I've been looking into the smaller ships, recently, and one thing I've noticed is the massive separation between C4 and C5 FSDs.
A C4 FSD on a Keelback, for example, caps out at about 40ly jump range. Upgrade that to a C5 FSD, and it jumps not to 50, not to 60, but to EIGHTY LY jump range. BEFORE the guardian fsd booster!
Suffice to say, there is room in the lower FSDs for a middle-tier of FSD, one which provides increased performance, but not so much as the next grade of FSD, very similar to Increased Performance Thrusters. Using the existing vernacular, they could be called Enhanced Performance Frameshift Drives. (pardon the title)
What I'd propose is that Enhanced Performance FSDs only go from Grade 1 to Grade 4, and their main difference will be a +50% bonus to their maximum fuel consumption. On the Keelback, for example, this would increase the jump range to 47.2, a significant improvement, to be sure, but nowhere near the ridiculous boost offered by a C5 FSD.
This SHOULDN'T be overpowered; the vast majority of ships with C1-4 FSDs are not good at exploration, and the ones which are, would not be buffed to OP levels. The Asp Scout, for example, would now reach about 75ly jump range.(https://s.orbis.zone/iigh) Which is significant, but not as much as a jumpaconda.
Part of their potential strength is mitigated by the way the bonus is done; with higher fuel costs, it means ships couldn't shrink their fuel tanks as much.
But it would make smaller ships broadly more viable, especially compared to their larger counterparts.
Thoughts?
A C4 FSD on a Keelback, for example, caps out at about 40ly jump range. Upgrade that to a C5 FSD, and it jumps not to 50, not to 60, but to EIGHTY LY jump range. BEFORE the guardian fsd booster!
Suffice to say, there is room in the lower FSDs for a middle-tier of FSD, one which provides increased performance, but not so much as the next grade of FSD, very similar to Increased Performance Thrusters. Using the existing vernacular, they could be called Enhanced Performance Frameshift Drives. (pardon the title)
What I'd propose is that Enhanced Performance FSDs only go from Grade 1 to Grade 4, and their main difference will be a +50% bonus to their maximum fuel consumption. On the Keelback, for example, this would increase the jump range to 47.2, a significant improvement, to be sure, but nowhere near the ridiculous boost offered by a C5 FSD.
This SHOULDN'T be overpowered; the vast majority of ships with C1-4 FSDs are not good at exploration, and the ones which are, would not be buffed to OP levels. The Asp Scout, for example, would now reach about 75ly jump range.(https://s.orbis.zone/iigh) Which is significant, but not as much as a jumpaconda.
Part of their potential strength is mitigated by the way the bonus is done; with higher fuel costs, it means ships couldn't shrink their fuel tanks as much.
But it would make smaller ships broadly more viable, especially compared to their larger counterparts.
Thoughts?
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