ANNOUNCEMENT Gamescom Reveals - Fleet Carrier Details

[House0fDerp]

Support ships give you a way to customise your carrier without Fdev having to design an interface for it. You can't dock your carrier anywhere to modify it, so the support ship idea allows you to use the existing shipyard interface to modify your carrier loadout. I don't think the support ships will actually do anything at all.

Instead they have to design an interface for purchasing support ships.

Which I assume have to come from somewhere, and if the supports ships can't dock then they have to design that or witch space them in on demand which is not terribly immersive IMO.

Also, carriers have to be purchased somewhere.

I genuinely hope it's not just sidestepping the act of making a fitting mechanism. We have docks for cap ships. Use them.

 

[Red River]

how much ballpark/estimate?
and will there be lower barebones/small carrier options for purchasing initially?

 

[Kekkonshiki]

how much ballpark/estimate?
and will there be lower barebones/small carrier options for purchasing initially?

The honest answer to the cost is that no-one knows right now except FDev and they're not telling.

There's been no mention of any FC variants at all either other than the Support Ships.

It's only a few months and then we'll know one way or another.

 

[CMDR Big Mike]

It's quite clear that the so called carriers aren't really carriers at all. With no maneuverability or speed in normal space, huge jump range but only at limited intervals and a good deal of effort (probably) required between jumps, they're limited-use bases. I'm afraid I see this as yet another of FD's half-baked efforts that'll please few players.

So a little/lot off base here. Carriers IRL park outside the enemy country and send planes in on missions. They don’t engage in direct combat. Typically they are armed for self defense and accompanied by destroyer escorts. So name carrier is perfectly valid here for the assumed role.

Second, you have NO IDEA what the refuel requirements are. Not enough information has been presented to write these off. Seems like you’re filling in the blanks negatively to fit your gut intuition

 

[Six6VI]

The honest answer to the cost is that no-one knows right now except FDev and they're not telling.

There's been no mention of any FC variants at all either other than the Support Ships.

It's only a few months and then we'll know one way or another.

I doubt they decided on cost yet, hence throwing at us to see how much we complain.

Seems like a relatively safe way to avoid the massive salt storm of a hasty decision

 

[varonica]

Second, you have NO IDEA what the refuel requirements are. Not enough information has been presented to write these off. Seems like you’re filling in the blanks negatively to fit your gut intuition

I can't imagine the demands will be to onerous since only the owner can actually refuel the carrier for jumping. When it was originally thought of as being a squad fleet carrier I imagined players taking turns gathering resources while others did other activities, combat, exploration and etc. Now it's one person they can't make it so much work that it pushes everyone away from actually owning one.

Also I very much expect we will be able to do at least two jumps per fuel load. This is very much speculation but every explorer knows the danger of running out of fuel, and jumping 500ly into a neutron star or black hole system with the said object the only thing present, edge explorers will be running this risk every jump, there is nothing to collect from, so there's going to probably be a jump there and a jump back. Now you might think we could take one of our fleet to a nearby star, but 500ly is beyond any other ship range, so knowing how much explorers like to push things carriers stuck in the dark between galaxies is a high possibility with only one jump per tank.

The other possibility is of course they could add resource nodes to every single system in the galaxy, even single star systems, but I don't really see this as being a viable possibility as it might just require a re-run of the Stellar Forge, so I do suggest at least a couple of jumps per fuel load.

 

[Avisae]

"Large amount of credits"

Can we have a ball-park... will it be 100s of millions, a billion, or multi-billion credits?
Just want to know how aggressively I need to start saving up for December!

 

[aRJay]

"Large amount of credits"

Can we have a ball-park... will it be 100s of millions, a billion, or multi-billion credits?
Just want to know how aggressively I need to start saving up for December!

Someone said near the start of the thread that the price wouldn’t be more than 42,000,000,000. however I suspect that the price won’t be decided until November to allow them to see exactly how rich we are on average.

 

[Factabulous]

I can't imagine the demands will be to onerous since only the owner can actually refuel the carrier for jumping.

Where did you get that? Only the owner can contribute to the cost of purchase, but I don't recall any limitation on who can fuel it.

 

[varonica]

Where did you get that? Only the owner can contribute to the cost of purchase, but I don't recall any limitation on who can fuel it.

FDEV stated it in their added info bulletin!

Sorry you are correct they stated that only the owner could contribute money to buy it, I was sure I read somewhere that only the owner could refuel it but maybe I am mistaken.

Maybe it was from the fact that FC's can be used in Solo as well, a single player can only refuel it in solo so it can't be made to onerous at any rate. Oh well, will have to wait for more info I guess.

 

[Leper Messiah]

well I only managed to get to page 19, I'm cautiously happy about the news.

But, dismayed by the MP/squadron people moaning at "selfish" solo players......let's examine things shall we:

1) Solo players want the content "as well"....and are called selfish
2) Some MP/squadron people want the content for them exclusively....and are not selfish???

Some people need to learn the meaning of the word "selfish".

 

[Brrokk]

Someone said near the start of the thread that the price wouldn’t be more than 42,000,000,000. however I suspect that the price won’t be decided until November to allow them to see exactly how rich we are on average.

Soooo... We should all spend all our credits.

 

[Soron Silin]

If I was writing the code I would have a target in mind. If the game will run OK with 100 carriers in it I would set the price so only 100 carriers could be bought. In fact it probably makes sense to set the price high for the first few months to check that the game remains stable and to iron out any bugs and unwanted exploits. Then bring the price down so that the number of carriers increases.

If they follow that logic, then I'd expect the opening price to be 10-13 billion (or even higher; I wouldn't be surprised if it was 100 billion, depending on the appitite for grind displayed by the target audience) and then around February it would drop to maybe 3 billion. If demand is high and is generating a lot of interest, and if the game remains stable and under control, it could reduce to around half a billion after another few months.

In the worst case, where carriers are received as white elephants and nobody wants one, or they have a large effect on the stability or BGS, then the price will stay high.
On the other hand, if carriers are greeted as a trophy only the elite can aspire to, its function may be best served if it remains expensive.

The more use it is, the higher the price. We will grind harder for it and so the price has to be higher if only a certain number can be allowed to exist. If it becomes a QoL workhorse and a valuable addition to life and the lore, then it can be brought down to a level where anyone can afford it. On the other hand, if it only costs 500 million, people will start asking why they can't have two.

 

[Jack Schitt]

I've been thinking about the "unique resource"l fuel requirements and non-destructability of the fleet carriers, and there might be an issue here. Maybe. Speculatively. (Apologies to anyone who's already covered some or all of this; I try to read every post but there are an awful lot.)

Suppose I take my fleet carrier to the lower side of the galactic disc, then with the last of my fuel I perform a full-range jump to an isolated system 500ly below, containing only a single Y-class star and nothing else. Unless the unique resource is starstuff that's scoopable from any stellar class, which seems unlikely, the carrier and every ship aboard it is now effectively stranded.

Some possible ways around this:

• Carriers will not be permitted to jump to systems that don't contain the unique resource.
  • I'm not sure how this could work for unexplored systems.
    
    
• Quantities of unique resources can be stored aboard carriers and transferred to other carriers.
  • This would allow the Carrier Pigeons™ to jump another carrier into the system, refuel the stranded carrier and for both to leave.
    
    
• Carriers will be destructible, but only via self-destruct.
  • Would there be an insurance-based rebuy cost, or would the CMDR have to purchase a whole new carrier. What about any of the CMDR's ships docked with the carrier at the time? What about his friends' ships? Trollolol.
    
    
• The unique resource will be something available in every system, even those that are currently empty of everything except the primary.
  • Whatever this might be has to be available to non-Horizons as well as Horizons players. Could this see the introduction of the mythical comets whose maths have apparently been in the game since launch? Or maybe a Kuiper belt-type structure from which they originate? Does science allow for such bodies to exist in every
    star system? If they're far from the parent star, what if the resource-gathering ship doesn't have enough regular fuel to make it back to the mothership?
    

The further thought occurs that if the carrier was jumped to an isolated system with a single ship on board, and that ship was then launched and destroyed, where does the CMDR respawn? If it's back on the carrier (with a magically resurrected ship) then she's stuck. If it's at the last docked station, then her carrier is lost (unless the Carrier Pigeons™ scenario above applies).

The way I see it, either the game has to have some provision for dealing with "lost" carriers even if they're not physically destroyable by combat or accident, or the unique resource to fuel them has to be so common that it's in every system in the galaxy. The alternative is that the game's databases will slowly fill up with the locations of "lost" carriers that can't be retrieved. In terms of data overhead that might not be a problem in the grand scheme, but it seems a bit inelegant.

Looking forward to seeing what FD have come up with for these mechanics. Do we know yet whether there's going to be a beta, or is it just going to be a baptism of fire on launch day?

 

[aRJay]

Soooo... We should all spend all our credits.

And sell your ships as well, those dozens of Imperial Cutters could be worth hundreds of credits at least.

 

[Ian Doncaster]

I've been thinking about the "unique resource"l fuel requirements and non-destructability of the fleet carriers, and there might be an issue here. Maybe. Speculatively. (Apologies to anyone who's already covered some or all of this; I try to read every post but there are an awful lot.)

Suppose I take my fleet carrier to the lower side of the galactic disc, then with the last of my fuel I perform a full-range jump to an isolated system 500ly below, containing only a single Y-class star and nothing else. Unless the unique resource is starstuff that's scoopable from any stellar class, which seems unlikely, the carrier and every ship aboard it is now effectively stranded.

The carrier fuel is a commodity (see Q&A). So another way to rescue for you would be for another carrier with a bunch of freighters docked, those freighters holding enough fuel between them for at least two jumps. Some of them refuel the carrier they're on, the others refuel you, both carriers jump out.

(If the freighters can't carry enough fuel for two jumps, then if they can carry enough for slightly more than one jump, this could be repeated a few times until your carrier was refuelled)

 

[Soron Silin]

Suppose I take my fleet carrier to the lower side of the galactic disc, then with the last of my fuel I perform a full-range jump to an isolated system 500ly below, containing only a single Y-class star and nothing else. Unless the unique resource is starstuff that's scoopable from any stellar class, which seems unlikely, the carrier and every ship aboard it is now effectively stranded.

There are two solutions to this, and I would want to see both of them:

1. A carrier can only jump to a system that you have a system map for. Which, outside the bubble at least, equates to systems you have visited and therefore systems that can be reached in a regular ship. You could still get into a mess if you haven't brought your long-range ship with you.
2. When you respawn you are always asked whether you want to respawn at the carrier or the last station you docked with. The carrier might still be lost.

If both were implemented then you could escape from the system and rescue your carrier in every circumstance.

 

[varonica]

There are two solutions to this, and I would want to see both of them:

1. A carrier can only jump to a system that you have a system map for. Which, outside the bubble at least, equates to systems you have visited and therefore systems that can be reached in a regular ship. You could still get into a mess if you haven't brought your long-range ship with you.
2. When you respawn you are always asked whether you want to respawn at the carrier or the last station you docked with. The carrier might still be lost.

If both were implemented then you could escape from the system and rescue your carrier in every circumstance.

There's a exploration module for FC's so point 1 will not be the case, you can't explore if you can only jump to systems you have already visited, unless you jump ahead in a regular ship, scan systems for 500ly, then jump back to the FC, jump the 500ly, refuel, explore ahead 500ly, jump back etc. FDEV wouldn't do that with an exploration oriented FC.

For number 2, what happens if you are destroyed and either accidently select respawn in sidewinder or the station you last docked at, but the carrier is on the edge 400ly away from the nearest jumpable system? You can't get back to it! Well I suppose somebody could give you a lift, but that does rely on having friends with FC, or a new group the FC Rats.

I still see the only solid way to go is to allow at least 2 jumps per full fuel load, that way you can always get back to the last system you refueled at.

 

[betotib]

Realmente acho fantástica a possibilidade de saltar 500ly ainda mais transportando uma frota de naves variadas, para diversos tipos de missões, o problema é ficar preso no sistema e ter que ficar muito tempo reabastecendo a nave cargueira até poder voltar ou avançar, pois quando se vai para a borda da galáxia as distancias por salto aumentam muito e dependendo de onde se chegue ainda mais com 500ly por salto as possibilidades são infinitas, quem sabe no futuro uma nova galáxia! Agora o que realmente achei interessante foram as imagens de nuvens e raios será que vamos poder pousar em planetas com atmosfera???

 

[Jonesy42]

The carrier is probably big enough to house a automatic collector ship.
If not, what about being able to purchase a ship and store it into the carrier, essentially losing one ship and one landing pad but the carrier transforms it into a fuel ship, that will autmatically collect fuel. That way you could do something else while the carrier collects the fuel.

(Engineering wont affect the ship, the carrier will automatically build in the modules that are needed for the most fuel harvest possible. You can for example buy a Type 9 or a cutter and park it in the hangar, the FC will transform it into a automatic ship. The fuel ship is in the same server as the FC carrier is. If the owner is offline it will collect in "Solo" mode).

However, while the carrier automatically builds the needed modules in, you still have to pay for the modules. While the carrier is controlling the ship, the ship is not usable and the pad it's using cant be used by someone else.