Still no new SRV models?

[IndigoWyrd]

More SRV choices? How very dare ye lot...what ye think this is? NMS?

Seriously though, would be cool to see more variants and especially cool to see npc using them...always wondered why they dont seems...odd. That being said, there needs to be a need beyond simply wanting more choice...more for them to do and currently, there doesnt appear to be a specific need just a desire.

Was a time I would have liked to see an SLF/SRV variant, possibly capable of hovering like a skimmer and as such, be able to go places a standard SRV struggles to reach.

Then the brain kicks in and asks how exactly skimmers hover in space and the argument goes off on the immursion tangeant.

There are a few reasons we don’t see NPC SRVs:

1. No one has worked on it yet. Dev teams have been busy bringing us what we have, so no one has worked on this.

2. Pathfinding. It’s a pretty simple thing for you or I to jump in an SRV, drive around and thanks to our organic eyes, not ram into things. NPC’s don’t have our organic parts, and are, essentially blind. This should be apoearant from their docking habits. So while you or I can see a procedurally spawned rock on a planet and avoid hitting it, NPC’s can’t.

NPC’s rely on pathfinding to know how to get around, and various tricks to fake see an obstacle in their path. Some pathfinding is done manually, laying out path nodes and calculating paths. I suspect the patrol craft around stations use some version of this. But these are not generated regions. Planets are. So devising a means of keeping NPCs from getting stuck, well, that’s going to take no small bit of dev time to pull off.

I’ve no doubt it can be done, it’s really just a matter of when.

 

[Riverside]

Not mine but ...



Yup, just as I expected - it's conjuring thrust out of thin no air. Amazing stuff that unexplainoranium!

Never tested how long they stay off the ground for (I just shoot them on sight) but they are part of an automatic defence mechanism & take off when some sort of proximity sensor is triggered so maybe they only have enough fuel for a few tens of minutes

In game design terms I can imagine that hovering robots are much easier to programme pathfinding for than wheeled ones, and that a fast, hovering player vehicle would just be a worse way to cover ground than the players' ships. Fun yes, variety yes, useful no imo.

 

[Solsticide]

I'm sure we'll get at least one new SRV with the upcoming announcement of atmo landings next year, along with planetary mining.

 

[GJ51]

I'm sure we'll get at least one new SRV with the upcoming announcement of atmo landings next year, along with planetary mining.

And with the Panther Clipper...

 

[Aashenfox]

+1 for hover vehilces and enemies in same.

 

[OHMSS]

I still have a working Big Trak. Make toys great again!

Big Trak....i had one. Wow thanks for bringing back that memory!! Im checking ebay now.

 

[Hooplah]

Something with more than a 2 ton cargo would be great. Perhaps different styling for Feds, Empire, Alliance as per the fighters. Thus more paint job sales on the Frontier Store. I also like the styling of the NASA Mars Rover but might be too big to fit into the docking bay.

OK, asteroid mining just got lots of additions with the latest update. We often find planetary drilling stations (with security) one can attack. Have fun with C&P as many are often in high security systems. So let's get some surface drilling equipment that we can install after using some new sub-surface probe scanner. Then we'll need a dedicated SRV that can install/remove the drilling equipment, retrieve the raw ore from the equipment hopper then transfer it to the ship using a refinery to process it. Frontier loves complexity to learn a skill/procedure so we'll never see a refinery in a SRV.

In previous game versions one could do this on asteroids coming back later to retrieve the ore. No refineries back then. Lots of details and balance to work out as in never near actual stations and POIs, other players can find and rob/destroy your drills, etc. But it would complete the total mining package in the game. Just throwing an idea at the wall and seeing if it has any ability to stick. Who knows...Maybe Frontier already threw something against the wall...

Regards

 

[SupraOptimo]

Pretty sure you could cram a Wiesel through the cargo bay.

And it would be everything I want in a SRV:

-Treads, so I can full throttle without spinning out every few seconds, as well as climbing up hillsides to get at stubborn crystals, and actually drive over rocks larger than a pebble.
-Armor, enough to not sustain hull damage from the tiniest drop or aggressive space dust.
-A second seat so my friends can endure the nauseating experience of tumbling down the side of a mountain in VR with me.

 

[Wastrel]

Look up BV206. Realistic and proven vehicle all over the world in tough environments. Similar thing would would work as "2 stage deployed" SRV.

 

[Anxiety]

I want an SRV that I can use to scoop up all that sweet sweet guardian loot. An SRV designed specifically for combat would also be nice. I haven’t had too much trouble but I’m tired of taking one shot and immediately rolling over.