You can build ships on your starbases. You set up the ship design using the ship build dialog. The ship will be built during the next host run and available next turn (or later, when the ship limit is reached and the build queue is active).

The ship build dialog is also used for the related functions,

  • Ship Cost Calculator to compute costs for any fictional ship
  • Editing "EnqueueShip" commands for auto tasks

The dialog has four tabs. Choose the hull type on the first tab, further components on the other three tabs. You can choose components you don't yet have the right tech for, PCC2 will then include the tech level cost in the bill displayed below, and automatically upgrade tech as appropriate. For beams and torpedoes, you can choose how many components to put into your ship using + and -.

Available keys vary depending on the exact use of the dialog.

  • Enter: Confirm build; modifies the build order to build this ship. If you do not have enough resources to build this ship, offers to put the build order onto the starbase auto task.
  • ESC: Return to previous screen, do not change the build order
  • C: Cancel current build order
  • U: Toggle whether parts from starbase storage will be used
  • I: Toggle whether tech upgrades are included in the cost computation
  • D: Display detailed bill listing all components, their cost, and the remaining/missing resources on the planet
  • Space: Build or scrap individual components (for Super Refit)

Reference

Keys:
B or S from build screen, E from ship auto task screen