Retractable Cockpit Canopy

[Greasetrap42]

For certain ships a retractable cockpit canopy:

• When retracted cockpit is open to space. Cmdr must be wearing suit & hemet.
• Cmdr can directly jump in/out of the ship. Seemlessly.
• O2 & power recharging as long as cmdr is in the seat.

Hey!-> Before you immediately reply saying "but the game needs to load info.... thats why we get the black loading screen when we enter/exit ship". Ya, ya I know. Fully aware of this. Time to change that concept. Most stuff is already generated. Will it impact the frames per second? Probably. But for a super cool space sim a seemless method for interior/exterior of ship should be available. This is all part of the concept of being able to enter/exit the ship through a proper door. Time for Frontier to overcome this hurdle, figure it out.

Why-> The gameplay possibilities of being able to directly enter/exit the ship is giant. Both on planet and in space.

 

[Northpin]

Before you immediately reply saying "but the game needs to load info.... thats why we get the black loading screen when we enter/exit ship". Ya, ya I know. Fully aware of this. Time to change that concept.

it may be related to instancing, so not exactly a concept that could be changed.

 

[Greasetrap42]

it may be related to instancing, so not exactly a concept that could be changed.

Currently, when I am in my ship I am in the same instance as those that are outside my ship.

If I look out my ship window and see someone running around shooting at me, I am definely in their instance. I do not doubt there is additional information that is loaded when I enter/exit my ship.

In fact... When I am in my ship and I look into my fleet carrier windows, the NPCs I see are the same NPCs in the same locations if I quickly dock, run-around and see them up close.

 

[avow555]

I don't see any gameplay that this will work with.

 

[Tividar]

Hey!-> Before you immediately reply saying "but the game needs to load info.... thats why we get the black loading screen when we enter/exit ship". Ya, ya I know. Fully aware of this. Time to change that concept. Most stuff is already generated. Will it impact the frames per second? Probably. But for a super cool space sim a seemless method for interior/exterior of ship should be available. This is all part of the concept of being able to enter/exit the ship through a proper door. Time for Frontier to overcome this hurdle, figure it out.

This.
...But the canopies are a major design flaw. Their purpose can be amply served by high-res cameras and various sensors piped through high-res monitors safely behind bulkheads. On tourist ships like the Saud Kruger line, they're marginally justifiable. If you absolutely need to be able to "destroy the canopy" let the cameras and sensors be targetable modules/subsystems.

 

[Alec Turner]

Why-> The gameplay possibilities of being able to directly enter/exit the ship is giant. Both on planet and in space.

Go on ... I'm intrigued.

Edit: posted in haste while getting off a train - missed the "in space" bit. Yup, EVA would be cool.

 

[BackToTheMud]

You know, most of even the small ships are pretty big, with proportionally huge cockpits. It make absolutely no sense to ventilate such a large area when you can just go to the air lock.

 

[Greasetrap42]

I don't see any gameplay that this will work with.

• EVA. No need for modelling ship interiors. Cmdr moves seemlessly from ship interior to exterior, with no hiccup to gamepay activities. Smooth transition of Cmdr opening canopy, jump out towards megaship, guns blazing, whatever.
• Planetary surface. Viper4 with open canopy effectively becomes a Star Wars landspeeder. No need to land. Hover in place with engine running, jump out, do your thing, jump back in. Fire your hand weapons from the cockpit with height advantage and protection from ship shields. Amazing for smash & grab and exobiology.
• Does this obsolete the SRV for lots of activities? Yep. Who cares, its a far better solution. It just makes sense.