The ships are basically empty shells which you fill with any combination of modules that you like. They have some very basic energy and propulsion at the start however.
It will certainly be possible to mod hulls, although there is quite a lot of data associated with a new hull, I’m sure modders are up to the task, and if I get any halfway decent tools done, I’ll try and help as much as I can. Right now, a hull is a simple text file with data like this:
[code][engineglows]
0 = 34,237,40,60,ALLIANCE
1 = 222,237,40,60,ALLIANCE
[targets]
0 = 82,65,1,1,67,47,99,88,SHIP_EMMITER_LARGE
1 = 180,73,1,1,164,56,193,87,SHIP_EMMITER_THIN
2 = 57,142,1,1,46,126,72,161,SHIP_EMMITER_LARGE
3 = 108,142,1,1,94,127,122,159,SHIP_EMMITER_LARGE
4 = 142,143,0,1,132,133,151,150,
5 = 207,161,1,1,193,147,215,172,SHIP_EMMITER_THIN
6 = 146,171,0,1,132,157,158,183,SHIP_EMMITER_LARGE
7 = 99,201,0,1,92,191,111,209
8 = 87,219,1,1,71,203,98,234,SHIP_EMMITER_LARGE
9 = 168,218,1,1,157,205,181,229,SHIP_EMMITER_LARGE[/code]
Only lots more of it. I’ll do a detailed modding guide once the game ships.
In terms of the sprites, they are very simple, in that they are just 512x512 pixel 32bit ARGB DDS files, with 4 mipmaps. There is a free DDS plugin for photoshop and paintshop pro.
Each ship has 2 sprites. One is the normal one, the other is the fully damaged one. Some of the ships (the big cruisers) also have a ‘hulk’ sprite which is used for the breakup effect.
There will be tons more information on release.