Speculation on Elite Dangerous Playable Ships

[MarcusAurelius]

Now on the eve of the Alpha launch there is much anticipation as to what ships will be revealed to fans.

Wiki does reference the starting lineup of ships thus far.

http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Ships

But even those are rather scant on information. Hopefully this will change as we gain more access to the game itself, and maybe glean a fact or two with the aid of those privy to the Alpha.

So far we can determine that there are 10 playable ships from previous games, with another 3 added for something new and exclusive to the Elite Dangerous Universe.

These are in order of sequence:

The Adder, The Anaconda, The Asp, The Cobra Mk. III

Eagle Mk. II, The Krait, The Panther Clipper, The Sidewinder

The Viper Mk. II, The Fer De Lance? (I speculate this to be it)

If you look at the lines and contours of this large ship you will note its diamond shaped silhouette. It doesn't end in a pointed tip or cone as the original, it seems a re-imagined version of the former vessel. However since its in the presumed lineup of confirmed ships and we are yet to officially see it, I wouldn't put it past the dev team to have tackled this design early on. Its featured since the kickstarter (as a generic framework for freighters I guess) The Fer De Lance takes at least a crew of 12 to fly. So it certainly looks imposing enough to be such a ship.

And the newcomers to Elite Dangerous

The Dolphin, The Orca, Freighter III Concept

and of course there is also alot of speculation whether the Imperial Courier will be part of the playable ships lineup or become relegated as a military NPC vessel with redefined function in the gameworld or even as a smaller variant or distant cousin to the original. I hope for our sake this is not the case.

Empire Courier (The Imperial Courier?)

Both these photos are taken from concept art and images on the ED wiki page or newsletters. The Empire Courier (presumably the Imperial Courier) is listed as an Empire Scout ship. So either its role or function is still inconclusive. No stats on the size and scale of this ship. The first image seems large in scale, however the second incarnation could easily pass as a smaller attack vessel.

Anyways happy gaming for you Alphas out there, and feel free to report here for any unconfirmed ships on your findings

 

[jedt]

its the sidewinder in alpha

 

[MarcusAurelius]

Well some nice info from Slawkenbergius thread to fuel the fires of curiosity hell!

Still awaiting my Premium Beta so all this speculating might keep my interests until then.

Meanwhile from the list gleaned thus far I can surmise the following.

Confirmed Playable ships according to wikia
Adder
Anaconda
Asp
Cobra Mk III
Dolphin
Eagle
Orca
Panther
SideWinder
Fer De Lance
Viper

Confirmed Unplayable ships according to wikia
Empire Capital
Empire Fighter
Federation Capital
Federation Fighter

Speculated Playable ships according to alpha list
Cutter (Imperial Cutter?)
Python
Beluga liner
Imperial Liner
Type6Transporter
Type7Transporter
Vulture
DiamondBack
LakonType9Heavy (Lakon Spaceways playable ship?)
Hauler

Speculated unplayable ships according to alpha list
Imperial Courier
Federation Corvette
Federation Dropship
DroneCargo

Possible ships spotted according to concept art

Gecko & Boa?

Fer de Lance?

Puma Clipper?

 

[MarcusAurelius]

Poll Added.

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

I selected all the ships from the previous elite universe, simply because you can reimagine them anyway, so it is not like they have to stay the same, therefore, if you decide you want to make a ship of a certain size and role, you may as well reimagine one which is already canon if you catch my drift, rather than make new ships.

Of course some new "hi tech" ships which have been designed since first encounters would be great too, after all, 50 years is a long time (and that is the time from 1st encounters, therefore the ships from the original elite game would be really getting on a bit now.

I hope the wolf makes a return, mind you, that was such a lead belly, if it is flyable I am not sure how it would not make the game imbalanced - so perhaps it would have to be one for the ai only, or perhaps only given on certain missions for a limited time.

 

[S~P]

I think you will find it's Puma Shuttle, well it was in Frontier iirc, I think it was the Panther that was a clipper. But anyways I glad to see the Fer der Lance made it in this time, I always wanted to fly one of those.

 

[nicomak]

both puma & panther were clippers

 

[StarTux]

Yes, most can return in the usual updated form. I'd like to see the Moray Starboat as part of the planetary expansion, it would be really amazing if you were then able to land/takeoff at an underwater city with it.

 

[Allen Stroud]

Its worth bearing in mind one of the best possible expansion ideas would be to deliver more ships. The canon has a rich list to choose from in previous games and we've already seen just how good these can be when revamped for the new engine.

We did a poll some time ago on Lave Radio for people's favourites. Cant remember which one it was though.

The initial roster of twenty five will, I'm sure, be great fun.

 

[Serpentis Ictis]

whilst I love the previous games, I love the ambition of the devs for ED and look forward to new material.

More new ships please!

 

[Steph]

I would like to see them all return. I never saw FFE so those ones will actually be new to me (I want to see the Saker!).

Perhaps some of the originals might only be seen in somewhat battered form? Those ships have been around for quite a while after all. ;-)

With so many planets etc I would hope to see a teeming mass of different types of ship but given the effort needed to create them I can see why this would be a struggle.

Oddly enough this was the only real gripe that I had with Acorn Electron Elite; that I kept seeing the same types of ship. I wasn't worried that every system had exactly one planet, one Coriolis space station and no star. Ask me not why, I've no idea!

 

[MarcusAurelius]

I would like to see them all return. I never saw FFE so those ones will actually be new to me (I want to see the Saker!).

Perhaps some of the originals might only be seen in somewhat battered form? Those ships have been around for quite a while after all. ;-)

With so many planets etc I would hope to see a teeming mass of different types of ship but given the effort needed to create them I can see why this would be a struggle.

Oddly enough this was the only real gripe that I had with Acorn Electron Elite; that I kept seeing the same types of ship. I wasn't worried that every system had exactly one planet, one Coriolis space station and no star. Ask me not why, I've no idea!

Yeh I think its worth mentioning that alot of people are unfamiliar with every ship from FFE and others who played FFE might not be too familiar with original Elite ships and what made them so iconic. However we can all agree that seeing them in Elite Dangerous will be like discovering them for the very first time all over again.

If I may suggest to the devs as an idea that some ships in future installments be seen even as placeholder NPC ships in space stations permanently docked for the sole purpose of eye candy. Or even as concepts for future designs. I think that might help break the monotony of seeing the same ships drydocked everywhere or a repetition of ships throughout the ED universe. It can also be a fun pastime for players, kind of like the ED version of birdwatching, but with ships when visiting stations.

Apparently the new Panther LX won't be as big as the original Panther Clipper (or so I understand it to be) And judging from some concept art we might yet see the original massive beast floating around stations doing its daily business but as an unplayable ship. Hopefully we can get within earshot to hear her majestic 4 engines roar past us.

The new Panther LX

Original Panther Clipper

Old Panther Clipper spotted in ED conceptart?

 

[MarcusAurelius]

Interesting results guys! it seems most of us fans want to see all the ships return to some capacity during the run of ED.

A significant number of you want to just see the good ships make a comeback. I would propose a compromise by having all the original ships making a return to the universe at some stage, but as NPC unplayable ships. They would have all their stats and the like, but only the very popular ones would become playable. Perhaps during the many years we will all be playing, there could be several ship pack expansions. Each expansion will come with 15 or so playable ships (maybe broken down to 10 old and 5 new) and another 10 unplayable but a combination of ships from the Elites past as well as new concepts.

I am liking the awesome new newsletter and how our ships are shaping up. The scaling on this is going to be something to marvel for a long long time. Great work devs!

 

[SAB380]

I'm okay with just the classics returning.
Not every ship was amazing, not every ship must return.

 

[MarcusAurelius]

Yes I understand what you mean, but nonetheless they were part of Elites past, its rich history.

In the effort to making the game a much more surreal experience, I would have some of the less desirable ships as on display artifacts. Some older space stations may even house several of them as museum pieces or old relics to be looked at in retrospect of bygone era. It would be interesting if FD took that approach too. At least it gives them an excuse to showcase them again.

 

[Im_Lost]

I'd love to see some new, BIG ships. So big that you need a 2nd ship in it's hanger for landing on planets while you leave it in orbit

 

[nicomak]

and pay twice as much for parking fee

i'd love to see the puma, but i just want to see more ships from various size, bigger/smaller than the anaconda.

 

[MikeSnos]

Aren't we missing TWO of the 'big' unflyables from this list? Surely the Thargoid 'Mother' and Tharglet ships should be making a return??

 

[trekman]

Of course some new "hi tech" ships which have been designed since first encounters would be great too, after all, 50 years is a long time (and that is the time from 1st encounters, therefore the ships from the original elite game would be really getting on a bit now.

Agreed 50 years is a heck of a long time in the life of a spaceship and as someone who flew a Cobra Mk III in the original Elite way back in the early 80's I would like to see an updated version of this great ship that we could fly. Maybe a bit bigger, faster and with more cargo space.

 

[Allen Stroud]

Agreed 50 years is a heck of a long time in the life of a spaceship and as someone who flew a Cobra Mk III in the original Elite way back in the early 80's I would like to see an updated version of this great ship that we could fly. Maybe a bit bigger, faster and with more cargo space.

The re-design for the new game will mean the specifications for the old games are also subject to new parameters.

There has been substantial conversation regarding a "Cobra Mark IV" and the passage of time on these forums and elsewhere during the development period. The rationalisation of innovation and development has also been discussed at length. The majority consensus is to bring back the iconic first. However, I think most Alpha testers will tell you they are quite attached to the Sidewinder now...

Worth listening to the Lave Radio episodes to catch yourself up with things that have already been talked through.

http://laveradio.com