AI War:Build Time and Constructors (including Repair)

This page is updated for game version 5.035 and should still be correct

Constructors

Your mobile units are constructed at fabricators such as the Space Dock or the Starship Constructor.
When you select a fabricator, the ships it can build will be shown in the bottom left corner of the screen.
Left-Click on a ship icon to add to the queue, Right-Click to remove. Holding down ALT will add or remove 5 ships to the queue, CTRL will add or remove 10 ships.
There is a maximum of 50 ships of the same type and Mark level in the queue.
Powering down the fabricator will stop construction without removing ships from the queue. (The Play/Pause button).
You can build the queue a single time or loop the queue with the queue control button. (The Left arrow for a single time or Looping arrow to cycle through the queue).
If a ship in the queue is already at cap and can not be built, the queue will skip over it.
If there are insufficient Metal or Crystal to build a ship construction will slowly proceed as resources flow in.
If there is insufficient Energy to add the ship to your fleet, the ship will pause at 100% construction until there is sufficient Energy, effectively pausing the queue.

Structures Built as Stand Alone

Immobile structures and some ships are built as stand alone structures in space.
When these are selected the mouse cursor will have a ghosted image of the structure to be built underneath it, Left click to place the structure and begin construction.
If the ghost image is outlined in red, the structure can not be built there, most likely due to proximity to another structure or a wormhole.
ALT and CTRL clicking to build multiple structures also works when placing stand alone structures, the multiple units are placed as close together as possible to your mouse cursor.
When zoomed out all the way, the smaller, green, dashed circle is the build limit for the system, no structures can be built outside this circle.
Structures under construction have a self-build Construction Rate of 1.

Construction Rate (Ship Ability)

All fabricators have a Construction Rate 1 ability even though their ship detail pop-up does not show it.
Engineers and similar ships have their Construction Rate listed as an ability.
Construction Rates are linear. Construction Rate 2 is twice as fast as Construction Rate 1, Construction Rate 3 is three times as fast, etc.

Build Time

The unassisted build time for a structure is show in the pop-up details box on the first line in light gray.
Metal and Crytal are linearly consumed during the build process so that at 25% construction progress, 25% of the Metal and Crystal the unit requires have been consumed.
This unassisted build time is shown in the details pop-up window and assumes only the fabricator

Repairing Ships

Page in progress, real life's interrupted. --Diazo 01:57, 30 May 2012 (UTC)