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I wonder how far this concept will be extended. Will there be a full OS running on the in-game CPU, with I/O protocols to interface with the ship's systems? Will you be able to cripple your enemies' ships by writing malware, a la Independence Day?

Taken to its fullest extent, this seems like not just a game, but also a simulated world in which one can learn and practice actual engineering skills.

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I wouldn't be surprised if an impromptu communication protocol (based on assigning meanings to things other ships can observe you doing) sprung up pretty quickly to allow networking. At the point that ships can communicate, it's bound to come down to needing to do it with securely-written code, or risk ship-to-ship malware.

Should be really fun to see where this goes.

You'd still need to develop "hardware" for the input side of that protocol, though. Unless the ship's sensors already can be programmed to detect what other ships' systems are doing.

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