HS-CLASSES

From HSpace

HS-CLASSES

What is a class? A "class" is an abbreviated reference to a ship class, so the next question is what is a ship class?

We can think of a ship class by taking a simple look at modern day naval vessels. We have a variety of naval vessels present today, many of which are commonly known, such as the destroyer and battleship. Typically, each naval vessel belongs to a certain class of ship. For example, we may find some ship traveling the oceans called the USS Onlooker. It is a large ship, classified as a battleship. However, battleships can vary in how they're designed and what detailed purposes they serve. Thus, each type of battleship belongs to a "class" of battleship. The USS Onlooker might be of the Jersey Class Battleship, which means that it possesses certain attributes common to all battleships of the Jersey class.

Why the use of classes? It is typically uncommon to produce a single vessel with a given set of attributes and characteristics. Often we find at least several vessels that share similarities, and manufacturers can refer to designs for a class of vessel rather than a specific, single vessel. A manufacturer may produce 20, Tiger class sailboats rather than just a single sailboat called the Tiger. The manufacturer, then, profits from the ability to produce multiple ships of that design with relative ease.

In HSpace it is no different. Designing and constructing the initial ship class may be slightly tedious, but the work is much less for producing vessels of that class. Once the base class is in place, vessels of that class can be created quickly. After each vessel is created, administrators have the option to slight alter, or "componentize," pieces of each vessel to make them unique.

In addition to a variety of attributes that can be set on a given ship class, engineering systems must also be added to the class. This is because each type of vessel may contain its own set of engineering systems that differ from other ship classes. For example, ships of Ship Class A may possess jump drives, while ships of Ship Class B do not. For this reason, it is necessary to add engineering systems to the ship class that all ships of that class should possess. When ships of that class are created, they will possess the engineering systems given to that class.

To create a new ship class, refer to the '@space/newwclass' help file.

Refer to 'HS-CLASS-ATTRIBUTES' for information on setting specific attributes for classes once created.