Larger ship sizes?

[TiberiuS]

This and distinct Planet to Station Traffic too

I support this suggestion.

 

[Tacheel]

Imagine how much more interesting the stations would be with dozens of massive ships moored outside and shuttles ferrying people back and forth.

This and distinct Planet to Station Traffic too

It is things like this that would add a feeling of bustle and life to the inhabited systems.

 

[Duckfather]

If I remember correctly, there were discussion during late Alpha / early Beta (maybe it was earlier on the DDF?) about larger ships either docking at a rotating hard dock on the rear of the stations or other dedicated docking areas. Nothing was ever confirmed or denied about this being a possibility though. There were also discussions about ships that would need to fold in various bits of their superstructure in order to fit through the letterbox.

 

[RailBalco]

As I read this thread, one thingy comes to my mind: X series.

After playing X series, I strongly addicted to possibilities in X3 to buy HUUUGE cap ships and control them. And I miss this soooo much. It was very disappoitment to me when X Rebirth came out, that I cant fly those huge cap ships anymore. No current game I know can offer me this. And I miss this in ED as well.

Another thingy is mass traffic in X Rebirth. It makes so nice feeling of living space as any other game. Too bad I was not very satisfied with X:R because of a number of bugs and not well worked out interface. These were reasons why I didnt start X:R since 3.0 patch...

I do hope E can bring these things back to life in space opera gaming!

 

[FredTA]

I'm starting to get the feeling that all ship sizes will be limited to whatever can fit inside that tiny "mail slot" on stations. I really wish that they would do away with that or otherwise make some sort of MOORING mechanic to allow really big ships to dock.

There was a ship called the Panther in earlier Elite games that was absolutely massive. Not capital ship size but pretty close. It looks like the Panther for E: D is going to be much smaller due to the mail slot limitation.

Now I'm worried that the upcoming Federal Corvette will be just be a glorified Anaconda. Not that the ship isn't already big but it does kill the sense of awe to realize that we will be forever limited in grandeur when it comes to ships.

So what will be done about this?

The panther's coming, but it wont be the size it was as last time, according to the wiki

 

[Osbo89]

I do agree that it would be great to have alternative docking options.
I am a bit in doubt about the demand for bigger and bigger ships though.
I do feel it is not really necessary and it will not add anything radically different from what an Anaconda sized vessel can already give us.
On the other hand I would love to fly my Old Panther Clipper again. I don't need it to be 500 meters long, but I would like it to be the biggest vessel we can pilot. Just like in FE2.

We will get the Panther Clipper. That has been confirmed already. But the concept art did look nothing like the original.

I want a Bigger ship for cargo with my T9 I get 500t out of it but love something bigger weather it docks inside or out is not a worry and
to be able for it to take passenger / cargo / small ships would good.

 

[Ruskodisco]

i just want to put in one thought.
maybe the reason why there is so little amount of stations is because of the future expansions like planetary landings and ship interiors they also want station interiors.
idk thats just a theory.
but yeah it would be awesome to have much bigger ships to pilot.

 

[Hadrian Bently]

The image you have provided is pretty old and clearly demonstrates that a clipper is longer than Elizabeth's tower (96m) and shorter than Anaconda (152m).

Also according to the lore the size of the Panther Clipper just allows it to fit the entrance of the station (mail slot) with only a few centimeters left between the ship and the mail slot.

Ok that's pretty decent sized then. You seem to be someone who knows about this. Thanks.

 

[Hadrian Bently]

i just want to put in one thought.
maybe the reason why there is so little amount of stations is because of the future expansions like planetary landings and ship interiors they also want station interiors.
idk thats just a theory.
but yeah it would be awesome to have much bigger ships to pilot.

That is a good point. However, I don't think anyone would care if only a very small portion of super massive stations or ships had space for walking around on. As for the 'normal' sized stations and ships those could be fully mapped.

 

[jmg]

Honestly, it would be no big deal for the big ships just to chill outside whilst smaller ships (possibly normally docked within the larger one) ship passengers, cargo and so on to the station, then bring fuel back and refuel the big one using limpets.

repairs would be a pain.

 

[Flavio]

I guess that they wouldn't be able to manoeuvre very well so either you stayed in safe areas or you hire a crew and bought a couple of small ships to stow in the cargo hold for protection and for ferrying stuff to outposts. Have crew to do most of the work on the clipper while you pilot the vulture for combat and ferrying duties or just fly from a to b in the clipper while your crew do the protecting and ferrying.

 

[Hadrian Bently]

I guess that they wouldn't be able to manoeuvre very well so either you stayed in safe areas or you hire a crew and bought a couple of small ships to stow in the cargo hold for protection and for ferrying stuff to outposts. Have crew to do most of the work on the clipper while you pilot the vulture for combat and ferrying duties or just fly from a to b in the clipper while your crew do the protecting and ferrying.

yea that would work. Also, hireable crew will be essential if they add the walking in ships portion. There would be no sensible way around that