Well, some seem reasonable. Sidewinder or Eagle, for example. But some others... Even the Vulture, a dedicated fighter, you'd think they'd like a small cockput, with limited area to keep that vulnerable part hard to hit. Oh no, look at it in the outside view. It's enormous. There's a second floor in there, with another empty seat. And even a staircase connecting them. In a short range fighter? It seems odd.
Why do ships have insanely oversized cockpits?
- Thread starter Tetryl
- Start date
Agreed, I have always found this fairly odd as well :S
Just wait until you take a look via VR! I am scared to stand up when I am in a Sidewinder, in case I crack my head open against the canopy, I can safely stretch my arms in an Asp Explorer, and go for a jog around the bridge of my Anaconda!
Probably because at some point were either going to be walking or even floating around in those cockpits. If they were all tiny there'd be no fun. Also multi-crew.
If you pay £5mil for a car you damn sure want legroom
Same with a ship and comfort/impressibility for your mates and or whoever you may be trying to impress
As above VR is simply insane, the T9 is unreal!
If you pay £5mil for a car you damn sure want legroom
Same with a ship and comfort/impressibility for your mates and or whoever you may be trying to impress As above VR is simply insane, the T9 is unreal!
"More than friendship drive charging."
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In a short-range War Ship it seems reasonable.
I agree with some of what you say.
We must keep in mind though that these are not planes, they are spaceships.
Even a vulture is not a small ship at all and it does not have a cockpit but a real multi-leveled bridge.
Problem of the Vulture though is that the pilot's chair is placed too low in the bridge. Because of that the Pilot has a very poor view to the sides.
This is a weird and bad design for a combat ship, because the pilot's chair could easily have been moved at lest 1 meter upwards, if not more, and the view from that location would have been truly superior.
There would have been room below the pilot to place another crew station, to have storage room, or a bunk etc.
One of the other bad designs from an aesthetic perspective is the bridge of the Clipper.
It is a huge dome, with a lot of pointless empty space.
The consequence of that design is that it gives the Clipper a much smaller appearance than it's actual size. It just looks bad I think.
The current clipper has a goofy Donald Duck nose. It looks like an ordinary passenger liner with two minuscule pilot seats inside a huge empty dome.
The original Clipper looked much tougher, more like a bird of prey.
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There is something you might want to consider. It is possible (and reasonably safe) for the pilot of a space ship to 'park up' out in the middle of nowhere (without even having to land), to allow them to eat, take a comfort break, and sleep. However, would you be happy flying a ship knowing there was a 33[SIZE=1]rd[/SIZE] century chemical toilet in the cockpit with you, waiting for the first major impact to allow it to vent the contents all over you? Not I!
If you look at most of the ships it is obvious there are other inhabitable spaces, and there I would expect to find living facilities such as a food preparation area (it might be very small, but remember, gravity does not have any say in space), storage (clothing, food, etc.), and waste disposal unit (which might make use of the materials placed in it to provide nutrients for a hydroponic type system). You have to be able to get to these areas, hence the reason the cockpits have more space than would appear normal; how else are you going to get out of your seat and have a meal?
If you look at most of the ships it is obvious there are other inhabitable spaces, and there I would expect to find living facilities such as a food preparation area (it might be very small, but remember, gravity does not have any say in space), storage (clothing, food, etc.), and waste disposal unit (which might make use of the materials placed in it to provide nutrients for a hydroponic type system). You have to be able to get to these areas, hence the reason the cockpits have more space than would appear normal; how else are you going to get out of your seat and have a meal?
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That's why when you fuel scoop, you're also dumping poop. It's an unadvertised feature.
Think of them like ships (naval) and not fighter planes
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/40/Bridge_of_the_RV_Sikuliaq.jpg
We see this type of design in the bridge of the Python and Anaconda and it looks very good I think.
In the Clipper's bridge though there is almost enough room to have a basketball match
.A lot of wasted space, a huge empty dome.
It looks very bad in my opinion.
The Vulture's bridge would be fine if the pilot's chair was not situated so poorly at the very bottom of the bridge.
I thought your poop was used by a waste2paste unit which turned it into a nutritious edible paste:
http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Tiolce_Waste2Paste_Units
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I 100% agree about the Clipper's cockpit. It's actually unsettling, the amount of wasted empty space that the cockpit/bridge has. It annoys me a bit whenever I take a look around, ha.
That, and the Clipper's terrible hardpoint placement. I say move the Class 3 to where the Class 2 are, and move the Class 2 to under the chin of the ship.
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The FDL is not one of the problematic ships I think. It has a good sized bridge that is appropriately designed.
The same is true of the Python and the Anaconda for example. Those bridges are fine.
Even the bridge size of the Vulture is fine. It is just the placement of the pilot's seat that is wrong (too low) and that causes there to be a lot of empty wasted space in the dome above the pilot.
The Clipper is an entirely different story though. Did you ever own one, or own one now?.
Just have a close up look at the two tiny seats in that huge empty dome. It really looks ridiculous.
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The Clipper and Cutter are both Imperial designs, so that wasted space, it's by design, this is the Empire after all, they make statements with those ships..'we're so powerful, look, we have beautiful ships, massive, huge, with crappy weapon placements and lots of wasted space because we're so power that it doesn't matter!'.
Ever seen the throne room of your average castle? Same concept going on with the Clipper and Cutter...
And they make great places for large groups of amorous people...zero gravity....how'd you think those hand prints got there in the Clipper....
Ever seen the throne room of your average castle? Same concept going on with the Clipper and Cutter...
And they make great places for large groups of amorous people...zero gravity....how'd you think those hand prints got there in the Clipper....
Agree with OP, some strange design choices. I think F-D might have originally intended, or maybe are still intending, to have cockpit's customisable, in that, similar to other games that allow you to create and design your 'base of operations' - the cockpit is the essence of this in E-D. As it is the one thing (apart from (mostly) empty space), you end up looking at for light mile after light mile, it really deserves a makeover.
Best wishes
TheDamnedCommander
Best wishes
TheDamnedCommander
Having seen the Palm tree stations I was personally hoping for a couple of Yucca plants in the corner of the Clipper Cockpit.