Frontier, can we PLEASE have a new Exploration ship now?

[Surprised Brony]

Sure, let's have a long range explorer. Don't give it enough slots to have everything unless its huge though. It's ridiculous that explorers feel the need to have AMFU, repair limpets, SLF, AND cargo on top of the scoop/scanner base combo.

Those are luxury. You need to choose between hauling back a few items of relatively worthless cargo, or staying out there longer. And I mean, if your hull is taking that much damage then it's time to fly safer.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

My idea of an exploration ship would have sweet jump range, tiny shield/hull strength, and enough slots/hardpoints for:

Heat sink launcher
Wake scanner
Cargo scanner
Xeno scanner

All four mining "weapons"

Small shield generator
Refinery
Collector limpets
Recon limpets
Hatch limpets
Repair limpets
Refuel limpets
SRV bay
Fighter bay (for an exploration/mining shuttle)
Fuel scoop
Auto field maintenance unit
Corrosion resistant cargo bay
Passenger bay

I'm not asking much right?

As you can tell, I'd go for slots over range.
But range couldn't be horrible.
Below 40 would suck.

I have to say that looks very much like a multi-purpose ship to me

 

[Drelthar]

I have to say that looks very much like a multi-purpose ship to me

It's a multipurpose science ship.

You can go out into the black, and no matter what you find, you can interact with it.

Imagine if you find a super special "thing" out there, your the first, but you don't have the gear to analyse/sample/pick up(passenger???)/collect it?

It would crush me.

 

[CMDR Zadian Lichtfrost]

…
I'm gonna ask you the same question I asked the OP - since nobody seems to want to answer it:

Would you prefer a ship that jumps 80LY but only has 5 optional slots, or one that jumps 40LY with 9?

I'm probably the wrong person to ask. I do silly stuff when it comes to exploration - I have an exploration FDS. I would prefer the one with 9 slots and 40 LY jump range.

I would like a smaller Krait (it just looks cool and it looks very explorer like) with:
3 class 1 for the scanners and a limpet controller (repair)
1 class 2 for the SRV
3 class 3 for dual AFMU (not needed, but would allow for careless neutron star boosting) and cargo
one slot for shield
one slot for scoop (same size as FSD or one bigger, but same size is ok for me)

No need for restricted module slots. Just the right size of modules. Make it fast and agile so it can be used in the bubble for missions and stuff.

(yea, I see that T-7. Yes, it's tempting)


A 80 ly ship with just 5 slots would be OK too - more options are good. Or do I have to choose one? In that case the 40 ly 9 slot ship.

 

[Gully Foyle]

KayBee: Anything in the works? Maybe a pair of explorers that arrive with the exploration update?


This would be answering your own question.

I want a Chieftain with a lighter hull and a size 6 FsD

Doubt it will be a pair, maybe 1 original and 1 a modified existing.

 

[Drelthar]

Basically, a would love a decent jump range ship, with at least 11 SIZE 1 (2 for SRV, 5 for the fighter bay, locked to those) slots. I guess it might need another bigger than size 1 for the scoop though.

What I'm saying is, size doesn't matter. The total number of slots is what I care about.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

Hopefully, FD will also be adding exploration specific module slots to the two existing exploration ships in the game.

FdL and the Corvette?

 

[Dziondziak]

On the surface I love the idea.
Then I think about it...
I fly a conda that is all decked out. what it would take to get me to change out of it would be an op exploring monster,
Basically, youd take away hardpoints to up jump range. It would be an anaconda x. If it happens, it would render the other explorers obsolete. Anything less, and I dont change ships.

 

[kpmop]

Nah. Add some actual exploration content.

There are plenty of ships. I know people seem to think that exploration = ridonkulous jump range (there's the annie for that) but most ships can clear 50 ly with jumponium or star boost. And many have enough slots - so you can pretty much remove all the risk from long distance trips now, the only remaining obstacle is patience...

So FD just add something to find/explore/discover - and this is allegedly coming in Q4. Groovy.

 

[Cmdr. Numa]

Jeez, people. It should be logical for every one that we if we get that new exploration ship, it will only come with the Q4 update for exploration.

Other than that, did you even try to fit the Krait for exploration ? It happens to be not so bad at all. You can achieve jumpranges near 60ly. Pre guardian FSD booster that was Anaconda territory only. The supercruise agility of the Krait is lacking a bit though.

 

[V'larr]

And when I say deep space exploration, I mean ships with a pre-engi/pre-guardian tech jump range of over 30LY when fitted with D-rated gear.

Oh, so what you really mean are long-distance space taxis and not exploration ships (unless you are a certain somebody who seems to place exclusive importance on the .0001% of difficult-to-reach systems in thegame).

Personally, jump range has little to do with what makes an exploration ship. The number of un-restricted optional interal slots is, and currently, the Anaconda is the winner of that contest over all other ships in the game. They could give the Anaconda a realistic mass (at long last) in line with other big ships (which would cut its base jump range significantly), and I'd still use it because no other ship has 11 non-restricted slots.

 

[Hanerib]

Type-7 is the new explorer. I call mine either Lil Steamer or Temple of Heaven. Having this new Guardian shield booster thing and dirty drive tuning for thrusters was a bit too much, but brings a peace of mind too.

 

[Ian Skippy]

It's a multipurpose science ship.

You can go out into the black, and no matter what you find, you can interact with it.

Imagine if you find a super special "thing" out there, your the first, but you don't have the gear to analyse/sample/pick up(passenger???)/collect it?

It would crush me.

IMHO any ship willing to go 'out there to discover the Unknown' should be prepared for everything, including combat.

 

[baudelier]

How have I managed to cover 1 million LY with just ADS, DDS, SRV, Fuel Scoop and Shield?

Exploration doesn't mean flying into stars and crashing out of SC.

That's only around 23 round trips to Colonia. Not that far, all things considered.

But too answer your question. What you are doing is not exploring. It's playing a really slow game of Russian roulette.

 

[Alieri]

You only need 3 - scoop, ADS and DSS. Everything else is luxury

For me Fuel Scoop, ADS, DSS, SRV, Shield & AMFU (if something goes totaly wrong) so 6 slots would be fine. Luxury for me is cargo module
Really I hoped the Krait could be a new exploration ship but when I checked full specs, it's simply big brother Python rather than big brother ASPX. And since I'm far away from the bubble I will not rush to get Krait and spend cash to test it as exploration ship.

 

[Nadreck]

But the unique problem that deep-space exploration ships face is that they can't just hop back to base to switch modules. They have to be able to "interact" with whatever they find, with whatever equipment they've hauled across maybe 20,000 ly of uninhabited space.

They don't need big modules, but they need a lot of them. The Anaconda is really overkill because its modules are both numerous and large.

And it might also need the ability to land in rough terrain. This requires either a small/medium ship, special landing gear (long telescopic legs?), or a dedicated landing-craft carried onboard.

 

[askavir]

IMHO any ship willing to go 'out there to discover the Unknown' should be prepared for everything, including combat.

True, but it's only fair that explorers have to make some compromises too. So I don't very much like the idea of new exploration ships having a bazillion slots, unless most of those slots are small. If we get a large jumper equipped with tons of slots and weapons and utilities we will end up creating the new meta-ship that will render all others obsolete. And that IMO would be terrible.

New exploration ships should also be alternatives to the AspX (DBX is too crippled to be an actual alternative), not just become the new standard do-it-all exploration metaship.

Exploration is different from other occupations in the sense that you won't have a repair/refuel/rearm/outfit garage 2 minutes away at all times, so exploration ships should tend to be mostly self-sufficient, but still it should not be a do-it-all behemoth and compromises should still have to be made.

 

[Vasious]

I think we need to see what FDev do with Science/Exploration/Sensor Suite packages before we theory craft the slots a ship needs

If for instance a Size 3 Sensor Suite packages ends up being able to fit the ADS and DDS then even the Hauler can carry a Size 3 Fuel Scoop ADS DDS Shield & SRV
And if Limpet controllers get similar treatment the Type 7 could carry all exploration needs along with all mining needs in one go

The calls for Explorers needing 2xClass 1 could be a thing of the past

 

[Vasious]

How have I managed to cover 1 million LY with just ADS, DDS, SRV, Fuel Scoop and Shield?

Exploration doesn't mean flying into stars and crashing out of SC.

That's only around 23 round trips to Colonia. Not that far, all things considered.

But too answer your question. What you are doing is not exploring. It's playing a really slow game of Russian roulette.

Ah the old "well you're not a real explorer" argument

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

That's only around 23 round trips to Colonia. Not that far, all things considered.

But too answer your question. What you are doing is not exploring. It's playing a really slow game of Russian roulette.

Well there have been 30,000 empty chambers in this revolver so far, so I'm not going to worry too much about my odds.