The Shipyard: The Default Respawn Ship, "Yellow Rescue Ship"

Whether you start a new game using the "Asteroids" scenario or you've just joined a multiplayer server for the first time, the respawn ship is likely going to be your first vessel. Easily recognizable alongside the rest of the default ships in the game, this one in particular has become like a familiar home to me with how many times I've owned one. In general terms, I tend to call it the Yellow Rescue Ship, though I've heard others on the Space Engineers Reddit refer to it as a bus. On one occasion, this prompted me to give my ship the title of Ms. Frizzle, itself a reference to a children's television show, The Magic School Bus.

Exterior view, including starboard-side hatch.

Despite its small size, the Yellow Rescue Ship does a fantastic job at its intended purpose. All of the ship systems a player will need, whether new to the world or returning from some potentially catastrophic event, can be found inside of its small hull. The ship comes equipped with an assembler and refinery, collector and connector, one small reactor, and a single small cargo container. And, some time after the game update that gave us oxygen (01.074), the ship was equipped with an oxygen generator. There's even a working medical room, for more immediate respawning needs, and a gravity generator tucked into a corner, to make movement inside a little easier.

What the ship does lack, however, is much in the way of creature comforts. With all of the aforementioned ship systems, the interior of the ship ends up feeling a little cramped. There's room for expansion, but not a whole lot of it. Further cargo containers are best attached to the outside, replacing the conveyer block and tubes in order to offer further storage space without losing the ability to move items between the different machines from any access hatch.

Interior view.

Speaking of the exterior, most of the important and necessary systems for survival, as well as all of the ship's thrusters, are almost entirely unarmored, which can pose a problem when meteor showers are enabled, or when playing on multiplayer servers where player-versus-player is allowed. What armor there is gives the ship a distinctive look, with angles breaking up the otherwise rectangular shape. The half-built catwalks on either side of the single pane of glass give the appearance of an industrial vessel. A disposable mining tugboat, designed to help support near a worksite but be easily forgotten when it's time to move on to the next project. Given that the ship is generally deleted from online servers as soon as the player that owns it logs off, this seems to fit nicely with its design.

For players who want to keep their respawn ship, I talk about a few workarounds in one of my previous entries in my The Exploration Continues series. Beyond that, and the aforementioned suggestion on replacing the conveyer system with extra cargo containers can be expanded on in a number of ways. Solar panels, albeit expensive in the amount of silicon they require, can easily be attached along the sides of the ship. With a few alterations, the connection points for upgrade modules on the side of the refinery can even be uncovered and utilized.

All in all, I've come to love the Yellow Rescue Ship - the thought of tearing it apart, even to use its components to build a more long-term ship to travel in, feels somehow wrong. I'm sure if you give the ship a chance as well, you'll be surprised at just how much you come to enjoy it.