Hull Rupture has three starting ships, and the store page puts the difference plainly: ship models influence how situations unfold, because layouts, systems and loss thresholds vary between hulls — and those differences affect priorities, acceptable risks and survival projections, particularly for the crew tasked with executing your decisions. More ships unlock through progression.
What the Hull Rupture ship models guide compares
Three things vary between hulls, and they interact:
- Layouts. Where the module slots and the enemy routes sit, which is what a ship is really made of.
- Systems. What the hull can do, which is why the same plan is not equally good on every ship.
- Loss thresholds. What it takes for a mistake to end the run.
Because layout changes route length, and route length decides what your guns can cover, the ship you start on shapes your first ten waves as much as any module you buy. The boss strategy guide explains why the route matters that much.
The low-mass ship
The one ship described in detail so far is the low-mass, high-speed starting ship shown as a work-in-progress sketch in Devlog #3. It supports a playstyle built around keeping your mass low and visiting as many destinations as possible — though even it cannot reach every star in a single run.
That makes it the natural pick if you want to see more of the galaxy per run. The ship weight and fuel guide covers the two route strategies this choice sits inside, and the galaxy map guide covers what a faster ship actually reaches.
The three ships are still unnamed
The developers said a devlog taking a much closer look at all three starting ships would come later. That devlog had not been published when the launch post went out, and the names of the three ships have not been released, so the choice is currently made on behaviour rather than on name.
Ship upgrades are separate from starting ships
The Shipyard star lets you upgrade the ship, and it now offers control over both the enemies' routes and the construction slots you will have for modules. The official gameplay trailer's Shipyard screen shows a "SELECT A SHIP UPGRADE HERE" panel with three tracks — Iron (free), Blaster (500 energy) and Crab (1500 energy), each changing the block layout of the hull, alongside a preview grid showing the resulting shape.
A Weight Distorter module also appears in the Workshop star's list, which is the same kind of lever on mass. Because upgrades change the hull's block layout, they feed straight back into the geometry decisions in the hull construction guide.
Ships and modes unlock together
You begin with one ship and Classic Mode, and more ships and modes are unlocked through progression. The demo contained only one starting ship, so anyone coming from the demo starts this progression from scratch.