The Clipper and its inability to launch fighters..

[OPTIMUSCRS]

First and foremost: I'm a huge Clipper fan!

However, on the other hand, I do also think that the Clipper is pretty much one of the most useless ships in the game. There is nothing it is really good at except speed. Anything else a different ship does better..

Now that the Clipper won't be able to deploy fighters, FD is making it even more useless and there is literally no reason for me to fly a Clipper anymore (I will miss its audio effects immensely, tho).

I get that it has no fighter bay from the get go but why would it not be possible to add one? I mean after all the FGS has one and it's practically half the Clipper's size.

FD is making it harder and harder - for me - to pick up Imperial ships. It's been bugging me that for whatever purpose the Anaconda is almost always the number one pick (Corvette and Cutter to be excluded because not so easily accessible). I mean I could buy the Anaconda and outfit it into oblivion but I just don't want to. The game is more than just one ship. Why make it so hard for us (me?) to buy something else?

Now, am I missing something? Am I being a crybaby?

 

[Luniticisi]

I found the clipper to be a fantastic mining ship ...

 

[Arry]

I understand that one of the engineers will be offering a new form of Blue-tack; which you can use to stick fighters under the belly of the Clipper.

I agree, a massive oversight by FD, for not including the Clipper in the list of fighter carriers. Then again; there would be those, that would say, it had become over powered again, if fighters were added.

 

[OPTIMUSCRS]

True, I would use it for mining before but it's not that an ASP or a Python couldn't do an equally good job. Or, again: The Anaconda.

 

[Lightspeed]

First and foremost: I'm a huge Clipper fan!

However, on the other hand, I do also think that the Clipper is pretty much one of the most useless ships in the game. There is nothing it is really good at except speed. Anything else a different ship does better..

Now that the Clipper won't be able to deploy fighters, FD is making it even more useless and there is literally no reason for me to fly a Clipper anymore (I will miss its audio effects immensely, tho).

I get that it has no fighter bay from the get go but why would it not be possible to add one? I mean after all the FGS has one and it's practically half the Clipper's size.

FD is making it harder and harder - for me - to pick up Imperial ships. It's been bugging me that for whatever purpose the conda is almost always the number one pick (Corvette and Cutter to be excluded because not so easily accessible).

Now, am I missing something? Am I being a crybaby?

Have to admit ... I ground my way up to Baron to buy the Clipper and, though I love its looks and its usefulness as a fast cargo carrier, that's about all I like about it. It's handling ability and weapon placement make it very vulnerable in combat. It also prevents you from landing at outposts.

It has great speed, but burns through fuel so fast you have to keep stopping for fuel scooping if you want to get anywhere.

And now we know it won't carry fighters, it kind of falls into the Cobra IV category - nice to own, useful for some things, but does not excel. Perhaps FD will offer it as a give-away for purchasers of Elite : 3 ? [sad]

 

[GraXXoR]

There are many who think like you.. I think that any L sized ship should be able to launch fighters to some extent.... the launch sequence might be different/slower for some ships, though....

But like the beluga and orca, there should be some ships designed around the principle and able to launch, say, multiple ships or launch them rapidly/simultaneously.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

I kinda agree but I don't think adding a fighter bay is the way to make it right again.

Back before 2.1 the Clipper was one of the safest ships to fly. That unique position of being big enough to act as a miner/trader yet fast enough to run was great. Not as roomy as some of the cargo ships but with the speed no one cared. It could pack a significant amount of firepower but was never perfect for combat and it had power for plenty of optional systems and interesting weapon combinations. Truthfully put it was a perfectly balanced multi-role ship.

2.1 broke that with engineers allowing almost any ship to outperform any other ship depending on how "lucky" the roll was. More power, got that, more speed, check. The clipper has not been made worse by any means but everything else has been made more capable of filling the multi-role slot and critically speed is now a less of a factor as you can always be chased down by an engineered ship unless you are in a 700m/s imperial courier.

2.2 doesn't change anything really the Clipper is already relegated despite my love for it (profile pic and everything), now it's only advantage is it's cheaper price compared with say a Python.


As for the FGS example compare the turn rates (not the in game numbers the real ones), there's a reason the FGS has so many weapon slots and a fighter bay

 

[Kaybe]

This again?? Christ, it's like someone starts a new Clipper fighter bay thread every couple of days or so.

Listen, the Clipper is already one of the best ships in the game, and certainly an *amazing* ship for it's price. It's one and only drawback is it's size in that it can't land at outposts. Other than that, it has solid guns, amazing speed, great agility for it's size, great cargo capacity for it's price (makes the T7 completely irrelevant). It is by far the best pirate ship in the game. And claiming 2.2 made it so that other ships can compete is setting aside the fact that the Clipper can ALSO be engineered.

The reason it doesn't have a fighter bay is because it wasn't balanced for such. The Keelback and Federal Gunship are both considered underperforming in 2.1 *because* they are balanced with that fighter bay in mind. So please stop posting these threads unless you're willing to also talk about nerfing the Clipper so that it fits in said fighter bay balance.

 

[Sunleader]

First and foremost: I'm a huge Clipper fan!

However, on the other hand, I do also think that the Clipper is pretty much one of the most useless ships in the game. There is nothing it is really good at except speed. Anything else a different ship does better..

Now that the Clipper won't be able to deploy fighters, FD is making it even more useless and there is literally no reason for me to fly a Clipper anymore (I will miss its audio effects immensely, tho).

I get that it has no fighter bay from the get go but why would it not be possible to add one? I mean after all the FGS has one and it's practically half the Clipper's size.

FD is making it harder and harder - for me - to pick up Imperial ships. It's been bugging me that for whatever purpose the Anaconda is almost always the number one pick (Corvette and Cutter to be excluded because not so easily accessible). I mean I could buy the Anaconda and outfit it into oblivion but I just don't want to. The game is more than just one ship. Why make it so hard for us (me?) to buy something else?

Now, am I missing something? Am I being a crybaby?

The Clipper is far from Useless.
Its the Fastest Large Ship in the Game. And one of the Fastest Ships in the Game in General.

But and thats the Problem.
The Clippers Dimensions are only Big because it has the Gigantic Engine Pylons which stick out of the Ship to the Sides.
If you actually Check this up.

The Federal Gunship has nearly 150% of the Clippers Mass.
The Clipper is only 400 Tons Heavy.
The Federal Gunship is 580 Tons Heavy.

In terms of Volume the FGS is much Bigger than the Clipper



And the Clipper with its insane Speed. Is currently the only Large Ship in the Game that can Outrun most Pirates and Enemies in Normal Space
But it is ultimately a Trader and Multi Purpose Ship. Not designed for Combat or Heavy Duties.

 

[Taranis Dekker]

There are many who think like you.. I think that any L sized ship should be able to launch fighters to some extent....

Ah... the genesis of an idea. Instead of, or as well as, being able to carry fighter bays & fighters, why not also have bays capable of carrying transporters, so the Large-pad ships can actually drop off cargo or complete missions at small-pad stations? Fly to an outpost in your iClipper, request docking permission, and send off a little iTransport (iBaby?) to do the actual cargo transfer...

 

[Lightspeed]

Ah... the genesis of an idea. Instead of, or as well as, being able to carry fighter bays & fighters, why not also have bays capable of carrying transporters, so the Large-pad ships can actually drop off cargo or complete missions at small-pad stations? Fly to an outpost in your iClipper, request docking permission, and send off a little iTransport (iBaby?) to do the actual cargo transfer...

I like your line of thinking .... hope FD takes this idea further without dismissing it too quickly. +1 [up]

 

[OPTIMUSCRS]

I asked the same thing during Gamescom but that question kept being ignored.

Launchable trading ships would be an ideal bridge to large ships not being able to land on outposts. Whatever, I guess..

 

[Fishy]

The FGS is exactly the same size as the FAS and FDS, should these two get fighter bays too?

 

[Taranis Dekker]

Launchable trading ships would be an ideal bridge to large ships not being able to land on outposts. Whatever, I guess..

It would also allow Frontier to introduce ships too big to fit through the slot.... Panther Clipper?

 

[Sunleader]

I asked the same thing during Gamescom but that question kept being ignored.

Launchable trading ships would be an ideal bridge to large ships not being able to land on outposts. Whatever, I guess..

Problem is the Clipper is only a Large Pad because of parts of his Ships Stretching far out.
Its actual Body is really small and really Slim Build.

Its like Comparing a Zeppelin with an Jumbo Jet.
Sure the Zeppelin is much Bigger in Size.
But thats only because of the Balloon. Its not like this Size means it can Carry more People or more Weight or something.

 

[CMDR Mr. Boombastic]

Based on: https://www.reddit.com/r/EliteDangerous/comments/3sujxx/pics_of_all_known_fighter_bays_ed_15/

it looks like there there is no space for one or would require some reengineering as the fuselage is too slim:

Spoiler

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

On the the other hand, the Python, the ship that can do everything, will also not be able to launch an SLF.

So, the Python is losing its status as the "do-anything go-to" ship. Lol

 

[Deleted member 38366]

My 2 Cents :

Every single Ship can carry a Universal Vehicle Hangar (Class 2) and deploy an SRV. Every. Single. One.
So let's assume a Fighter is a tad larger than an SRV, and that it might require a Class 3 Internal and a Fighter Hangar.

My Solution :
- all Ships we currently know can deploy Fighters (as in their Ship description) shall naturally do so
--> their special Status can still be help up by allowing them access to all (= the most powerful) Fighter variants and loadouts, accompanied by the hired NPC which can Rank up in Skill (Combat Rank) as we know will be possible
--> Optionally, their Fighter Bay might not require to sacrifice any Internals (already built-in), adding to their premium status

- all Ships that would have to rely on a generic Fighter shall be able to equip a generic Fighter Hangar
--> uses up an Internal Slot
--> those only allow for a single, weaker Fighter (i.e. a weaker variant of the F63, maybe even available only in a single fixed loadout)
--> no NPC crew, the Skill is fixed and the Fighter is controlled by the Ship's Computer, equaling a basic NPC skill (i.e. comparable to Master NPC)

Dedicated Fighter capable Ships : deploy your Fighter of choice, in the Configuration you've chosen and rank up your NPC
Generic Fighter Ships : deploy your only, weak Fighter and live with what you got, no NPC crew and no dynamic skill

-------------
Presto, all Problems solved and those who wish to launch a small Fighter from their Ship can still do so at anytime, without interfering with the superior Options the dedicated NPC/Fighter-capable Ships have. They retain their Premium status.

 

[CMDR Mr. Boombastic]

Here are mockup images of ship undersides with fighter bays:
https://imgur.com/a/GiNUq#upGqPTw

I think if you check other ship's undersides there just isn't the room to fit one. E.g. for the Python you would have to move the hardpoint for one to fit.
A schematic of every ship would help to see the internal structure.

 

[Thetele]

Clipper isn't "end game" ship. Clipper is really good ship to fill its place in old 1.0 progression. It was a good ship with good price. Now when hole progression system has been thrown out of the window and upkeep for ships is basically 0 and most people can get any ship they want the clipper has lost its place as good cheaper ship. Its good ship to use to get to bigger ship and build your assets. But current fast progression in cr and the fact that everyone are rich have made it useless.