Starship Simulator Community
NOTICE: This page is a Work in Progress as much of the lore/Development for the game is yet to be established.
The Starship Simulator Community comprises the players, supporters, testers, and fans actively engaged with the development and discussion surrounding Starship Simulator. Fleetyard Studios maintains an open development approach, fostering significant interaction and involvement from its community members.
Platforms
The community primarily gathers and interacts on several key platforms:
- Youtube Development Streams Playlist: The official YouTube playlist for dev streams gives the community the opportunity for new and existing community members to watch the development process and catch up on Q&As with Dan & Claire.
- Discord: The Starship Simulator Discord Server serves as the central hub. It hosts developer announcements, general discussion, feedback channels, multiplayer group finding, technical support (including help with Dev Build key activation), and private channels for backers with Dev Build access. Both Dan Govier and Claire Govier are active on the server.
- Steam Community Hub: Public discussion forums for feedback, questions, and sharing experiences related to the game and demo.
- Reddit: The Reddit (r/StarshipSimulator subreddit) provides another venue for discussion, sharing content, and news.
- Wiki: This community-driven wiki aims to collate information about the game, its mechanics, lore, and development.
- Social Media: Official updates are also posted on platforms like X (Formerly Twitter), Facebook, managed by Claire Govier.
Developer Interaction
Fleetyard Studios actively engages with its community:
- Developer Live Streams: Dan Govier hosts bi-weekly live streams on YouTube (archived in the playlist linked above), showcasing live development, discussing features, and answering questions directly from the chat.
- Open Development: The studio shares progress frequently through dev build updates, social media posts, and Discord announcements.
- Community Management: Claire Govier acts as the primary liaison, managing social media and interacting with community members, particularly on Discord.
Community Involvement & Impact
The community plays a direct role in the game's development and ecosystem:
- Funding: The game's initial development push was significantly boosted by a successful Kickstarter Campaign. Ongoing support via platforms like Ko-fi directly contributes to development, enabling the planned Free-to-Play model for the base game.
- Testing & Feedback: Supporters with access to Dev Builds provide crucial feedback, bug reports (often via the official Mantis bug tracker or Discord), and stress testing, directly influencing refinement and feature development.
- Content Contribution: Certain Kickstarter backer tiers allowed supporters to directly contribute creative elements, such as designing specific star systems or alien races to be included in the game's galaxy.
- Mapping Projects: The developers have encouraged community efforts to map the vast 1:1 scale Milky Way galaxy, leveraging the consistent procedural generation across all players.
- Modding: While official modding tools are a distant goal (potentially a mission/story creator via Steam Workshop), the developers have stated they do not object to unofficial, tasteful modding efforts by the community, provided they don't infringe on IP.
- Content Creation: Community members contribute significantly through Let's Plays, tutorials, reviews, discussions, and guides shared on platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Reddit, and blogs.
Supporter Tiers
The following table outlines some of the key supporter tiers that were available during the Kickstarter campaign and/or are available via Ko-fi. Note that the base game of Starship Simulator is planned to be Free-to-Play. Inclusions may vary slightly between the original Kickstarter offering and later Ko-fi availability.
| Tier Name | Price (GBP) | Available On | Key Inclusions (Bold text = Original Kickstarter Perk, may differ on Ko-fi) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ensign | £5 | Ensign Discord Role, Exclusive 4K Wallpapers, Eternal Gratitude. | |
| Lieutenant | £10 | Lieutenant-tier Uniform Patch, Name in Credits, Discord Dev Channel Access, Lieutenant Discord Role, 4K Wallpapers, Eternal Gratitude. | |
| Commander | £25 | One Free Expansion, Digital Tech Manual, Commander-tier Uniform Patch, Name in Credits, Discord Dev Channel Access, Commander Discord Role, Exclusive 4K Wallpapers, Eternal Gratitude. (Note: Ko-fi version may explicitly exclude dev build access for this tier. Original Kickstarter also mentioned Base Game Free). | |
| Captain | £50 | Design A Star System, Access to Development Builds, Two Free Expansions, Digital Tech Manual, Captain-tier Uniform Patch, Name in Credits, Discord Dev Channel Access, Captain Discord Role, Exclusive 4K Wallpapers, Eternal Gratitude. (Original Kickstarter also mentioned Base Game Free). | |
| Commodore | £100 | Design An Alien Race, Design A Star System, Access to Development Builds, Three Free Expansions, Digital Tech Manual, Commodore-tier Uniform Patch, Name in Credits, Discord Dev Channel Access, Commodore Discord Role, Exclusive 4K Wallpapers, Eternal Gratitude. | |
| Rear Admiral | £500 | Lifetime Content Pass, Exclusive Admiral's Yacht, Name on Dedication Plaque, Design An Alien Race, Design A Star System, Access to Development Builds, Digital Tech Manual, Rear Admiral-tier Uniform Patch, Name in Credits, Discord Dev Channel Access, Rear Admiral Discord Role, Exclusive 4K Wallpapers, Eternal Gratitude. | |
| Vice Admiral | £1000 | Design A Shuttle, Lifetime Content Pass, Exclusive Admiral's Yacht, Name on Dedication Plaque, Design An Alien Race, Design A Star System, Access to Development Builds, Digital Tech Manual, Vice Admiral-tier Uniform Patch, Name in Credits, Discord Dev Channel Access, Vice Admiral Discord Role, Exclusive 4K Wallpapers, Eternal Gratitude. | |
| Fleet Admiral | £2500 | Design A Starship, Design A Shuttle, Lifetime Content Pass, Exclusive Admiral's Yacht, Name on Dedication Plaque, Design An Alien Race, Design A Star System, Access to Development Builds, Digital Tech Manual, Fleet Admiral-tier Uniform Patch, Name in Credits, Discord Dev Channel Access, Fleet Admiral Discord Role, Exclusive 4K Wallpapers, Eternal Gratitude. | |
| Optional Extra - In-game Admiral Cluck Plushie | £5 | An exclusive in-game Admiral Cluck Norris chicken plushie. |
(Please note: This list is based on available information from the Kickstarter campaign and active Ko-fi pages. Some higher-tier Kickstarter rewards or limited offers may not be listed. Perks listed in bold are based on original Kickstarter campaign descriptions; Ko-fi offerings for similar tiers should be checked for precise current inclusions. Always check the official Fleetyard Studios channels or support pages for the most current details.)
Getting Involved
Players interested in joining the community can typically engage via:
- Joining the Official Discord Server
- Viewing the Youtube Dev Streams (via the playlist linked above), Liking and subscribing to the channel, and commenting/sharing on videos.
- Participating in the Links#Steam Steam Community Hub
- Joining the r/StarshipSimulator Subreddit
- Contributing to this wiki.
- Supporting the project via Ko-fi.