Frontier, please give ship launched fighters a cargo hatch

[Kaybe]

So I was just rewatching a video from Gamescom about ship launched fighters and noticed something curious ... fighters don't have a cargo hatch. The other deployable vehicle, the SRV, does. Now obviously, the SRV needs one. No question about that.

But so should fighters.

Listen ... we already know that fighter bays take up an internal slot. Given that slot space is at a premium in the Keelback and Federal Gunship, this means that we may need to forego usage of collector limpets and be forced to scoop up materials manually. But neither the Keelback nor Federal Gunship are terribly maneuverable. But fighters are. Very much so. If I come across a wreck and spot something interesting like chemical manipulators, I'd much rather launch and use the more maneuverable fighter to scoop things up than a Federal Gunship. Give the fighter some more use other than just pew pewing other ships.

 

[DragoonKnight]

Interesting idea. I have no problem scooping with my corvette, but doing it with a fighter should be interesting. But you should have to get the fighter back into your ship before you can actually collect what it has picked up.

 

[starman]

They are called fighters for a reason. Having cargo space makes no sense just like and F! car does it have a boot for luggage?

 

[Connolly91]

So I was just rewatching a video from Gamescom about ship launched fighters and noticed something curious ... fighters don't have a cargo hatch. The other deployable vehicle, the SRV, does. Now obviously, the SRV needs one. No question about that.

But so should fighters.

Listen ... we already know that fighter bays take up an internal slot. Given that slot space is at a premium in the Keelback and Federal Gunship, this means that we may need to forego usage of collector limpets and be forced to scoop up materials manually. But neither the Keelback nor Federal Gunship are terribly maneuverable. But fighters are. Very much so. If I come across a wreck and spot something interesting like chemical manipulators, I'd much rather launch and use the more maneuverable fighter to scoop things up than a Federal Gunship. Give the fighter some more use other than just pew pewing other ships.

Nope. Fighters are tiny and even a tonne of material would adversely effect the handling. You'd only ever use your fighter when your ship is right there, so if you need to scoop, do it yourself or use limpets.

 

[Iori]

give fighters like a big net, so you can scoop all the crap in one fast swoop

 

[Sunleader]

I actually hope that Fighters as well as SRVs at some Point can be Equipped by the Player. So we can actually decide what we put into the Optional Compartments.

 

[Cablefast]

They are called fighters for a reason. Having cargo space makes no sense just like and F! car does it have a boot for luggage?

They don't need cargo space to have a cargo hatch. At least with a cargo hatch they could scoop mats.

 

[Iskariot]

So I was just rewatching a video from Gamescom about ship launched fighters and noticed something curious ... fighters don't have a cargo hatch. The other deployable vehicle, the SRV, does. Now obviously, the SRV needs one. No question about that.

But so should fighters.

Listen ... we already know that fighter bays take up an internal slot. Given that slot space is at a premium in the Keelback and Federal Gunship, this means that we may need to forego usage of collector limpets and be forced to scoop up materials manually. But neither the Keelback nor Federal Gunship are terribly maneuverable. But fighters are. Very much so. If I come across a wreck and spot something interesting like chemical manipulators, I'd much rather launch and use the more maneuverable fighter to scoop things up than a Federal Gunship. Give the fighter some more use other than just pew pewing other ships.

I think it was David Braben who mentioned the implementation of shuttles for larger ships in one of his recent interviews.
Those will no doubt be able to carry a bit of cargo.

I do not think that those small fighters should have that ability.
Their hulls are too small and they are stuffed with what they need for combat.
That is the reason they are unable to carry an FSD.

It would be a great convenience though if they could pick up mats.

 

[Jack Schitt]

They don't need cargo space to have a cargo hatch. At least with a cargo hatch they could scoop mats.

Yep, this should be the answer if the fighters have hatches. Scooping materials from a fighter post-combat would be a convenience and a lot less hassle than switching back to the main ship to scoop them. And materials are already logic breaking with their spaceless storage. But having a fighter (whose bay replaces cargo racks) able to scoop and store cargo would make no sense unless it's using Gallifreyan technology like that other thread suggests.