Do you want Ground Vehicles?

[Cosmo]

Does ED need more ground vehicles? For example:

1. Hoverbike. The benefits are faster surface transportation vs an SRV. More nimble between obstacles. Downsides are less cargo space and more fragile.
2. Harvester, excavator, drilling vehicle. A surface mining update could include heavy-duty vehicles.
3. Hovertank. For heavy combat and to transport troops (NPCs) in a battlefield.
4. Submarine. To go underwater in lakes, rivers and oceans. It's ideal for water worlds.

What kind of ground vehicles do you want or ships only?

 

[IstvaanDCIV]

A hoverbike could be a fun alternative to the Scarab for doing exobiology. A vehicle for proper surface mining (as opposed to shooting off mineral materials outcrops) has potential, although I'd be interested in how such a thing could be implemented in a way that's a bit more engaging than "asteroid mining, but on wheels/tracks".

 

[Doctor Dread]

Jet pack.

 

[IstvaanDCIV]

Jet pack.

I too enjoy skeet shooting.

 

[Therinfluffs]

I'd want more to do on surfaces, in general, with said vehicles instead of staring at plants and waving doohickeys at various terminals between shooting AI of questionable intelligence. Almost forgot shooting rocks and scanning ruins.

Especially given a good chunk of surface content basically got removed with the end of the thargoid war.

 

[Commander Biscuit]

Just want that third SRV. Think it's called the Rhino. We have the combat SRV and the exploration SRV. Just missing the trade (salvage) SRV.

 

[AngryAntz]

I want a hovercraft, so I don't have to pretend my scarab flies.

 

[Mohrgan]

I would be thrilled if FDev would bring out a dump truck version SRV. Haul stuffs better than the Scarab, but drive more stabley, like the Scorpion. Maybe we could name it the "Skipjack". I like to start with names, and build from there.

 

[metatheurgist]

I'd love ground vehicles but what gameplay would come with these vehicles? If there's no use for them it's just like all these new ships we're getting. Nice but generally useless for the game itself except for increasing powercreep.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

I'd love ground vehicles but what gameplay would come with these vehicles? If there's no use for them it's just like all these new ships we're getting. Nice but generally useless for the game itself except for increasing powercreep.

Oh, I think that with @Cosmo 's ideas, the gameplay is already there. Equip the hoverbike with a bio scanner and it is the perfect vehicle for exobio. It does not even need shields.
Another variation of the bike could be an assault bike. Light shields, no weapons, no cargo capacity but fast. Player could use their sidearms, instead or would need to get off the bike.
The harvester could be able to 'pump' materials from lava spouts, ingest outcrops and process them etc. No cargo capacity, no lasers but shielded against temperature.

So, perhaps an explorer would load that combo of hover bike + harvester in their ship (bike not requiring full SRV bay or several bikes could be stored)
More gameplay is welcome, of course but I believe above vehicles don't require much dev work.

 

[Urbansparx]

Skimmer bike for me please. This would certainly help with exobiology.

 

[Walter2]

From The Art of Elite Dangerous that FD published in 2016.

Alternate Designs​

Working up concepts for alternative SRVs and other ground-based vehicles with their own character and specialist roles was a valuable exercise that informed the simple skeletal design of the 'basic' Scarab.​

Vehicles ranged from heavyweight industrial SRVs, all the way up to colossal articulated vehicles and even an entire city on tracks.​

 

[Urbansparx]

From The Art of Elite Dangerous that FD published in 2016.

Alternate Designs​

Working up concepts for alternative SRVs and other ground-based vehicles with their own character and specialist roles was a valuable exercise that informed the simple skeletal design of the 'basic' Scarab.​

Vehicles ranged from heavyweight industrial SRVs, all the way up to colossal articulated vehicles and even an entire city on tracks.​

If only we could mine on planets and haul commodities between bases in some of these SRV variants. It would allow for a lot of game loops and make use of the scale of the planets, but I suppose if you have a space ship, why truck it across a planet?

 

[Vardaugas]

I'd love a mining vehicle. You scan the planet for high density areas of certain materials, drop off in the area, deploy the vehicle, ping for a hot spot, roll above it, start drilling, receive materials/commodities.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

If only we could mine on planets and haul commodities between bases in some of these SRV variants. It would allow for a lot of game loops and make use of the scale of the planets, but I suppose if you have a space ship, why truck it across a planet?

My design suggestion would be:

1. place planetary settlements more closely to each other, create mining installations and refineries next to them (e.g. 1 - 12km). Hauling by ship would be not feasible because of the short distances
2. connect them via dirt roads (add that to Colonisation)
3. NPC traffic with different kinds of SRVs gets automatically created
4. allow players to haul cargo between those locations but also to attack / loot those vehicles

 

[Kzak]

+1 for hovercraft. Eels are optional.

 

[Ultra Fluffy]

A drilling machine sound like fun, but you would have to overcome the fact that Elite does not have deformation of terrain, well except for smashing the odd rock that magically repairs itself and teleports itself to another part of the planet.

So not only would you have new opportunities for mining, but also dangerous terrain full of holes that you had to avoid falling into.

The hover bikes don't appeal to me so much. I can sort of do that in my ship.

Hover tanks, hmmm possibly. Isn't that just a bigger scorpion though?

How about a transport vehicle that transports goods between settlement? no we have ships that do that.

 

[Jinx Chrome]

[...]
The hover bikes don't appeal to me so much. I can sort of do that in my ship.
[...}

sort of? Please demonstrate this with a bunch of pesky mushrooms in a very mountainous terrain.
Your play style is not necessarily everybody's play style. To illustrate this: if I had my way, there would be no mining equipment, not tourist cabins and no large ships.

 

[HRDiagram]

I'd like more ways to move on the ground, including vehicles.

Among the things that have not been mentioned, I would include bicycles and horses (with their own spacesuit, obviously).

 

[deleteduser]

All the resources spent on selecting and training CMDRs to become the pilot of an interstellar space ship, one of the most lucrative professions in all of human history... when all they really want to do is minimum wage manual labour.

mfw

Aspiring to the role and galactic impact of an Imperial Slave since 3303.