New ship: Panther Clipper

[kofeyh]

How does Anaconda fit into your words?

It has an (approximately halved) hull mass to make it work. Frontier are on record that they will not be doing that again. So that's how it fits into it. The ship is an exception that much as we might like (as it's convenient) very unlikely to happen again.

That's just your opinion. Fdev is known to re-use ship parts for variants.

Not sure if cherry picking, not reading or just missing what I said. Yes they could make a variant. That variant still has to play by the same rules as every other ship. Even Anaconda. It sidesteps the issue by being about half the hull mass (400t) vs all other large ships (Imperial Clipper is only a large pad due to the nacelles).

So unless we start going down the road of magical hull mass, there is only so big a ship can get, before it becomes a game engine problem. Feel free to keep ignoring this, but that doesn't really just make it go away.

--

We don't fly Carriers, in case the next argument is that they're really heavy so obviously big big clipper is fine. Outside of a preset animation, they do not move. They are effectively relocatable stations, and operate much the same way.

 

[Cmdr Alzaroc]

Is anyone else getting a sporadic quick drop out of the engine sound on the Panther Clipper?

 

[DjVortex]

Is anyone else getting a sporadic quick drop out of the engine sound on the Panther Clipper?

Yes. And it seems to affect other sounds as well.

 

[Capt. Hook]

Maybe it's time for the engineers who managed to squeeze extra space out of the 8E racks to 8D to offer their services for general release. Failing that.a few community goals to provide improved 6 and 5 class racks?

TBF though rather than all of that, why not simply reduce the material requirements for station builds, e.g. rather than a 20% increase in PCII capacity, we get a 20% reduction in station materials needed, particularly for the larger station and port builds. Or keep the same requirements but say that NPCs will contribute 20% of station build.

 

[Darth Ender]

I'm still waiting for my dredger maw utility mount for my panther.

or miner slf. Something really cool. In the meantime...it's my newest space truck.

 

[Mr Lindsay]

Maybe it's time for the engineers who managed to squeeze extra space out of the 8E racks to 8D to offer their services for general release. Failing that.a few community goals to provide improved 6 and 5 class racks?

Why would we need Class 5 & 6 racks when there's no ship in the game that is designed for them? I can potentially see this happening alongside future ship releases, or maybe to re-balance a couple of the existing ships, but not before then and not across the whole fleet.

TBF though rather than all of that, why not simply reduce the material requirements for station builds, e.g. rather than a 20% increase in PCII capacity, we get a 20% reduction in station materials needed, particularly for the larger station and port builds. Or keep the same requirements but say that NPCs will contribute 20% of station build.

In-Universe, NPCs already contribute the significant majority of materials for Colonisation, as the requirements are vastly below that previously needed for station repairs. Colonisation is for people that like hauling. If you want a 20% reduction, build 20% less stuff. No-one is forcing you to haul more than you want to.

 

[Cosmo]

Yes they could make a variant. That variant still has to play by the same rules as every other ship. Even Anaconda. It sidesteps the issue by being about half the hull mass (400t) vs all other large ships (Imperial Clipper is only a large pad due to the nacelles).

So unless we start going down the road of magical hull mass, there is only so big a ship can get, before it becomes a game engine problem. Feel free to keep ignoring this, but that doesn't really just make it go away.

Fdev can change the ship stats anytime they want. Or if needed introduce new tech such as the MK II Cargo Rack. So I doubt that would prevent Fdev from making variants.

 

[SergMx]

It has an (approximately halved) hull mass to make it work. Frontier are on record that they will not be doing that again. So that's how it fits into it. The ship is an exception that much as we might like (as it's convenient) very unlikely to happen again.

Was there an explanation why this couldn't happen again? They should have made the Anaconda's HRD even smaller and there wouldn't have been any magic.

 

[Rat Catcher]

So unless we start going down the road of magical hull mass, there is only so big a ship can get, before it becomes a game engine problem.

New size modules are entirely possible: C9 -C12 could easily be introduced if we were to go down the road of megaships.
Progress & innovation happens, surely?

 

[kofeyh]

Fdev can change the ship stats anytime they want. Or if needed introduce new tech such as the MK II Cargo Rack. So I doubt that would prevent Fdev from making variants.

Sure, however the new racks are a variant of an existing module, not an entirely new size. I think there must be some mismatch in replies, because to me it seems as if you're mixing size and variant as if it's the same thing and it's not.

New size modules are entirely possible: C9 -C12 could easily be introduced if we were to go down the road of megaships.
Progress & innovation happens, surely?

Possible, sure. Probable?

 

[kofeyh]

Was there an explanation why this couldn't happen again? They should have made the Anaconda's HRD even smaller and there wouldn't have been any magic.

Because it was not a good thing they did, created a situation where they can't then remediate that choice, and they have learned from that experience. There's no value in repeating it out of convenience.

 

[Cosmo]

Sure, however the new racks are a variant of an existing module, not an entirely new size. I think there must be some mismatch in replies, because to me it seems as if you're mixing size and variant as if it's the same thing and it's not.

The point is Fdev can pull anything out of their sleeve and implement it. Point 2: Fdev has a track record of releasing variants. Point 3: they will most likely re-use assets of the PC Mk II for other ships. I'm betting on a PC Mk II variant or a new freighter with recycled PC Mk II assets. We'll see who's right in a few years.

 

[Rat Catcher]

Probable?

Pretty much not - they already had the opportunity with the Panther Kitten, they chose 'space magic' instead!

 

[WillFrog]

Is anyone else getting a sporadic quick drop out of the engine sound on the Panther Clipper?

Yes, engine sounds and side panel and coms panel sounds were dropping out for me last night. It seemed to start when I looked at the panels during autodock. I put it down to being in a very busy station with lots of other players, which often seems to make things go a bit weird, and a relog fixed it. But I guess it's not just me.

 

[Michael Ryan]

I love that tiny details:

 

[Chroniclerope]

As a huge fan of litho assisted deceleration for landing procedures, the PC is sickening in VR. For some reason its landing collision snaps it to a perfect alignment every time, I felt like barfing as my POV instantly teleported multiple degrees in an instant. I won't be mining or trucking in VR with it.

 

[SergMx]

Because it was not a good thing they did, created a situation where they can't then remediate that choice, and they have learned from that experience. There's no value in repeating it out of convenience.

And how is this incorrectness expressed? I'm not talking about the fact that it is the lightest, what does that give? A big jump is nonsense. With the size of a galaxy, this is nonsense, and for Anaconda to jump like that, it must be very light, i.e. it is not capable of anything else.

 

[Archvillain]

I'm betting on a PC Mk II variant or a new freighter with recycled PC Mk II assets. We'll see who's right in a few years.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with that. People are deducing some of the spec constraints that a variant or recycled-asset freighter would likely be built within.

 

[ATOMIKA13]

Because Panther Clipper doesn't have 2K tons of cargo, I'm not buying with ARX anymore, I'm waiting for it to be free. DISAPPOINTMENT!!!

Although I was disappointed when the ship's configuration was announced and I said I wouldn't buy it with ARX, I feel compelled to reevaluate my opinions. It's clear that it has its advantages, so even though I'm not completely satisfied with the ship's capacity, I'll buy it. What I don't understand are those mkII cargo racks. They seem to be cargo racks with archiving (winzip cargo racks). Either I'm missing something, or Fdev has its flaws?

 

[Michael Ryan]

Although I was disappointed when the ship's configuration was announced and I said I wouldn't buy it with ARX, I feel compelled to reevaluate my opinions. It's clear that it has its advantages, so even though I'm not completely satisfied with the ship's capacity, I'll buy it. What I don't understand are those mkII cargo racks. They seem to be cargo racks with archiving (winzip cargo racks). Either I'm missing something, or Fdev has its flaws?

We did T3 Planertary Port in 2 days... only 4 commanders... That capacity is really good.