[DEVBLOG#298] Gravship-related Quest Rewards (Patreon)

Hey there!

One of the things we love about RimWorld’s Odyssey DLC is the idea that some of the most powerful upgrades can’t simply be manufactured. They have to be found, earned, and wrestled from the orbit itself. We’ve carried that philosophy into Vanilla Gravship Expanded with a full suite of uncraftable upgrades – unique rewards you can only obtain through quests and exploration.

Mind you, some of you may notice that it's a major change from our initial philosophy. Originally, we wanted to make all quest rewards craftable, but some of you have rightly pointed out that it'd knock the wind out of the exploration sails that Odyssey DLC introduces.

Each one adds new depth to your ship, new goals to chase, and new reasons to take your gravship out into the void.

Let’s take a look at them all:

Astropurifier

A gravtech unit that enhances the precision and stability of astrofuel refinement. When placed next to an astrofuel synthesizer, it enables perfect 1:1 conversion from chemfuel to astrofuel, though the process takes twice as long.

A refinement stabilizer for your astrofuel synthesizers. With this installed, chemfuel can be refined into astrofuel at a perfect 1:1 ratio – though the process takes twice as long. Efficiency at the cost of speed, making every drop of chemfuel stretch further.

Astrofuel Optimizer

A gravtech unit that allows grav engine lift to coordinate more efficiently with traditional thrusters. It reduces the astrofuel needed for gravship flight.\n\nA gravship can support four astrofuel optimizers.

An upgrade to your ship’s lift systems, the optimizer reduces astrofuel usage per flight. Up to four can be installed, each contributing a 15% saving, for a potential 60% total reduction. Travel farther, burn less.

Oxygen Reclaimer

A self-contained atmospheric unit that extracts trace oxygen from surrounding gases. It produces oxygen at a slow, steady rate, but requires no input materials. Needs to be connected to an oxygen tank via oxygen pipes to work.

A self-contained generator that produces oxygen directly from trace gases. It runs slowly and steadily, requiring only power, and must be connected into your oxygen network. Perfect as a backup life support unit when resources are scarce.

Maintenance Hub

A centralized system that optimizes and automates routine upkeep across the gravship. It passively reduces the maintenance decay rate of all connected machinery. Requires power to work.

Keeps your gravship running smoother for longer. When powered, it reduces the maintenance decay rate of all connected systems across the ship. Less time fixing, more time flying.

Flight Computer

An advanced computational unit that optimizes data collection during gravship travel. Increases the amount of gravdata gained from each launch.

A dedicated data processor that increases gravdata yield from launches. By running advanced calculations mid-flight, it squeezes out more research potential from each jump.

Capacitor Harmonizer

A specialized device that balances and synchronizes energy flow between nearby capacitors. It passively boosts their charge and discharge efficiency to peak performance. Requires power to operate.

Links into your ship’s capacitor network to synchronize charge and discharge cycles. It prevents passive energy bleed and pushes efficiency to 100% across all linked capacitors. A must-have for power-hungry gravships.

Gunner Subpersona Core

A low-grade subpersona specialized in gravship combat. It can link with a single gravship artillery piece and control it the same way a crewmember manning a targeting terminal can. It’s combat capabilities are beyond that of even the best human gunner. A gravship can support up to two gunner subpersona cores.

An artificial subpersona specialized in combat. It can directly operate a gravship turret with far greater precision than any colonist – effectively a perfect AI gunner. A gravship can host up to two of these cores.

Gravship Black Box

An indestructible advanced recorder integrated into the gravship’s systems. It greatly increases gravdata yield, captures any overflow that would normally be wasted, and allows stored gravdata to be converted directly into research points. A gravship can support only one black box.

An indestructible recorder that not only boosts gravdata gains, but also stores overflow data that would normally be wasted. Stored gravdata can later be converted directly into normal research points, letting your ship’s journeys push your entire colony forward.

Gravlift

A complex vertical launch and stabilization platform integrated into the gravship’s core structure. The gravlift provides the immense thrust required for vertical takeoff from planetary surfaces and stabilizes orbital insertion, allowing the gravship to remain suspended in space.

A vertical launch platform integrated into the ship. The gravlift allows direct vertical takeoff into orbit, stabilizing the gravship without needing a destination.

These uncraftable upgrades represent the rarest, most powerful ways to specialize your gravship. They’re not about routine construction – they’re about exploration, risk, and reward. Each one is a milestone in your journey, adding more reason to venture out into space and take on the galaxy’s challenges.

I've also started working on some infographics - particularly those explaining what the mod is, and whether the mod is for you or not. From the vast amount of comments on Reddit I came to realize that everyone has different expectations from this mod - and some people even got angry because of the direction we've taken. These infographics should inform them whether they'll like this mod or not - but I believe their anger will not be stopped even if they read it. Oh well, can't please everyone!

Let me know what you think and if you believe we're taking the right direction!

You'll be pleased to know that the mod will be entering testing soon. We've really given it our all, and it's one of the most complex, biggest mods we've done.