I think the lineup itself is fine, what makes it appear stale is that some ships become entirely obsolete once you have access (i.e. money and/or rank) to another ship that just outclasses your previous ship in any way. Before the 1.0 release, I had high hopes that ED would avoid the linear progression trap and what I call "Freelancer Syndrome", named after the game Freelancer which also had a large variety of ships but in the end there were also kind of the "big 3" that outclassed everything else, so after a while almost everyone flew only these.
The ship lineup is stale
- Thread starter grumpsalot
- Start date
I agree with the OP's sentiment although I think asking for a ship a month is a bit much.
I can only speak for myself but ED is, fundamentally, a game about flying spaceships so new ships, modules and related toys will always be welcome.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind if they just created modified versions of existing ships for specific niches.
If, for example, FDev released an Asp Explorer with more small slots (as well as, perhaps, a smaller PP and PDist) specifically for exploration I'd bite their hand off.
If I was in charge of FDev I'd be shooting for one entirely new ship a year and I'd also be looking at every ship and trying to make 2 or 3 versions of it which are suited to different roles.
I can only speak for myself but ED is, fundamentally, a game about flying spaceships so new ships, modules and related toys will always be welcome.
Honestly, I wouldn't mind if they just created modified versions of existing ships for specific niches.
If, for example, FDev released an Asp Explorer with more small slots (as well as, perhaps, a smaller PP and PDist) specifically for exploration I'd bite their hand off.
If I was in charge of FDev I'd be shooting for one entirely new ship a year and I'd also be looking at every ship and trying to make 2 or 3 versions of it which are suited to different roles.
The ability to Engineer our ships has created huge potential for variants. You can fly in the vanilla ship, the ship engineered for speed and evasion, for devastating weaponry ..... and you don't have to grind through the higher levels of engineering to see good benefits to your ship, and variation according to its task.
would like an exploration ship a bit cheaper than the asp but faster and better jump range with a low hull and weak shields, would also like another good combat ship as onece you pass the vipers and your not rich enough for a FDL and don't have faction specific ships there isn't realy any good options
The Vulture.
You can't modify your slots though.
All my exploration ships are hugely "under-equipped" in terms of PP, thrusters, shields etc - because there's no need for big versions of those things for exploration.
As long as it was done thoughtfully, there'd be plenty of scope for creating different versions of various ships with different slot configurations for different roles.
A DBX intended for exploration would be significantly different to one intended for cargo-hauling, bubble-hopping or combat, for example.
Of course, you'd definitely have to give any variants a suitable amount of thought in order to avoid accidentally creating some new "meta" ship which gave it a huge advantage.
Mhm. The Core Industries line-up for the Feds covers the entire spectrum, the Gutamaya line-up for the Imperials has a big glaring hole between the Courier and the Clipper, and the Alliance... well...
Panther Clipper
Krait
Moray Starboat
Lynx Bulk Carrier
The game is ships we need more ships.
Krait
Moray Starboat
Lynx Bulk Carrier
The game is ships we need more ships.
A mild engineered powerplant will power everything perfectly fine. Even with the power issues, still a great combat ship.
I've said for a long time that a variant of the Cobra IV .... call it the Cobra V ... would make it available to the masses without upsetting those that had exclusive access to the IV. Just a little more basic speed and a design midway between the III and IV would be a useful ship.
[video=youtube;ztVMib1T4T4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztVMib1T4T4[/video]
Uhuh,
I wouldn't even bother trying to "over-hype" them by giving them new names.
Just call it a "Cobra Mk3E" for exploration or a "Cobra Mk3C" for cargo etc.
I think the ED community are a fairly reasonable bunch (for the most part) and we'd be happy with some subtle variety, which didn't take much effort to create and didn't pretend to be entirely new ships.
I want more ships, but then again I will always want more ships.
I disagree that the ship lineup is stale. I have been playing the game from the very beginning, but I still have to fly a lot of the models.
There is a little bit of a problem and I do not think it is anything FD can remedy.
After I got a Python, an FDL, and the three big ships I could not find a real reason to fly smaller freighters (T6, Hauler, Adder), or big freighters like the T7 and T9 or many of the combat ships.
I do use the Viper once in a while and also the Vulture, but to me it feels like the FDL makes them mostly superfluous too.
As I said this is something that is difficult to avoid.
I'd be happy with a much smaller canopy (about 25-33% of current) than the standard gigantic glassdomes that effectively steals away the sense of scale (hello Vulture), not to mention the realism. Hell I'd go for no canopy and handwaved nano cameras on the hull for 1st person visibility.
..and yes new ship designs purely for variety would be nice.
..and yes new ship designs purely for variety would be nice.
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From what I understood creating new ships inside and out is a lot of work. Adding 1 new ship every month is out of the question.
I think it is time for a few SRV variants.
But most of all I want true Imperial space station designs. It would be awesome if Imperial space would have a different feel to it with true Gutamaya space stations, outposts and planetary bases.
I have my share of complaints about Elite Dangerous, however I honestly feel like the ship lineup is in a fairly decent place right now. There are only a few areas which I feel could use some addressing by introducing a couple of changes:
These are the ship changes and additions I’d love to see in the game.
- T-7 should be a medium ship – In the current lineup the T-7 being a large ship seems ridiculous, especially when compared to the Python. However, if it was a medium ship then it would fit into the lineup perfectly with a real purpose and use in the game. Either adjust medium pads so it fits or reduce the T-7’s height so it fits.
- Imperial Explorer – The game has dedicated combat ships, dedicated trading ships, but no dedicated exploration ships. Plus, the Imperial ship lineup has a gap in the medium ship size range. Two birds can be killed with one stone by introducing the Imperial Explorer, a medium sized cross between the Courier and the Clipper, like an Imperial Python of sorts, with a better than Anaconda jump range but very weak hardpoints and armor, but a very open scenic view from the cockpit.
- Give small ships a purpose – I’d love to see surface bases and tiny orbital outposts which only have small landing pads, thereby requiring pilots to fly small ships in order to visit them! This would get a lot of people flying the small ships again for a nice change of pace, but with a reason to do so.
- Give the Keelback a second seat – The Keelback could be a very popular ship for multicrew at an easy pricepoint of entry, if it only had a second seat to make it work with multicrew. The SLF is already there, just add one more seat.
These are the ship changes and additions I’d love to see in the game.
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Medium Pad Imperial ship.
Proper 'gun platform' Imperial fighter. Yes the Cutter is a gun platform, no it's not a fighter.
Something luxurious for the Fed capitalist pigs.
Slot filling bulk trader.
An exploration ship that has enough sensibly sized slots to be usable as a fully exploration based ship. (Big fuel scoop, single sized bays for scanners, SRV, AFMS, Hull repair limpets, etc, but not Anaconda sized so it's possible to land on those bumpy planets)
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Pre-engineered variants, available occasionally (not everywhere), would be a good idea.
Such as the Cobra 3 FX ...... boosted thrusters ..... for that superfast getaway through the slot for the weekend, Commander
Dolphin SE ..... special edition .... super light, big FSD jump range ...... for a little light exploration in style
and so on .....
Such as the Cobra 3 FX ...... boosted thrusters ..... for that superfast getaway through the slot for the weekend, Commander
Dolphin SE ..... special edition .... super light, big FSD jump range ...... for a little light exploration in style
and so on .....