Starship Simulator

Starship Simulator is a space exploration sandbox in which players crew the Magellan Class starship on a voyage through a galaxy modelled on the real Milky Way. The ship has seven decks and more than 200 rooms, all of which can be explored on foot without loading screens, including while the vessel is travelling between stars at speeds above 570 light years per hour. The developer states that the ship was designed using tools and techniques comparable to those used for real naval vessels, with its structural framework, hardware, pipes, cables and conduits simulated rather than treated as surface detail. Engineers can follow individual cables from source to destination, and each button and piece of hardware is described as serving a function. Interiors draw on retrofuturist artwork and the work of architects such as Zaha Hadid.

Players choose one of several roles, each with its own duties: Captain, Pilot, Science Officer, Tactical Officer, Engineer, Doctor, Morale Officer (acting as both chef and bartender) or Passenger, the last of which has no responsibilities. The ship requires fuel and maintenance, and its crew of over 200 requires food and healthcare, so both players and NPC crew members carry out role-specific tasks to keep the vessel running. Neglected maintenance leads to system failures, and hostile encounters can prevent the ship from returning to Earth. Exploration involves sending probes to planetary surfaces, taking shuttles down to explore on foot and investigating derelict alien structures. Recovered samples range from flora and minerals to abandoned alien technology, which can be connected to the ship with results that may help or hinder. First contact with procedurally generated alien species is handled through multiple-choice dialogue, with some species requiring diplomacy to avoid conflict.

The galaxy itself is generated using astrophysics-based procedural algorithms, covering the entire Milky Way including the Galactic Halo, with an explorable volume the developer puts at over 1.7 quadrillion cubic light years. Star systems are built to be scientifically plausible; for example, the habitable zone of a star is calculated from a planet’s distance, bond albedo and atmospheric composition. Scans of life-bearing planets reveal the type of life present, from bacteria to civilisations far more advanced than humanity. The game is built in Unreal Engine 5.