Ships Panther Clipper - memories and guesses

[SAB380]

For many of us, this was THE ship of Frontier: Elite 2 and First Encounters.

It was an epic beast that was essentially invincible, was the size of a small city and had sweet rotating engines that looked cool when landing on planets



So when will the beast arrive in Elite: Dangerous ?

Its concept art was one of the earliest shown:



And was used to demonstrate ships sizes and how the landing pads would work:




I'm sure it will be balanced a lot more than it was in the older games (obviously )

How much do you think it will be?
Will it change roles slightly like some other ships have?
Will it simply be a bigger (or smaller?) version of the Lakon-9? Or will it be multi-purpose like the Anaconda?

Tell us your hopes for the big cat !

And then here is a fan made pic ....because awesome

 

[Iskariot]

I still hope they will make it look a bit more like the original.

Those four huge, rotatable thrusters were iconic shape and identity defining elements of the Panther Clipper.
If those are not on the ED ship it won't be a real Panther Clipper.

 

[FrankusSupremus]

The real question is, will the damn thing fit in the letterbox?

 

[Cmdr. Numa]

The real question is, will the damn thing fit in the letterbox?

It will, and it will fill it out. No sidewinder squeezing through. My guess at least. This is the one ship I'm really waiting for most. The one freighter to rule them all and to collect the cash to own everything else as well. I'd be disappointed if it made less than 7 million per hour on a good route, and I fully expect that it will destroy some routes when more and more people get one. This ship might actually make trading harder

 

[CMDR IPL Victim]

The real question is, will the damn thing fit in the letterbox?

Sure. But picture this: You are heading to a starport with a cracked canopy and MUST get in, as one of these behemoths is in the slot, leaving. Here is some placeholder footage of that scenario:

Spoiler

[video=youtube;1dZveoBfiww]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dZveoBfiww[/video]

 

[SAB380]

If you've ever watched an Anaconda go through the letter box, there is actually a fair amount of room left....even if it feels tight when you yourself are flying one !

Looking at the ship scale pic alongside the Conda, it seems like it will take up basically the whole letter box vertically....gonna be a tight squeeze!

 

[Reaver 2.0]

There's something off about the model and it's relative (to other ships) size to me. The nose of the Panther makes me think that all that area is the cockpit, which suggests a ship the size of a Type 6.

 

[Morgo_the_MonkeyGod]

I get what your saying about the cockpit. Imperial Clipper has always looked smaller than it actually is because of the huge canopy as seen from outside. Then you realise how tiny the seats are from outside.

 

[Iskariot]

There's something off about the model and it's relative (to other ships) size to me. The nose of the Panther makes me think that all that area is the cockpit, which suggests a ship the size of a Type 6.

I totally agree.
I hope they won't make the same design mistake as with the over sized Clipper cockpit and the tiny elfish chairs inside it.
The Clipper would have been more to my liking if it looked it's size.
The same is true for the Panther; It's design should imprint it's size upon us.

 

[SAB380]

I don't think the black front is the cockpit/canopy.

I think the cockpit/canopy is the tiny black square above it.

 

[Haggis McMoose]

Ah, the Panther Clipper...

Do you still remember how long you had to wait to get your personnel together... In FFE, I switched between the Clipper and a bounty hunting 1-man Viper, so everytime I felt like doing some trading runs I had to collect about 15 poor souls that want to sail with me before I even could leave the starport.

...but in the days of old that was perfectly ok...

Haggis McMoose,
space trucking elder

 

[Orange Sheets]

Do you still remember how long you had to wait to get your personnel together... In FFE, I switched between the Clipper and a bounty hunting 1-man Viper, so everytime I felt like doing some trading runs I had to collect about 15 poor souls that want to sail with me before I even could leave the starport.

...but in the days of old that was perfectly ok...

Oh man, the pain of getting the necessary crew for Panther in Frontier...

 

[puca]

Oh God, please please please PLEASE make those huge thrusters on the ED concept rotate for the final version!

 

[FrankusSupremus]

That would certainly help make the thing stand out. It always looked like a cool space tank.

 

[Engadine]

There's something off about the model and it's relative (to other ships) size to me. The nose of the Panther makes me think that all that area is the cockpit, which suggests a ship the size of a Type 6.

I don't think the black front is the cockpit/canopy.

I think the cockpit/canopy is the tiny black square above it.

Looking more closely at it, I think the cockpit is the structure further back than the tiny black square. I think it's the U shape, giving it more visibility from the top and sides.

One thing is for sure, it's a beast, that from what I've read elsewhere is capable of mounting one or two fighters in its cargo bay

Looking forward to its arrival, even if I can't afford one.

 

[n13L5]

The real question is, will the damn thing fit in the letterbox?

It won't fit.

But the hull is hard enough to open up the letter box to about twice its previous height as you fly through with sufficient speed.