It’s been a while – the last three months have been quiet in terms of updates. But behind the scenes, we’ve been working on a major feature: Your ships can now move. Really move.
In the previous version of Generation Ship, you could build your ship and configure it – but it remained locked in a static orbit. That has changed. Dramatically.
There is now a complete new navigation system, using real orbital physics. Planets and moons now move along proper trajectories. Your ship isn't just a visual object in space – it's a physical entity obeying gravity, inertia, and thrust.
Placement of engines, mass distribution, and the center of mass (COM) all matter. Ships with unbalanced designs may spin, drift, or behave unpredictably — just like in real spaceflight.
Each thruster now applies real directional force, and most engines support an adjustable gimbal for steering.
To help stabilize things, we’ve introduced an automated thrust balancing system that adjusts outputs across all engines to maintain control, even in asymmetrical designs.
The UI now includes a directional control overview, letting you see at a glance how maneuverable your ship is in each axis — ideal for debugging tricky ship layouts.
You can now pilot your ship directly using keyboard input. To support orientation and spatial awareness, we’ve added a full NavBall UI – showing orientation relative to prograde, retrograde, normal vectors and more.
A simple autopilot is also included: stabilize your orientation, point toward targets, or align with maneuver vectors – all at the push of a button.
The new star map lets you visualize planetary orbits, moon paths, and your own trajectory in real time.
You can set maneuver nodes directly on your orbit – tweaking speed and angle to reach your goals.
Need help? An early maneuver planner can automatically calculate common tasks: orbit changes, lunar transfers, and more.
In the future, these plans will be handled by your crew, with planning time and skill factors. But for now — it’s fully interactive.
You can now switch between multiple ships, like your supply vessels and support craft. Each ship can be manually piloted or assigned to an autopilot – letting your crew perform planned burns, execute maneuvers, and approach rendezvous targets.
The rendezvous system is also in development:
Ships can target other vessels
Autopilots execute approach maneuvers
The Docking Mode on the NavBall enables precision alignment
A “Hold Position” mode allows ships to stay in place near their target
Want to see all of this in action?
We’ve put together a short work-in-progress video showing the new navigation systems, maneuver planning, and autopilot behavior in-game.
Note that that's not the final version of the video and a lot of warnings were still shown up. But it should give you a solid impression of how things are coming together!
Let us know what you think — and what you’d like to see next!
The core navigation systems are now in place and working well.
I’m currently focused on polishing performance and stability, making sure everything feels smooth, consistent, and reliable in real gameplay.
Once that’s done, the update will be opened up to all current playtesters.
After that, the next step is deeper integration into the main gameplay: Autopilot tasks and maneuver planning won’t just happen instantly — instead, they’ll be handled by your crew. You’ll be able to give high-level orders like:
"Send the shuttle to the outpost,"
and the crew will take care of the trajectory, planning, flight, and docking.
This system will also apply to supply ships, which will initially be managed by ground control. Later, your onboard crew will handle them autonomously as well.
We’re also exploring new gameplay layers, like sensor-based navigation, crew roles for flight control, and dedicated consoles or interior items for planning and piloting. These would take over some of the current autopilot functions — though you’ll always be able to fly manually if you prefer.
These changes also mean that moon missions and supply transfers will become location-aware:
Your main ship’s position matters. Later in the game, you’ll be able to move into lunar orbit, reducing fuel needs and shortening travel times — making orbit management a real strategic choice.
I also post the progress and more pictures to our Discord:
And don't forget to wishlist and follow us to keep up to date.