Fleet Carrier mechanics speculation

[zimms]

Where when was this stated? if true is kinda defeats the reason for having them...

I think in the FC announcement v2. I don't see how that would defeat the reason for having them. Carriers aren't really the kind of ships that battle it out broadside to broadside anyway.

 

[Heater]

I think in the FC announcement v2. I don't see how that would defeat the reason for having them. Carriers aren't really the kind of ships that battle it out broadside to broadside anyway.

Well if you are trying to work in a group, with only one in the instance...

 

[zimms]

Well if you are trying to work in a group, with only one in the instance...

Yeah, only one of you can bring his/her carrier at a time. That's true.

 

[Exterminatus93]

As you speak of instances and in the case that we have no control over it, as the game decides if two commanders want to go to the same planet / place, put them in different orbits or merge both ships, one within another (if it sounds like a botched job) but the fact that many are obsessed that they have no control over the ship generates more problems than benefits and a pain at the level of programming for FDEV when if they gave us total control it would be much simpler and efficien

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

My guesses:
-Bridge: Highly unlikely. It will probably be controlled in few menus.
-Jump interface: Unknown. It would probably be most simple for them to have it so that you'll have to fly to the destination in your regular ship and then activate a beacon in your panel, which causes the carrier to jump in. I'm hoping it will not work like that and you'll direct it on the galaxy map instead.
-Jumping itself: I think supercruise is highly unlikely. It will probably just jump directly to the target body with same kind of animation as the capital ships.
-Fuel tank, number of jumps: It's a new type of fuel so they could justify anything. Depends on how grindy they'll make it. Exploration type might have bigger tanks.
-Support ships: These will probably determine the carrier's specialization. Other players can't attack the carrier itself, but they might be able to temporarily disable the support ships.

Mainly, expect movable stations.

- I agree with the bridge (very unlikely, unless they actually took more time to improve this) and about "micro-jumps" within the same system to move the FC between various planets.

- Concerning the main jump I don't think we will place any beacon for it to happen. It will also be very disappointing for many explorers that are already hyped by the chance to jump on the extreme outer rim of the galaxy where no one has ever been before. We will jump by selecting the destination system on the galaxy map, I think this has been already confirmed.

- I don't think attacks to the FC will have any damage on the FC itself nor on the Support Vessel. My guess is that FC can defend other ships under attack with turrets and these can be disabled. That's all.

- About the fuel we all hope it will not behind a wall of grind, but I also hope they will not come up with a free and unlimited fuel solution, like they did last year with the Surface Scanner Probes

 

[Dagwit]

About the fuel we all hope it will not behind a wall of grind, but I also hope they will not come up with a free and unlimited fuel solution, like they did last year with the Surface Scanner Probes

Well, one of the things I'd like to use a Fleet Carrier for is taking a number of ships exploring so I don't have to fly the same ship every day for weeks or months. And from that perspective free and unlimited fuel would not be the worst thing that could happen. At the very least the grind for fuel for an Exploration Carrier would have to be pretty minimal so as not to eat too much into your time spent taking ships out exploring.

 

[Exterminatus93]

Well, one of the things I'd like to use a Fleet Carrier for is taking a number of ships exploring so I don't have to fly the same ship every day for weeks or months. And from that perspective free and unlimited fuel would not be the worst thing that could happen. At the very least the grind for fuel for an Exploration Carrier would have to be pretty minimal so as not to eat too much into your time spent taking ships out exploring.

A few months ago someone commented that the fuel was collected from the stars, came to say that they could make ships "cistern" and give a sense to the fuel tanks.

 

[VR SenseiMatty]

Well, one of the things I'd like to use a Fleet Carrier for is taking a number of ships exploring so I don't have to fly the same ship every day for weeks or months. And from that perspective free and unlimited fuel would not be the worst thing that could happen. At the very least the grind for fuel for an Exploration Carrier would have to be pretty minimal so as not to eat too much into your time spent taking ships out exploring.

Instead I hope that gathering the fuel will introduce a new game loop dedicated to explorers and miners that can add a bit more variety to exploration and mining.
People who don't care about mining and exploration will be able to buy the fuel at stations, as already confirmed by FDEV.

 

[Brrokk]

As you speak of instances and in the case that we have no control over it, as the game decides if two commanders want to go to the same planet / place, put them in different orbits or merge both ships, one within another (if it sounds like a botched job) but the fact that many are obsessed that they have no control over the ship generates more problems than benefits and a pain at the level of programming for FDEV when if they gave us total control it would be much simpler and efficien

I don't think instancing is a problem. Stations are already instanced every time you dock at one. (That's how loads of people can all dock at the same station in different modes). Carriers are likely to behave in the same way.

 

[Dagwit]

Instead I hope that gathering the fuel will introduce a new game loop dedicated to explorers and miners that can add a bit more variety to exploration and mining.

It's a question of balance. You're right about fuel gathering adding variety to the gameplay, but if it takes up so much time that it puts a serious dent in the time spent exploring - I can't see that being very popular.

Apart from the whole multi-ships thing, another advantage of an Exploration Carrier would be the ability to separate traveling from exploring. Instead of exploring along a path of travel, you can move to an area and explore that area. At least, you can if you're not spending most of your time gathering fuel.

One of my general fears about the introduction of Fleet Carriers is that they are now to be purchased by individual players, but care and maintenance tasks that were originally intended to be performed by squadrons will not have been adequately rescaled so that they can be performed in a reasonable time by one player.

 

[Ted Striker]

One of my general fears about the introduction of Fleet Carriers is that they are now to be purchased by individual players, but care and maintenance tasks that were originally intended to be performed by squadrons will not have been adequately rescaled so that they can be performed in a reasonable time by one player.

I bet ARX can help with that!