An update. Summer is over. The boats will soon come ashore, which means I'm returning to development. The break gave me time to think through some implementation mechanics. In particular, I've found a solution for making ship combat, and ship interactions in general, more dynamic and visually appealing. The financial and economic system has also received some refinement. Overall, it's alarming how many new ideas have emerged, but reassuring that the paths and mechanisms for implementing them in software are clear. The immediate plan is the colony side: population, economics, politics, buildings, and resources. After that will come the simulation of ship systems, consumables, life support, and related elements, followed by a simulated combat encounter.
And for dessert, a basic, incomplete list of ship module TYPES. Each type will have many variants. chassis front casing rear casing top casing bottom casing port casing starboard casing drive engine DE starter drive engine and starter jump engine JE starter jump engine and starter RCS fuel and control RCS engine thruster fuel and control thruster engine internal energy source heat radiators external energy source power controller and distributor life support waste management system bridge astrometrics, sensors, and navigation engineering and damage control defense and fire control workshop recreation bay officers' recreation bay crew cabins captain's cabin officers' cabins spacesuit bay DE inertia-dumping synchronizer and distributor medical station passenger recreation passenger cabins passenger bay Teletrap passenger/cargo lock passenger/cargo lock passenger/cargo lock equipment small-container cargo bay small-container cargo-bay lock Teletrap small-container cargo-bay lock large-container cargo bay large-container cargo-bay lock Teletrap large-container cargo-bay lock general cargo bay general cargo-bay lock Teletrap general cargo-bay lock bulk cargo bay bulk cargo-bay lock Teletrap bulk cargo-bay lock liquid cargo bay liquid cargo-bay lock Teletrap liquid cargo-bay lock hangar hangar lock hangar equipment drone hangar drone-hangar lock Battle Link system communications communications array sensor array sensor module ECM array ECM module decoy-launch module data-processing module corridor and communications module corridor and communications module with lock defense station assault holders docking connection holders adaptive Teletrap docking lock tug mechanisms landing gear turret mount large-turret mount fixed mount missile-launcher bay ammunition bay self-destruct module cleaning and disinfection module science lab escape pods armory hull-penetration equipment drone armory vault kitchen small-ship docking slot