Panther Clipper with Magical Cargo Racks?

[psyantologist]

Why create new magical cargo racks that are 50% better that only go into that one ship and into specific slots?

That makes no sense at all and takes a giant dump on the whole concept of modularity.

It also makes the designers of the normal cargo racks look like fools if they waste that much space in standardized modules.

Have you seen the ship from the outside? It has 4 containers of the same size. It looks great!

Now you want to put 4 wildly different amounts of cargo into those identical looking compartments?

Whyyyy?!

Just give it 4 class 8 slots and shelve the magical cargo rack idea - it's only a measly 64t difference!

 

[Nidoboros]

Or make them all CargoMax 7s, out of spite.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

They can roll this out to other ships later, like happened with SCO.

 

[metatheurgist]

I'm a firm believer in the idea that the more exceptions you make to your games rules the more crappy your game rules were in the first place.

 

[St0rmFury]

My guess is FDev wants to limit the amount of optional slots in a ship but still allow for more cargo hold.

Because the more slots a ship has, the more customisable it becomes and we can't have that, can we?

 

[Alaska Sædelære]

One of the greater simplifications the game makes vis-a-vis real physics is that it treats volume and weight as equal. If those "magic" containers were to make sense, they would be restricted to holding materials of higher density than the average for trade goods, like heavy metals. But we don't have this degree of realism, and if we wanted it, there is a great number of game concepts that would need to be changed.

So I think their idea was to gloss over this for the transport capacity they wanted to give, while at the same time avoid the possibility of totally overpowering builds for other purposes by providing too much optional internal space. Game balance over the rest.

At any rate, I think this should at least be counterbalanced by scrapping the immediate appearance of a station after deliveries are complete, because this just keeps feeding a mad frenzy and addiction regardless of how much you can haul at a time. There should be just one per weekly cycle, i.e. put new builds in the game only during the regular downtime.

 

[DjVortex]

Why create new magical cargo racks that are 50% better that only go into that one ship and into specific slots?

That makes no sense at all and takes a giant dump on the whole concept of modularity.

It also makes the designers of the normal cargo racks look like fools if they waste that much space in standardized modules.

I'll quote my own post from the other thread:

I think it can be explained in-universe:

Cargo holds are not just empty dumb boxes, like seaship shipping containers. Instead, they have to be hi-tech storage units with internal compartments and both passive and active technology to protect the cargo from sudden acceleration, which the ship can do, when accelerating, turning, or colliding with something. After all, the cargo needs to remain intact even at very high g's.

These new enhanced cargo racks use newer technology and newer materials to significantly reduce the internal space taken by these protective structures and mechanisms, thus allowing for more cargo to be fitted inside the container. However, the drawback is that the ship needs to be specifically fitted for these special cargo containers. They won't fit nor work in existing ships.

 

[Bigmaec]

inb4

 

[Floraline]

Cargo holds are not just empty dumb boxes, like seaship shipping containers. Instead, they have to be hi-tech storage units with internal compartments and both passive and active technology to protect the cargo from sudden acceleration, which the ship can do, when accelerating, turning, or colliding with something. After all, the cargo needs to remain intact even at very high g's.

Yes, and don't forget all the robotic arms, conveyors, etc. needed to fill or empty your cargo in less than a second.

 

[Robert Maynard]

Why create new magical cargo racks that are 50% better that only go into that one ship and into specific slots?

The new slot designation is similar in principle to the addition of military slots to particular ships some time ago - the slots are only useful for limited specific purposes. In the case of the new fuel / cargo slots it's arguably better than military slots as the new slots will still work as size 7 or size 8 slots for existing modules but will, if the new optimised cargo racks and fuel tanks are used, then they provide 50% additional capacity.

 

[DjVortex]

In the case of the new fuel / cargo slots it's arguably better than military slots as the new slots will still work as size 7 or size 8 slots for existing modules but will, if the new optimised cargo racks and fuel tanks are used, then they provide 50% additional capacity.

I understood that the special slots can be used only for cargo racks and fuel tanks, nothing else.

 

[Robert Maynard]

I understood that the special slots can be used only for cargo racks and fuel tanks, nothing else.

Which would break the ship for other roles, i.e. the Cutter would likely be better.

 

[Riks]

Not sure if it will turn out this way anyhow, but it would've made just as much sense then to simply give the Panther Clipper special Cargo-only internal compartments that could only slot in Cargo Containers. Would reduce the customization just as how Military compartments do.

 

[PilotB]

Why create new magical cargo racks that are 50% better that only go into that one ship and into specific slots?

Money and future content. Artificial scarcity will drive the initial sales. Once the initial sales are over they can host a CG to "invent" the ability to fit them into more ships closing the gap between the large haulers. They can remain a 1 per size per ship or some other magical restriction that doesn't actually require the cargo slots.

The new cargo slots are just to make it so that the PC is slightly less likely to be a monster in every single role rather than just invalidating all existing ships for cargo and probably mining.

 

[Riks]

The new cargo slots are just to make it so that the PC is slightly less likely to be a monster in every single role rather than just invalidating all existing ships for cargo and probably mining.

No matter how you turn it around though, the PC will replace and was intended to invalidate all other ships before it in all the roles it excels in.
Only way it wouldn't be viable to replace every other hauler or stationary miner, is if it somehow lacked qualities other ships could fill in on.
They might as well have made it even larger, or smaller than it turned out for that matter.
This is what they want you to pay for anyway- to have an edge against other players for 3 months.

 

[SteveWW57]

No matter how you turn it around though, the PC will replace and was intended to invalidate all other ships before it in all the roles it excels in.
Only way it wouldn't be viable to replace every other hauler or stationary miner, is if it somehow lacked qualities other ships could fill in on.
They might as well have made it even larger, or smaller than it turned out for that matter.
This is what they want you to pay for anyway- to have an edge against other players for 3 months.

Can't land at medium pads. But, we have the T8 as the best medium cargo hauler beating all other medium haulers.

 

[PilotB]

No matter how you turn it around though, the PC will replace and was intended to invalidate all other ships before it in all the roles it excels in.

There's a difference between it's better but the others are viable and it's better and the others are nothing more than a waste of your time. A strong point of ED was that while some ships were optimal for a given task most ships were viable. That really isn't the case and it's a visible paradigm shift from the python 2 and mandalorian to the corsair and politically incorrect. At the current rate by the time we get more large ships the power creep should be sufficient that they PC isn't even a viable option anymore.

 

[Frankymole]

Will the new enhanced cargo racks be able to be fitted into an Imperial Cutter?

 

[Riks]

At the current rate by the time we get more large ships the power creep should be sufficient that they PC isn't even a viable option anymore.

That's about what I expect from future ship releases if they continue.
If FDev wants to make most of their new content be new ships, they need a selling point for them.
What sells better than an upgrade?

 

[Mr Lindsay]

Will the new enhanced cargo racks be able to be fitted into an Imperial Cutter?

No, not as described. They'll only go in special slots.

Now, it's possible that FDev will say that some of the older ships are being upgraded to accommodate these slots, but that would mean locking out slots for Cargo/Fuel only, so I only think it's likely on something like the T9/T7/T6.