Technology is a key element of the game. To optimize the exploration of the galaxy, the Galablin are going to need to improve their current technology or they won’t stand a chance. Their only hope of developing new tech in short times is to find blueprints and notes during their expeditions.

During expeditions, the player is going to acquire Tech Points (probably of 3 different types, TBD) that can be used to develop technologies back at the HQ. Some technologies are too complicated for the Galablin scientists to figure out, so, in order to unlock them, the player must find the corresponding Blueprint during their expeditions.

The image above shows an example of a part of a tech tree. Tech #1 can be developed freely, the only requirements is having enough tech points. Techs #2, #3 and #6 are marked with a start and need a blueprint to unlock their development. Techs #4 and #5 need previous techs in order to be developed (#1 and #2, and #3 and #4 respectively). Tech #7 needs a blueprint AND tech #5 and #6 to be unlocked.

Blueprints and Tech Points can be obtained during expeditions by completing quests, exploring places, by looting other vessels, and more. The exact number and types of currency has not been decided yet, but they are going to be related to specific objectives. For example, destroying enemies is going to award tech points and blueprints related to military tech, while exploring unknown places will give rewards related to exploration. This means that the player can optimize their ship to look for specific rewards if they wish (more on this later in the devlog).

Technologies can be developed before departing for a new expedition.

The Black Box

As stated in the Introduction chapter (link here if you missed or don’t remember) the Galablin have developed a device to send information back to their home when the ship is destroyed. This device takes the name of Black Box (final name TBD). This Black Box has a limited space, meaning that the player must decide what of all the things they collected they want to send back.

Looking at the image above we can already see a big problem with this system. The Black Box (shown by the horizontal bar at the bottom) has a capacity of 100 and it’s full, but the player still has a lot of tech points and a couple of Blueprints still in the inventory that are going to be lost and that can become frustrating quickly for the player. Player could decide to just suicide after they reached their maximum Black Box capacity as any other rewards would just overflow and this is against the goal of the game. The two ways that I’m considering right now (not final yet) to tackle this problem are Compressing Stations and Post Stations.

Compressing Stations:

Compressing Stations are artificial stations that can be found around solar systems that can compress Tech Points and Blueprints to take way less space in the Black Box. Already compressed techs can be compressed again at another Compressing Station. This way the player is encouraged to look for one to avoid losing important techs found during the playthrough (kind of like looking for a bonfire in Dark Souls when you have a lot of souls).

Postal Stations:

Postal Stations are artificial stations that, similarly to Compressing Stations, can be found around solar systems that can send a limited amount of tech directly back home thus avoiding losing them. Same as before, player are encouraged to look for one after a while.

They work differently but the purpose is the same: avoid losing important rewards. Players are encouraged to keep playing even after reaching their maximum capacity because the overflowing tech points are not necessarily lost. The way towards one of these stations can be a high tension step in the playthrough of the player and it can also become one of the points of strength of the game.
Right now I’m more leaning more towards the Compressing Stations but maybe further in the development process I’m going to change my mind or find other ways to tackle this problem.

And this concludes this quick introduction to technology in the game.