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Fleet content — runtime IDs, hull ladder, and default loadouts

This document owns fleet **content wiring**: runtime faction and ship IDs, the hull ladder, default loadout lists, and temporary asset-pack mappings. Final silhouettes, palettes, m…

This document owns fleet content wiring: runtime faction and ship IDs, the hull ladder, default loadout lists, and temporary asset-pack mappings. Final silhouettes, palettes, materials, and faction labels live in design-faction-art-language.md. Weapon item, hardpoint, and FX-family implementation lives in design-weapons-modules.md. Start at the short visual/combat spine when a change crosses those boundaries.

System spine

Hull = faction body · Hardpoints = neutral sockets · Weapon = modular item (WeaponTemplate ± module wrap) · FX/art = recolorable item family · Default loadout ≠ unique inseparable gun.

This file chooses which modular weapon IDs a hull spawns with. It does not create faction-exclusive weapon art or a second NPC weapon pipeline. Loot, salvage, shops, and retrofit can move the same weapon family between hulls; ownership reads from hull form and markings.

Hull class ladder

HullClass says what a ship is; role and pilot doctrine say what it does. The target ladder remains useful even where current proxy packs have not yet supplied every rung.

HullClass Size
Scout x-small
Fighter x-small
Support Ship small
Bomber small
Torpedo Ship medium
Frigate medium
Battlecruiser large
Dreadnought x-large

Do not invent a final silhouette from this table. Use the faction art bible’s named asset briefs, then map the finished asset back to the relevant runtime template.

Story names, runtime labels, and temporary proxy packs

These layers are intentionally separate until final art and story-safe runtime renames land:

Production identity Current runtime label / ID Temporary asset namespace Rule
Ancient / Vindicator Vindicator / faction.player player/Ancient assets; legacy Void player proxy where still referenced Player lineage, not a generic civilian paint variant.
Korrathi Kessler Raiders / faction.pirates klaed_* fleet pack plus raider_* production templates Kla’ed is an asset namespace, not the story faction name.
Teralith System Militia / faction.militia nairan_* fleet pack plus militia_* runtime templates Nairan and System Militia are proxies only; Eos local police must not inherit Teralith gold.
Civilian visual umbrella Free Haulers / faction.civilian; Independents / faction.independent nautolan_*, civilian_*, and independent_* Civilian is shared frontier construction language. It is not Blackwater.

Proxy pack sprites are temporary production scaffolding. Replace their visual references as faction art lands; do not preserve Kla’ed/Nairan/Nautolan shapes or colors merely because their IDs remain useful for compatibility.

  • Eos local defense uses the Civilian-Police-* navy/cream production family, even while content temporarily resolves through faction.militia or a Nairan sprite.
  • Route and tax authority uses Teralith-Bulwark-Station production art. Do not use that gold authority language for Eos police.

Current ship-template namespaces

  • Player: ship.player_shuttle_xs, ship.player_vindicator_xs.
  • Korrathi story templates: ship.raider_fighter_xs, ship.raider_marauder_m; Kla’ed proxy ladder uses ship.klaed_* IDs for scout, support, bomber, torpedo ship, frigate, battlecruiser, and dreadnought.
  • Teralith proxy: ship.militia_fighter_xs; Nairan proxy ladder uses ship.nairan_* IDs for scout, support, bomber, torpedo ship, frigate, battlecruiser, and dreadnought.
  • Civilian: ship.civilian_courier_xs, ship.civilian_hauler_s, ship.civilian_freighter_m, ship.independent_miner_xs, and ship.independent_salvager_xs; Nautolan proxy templates currently cover scout, fighter, bomber, torpedo ship, frigate, and dreadnought.

Do not create missing proxy rungs simply to complete a pack. Add a ship template when play or story needs that role.

Default loadouts

The weapons array on a ship template is a list of modular WeaponTemplate IDs. It is a spawn/default-content choice, not a permanent part of the hull illustration.

Content group Current default examples
Player Vindicator: weapon.pulse_cannon_xs, weapon.energy_beam; shuttle: none.
Korrathi / raider weapon.raider_cannon_xs, weapon.crimson_lance; Kla’ed proxies also use weapon.klaed_double_blaster_xs, weapon.klaed_torpedo_m, and weapon.klaed_laser_m.
Teralith / militia proxy weapon.nairan_laser_xs; Nairan proxies also use weapon.nairan_missile_s and weapon.nairan_cruise_missile_m.
Civilian Haulers/couriers are commonly unarmed; miners and salvagers use weapon.nairan_mining_beam and weapon.nautolan_salvage_array; Nautolan combat proxies use weapon.nautolan_bullet_xs, weapon.nautolan_laser_xs, and weapon.nautolan_toxic_missile_s.

Optional role grafts may visibly reshape a chassis—for example one oversized Korrathi launcher—but its firing contract still resolves through authored hardpoints and weapon content. See the weapons/modules document for the shared art-to-template map and FX families.

The gallery may enumerate templates and proxy IDs for development, but it must use reveal-safe labels. Player-facing truth belongs in assets/codex/ships.md, assets/codex/weapons.md, and assets/codex/ship-modules.md; those articles describe only what has shipped, never proxy-pack provenance or unrevealed faction identities.