All ships should have 4 ton cargo space by default (no racks needed) - Here is why.

So I've been thinking about this for a while but the recent addition of repair limpets make it a necessity in my opinion.

I think all ships should by default have 4 ton of cargo space even if you have no cargo racks installed. Installing cargo racks just lets you add more space. If you want a lore friendly explanation they are just stacking boxes in the hallways and any flat space they can find. -


  • This would avoid any issue with not being able to make limpets in deep space in your explorer vessel that doesn't have any cargo space (See this thread)
  • It would avoid the issue of turning in missions that give cargo rewards (since they never seem to be more than 4 ton anyway) in your combat with no cargo space.
  • It would let you pick up canisters from destroyed ships in your combat (at least a little, still have to manage what you want).

Now some will say it'll upset the balance at the low end (Sidewinder, Eagle, etc...). My response to that is do you honestly thing an extra 4 ton of cargo space is going to upset the entire progression system for new commanders? No, no it isn't. Go to your corner.


Thoughts? Comments? Feedback? Insults?



That is a very interesting idea.
I think I support this.

But... I still would like to be able to forego commodity rewards.
I think it is very weird that I can only turn in missions if I have room in my ship for these commodities. Just give me an option to politely refuse them.
 
I'm all for it. But given the reason you state (pilling up cargo in hallways), I think that the basic cargo hold should go up with the ships.

You are right when you say that 4 ton more cargo will not upset the balance but it's also true for, let's say 16 tons, for a ship like the anaconda or the cutter.
 
I see, remove a class 2 or 3 slot from every ship in the game then replace them with a comparable permanent secret cargo only rack. Works for me.
 
While we're at it, let's add docking computers to ships too.

The old Elite game had autopilot; why's Dangerous not even have auto-dock?

Such an extremely useful module to stop tedious monotony, yet we're so starved for module space that taking one is never an option.
 
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This seems to make a lot of sense considering I didnt have cargo racks installed on my SRV but I got 2tonnes worth that I stick into a magic bag after I collect from my scoop
 
Everyone will hate me but I disagree. I actually ran into the cannot-pickup-mission issue, but this is just a tiny bit of extra complexity in the game. Everyone is constantly complaining that the gameplay is too shallow and now you want to make it shallower by taking away one way to make a non-working ship build.

While we're at it, why don't we force everyone to have a shield? People can shoot you if you have none.
Or let's just give everyone A class FSDs because it's a QoL improvement to have them.
 
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Why not put the limpet controllers (launchers) in hardpoints?
2 birds and all.

Mining ships already have 2 hardpoints dedicated to lasers. Some have NONE to spare, others would be weaponless, or nearly weaponless.

Combat ships would just refuse any hatch-breaker stuff.

Exploration would benefit, at least.

I believe the idea was to make it an option, not a requirement; you know, having the ability to emplace controllers in Optional Compartments OR in Hardpoints.

That way, people would be able to reclaim that dedicated volume in the ship if they are not using it for weapons.
 
I would rather, as suggested in a different post, have the Discovery Scanner and Detailed Surface Scanner be Utility Slot items. This would free up two class 2+ slots on every discovery ship where you could mount your cargo holds.
 
I kind of like the idea. mainly because there's no harm in doing that. even if a pirate can have extra 4 limpets and ask for a little more cargo of the player... you can also finaly have sidewinder and eagles do piracy right... since they'll have at least some racks without losing so much hull.

As for people saying why not a shield and a Fuel scoop .. you are just strange people... there's no singular way that an extra 4 slot cargo will make PvP or PvE worse in any way... not even close to a free shield slot that can be used as a SCB or a HRP or a MRP.... there's no stacking either. so there's no actually need to say no for this. And look I'm in the Git gud side of things... and i think player choices should matter. but in this case it's not about choice it's about flexibility or the LACK of it.

what does it means lack of flexibility? simple he is not ASKING FOR AN EXTRA INTERNAL for every ship in game. he is just asking to every ship in game have a size 4 cargo rack.

So I agree 100% with the idea. make it so FD. Or don't as you almost always do.
 
Everyone will hate me but I disagree. I actually ran into the cannot-pickup-mission issue, but this is just a tiny bit of extra complexity in the game. Everyone is constantly complaining that the gameplay is too shallow and now you want to make it shallower by taking away one way to make a non-working ship build.

While we're at it, why don't we force everyone to have a shield? People can shoot you if you have none.
Or let's just give everyone A class FSDs because it's a QoL improvement to have them.

I see it both ways. Or FD either give us the option to DENY the cargo. or give us these 4 cargo slots.

Or a more convoluted idea would be that every cargo you get from mission or any cargo you actually have is not loaded on your ship right away but take to a loading area and will only "get in" when you press the launch button, so if you have excess cargo the launch will not work for excess of cargo and you should drop some . Like the SRV...

I'm all for it. But given the reason you state (pilling up cargo in hallways), I think that the basic cargo hold should go up with the ships.

You are right when you say that 4 ton more cargo will not upset the balance but it's also true for, let's say 16 tons, for a ship like the anaconda or the cutter.

C'mon you big 3 guys dont even have enough?! Go to hell.
 
So I've been thinking about this for a while but the recent addition of repair limpets make it a necessity in my opinion.

I think all ships should by default have 4 ton of cargo space even if you have no cargo racks installed. Installing cargo racks just lets you add more space. If you want a lore friendly explanation they are just stacking boxes in the hallways and any flat space they can find. -


  • This would avoid any issue with not being able to make limpets in deep space in your explorer vessel that doesn't have any cargo space (See this thread)
  • It would avoid the issue of turning in missions that give cargo rewards (since they never seem to be more than 4 ton anyway) in your combat with no cargo space.
  • It would let you pick up canisters from destroyed ships in your combat (at least a little, still have to manage what you want).

Now some will say it'll upset the balance at the low end (Sidewinder, Eagle, etc...). My response to that is do you honestly thing an extra 4 ton of cargo space is going to upset the entire progression system for new commanders? No, no it isn't. Go to your corner.


Thoughts? Comments? Feedback? Insults?

Can't fault this bit of logic, implement please fdev.
 
im all for this, i suggested something similar years ago and now i feel its even more necessary when you have missions that you cant turn in without cargo space.
 
I'd be fine with this.

Plus, making a docking computer a simple toggleable option on the right-hand panel would also be fine with me.
 
Good QoL idea OP.

I've had a think, and it would be rather good for QoL for all ships to have a built-in cargo capacity.
Although, I do like the idea of it being different from ship to ship.

The Anaconda and Python for example, are apex Multirole ships. They can already carry multiple loadouts at once. So IMHO, they shouldn't get a free additional cargo slot. Neither should the Cutter or Corvette, maybe even the Clipper. Basically if it's got plenty of internals, then you don't get free cargo.

But then other ships, like the FDL, DBX, Asp, etc, can get varying amounts.
Basically, if the ship is starved for internals, it can get up to 4t.
T class ships, being dedicated traders can get loads of additional cargo storage. T9 for example could get 128t, T7 32t, and T6 16t. Or something.

Sounds a bit unfair to the big ships, but if you absolutely must have every slot filled with H/MRPs and nothing else, then that really is a choice you've made.

CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
 
Hello, again. :)

I've been thinking further.

Most here seem to be focusing on the idea's impact against mandatory cargo rewards and limpets - which is fair enough, since they're in the OP. I think there are better reasons for doing this, though.

- - - - -

The cargo thing still seems like something that needs separate work, even if this gets done. I don't think mission-stacking's uncommon - even I do it, if I'm in a missiony mood. If we take multiple missions with cargo rewards, we'll still have a thing where we have to turn in the mission, back up, go to trade, find and sell the reward, back up, go to missions, turn in the mission, etc.

It's going to replace the annoyance of module-swapping with the onerosity of endless menu-switching. Half the time, it's still going to be less of a nuisance to temporarily swap a module for a cargo bay and get the turn-ins and sales done in two menu-visits. Or just eject the reward cargo each time, which is wasteful, even if the waste is just bits and bytes.

An option to auto-sell the cargo, hold it temporarily in the station or donate it to station / faction resources, would be a better solution for that, I think.

- - - - -

As far as limpets are concerned, I still feel that now that we have the twin precedents of ammunition synthesis and printable SLFs, we should have similar arrangements for similarly-positioned equipment, if only for a better sense of technological consistency.

Limpet Controllers should ideally be replaced with Limpet Bays, presumably still serving via the cargo scoop. Ammunition for both limpets and SRVs should vary by size and class.

I think it would greatly strengthen the benefits of taking larger bays, in both cases - but particularly for the SRVs, since I can think of no current reason at all to do so, short of exploring planets well away from the bubble.

- - - - -

Wikiing up the Sidewinder and looking at it's dimensions, it's roughly 15 metres long, by 21 metres across, by 51/2 metres high. There's really not a lot of room in there, what with all the other equipment.

A cargo cannister is - at a guess - round about 2 metres tall by a metre in diameter, roughly the same size as one extremely-obese Sigourney Weaver on eight-inch platform shoes.

Can we fit four unconscious, floating Sigourneys into the free space of a Sidewinder and secure them safely? Two of them, one standing on the other's shoulders, would be taller than the ship, if we don't count the landing gear.

One or two Sigourneys stored 'in the breach', as it were, makes sense - but I think four might well be pushing it a bit. Other contributors have suggested varying minimum volumes, so I'm leaning towards two, four and eight Sigourneys, for small, medium and large ships, respectively.

- - - - -

Despite me arguing for better solutions to some of the things this idea is meant to solve, I still feel this is a good idea.

It might not be Necessary, but it is Beneficial:
• it adds flexibility, which is a good thing here, in my view;
• it adds humanitarian and temptation options, where none currently exist for many builds - and ED will always need all the humanising elements it can get;
• and it adds realism, since it makes no sense at all that a fifteen-metre-long ship can't rescue even a single chubby Sigourney without fitting a cargo hold. :)
 
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I think this is a good idea.. It would only improve the play experience. 4 tons of built-in cargo space won't change the world, so I don't think it's going to impact balance, but it will alleviate some hassles and growing pains.

Especially for new players who are trying to get a feel for the game in their super cramped sidewinders.

A new player can't really get a good feel for mining, piracy, etc. as it stands until they've been playing long enough to buy a bigger ship.

But if you don't know that you like those things because you didn't really get a good experience with them how do you know which is the best ship choice to upgrade to?
 
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