Jump distances and weapons

[Dai]

OK chaps and chapeses,

I need some advice and or opinion on the effect of loading weapons on to my ship.

I have tried with both a viper and a cobra and the effect appears to be the same, the moment I put ANY hull onto it (even the lighter reinforced hull), I notice a significant drop in "visitable" systems.

Also if I add any more than one extra gun the effect is dramatic, if I even think about adding a c3 or above the jump distance throws a veritable strop.

I am all for "loading up" having some sort of effect but my choice seems to be either explore but never engage an enemy or to put on a half decent weapon load out and hull, but stick around a small area.

I want to be an explorer but I also want some sort of fun engaging pirates and doing some bounty hunting.

Any advice on what I am doing wrong here would be appreciated. Also if any devs read this then if we are just mid point waiting for the ability to upgrade jump drives etc then feel free to pitch in. At the moment I would say the game is awesome but this overly aggressive effect has left a bad feeling for me and I am hoping I am either doing something wrong or this is something which will come good with tweaking or extra features later.

 

[Elessarus]

Well you are not doing anything wrong so hard to give advice on that. You need to find a balance between sufficient jump range and weapons loadout. I would leave the hull for what it is right now and focus on weapons but you can also turn it around and focus on armor and sacrifice weapon power.

What im hoping for in future expansions that (with limitations offcourse) we can upgrade our jumpdrive. Good luck!

 

[Dai]

yeah, I guess I am stuck with it at the mo, I am trying to strike a balance, but I did a stint trading I now want to explore and start kicking some butt.

here is to an explorers life going pew pew lol

 

[popuptoaster]

Its as simple as need the right ship for the job, if you want a Viper which is a capable combat ship then you'll have to put up with it's short jump range until we have the ability to add better equipment, and even then it may not be possible to extend it very much.

Hopefully Elite will have many choices like this to make, there won't be one ship that can do everything and is"best".

you wouldn't go out on long range missions in a small ship, you'd want a decent sized one, Cobra probably better balanced for what you want to do.

 

[Elessarus]

In an anaconda im sure this will be alot better haha so youve got a goal to save for . Also type 9 with 3 x c4 would have a massive jump range with full weapons loadout.

 

[Dalkeith]

Dai if you are wanting to do that sort of play at the moment I think fly to an anarchy system then load up at a station then SC in the vicinity of station or planet looking for unidentified signal sources. I know its a bit of a work around but in all reality its probably how you have to find unidentified sources anyway its just getting between systems is awkward.

I personally would balance the game so the fighters can still hyperspace in any direction - maybe they have to recharge half way through the trip. I think that would be quite a interesting mechanic because would result in fighters potentially running out of fuel between star systems. Lets face it no matter what value of car you have you can go anywhere but still have to have an eye on the fuel. Same with planes and boats go anywhere you want no guarantee your going to get there though!!!

In space getting lost is probably the biggest danger.

 

[Mephane]

In an anaconda im sure this will be alot better haha so youve got a goal to save for . Also type 9 with 3 x c4 would have a massive jump range with full weapons loadout.

The Anaconda is not a dogfighter, but more like a gunship. The Type 9 is not a combat craft at all.

Not everyone wishes to end up in the biggest baddest ship of all times, some people prefer the smaller, more agile fighters. Coupling thiose with the incapability to go to places feels like a rather imbalanced game design: people who love the big ships get everything all at once (weapons, durability, cargo space, reach), people who love the small ships get only one thing at most, at the expense of everything else.

 

[Dai]

Yeah I get the point about not exploring with a viper as it a small ship, however it is actually no worse than the cobra. That is what surprised me, I thought the Cobra would be the perfect vessel to explore with. But it gets just as affected by adding weapons as the viper, It is supposed to be bigger with a bigger drive but it is either under powered or the viper is over powered.

I guess I am stuck with that work around, but you can't always get the good stuff at every system, so loading up like that will be hard. I would like an option of sacrificing some cargo space for an improved jump drive.

I guess I will have to wait with baited breath to see how the dev's proceed with the tweaking

 

[Philip Coutts]

Remember as well that in the full game you will be able to buy better drives to balance out heavier loads.

 

[Dai]

Remember as well that in the full game you will be able to buy better drives to balance out heavier loads.

Yup thats what I am hoping for, is that a definite future feature, if so I will be more than happy with that as a fix.

As Mephane said, I am not really interested in getting the huge ships, I have made a chunk of cash in a type 6 and now want to just have fun in the smaller ships and dog fighting pirates etc.

Looking forward to the inclusion of better jump drives, oh yeah!

 

[zombieapocalypse]

I understand the need for all upgrade choices having both pros and cons, but to me it does seem a little imbalanced at the moment. It seems that if you want an upgraded fighter craft, then you're severely limiting your ability to visit all but the closest of systems. And in turn this severely limits how much money you can make.

Hopefully this will be fixed with increased upgrade options.

 

[tough boy]

Yeah I get the point about not exploring with a viper as it a small ship, however it is actually no worse than the cobra. That is what surprised me, I thought the Cobra would be the perfect vessel to explore with. But it gets just as affected by adding weapons as the viper, It is supposed to be bigger with a bigger drive but it is either under powered or the viper is over powered.

I guess I am stuck with that work around, but you can't always get the good stuff at every system, so loading up like that will be hard. I would like an option of sacrificing some cargo space for an improved jump drive.

I guess I will have to wait with baited breath to see how the dev's proceed with the tweaking

I did the exact same thing, and I agree with those who think that it's imbalanced at the moment. What I will probably do now is trading a bit with my Cobra, then find a cluster I like (which can only be the old premium beta one anyway because it seems the only one when you can equip properly), kit for combat and go searching trouble. But I would like to not have my gameplay limited so much, not to mention that combat isn't currently viable if you don't grind the trader route first. Yes the Anaconda seems the best do-it-all ship by now, but the path to it goes inevitably through days of trading with lakons without a single fight in between and I'm not sure I can be asked.

 

[Dai]

I don't think Elite will ever be trader-less sorry, it is at the heart of the game, but I do think once you have a bit of cash behind you, you should be free to use the ship you want to and not all have to fly around in those behemoths ;-)

Having said that, it does look like the plan is to bring in upgradable jumpdrives, which will add to the balancing of this problem (I would imagine a trade off for the drive though, maybe cargo space). I think it was a bit silly to bring in the weapons adjustment to jump distance without bringing in the full balancing act as it effectively breaks itself at the moment.

 

[Commander Dave]

The Type 9 is not a combat craft at all.

Don't count on it.
I found it to be surprisingly effective. And in fact I almost prefer it to the Anaconda in combat.

 

[tough boy]

I don't think Elite will ever be trader-less sorry, it is at the heart of the game, but I do think once you have a bit of cash behind you, you should be free to use the ship you want to and not all have to fly around in those behemoths ;-)

Yeah I didn't mean that, more like when I'm trading I don't have to run from every interdiction because to trade effectively I can't carry any weapon that's why we have jack of all trades ships like the Cobra after all. I do also believe that a pure fighter should be a viable career though, if not at the very beginning.

 

[forger]

currently it's very hard to equip fighters properly and have long jump range, when we can upgrade engines we will be able to do better, for now it seems 2xC4 guns is most viper should have IF you want to travel, if you want just fight in nearby systems then full load out is ok, but it will give you 4ly jump

 

[mvgmacks]

Dont know if this idea has been thrown out there but if you could carry extra fuel in your cargo hold and use is to refuel in flight could extend the time between stopping for fuel, I got stuck in an empty system earlier and had to self destruct, but it would be nice if a graph or something could be put into the shipyard to show the max jump distances of the ships

 

[Aleksej]

Dont know if this idea has been thrown out there but if you could carry extra fuel in your cargo hold and use is to refuel in flight could extend the time between stopping for fuel, I got stuck in an empty system earlier and had to self destruct, but it would be nice if a graph or something could be put into the shipyard to show the max jump distances of the ships

But why did not you activate the distress beacon? As far as I know 1000Cr and you are refueled.

 

[VR jefranklin18]

Yeah I get the point about not exploring with a viper as it a small ship, however it is actually no worse than the cobra. That is what surprised me, I thought the Cobra would be the perfect vessel to explore with. But it gets just as affected by adding weapons as the viper, It is supposed to be bigger with a bigger drive but it is either under powered or the viper is over powered.

The best ships for exploring are the Asp and the Wyvern (in FFE). The Asp is one of the known 25, not sure about the Wyvern. Of course that is personal opinion and YMMV.

I guess I am stuck with that work around, but you can't always get the good stuff at every system, so loading up like that will be hard. I would like an option of sacrificing some cargo space for an improved jump drive.

I guess I will have to wait with baited breath to see how the dev's proceed with the tweaking

FE2 & FFE both had the ability to install different classes of engine to extend jump range. There was also military drives that produced radioactives as waste. I would be surprised if some of these did not make it into the game.

 

[Colas]

A good solution would be to have more than one ship and be able to choose between them.
Same for the guns, and all the outfits. Basically have a "stash" like in RPGs where you store extra guns, equipments and chose your ship and outfits for the mood of the day.

A question would be: should the extra ship stay in one place, or you could "re-rent" them in other ports?

Or maybe, big haulers should be able to carry small ships (and outfits) in their cargo: for instance I could go to a far away place in my hauler, bringing with me my eagle in the cargo, maybe taking the room of 10 cannisters?

Basically we would be using big hauler ships as travelling stations or aircraft carriers... with the enormous risk of losing it all in an ambush...