I'm curious as to how these ships will be made consistent with the story. The current situation is that we start with a Bonaventura. I just assume that we found it, or found the parts for it or something like that in the same way we found the starting base and lab. However, if the game is changed so that we somehow gain one of these ships after the start, there will need to be an explanation for why we can't just get more of them. (eg. if we build one, then why can't we build more? If we buy one, why can't we buy more? etc.) I've got some ideas for how that could be explained - but the ideas I have are a bit contrived.
That's a relatively minor issue... but the Dorado sounds like it might have a more serious implausibility problem. There will need to be an explanation for how the gold is produced, any why we can't just manipulate the ship to make gold whenever we want. (It's clear that the game mechanics don't allow us to land and take off repeatedly without a mission; but in the in-game universe I presume the girls could do that if they wanted to - so the game will need to explain why that wouldn't produce gold.)
From a balance point of view, the general concepts sound decent; and I suppose it's mostly about balancing them through their numbers and layout. But I wonder if we really need 5 options.
As you say, the Fortuna specialises in going after landed ufos and scouting. That sounds valuable, but it's a job that the Deliverator can do pretty well.
El Fuego would go after courier ships and other fast but weak-ish ships. Presumably it will carry a decent number of hands, and so it would be pretty powerful general purpose ship.
Compared to El Fuego, the Bonaventura would be slower, but carry more hands. I guess that means that the layout and capacity of El Fuego would need to be made a limiting factor, so that it isn't an obvious pick over the Bonavenura. ... Which again makes me think of the Deliverator. (For much of the game, I tend to use the Bonavenura when I need a lot of hands or auxiliaries; but use the Deliverator when I need speed.)
Metallo would specialise in being able fight slightly bigger ships more comfortably than the others... like the Kraken or something, but with enough hands to be useable. That sounds good.
Dorado is unique, but weird.
What I'm thinking is that there are essentially 3 key types of challenges for the ships:
- Fast ships / landings
- Big ships
- Big ground missions
These three challenges match up with three key ship properties:
- Speed
- Air strength
- Capacity
To have 5 different ships means that they can't just focus on one of those things with each ship; and so that makes it a lot more difficult for ships to have a unique feel. That's why El Fuego and Fortuna both make me think of the Deliverator. Clearly the ships can be different, but I wonder if there would be a stronger sense of uniqueness if there were fewer options. The Dorado doesn't fit into my categories, so that's nice from a uniqueness point of view, but I'm worried about it creating an implausibility scar on the otherwise nicely crafted universe.
Those are all my thoughts for now.
