Help Index → Working with starships → Use case 29
Corvette upgrades deliberately protect the existing equipment and construction instead of replacing the technology Slots array as they do for other ships. The exception is based on the saved resource scene, not the name you give the ship.
Before you start
- Retain a full backup and verify the active save context.
- Complete the preserve-all/one-tab preflight and identify the occupied Corvette you intend to upgrade.
- Before any sync, Pretty Print or structured refresh, copy EACH pending Raw JSON pane’s complete text to a separate external file. Successful tab sync refreshes ALL Raw JSON panes and can erase pending text elsewhere.
- Before opening Upgrade Starships, record each intended zero-based ownership index in the tree. Named picker checkboxes show no visible index: count ALL ownership-ordered rows from one, including unoccupied rows; tree index 0 is picker row 1. Cancel if you cannot identify the row confidently.
Steps
- If several panes contain wanted pending work, preserve ALL before any refresh. If applying it, reapply and verify one non-inventory tab at a time; never simply sync each changed tab. Keep inventory text externally and reproduce supported changes with structured tools instead.
- Open Starships and inspect the target’s technology records and identity if the roster label is ambiguous. (control reference)
- Click Upgrade Starships and read the Corvette preservation statement alongside the non-Corvette replacement warning. (control reference)
- Select only the preidentified Corvette row(s) by counting every ownership-ordered row, including unoccupied rows. Named checkboxes have no visible slot index; cancel if uncertain, otherwise click OK. (control reference)
- Read the outcome and any Tech skipped note. Inspect the target’s retained equipment and added technology before saving. (control reference)
Expected result
- Existing Corvette item records, positions, module seeds and build parts are retained. Missing reference technology is counted by base technology ID, ignoring a numeric procedural seed suffix while retaining class distinctions and required duplicate counts.
- Only missing occurrences are added from actual matched reference records into free cells. Successful capacity processing enables sixty tech cells; it does not mean sixty installed items.
- Validated reference stats and S-class settings can still apply if space or layout validation skips the entire technology/capacity step. Linked construction bases and appearance are not rewritten by upgrade.
What changes, and when to save
Changes stay in the loaded app data until File > Save NMS Save File writes the retained live slot and Main or Expedition context. Close No Man’s Sky and confirm that destination before saving; a green synchronization light alone does not mean the game file was saved. A refreshed pane is not proof that pending text survived; compare the intended values with your external copies before authorizing a live write.
Check the result
- Check that retained equipment and the build are intact in app data, and inspect the actual added items.
- If technology was skipped, confirm the original items/layout remain and read the precise reason rather than assuming all changes were rejected.
Important details and recovery
- Do not expect a Corvette upgrade to replace existing module rolls or remove extra equipment. No empty-reference prerequisite applies. An unknown scene or invalid stats/class reference is rejected rather than guessed from the displayed ship name.