Ships and Fleets

Ships are the focus of Aurora, with the player commanding ships arranged into Fleets (or "Task Groups" in VB6). Ships are designed using Components, both Core components and Player Designed Systems. After being designed, ships are produced at a shipyard.

Depending on their components, ships are broadly classed as either Commercial vessels or Military vessels. Most combat-relevant equipment (and a few other items, like Survey equipment) will earn a ship a military classification, requiring it to undergo regular maintenance while moored or underway. Commercial vessels may also be built at commercial shipyards, which are generally cheaper to build and maintain than their naval counterparts.

Basic Design Theory

Ships have three counterbalancing factors in their construction — Speed, Capability and Economy.

Speed allows ships to cross distances quickly, dictate range in combat and perform more tasks during their deployment time.
Capability is anything else the ship can do, such as fight, carry cargo, carry extra fuel to increase range, etc.
Economy is the time and resources needed to construct the ship as well as the constant upkeep in fuel and maintenance it incurs.

For any ship, two of these factors may be chosen at a penalty to the other. A fast and cheap ship will sacrifice range and capability, a capable and cheap ship will not move quickly, and a ship which is both fast and capable will cost substantially more to build and outfit.

For a step-by-step overview of the ship design process, see Basic Ship Creation.

Ship Roles

In Aurora the player has great flexibility as a designer when building ships. Ship roles, ship size and fleet composition vary depending on the nature of each navy and its primary mission. There are no predefined roles for ships built into Aurora aside from a few size-based classifications expanded on in the next section, and what your empire technology, economy and infrastructure can support.

The following list gives a few general roles that tend to occur naturally in fleet design but is by no means comprehensive or definitive.

Warships

These ships are armed with offensive weaponry, although the ship and its weapons may be employed in offensive or defensive roles. These military designs are typically faster and more agile than other ships of the same size.

Light Craft

These are small, fast, short-range craft that cannot operate independently, and must be carried into battle by larger ships or deployed from planetary defense hangars.

Fighter — Defined by the game as 500 tons or less, fighters can be produced in fighter factories rather than shipyards. They are stocked to carrier ships that have hangar space and deployed in the field from a mobile platform. While fast and cheap, they normally have minimal weaponry or are used as a way to deploy box launchers en masse.
Fast Attack Craft — Commonly shortened to FAC, a fast attack craft is any ship between 500 and 1000 tons. While they must be constructed at a shipyard like larger ships, any ship under 1000 tons is not required to have a Bridge, which frees up space for extra weaponry or engine power. FACs are commonly deployed from carriers or planetary bases to limit the amount of fuel they must carry.

Escorts

These are the smallest independently operating ships in the fleet, commonly used for reconnaissance, incursion and escort missions. Although individually weak when compared to capital ships, they are inexpensive to build and can become quite potent in large numbers. They can use their speed to harass the heavier capital ships while protecting their own from enemy escorts attempting to do the same.

Frigate — Normally a light, quick and maneuverable multi-role warship, capable as scouts, skirmishers and anti-fighter escorts.
Destroyer — A ship carrying specialized weaponry to combat specific threats. Destroyers are relatively heavily armed warships for their size, but commensurately ill-defended and with poor independent range.
Cruiser — A medium-sized vessel, able to operate independently. Cruisers have the firepower and speed to be used for almost any sort of duty, including patrols, blockades, raids, and straight-up firefights.

Capital

These are among the largest warships and the true power of any navy. Whether due to their heavy armament and protection or carrying capacity for smaller spacecraft, capital ships allow you to bring the most firepower and durability to a fight.

Battleship — A large heavily armed, armored and/or shielded warship.
Dreadnought — A heavy battleship with colossal amounts of armament, heavy armor and/or shields.
Carrier — A dedicated ship designed to hold, deploy and support smaller craft. Carriers can carry large squadrons of fighters, FACs and other small craft, as well as providing the fleet with ship repair functionality while underway.

Auxiliary Support

These ships are designed to operate in many roles, supporting combatant ships and civilian operations. Auxiliaries are not primary combatants although some may have limited combat capacity, usually for basic self-defense.

Exploration and Research

Recon Ship — Scout ship used to explore new systems and gather intelligence.
Gravsurvey Ship — Configured to conduct a Gravitational Survey to map jump points.
Geosurvey Ship — Configured to conduct a Geological Survey of planets.

Commercial

These vessels or platforms are used for logistics and infrastructure.

Freighter — Transports installations and minerals.
Colony Ship — Carries colonists to new worlds.
Sorium Harvester — Harvests Sorium from gas giants.
Miner — Performs orbital mining.
Terraformer — Acts as an orbital Terraforming Installation.

Logistics

Tug — Provides mobility to immobile platforms.
Jump Tender — Tenders ships across jump points.
Jump Gate Constructors — Build Jump Gates.
Salvager — Configured for Salvage operations.
Tanker — Transports and provides fuel.
Collier — Carries ammunition for missile warships.
Supply Ship — Carries maintenance supplies.

Special Classes

Any ship design can be designated as Tankers, supply ships, and colliers in Class Design, which will change the ruleset of the design.

Tanker — Allows refueling of other ships.
Collier — Allows ammunition resupply.
Supply Ship — Allows maintenance supply transfer.