, let's continue explaining the keyrooms and associated decisions
05:57that go into your ship build.
05:59Main engineering house is the warp core and is vital for energy management.
06:03As explained, each room requires a certain amount of energy.
06:10The amount of energy produced, in turn, depends on the warp core level.
06:14But the higher it is, the more deuterium it requires per cycle.
06:18As resources are scarce, you will regularly find yourself turning off rooms and prioritizing
06:23systems.
06:24And beware, if all deuterium is depleted, the warp core falls back to gray mode, which produces
06:30just enough energy for movement and other basic functions, but leaves the ship defenseless
06:35and the crew without amenities, quickly dropping morale.
06:41Batteries store excess energy of the warp core.
06:44They serve as a temporary energy source when the energy demand is higher than the energy
06:48output or when deuterium is depleted, delaying the activation of the gray mode if enough
06:53energy is stored.
06:56If you build enough batteries, you can power the ship's systems for a while, maybe just
07:02long enough to reach the next arterium deposit.
07:08Holodecks and observation lounges improve your morale, but the former requires lots of energy,
07:13while the latter reduces your hull integrity as a side effect.
07:20Another important decision awaits in the mess hall.
07:23Do you want to serve freshly cooked meals using food?
07:26Or offer replicate aerations that boost morale at the expense of tarterium?
07:31In contrast, emergency aerations do not require anything, but are really disliked by the crew,
07:36draining morale.
07:39Luckily, 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, wasty assemblers 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.
08:04And used in our game to trade resources, or to decrease the sector threat level, which
08:08defines the chance of 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.
08:36Upgrading this room allows you to build more shuttles, increasing your chances at certain
08:41points of interest.
08:43The clocking 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.
08:56And finally, there are the combat rooms.
08:58From 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.
09:16Whether you stick to Starfleet protocols or embrace Borg technology, the ship you build
09:22will determine if and how you make it home.
09:26Thank you for your time and we hope to see you in the Data Quadrant soon.
09:45Thanks for listening.
09:46Thanks for listening.
09:46We will see you in the link.
09:46What is the læs for going to honey Nichols Capri, whocard this one?
09:47I am waving simply by one spot that speaks to you in October with a chance.
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