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

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.
There is one game mechanic that argues in favour of this. Try switching off your cargo hatch, you will find that you are still able to deploy limpets.
 
Slots are there to force you to choose what you want in your ship. Why not just give everyone a free shield and fuel scoop why you're at it?

Booo. [down]

As the man said, boxes in corridors and another man said simply sitting on the loading rack. Your argument is pedantic - every ship has excess space spread all over the place and every ship has specific engineering sections to take engine, generators, water makers etc. These things require "module" slots and boxes just require a small corner.

This idea gets my vote.
 
This is a brilliant idea that would fix many things for several different types of ships.

And for hedgemuppet with the idea of a standard fuel scoop. This is a very good idea as well. If every ship was fitted with a 1E fuel scoop, it also wouldn't hurt anyone.

I would be in favor of this. I'd also like for every "explorer" ship AspX, Diamondback Explorer, etc. to have 2 size 1 slots for scanners, so I don't have to waste half-filled slots. (Just change one of the size-2 slot into 2 size-1 slots.)
 
Don't the ships come with cargo racks by default? Removing them is a choice, so whilst I see the attraction, I'm not sure it's a good idea overall. But....
It also makes no sense that the SRV can pick up 2 tonnes but can't 'keep it's when it gets brought back in. So 2 tonne of cargo per SRV should be possible ( if an SRV is lost so is the associated cargo space).
I do think adding the controllers ( and/or scanners) to hard points makes a lot of sense too.
 
My money sez it will never fly. I did a few missions yesterday and filled 16 cargo slots in 1 run. Free cargo space? 4 will never be enuff, how much is to much free? 16? 32? 64?
 
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.
I agree. All ships should have a base cargo capacity that we can expand using the cargo modules.

Another solution would be to combine the ADS and DSS into a size 2 module rather than two size 1's.

I find it really annoying when I have to fit a size 1 module into a 2 or 3 slot. Surely, I should be able to combine various modules to fit into a single slot size. Put all 3 of your size 1 scanner mods into a size 3 slot, perhaps? This would allow more flexibility in what mods you can choose, but you'd still have to be aware of the total mass & energy draw.

However, having said this, I don't see why the scanners (& docking computer for that matter) need to take up slots anyway. Surely, these are just software upgrades which utilities the existing sensor arrays and, as such, don't need any additional hardware. Even if they did, we have pinhead sized cameras & sensors today that link to our Smartphones. So surely, a few hundred years on, we wouldn't be needing to take up valuable space to fit hi-tech upgrades like this.
 
I'm all for this - great potential for future gameplay options. Can't see any problem with this at all (other than maybe with the Eagle/iEagle/Viper3 being overweight as they are already). Another +1 from me.
 
I'm all for this - great potential for future gameplay options. Can't see any problem with this at all (other than maybe with the Eagle/iEagle/Viper3 being overweight as they are already). Another +1 from me.

Not really a problem, racks have no weight when empty. If you only synth limpets as needed, or carry cargo infrequently, you won't notice.

Besides, the Viper3/Eagle START at 50t, plus modules, plus weapons, plus optionals. Weapons are at least 2t each, so 4t of cargo won't matter.
 
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?
I agree, 4 tons is not a lot and in most of the bigger ships, you could probably get 4 tons stowed away on the flight deck.
 
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I agree, 4 tons is not a lot and in most of the bigger ships, you could probably get 4 tons stowed away on the flight deck.

Have you ever carried 4 tonnes of real cargo? E.g. driven a lorry? The average 7.5t truck in the UK carries 3.5.-4t and as an example that weight in building supplies takes up the whole flatbed.
Not something you would put in a flight deck even if you could magically strap it down and the floor was strong enough to take it, unless you are talking about 4 tonnes of something super dense, it has a large volume. How about moving that in and out through airlock doors etc? Not reasonable, a cargo bay designed for moving pods in and out yes, but really are we getting into moving pallets of goods by hand into a corridor in a space vessel? That's just silly.

I agree a base cargo space in the SRV makes sense, but assuming you can store cargo like 4t in every ship in "spare" space, no that's not sensible. Space inside a space vessel would be restricted, for cost and safety reasons. It's not likely you would be wheeling stuff from the cargo bay (in 1t containers!) into a hallway or flight deck.
 
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Have you ever carried 4 tonnes of real cargo? E.g. driven a lorry? The average 7.5t truck in the UK carries 3.5.-4t and as an example that wieght in building supplies takes up the whole flatbed.
Not something you would put in a flight deck even if you could magically strap it down and the floor was strong enough to take it, unless you are talking about 4 tonnes of something super dense, it has a large volume. How about moving that in and out through airlock doors etc? Not reasonable, a cargo bay designed for moving pods in and out yes, but really are we getting into moving pallets of goods by hand into a corridor in a space vessel? That's just silly.

I agree a base cargo space in the SRV makes sense, but assuming you can store cargo like 4t in every ship in "spare" space, no that's not sensible. Space inside a space vessel would be restricted, for cost and safety reasons. It's not likely you would be wheeling stuff from the cargo bay (in 1t containers!) into a hallway or flight deck.
Err yes, I am aware of what 4 tons can look like. Paper or water, one Euro-pallet cube is about a ton. 6 to 8 U.S. style fridge freezers can over load a 7.5ton truck. Gold however, would be another matter.

One slight issue with your volume statement. All of our cargo containers, are the same size, for some strange reason in this game.

Most importantly; this is just a game.
 
Have you ever carried 4 tonnes of real cargo? E.g. driven a lorry? The average 7.5t truck in the UK carries 3.5.-4t and as an example that weight in building supplies takes up the whole flatbed.
Not something you would put in a flight deck even if you could magically strap it down and the floor was strong enough to take it, unless you are talking about 4 tonnes of something super dense, it has a large volume. How about moving that in and out through airlock doors etc? Not reasonable, a cargo bay designed for moving pods in and out yes, but really are we getting into moving pallets of goods by hand into a corridor in a space vessel? That's just silly.

I agree a base cargo space in the SRV makes sense, but assuming you can store cargo like 4t in every ship in "spare" space, no that's not sensible. Space inside a space vessel would be restricted, for cost and safety reasons. It's not likely you would be wheeling stuff from the cargo bay (in 1t containers!) into a hallway or flight deck.

Don't forget even the smallest ships available have a much greater volume and mass than an 18-wheeler. 4T of "mandatory personal storage" would be very little in comparison even of a Sidewinder.

You could even balance it so that the smaller, beginner ships have 2 tons instead.
 
Tonnage is a unit of volume, not a unit of weight. It was originally based on 100 cubic feet, so 4 tons of cargo would be 400 cubic feet of haulage.
 
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Tonnage is a unit of volume, not a unit of weight. It was originally based on 100 cubic feet, so 4 tons of cargo would be 400 cubic feet of haulage.

Need to be careful there. Ton is generally the imperial equivalent of tonne which is a measurement of mass. Tonnage I think is GT for gross tonnage.
 
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?

I am not against the idea, as there are some edge cases where it sucks to have no cargo.

But I feel that in the cases mentioned, there might be more interesting solutions rather than inflating the cargo space of every ship to go around the problem.
  • Limpets could use similar mechanics as hangar bays or SRV bays rather than using cargo.
  • Missions could have the option to take an alternative reward, such as a credit amount equal to the cargo value, when turning in. A simple window could pop-up saying: "You have insufficient cargo for the reward, would you like reward X instead?". With such a system, you wouldn't need to block missions if you do not have enough cargo.
  • You can already pick Material canisters without cargo and that is most of what ships drop when destroyed in combat. As for salvage and stolen goods, shouldn't your ship be equipped adequately if that is your play style?

Now, one place I do feel you cant really be prepared is if you decide to drop in some signal sources while doing something like exploration. Some of them require you to rescue an escape pod and that can't be done without cargo. It's the kind of case where you can't just turn around and come back better prepared. And in those cases, it sucks that you're locked out of possible gameplay.

I'm not sure I would go up to 4t, since that's a free class 2 module on every ship. But, maybe 2t or even just 1t would be sufficient to help out in those cases without making taking actual module space for cargo obsolete in some builds.

That, of course, is IF the other elements (limpets, mission rewards, etc.) receive fixes to their reliance on cargo.
 
I don't think it's a bad idea, and I certainly wouldn't complain if FD did it, but I don't think it's necessary, and I doubt it will happen.

It would be kind of nice, though.
 
Now, one place I do feel you cant really be prepared is if you decide to drop in some signal sources while doing something like exploration. Some of them require you to rescue an escape pod and that can't be done without cargo. It's the kind of case where you can't just turn around and come back better prepared. And in those cases, it sucks that you're locked out of possible gameplay.
Yeah it sucks, but you'd have to decide if you want the escape pod more than the cargo you're carrying. You might be able to come back for it (if you can find it, of course). but I don't know how long ejected cargo hangs around for.
 
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