Improve SCO for other ships (after Cobra Mk V is available without ARX)

IcewindZG

IcewindZG
Pretty much what it says on the title.

SCO is such a terrible way to move about on many ships due to the high heat and fuel usage. The new ships take care of that but to such a degree that the old ships are a much harder sell.

I would like to see the SCO drives become more reasonable for all the other ships. Currently there is an advantage with the purchased ships, and that is understandable for now. However, once they are all available for in game credits it would be nice to see the SCO drive be less dangerous to operate.
 

varonica

varonica
Tifu said:
Just curious, which ships in particular are terrible in handling the SCO drive?
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All of them compared to the Cobra 5, however having said that they are quite usable as is even with the heat and steering problems, certainly if they made the T6 as good as the C5 on SCO I would use it instead, but then why would anyone buy the new ships if the old ships were just as good? You don't complain because your Model T Ford isn't as good as a Ferrari Testarossa, you just buy a Ferrari Testarossa. Well, if you can afford one, otherwise you just run your Model T Ford until you have saved up enough money to buy the Ferrari, which in game terms is not very long. No need to upgrade old ships, in fact the new ships are actually the upgraded old ships with better design and construction. It's not called the Cobra 5 for fun, it's an upgraded version of the Cobra 3, in fact exactly what you are asking for, an old ship upgraded to use the new SCO drives.
 

Tifu

Tifu
varonica said:
All of them compared to the Cobra 5, however having said that they are quite usable as is even with the heat and steering problems, certainly if they made the T6 as good as the C5 on SCO I would use it instead, but then why would anyone buy the new ships if the old ships were just as good?
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Yes I'm aware but some small/medium ships (that aren't the Cobra Mk5) handle the SCO drive better than the others. I'd like to know which ships he's referring to in particular - specially if it's a large ship.
 

Kira Goto

Kira Goto
The upsides of SCO far outweigh the downsides even on "non-optimized" ships, as far as I'm concerned. Unless you very routinely travel 100k+ ls in-system just to get to a station, it basically never runs into the issue of running out of fuel while speeding the journey up significantly even if you cut it before your heat spikes above 100. The lack of handling is less of an issue than if you overshoot and have to do a 180 to get on target again, which is only particularly painful with ships as, or less maneuverable than, the Cutter.

(A case in which I just drop back to "normal" space and turn the ship around that way because it's far less mentally painful than to suffer the supercruise handling of the Cutter... even if probably not faster.)
 

HRDiagram

HRDiagram
I think a new version of the SCO will be released at some point, that handles better, but it will only happen when there's the absolute certainty that all the SCOs currently installed are fully engineered: one can't run the risk of making something obsolete, if no time and materials have been spent to improve it, first!

Perhaps it will handle so well, and so cold, that it will even invalidate the new double engineered SCO!
 

Koma Pahu

Koma Pahu
Tifu said:
Yes I'm aware but some small/medium ships (that aren't the Cobra Mk5) handle the SCO drive better than the others. I'd like to know which ships he's referring to in particular - specially if it's a large ship.
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I’ve not tried them all, but the only real beast I’ve found is the Cutter, but that’s always been a beast in normal SC anyway.

I definitely notice hopping into a non-SCO optimised ship, but I also notice getting into a Cobra MkV after being in the Mandalay.

They do drink fuel, but that’s only been an issue for me once in my Krait MkII. And trying to shed a lot of weight in a Mandy is far more frustrating than slowing to normal SC to keep the heat under control - believe me! 😂

With some of the comments I hear, I do sometimes wonder if some of the people complaining about the older ships in SCO have actually gone back and used them? Or have the issues become inflated in their memory? I mean, I remember thinking I could never go back to a car without power steering until I drove an old Land Rover - which are beasts to drive - and realised it really wasn’t as had as I’d remembered.
 

varonica

varonica
Koma Pahu said:
I mean, I remember thinking I could never go back to a car without power steering until I drove an old Land Rover - which are beasts to drive - and realised it really wasn’t as had as I’d remembered.
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And then the motor cuts out in my Nissan and you're suddenly fighting a semi-truck around a corner without power steering (it does have rather large tyres and high clearance). The T6, well mine at least, used to overheat if I just pointed it at a star it was that heat sensitive, so it did tend to heat up quite quickly when under SCO, but it was still fun to fly and anything under a couple 100kls was fine with just bursts between heat warnings! And I had to watch the fuel of course, it sucked it down, so one good long run and you needed to fuel up, but that's always only a jump away anyway!
 

KRISXR

KRISXR
I honestly like the hit you get from engaging a sco drive in a non sco optimized ship. The dance and some finesse applied to the controls to keep it lined up and on target. I also like the fuel management on long hauls or bounty journeys. Makes fuel consumption a more dangerous element that you have to keep an eye on. I really thought they did a great job of making those elements fun every time I hit the overdrive button. It is neat on the optimized sco ships to just hit the button and watch the speed max out with smooth handling, the sipping of fuel, and excellent heat management, but the non sco ships, it really makes them feel like an overcharged beast pushed beyond their design limits.

My type 9 with a heat managed experimental on the power plant is a real joy to fly, no instant heat issues, I think it handles the best so far of my non sco ships. When you hit the overcharge it really feels like your engines are pushing a massive barge up to ludicrous speed. Mine doesn't veer and swerve as unpredictably as the other large ships like the anaconda, corvette, and cutter. Like its so heavy even the sco can't pull and push it as drastically as the others.

I wouldn't remove the old fsd drives, I think they are still a viable option. I wouldn't change anything for the non sco optimized ships, I think they nailed it out of the gates.
 

Agony_Aunt

Agony_Aunt
I suspect we will get SCO improvements for all ships in a year or two, once the new ships have enjoyed their advantage.

For now, its not that bad. I've been bombing around in my Beluga with SCO and its kind of fun, trying to keep it pointed in the right direction and watching temperature.
 

Felix DiCestria

Felix DiCestria
Koma Pahu said:
I’ve not tried them all, but the only real beast I’ve found is the Cutter, but that’s always been a beast in normal SC anyway.
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The T9 is another beast if you overshoot. Always cut the SCO well short of the destination.
I suspect we'll see a Sud Kruger at some point as well as an Anaconda Mkii seeing as how it's been rendered all but obsolete by the Pmkii, T8 and Mandy.
 

geoffrey.hdt

geoffrey.hdt
Well, while I'm having fun supercharging with the regular ships, I would love to see a serie of community goals to get some of the ships upgraded and handle it like the Mandalay.

Maybe one CG per ship manufacturer, with multiple concurrent CG's, and once one has completed the entire ship lineup from this manufacturer gets the upgrade? To let the players choose what ships they favor the most?
 
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