Interesting (and new?) Fleet Carrier pictures

[TheSisko]

So, what's that at the bottom?

More in the picture gallery at:

Elite: Dangerous fleet carriers enter beta testing next month, will cost billions of credits

The massive ships can be owned by a single commander

www.polygon.com

...and, no support ships to be seen in any of those pictures.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Much nicer than most megaships.

Having said that, I really don't get the purpose, exploration aside.

 

[Stealthie]

So, what's that at the bottom?

It's a planet.


T'is kind of odd that there's no sign of support-ships in any of the pictures though.
Honestly, I thought it was kind of clunky that they might just fly along with the FC.
I wouldn't really mind if they've gone completely but ideally I hope they actually dock inside the FC.

 

[ebbrell]

Are there any of the support vehicles?

 

[MadDogMurdock]

It’s the mechanism for Gas Giant atmospheric scooping.

You read it here first.

 

[Stealthie]

It’s the mechanism for Gas Giant atmospheric scooping.

You read it here first.

I did wonder if that's what the OP was hinting at.

Honestly, I can't see it.

You jump your FC to a system where there's no gas giants and you've got no fuel left.
You are now completely stuck.
Your FC can't jump to a suitable gas giant where it can refuel.

The only way refuelling can be reasonably reliable is if you can do it in a regular ship, even if it means travelling a long way to collect FC fuel.

 

[Lightspeed]

Is that a ship at the back, on top?

Oh, it's the other rear thruster.

 

[TheSisko]

It's a planet.


T'is kind of odd that there's no sign of support-ships in any of the pictures though.
Honestly, I thought it was kind of clunky that they might just fly along with the FC.
I wouldn't really mind if they've gone completely but ideally I hope they actually dock inside the FC.

A planet about to be destroyed by the Class 20 Fragment Cannon at the bottom of the carrier.

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

Wow, they look really cool. That's awesome. I wonder if you'll be able to see them move. Probably not, but what are the thrusters modelled on for then?

 

[CMDR Karrde Sun]

A planet about to be destroyed by the Class 20 Fragment Cannon at the bottom of the carrier.

Armed and operational, battle, station.

 

[Vedmo]

So, what's that at the bottom?

Slave quarters maybe? Easily jettisoned and remote enough to keep them from stinking up the main quarters.

 

[ElectricFactory]

Good Question. Especially since you're not actually piloting the ship.

Wow, they look really cool...what are the thrusters modelled on for then?

 

[SAB380]

Much nicer than most megaships.

Having said that, I really don't get the purpose, exploration aside.

Yeah. I'm glad others will have a goal to grind for but I don't personally care about this.
It may be a reason for me to play in Open a little more to see other people's mega ships so that might be a cool side effect of this.

 

[varonica]

Much nicer than most megaships.

Having said that, I really don't get the purpose, exploration aside.

They are indestructible, you fit out your best combat ship with only a 7ly jump range so you can really max it's fighting ability, pop it into the FC and jump to where you want to combat for a few days....proft!

 

[TheSisko]

 

[TheSisko]

Is that a ship at the back, on top?

Oh, it's the other rear thruster.

I dunno.....it almost looks like a huge supply vessel.

 

[Noobilite]

It's a planet.


T'is kind of odd that there's no sign of support-ships in any of the pictures though.
Honestly, I thought it was kind of clunky that they might just fly along with the FC.
I wouldn't really mind if they've gone completely but ideally I hope they actually dock inside the FC.

The support ship is the front of the ship. It's the giant thing in front of the front pad. It starts just below those ramps. That part is the engine. The back thing on the top is the bridge for the rear part of the carrier.

I think there were pictures at one point with it seperated. That is the part you can change to one of the other front vehicles. They had pics of the exploration one on the front also. In place of that one. That is the default one if i'm not mistaken.

If those pads go down it doesn't look like there will be storage for our ships unless we fill them personally. Or some kind of magic hand waving.

I'm kind of curious what those 4 ramps are. Two in front and two flat in the back.

 

[TheSisko]

The support ship is the front of the ship. It's the giant thing in front of the front pad. It starts just below those ramps. That part is the engine. The back thing on the top is the bridge for the rear part of the carrier.

I think there were pictures at one point with it seperated. That is the part you can change to one of the other front vehicles. They had pics of the exploration one on the front also. In place of that one. That is the default one if i'm not mistaken.

If those pads go down it doesn't look like there will be storage for our ships unless we fill them personally. Or some kind of magic hand waving.

Yeah, but in the new pictures, support vessels are MIA, and the new post by Frontier states that

we've examined the concept of predefined load-outs and decided to invest additional time to ensure that fleet carriers offer the same level of flexibility and customization as other ships within Elite Dangerous

ANNOUNCEMENT - Fleet Carriers - Content Reveal Announcement

Greetings Commanders, We're thrilled to announce that the first look at the upcoming Fleet Carrier update will be coming to your screens on Thursday, 2 April! Lead Server Developer, Dav Stott, and Game Designer, Luke Betterton, will join us on a special video to talk us through what these vast...

forums.frontier.co.uk

I suspect that support ships are no more, replaced by the module purchase system we have now for existing ships.

 

[VR Jay Le Chardon]

Welcome back @TheSisko !

In your absence there was a thread theorycrafting carrier dimensions, in which:

• it was agreed in that thread that the nose of the carrier looks like the mercenary support ship
• the bit at the aft is reckoned to be the bridge / tower, if you note all the landing pads on the carrier lack the surrounding buildings seen on outposts and starports, so its reckoned the structure at the aft of the carrier is a communal version of those buildings.
• we worked out that the carrier is about 3-4km long

 

[Noobilite]

I estimate from the pic it's about 12 large pads long with some space in the middle. So maybe 13 pads total. How long is a large pad. I've seen values somewhere before.

Given the numbers in this game, I will bet you it's exactly 13.5 large pads long.

Elite: Dangerous Blog | Why is a Type-7 Transporter not able to use a medium pad?

Elite: Dangerous Blog - News and events from the Elite Dangerous galaxy - I’m glad you asked! The landing pads in Elite dangerous come in three flavours.

www.elite-dangerous-blog.co.uk

If this is true and it's 213m that would make it around 2,875.5m long. Possibly 2,880m long total.