Just a little hint for FDev on something I'd like to see in Q4 update.

[Bob McBobblehead]

Most of the ships so far are based around combat, the Q4 beyond update will introduce the Codex and new exploration mechanics. My biggest wish to go along with this update is dedicated exploration ships from the Empire, Federation and Alliance.

Looking forward to the first Beyond update, keep up the good work.

 

[ITZC0ATL]

Definitely. If FDev actually wanted to bother with exploration (one of the key tenets of Elite) than this could herald a "new era of exploration" in the game.

And the new ships would coincide with the launch of Distant Worlds 2.

More dedicated exploration ships would be great, and not the Saud Kruger line.

 

[Lightspeed]

You know OP, I think you are right. FD make a lot of fanfare out of the galaxy that is available to us to explore. It is, after all, the biggest object in the game and presents the greatest challenges of human endeavour to reach its limits.

It is time that FD turns its focus away from combat for a while, and concentrates on the exploratory build of the game, ships included. It is, after all, what makes Elite Dangerous unique from other games in this genre, and a class leader.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

The trouble is, as the numerous other "We need a 'dedicated' exploration ship" threads have shown, explorers can't agree on what modules an exploration ship needs, and there's no current mechanism for making a ship ONLY be useful for exploration.

 

[Rubbernuke]

Well its funny that the Krait has not appeared yet.....isn't it?

 

[Toumal]

The trouble is, as the numerous other "We need a 'dedicated' exploration ship" threads have shown, explorers can't agree on what modules an exploration ship needs, and there's no current mechanism for making a ship ONLY be useful for exploration.

How about making exploration require lots of different modules, and have exploration ships feature an abundance of slots for said modules? Kinda like military slots, only for dedicated planetary surface mapping scanners, element scanners, etc?

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

How about making exploration require lots of different modules, and have exploration ships feature an abundance of slots for said modules? Kinda like military slots, only for dedicated planetary surface mapping scanners, element scanners, etc?

There's a line between making a ship a dedicated explorer, and making all other ships unable to explore at all - and people currently explore in all kinds of ships.

If the slots are limited to exploration equipment and FDev add too many modules, then they fall the wrong side of that line.
Alternatively, if the slots can be used for anything then your 'dedicated' explorer becomes a multi-role ship.

 

[Toumal]

There's a line between making a ship a dedicated explorer, and making all other ships unable to explore at all - and people currently explore in all kinds of ships.

If the slots are limited to exploration equipment and FDev add too many modules, then they fall the wrong side of that line.
Alternatively, if the slots can be used for anything then your 'dedicated' explorer becomes a multi-role ship.

I think ultimately you will have to specialize module slots. Doesn't mean that you can't explore with a combat ship, but it'll only have a fraction of the capabilities. Likewise, an exploration ship might have weapon hardpoints, but fewer of them. So we're already seeing something like this happening.
This doesn't mean that non-exploration ships should be completely unable to equip anything related to exploration. However, perhaps they should not be able to do everything a vessel designed for exploration can do.

 

[ITZC0ATL]

The trouble is, as the numerous other "We need a 'dedicated' exploration ship" threads have shown, explorers can't agree on what modules an exploration ship needs, and there's no current mechanism for making a ship ONLY be useful for exploration.

There seems to be a bit of a misconception here. (or maybe I've picked something up wrong)

Explorers don't want exclusive ships that can be explorers and nothing else, they want ships that are capable of being outfitted as an explorer.

Exploration builds are totally different from all other build types so we don't want locked compartments or anything, and each explorer will use slightly different modules to suit their needs. But an explorer does need at least 6 internals so that they can fit out a self-sustaining loadout for long-duration exploration and decent-ish jump range.

What IS annoying is when you get a ship like the Chieftain which many people will enjoy for combat and perhaps even as multirole but will be utterly useless for exploration because the locked military slots leaves it one slot (yes, just one slot) short of being able to carry everything an explorer would need.

We wouldn't even care if it has half the jump range of an Asp or Anaconda (which it does), it would just nice to have options.


EDIT: In fact, the proof is shown by the two most popular exploration ships, the Asp and Anaconda. These are multirole ships that many people enjoy in many different roles. So no exclusively is required or requested from me!

 

[Lightspeed]

The trouble is, as the numerous other "We need a 'dedicated' exploration ship" threads have shown, explorers can't agree on what modules an exploration ship needs, and there's no current mechanism for making a ship ONLY be useful for exploration.

You are right, explorers can't agree, but neither can combat pilots for fighters, or trade pilots for trading .... which is fine, because we all have preferences.

I believe the OP was pressing for a design that at least emphasised benefits for explorers. No reason, of course, that the ship can't also function as a trader or fighting ship if commanders can engineer it that way too.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

I believe the OP was pressing for a design that at least emphasised benefits for explorers. No reason, of course, that the ship can't also function as a trader or fighting ship if commanders can engineer it that way too.

Explorers don't want exclusive ships that can be explorers and nothing else, they want ships that are capable of being outfitted as an explorer.

Many posts use the word 'dedicated', and come with the complaint that FDev are ignoring explorers because they haven't provided such a ship.
This is, IMHO, different from requesting more ships that can be used by explorers.

In general, it seems to equate to a ship having a good jump range and lots of internals - which is not a configuration that we have a particular shortage of at this point.

The claim of a minimum of 6 internals doesn't stand much scrutiny - my AspX works perfectly well with ADS, DDS, SRV, Shield and Fuel Scoop and depending on what I'm doing I don't always need the SRV or even the shield.

Given that explorers don't even agree about whether long jump range and/or large fuel scoops are necessary, I'm not sure exactly what FDev are expected to provide in a 'dedicated' explorer anyway

 

[ITZC0ATL]

Many posts use the word 'dedicated', and come with the complaint that FDev are ignoring explorers because they haven't provided such a ship.
This is, IMHO, different from requesting more ships that can be used by explorers.

In general, it seems to equate to a ship having a good jump range and lots of internals - which is not a configuration that we have a particular shortage of at this point.

The claim of a minimum of 6 internals doesn't stand much scrutiny - my AspX works perfectly well with ADS, DDS, SRV, Shield and Fuel Scoop and depending on what I'm doing I don't always need the SRV or even the shield.

Given that explorers don't even agree about whether long jump range and/or large fuel scoops are necessary, I'm not sure exactly what FDev are expected to provide in a 'dedicated' explorer anyway

It depends on a lot on what you're doing, to be honest. Explorers that just nip out of the bubble or maybe to Colonia don't need to be as self-sufficient.

Out on the rim and the rifts and abysses, it's a different story. You need the SRV to gather mats. You need the shields to land on planets. Ideally, you want a repair limpet controller. AFMUs are required to make use of Neutron and White Dwarf boosts. Of course ADS and DSS are mandatory, a large enough fuel scoop relative to FSD size makes a huge difference over long distances for speed. The extra jump range doesn't help with scanning planets but it affects what systems you can actually reach, and how much jumponium you need to traverse sparse areas.

The ideal exploration ship would encompass all or most of these aspects.

I'm not saying we have no suitable ships, just that more variety would be nice. It's the same with trade and combat I'm sure, a couple of ships are the 'meta' build and most players will fly them. But yet we've just had a combat-trader and a combat ship added (both of which look really good in their own rights), so it'd be nice to get something else for the explorers soon.

I guess we're just used to being ignored by FD and having to complain about it

 

[Bob McBobblehead]

By dedicated explorer ship, I just mean a ship that is designed for exploration first in mind. Combat ships sacrifice the things explorers need for more defence and fire power. Exploration ships could sacrifice ship attack and defence power for better supercruise manoeuvrability, jump range, optional module compartments, heat management etc.