Poorly Designed Ships

[itmo]

I have now owned many of the ships available in the Elite universe and they all feel poorly developed and suffer from mis-guided design. This is meant to be a Space Sim, so why do all the ships do the same thing?

They all feel like they were designed from the same canvas, the same design principals with the only thing separating them from one another being a different skin with some minor modifications. Take the ASP "Explorer" I presumed it was a good ship to explore in. For $7 million plus another 8-10 to fit it out, I really don't get much bang for my buck. With a mere 34 light year jump range for $17 million, I should be getting double that.

The Cobra costs 20 times less and has a jump range that can almost match the ASP. If I were to dissect the ASP, I would re-design it to have no hard points for weapons., no cargo hold, weaker shields, stronger hull (for the numerous encounter with Stars), a regeneration system for the life support, something along the lines of a fuel scoop, which would work by Flying close enough to a Water based planet and scoop the H2o to get the oxygen component. An explorer doesn't need guns, it should be fast and nimble and have a small heat signature.

Apparently in the future ships are all made to do everything, and do everything poorly. Where is the mining ship, that has a tractor or another method for collecting fragments?

It makes the game as a whole feel rushed and under-developed. Would anyone buy an off-road car that has no windscreen, a 5 litre fuel tank and slick tires. The customisation of each ship is great, but it just means people are all flying around in ships that all do the same, all you need to do is swap some sub systems around and hey presto it is now a trader, a fighter an explorer. The ideas lacking in the ship design have a direct impact of the overall feeling of an unfinished, rushed and underdeveloped game.

 

[Leper Messiah]

I believe the name is a bit of a misnomer, as the Asp is a multipurpose ship not a dedicated explorer. I love mine, more firepower and has more survivability than the Cobra.

 

[CMDR TdM]

And it's a fairly rubbish fighter... Also try taking a Vulture or a fdl exploring or trading...

Probably, this is because not all the ships are out yet. We have multirole ships at many price points, a few dedicated war machines and some freighters...

There are still several ships to come including more combat focused high level ships and there will probably be a better long distance explorer for more money in there somewhere...

Patience.

 

[Epicurean Dream]

I have to agree with this. I've had the same opinion for a while. I feel the same about the weapons and modules too. I don't find the ship configurability very engaging at all. It's a simple matter of min/maxing the weapons, defensive units and ploping on one of the few utility units available depending on what you want to do. There really is no true differences between the ships. you're right in saying that they're all basically vague variations of the same prototype.

It's the same issue that runs right through all aspects of ED sadly, everything is basically the same. It's like having a set of sliders that encompasses the 'customizability' to the game, and you can only move half the sliders and only then move then 10% either way.

I feel the same as you. I feel that a lot more work needs to go into each ship. give each one a well rounded, thought out and purposed character. Unique attributes that seperate them from everything else. things like this at least, otherwise we'll forever be basically flying round in (basically) one type of ship with a very small handfull of largely indifferent variations.

sigh lol. I don't like thinking about this kind of stuff about ED, it's a great game and it's 'fun' sure, but it sure does let itself down in some major ways. I think that's the big who-har about it that's so visibly in the community really, the potential is so there but it's just not been realised properly, which makes us feel let down.

 

[Smugallo]

One thing that really bothers me about the larger ships in elite is how they move in combat. This might just be the NPC's right enough. When you engage a clipper, or an Anaconda in combat, they just kinda stay still and rotate clumsily as they try to get you with their front facing weaponry. Now, I know you can equip turrets on big ships, but it does seem a bit silly to have a ship that handles like a whale have front facing weaponry.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

-- Deleted --

 

[JeffRyan]

For the record, the ASP is an awesome explorer ship and is the main choice of explorers. Some mess about in Adders and T6s and you have the odd Anaconda. But most people do use Asp explorers.

I think the ships are awesome and have their own character.

- - - Updated - - -

And I think cars are all more or less the same.

 

[CMDR DoubleSkulls]

Doesn't the Asp also have a larger fuel tank?

 

[JeffRyan]

Doesn't the Asp also have a larger fuel tank?

Yeah. Jump range is pretty good too.

 

[CMDR TdM]

Yeah. Jump range is pretty good too.

I still think there is going to be a better one.

Annie has better range and I would love a big explorer made for the job. Like Voyager... Feel like star trek out there... That was a geeky thing to say and I apologise.

 

[X2Eliah]

It does feel a little bit like ships are fairly linear, and you don't have good reasons for, say, sticking with a sidewinder or a cobra once you pass the "next" price-limit margin..

Would be nice to have greater differentiation.

 

[JeffRyan]

It does feel a little bit like ships are fairly linear, and you don't have good reasons for, say, sticking with a sidewinder or a cobra once you pass the "next" price-limit margin..

Would be nice to have greater differentiation.

Oh people do hold lower ships for running missions and the like.

 

[Halp]

what would you want ships to look like ? would you like some sort of ''special design'' ? they look just fine, stop complaining.

 

[gravityztr]

there a few odd ships i liked from the old games and hope they can make a reappearrance, just think like the Lion transport, for example.

a bold version of the international space shuttle..... but much bigger

 

[snotface]

I have now owned many of the ships available in the Elite universe and they all feel poorly developed and suffer from mis-guided design. This is meant to be a Space Sim, so why do all the ships do the same thing? They all feel like they were designed from the same canvas, the same design principals with the only thing separating them from one another being a different skin with some minor modifications. Take the ASP "Explorer" I presumed it was a good ship to explore in. For $7 million plus another 8-10 to fit it out, I really don't get much bang for my buck. With a mere 34 light year jump range for $17 million, I should be getting double that. The Cobra costs 20 times less and has a jump range that can almost match the ASP. If I were to dissect the ASP, I would re-design it to have no hard points for weapons., no cargo hold, weaker shields, stronger hull (for the numerous encounter with Stars), a regeneration system for the life support, something along the lines of a fuel scoop, which would work by Flying close enough to a Water based planet and scoop the H2o to get the oxygen component. An explorer doesn't need guns, it should be fast and nimble and have a small heat signature. Apparently in the future ships are all made to do everything, and door everything poorly. Where is the mining ship, that has a tractor or another method for collecting fragments? It makes the game as a whole feel rushed and under-developed. Would anyone buy an off-road car that has no windscreen, a 5 litre fuel tank and slick tires. The customisation of each ship is great, but it just means people are all flying around in ships that all do the same, all you need to do is swap some sub systems around and hey presto it is now a trader, a fighter an explorer. The ideas lacking in the ship design have a direct impact of the overall feeling of an unfinished, rushed and underdeveloped game.

There is nothing wrong with any of the ships except for the seat position. Personally I believe that all the pilot seats should be in the centre of the ship on big ships, and on the correct side of the ships on small ships (right hand ride).

As for the ships multi purpose qualities, the Asp isn't just an explorer its also a small battle tank. 6 guns pack a nice punch when you need them. Now they may not be much good against heavily armed ships from Vulture and above, but small ships it wipes them out fast. Also as an explorer the ships 31 - 34 jump range is very good. There is only one ship which can go a lot further and that's the anaconda. Fuel wise the Asp is very good, where as the Anaconda drinks its fuel like nobodies business, (long jumps not short)

As for the ships and what they are used for, yes you can turn any ship into a multi-purpose ship, but some ships are meant to be used one way and have no other use except for being a fighter, where as others like the Clipper and Python can be used for trade and battle ships.

I do not believe you are looking at this correctly as all ship must have due roles. No point having a Cobra just to trading, and Asp just for exploring or an Anaconda just to look good.

 

[gravityztr]

There is nothing wrong with any of the ships except for the seat position. Personally I believe that all the pilot seats should be in the centre of the ship on big ships, and on the correct side of the ships on small ships (right hand ride).

you kinda have a point, with the OP too.

 

[Iskariot]

I have now owned many of the ships available in the Elite universe and they all feel poorly developed and suffer from mis-guided design. This is meant to be a Space Sim, so why do all the ships do the same thing? They all feel like they were designed from the same canvas, the same design principals with the only thing separating them from one another being a different skin with some minor modifications. Take the ASP "Explorer" I presumed it was a good ship to explore in. For $7 million plus another 8-10 to fit it out, I really don't get much bang for my buck. With a mere 34 light year jump range for $17 million, I should be getting double that. The Cobra costs 20 times less and has a jump range that can almost match the ASP. If I were to dissect the ASP, I would re-design it to have no hard points for weapons., no cargo hold, weaker shields, stronger hull (for the numerous encounter with Stars), a regeneration system for the life support, something along the lines of a fuel scoop, which would work by Flying close enough to a Water based planet and scoop the H2o to get the oxygen component. An explorer doesn't need guns, it should be fast and nimble and have a small heat signature. Apparently in the future ships are all made to do everything, and door everything poorly. Where is the mining ship, that has a tractor or another method for collecting fragments? It makes the game as a whole feel rushed and under-developed. Would anyone buy an off-road car that has no windscreen, a 5 litre fuel tank and slick tires. The customisation of each ship is great, but it just means people are all flying around in ships that all do the same, all you need to do is swap some sub systems around and hey presto it is now a trader, a fighter an explorer. The ideas lacking in the ship design have a direct impact of the overall feeling of an unfinished, rushed and underdeveloped game.

You want to be able to jump 68 ly with an Asp? I think that is a bit too much, but a bit more would be cool... perhaps 50%.
I do not feel that being able to jump excessive distances does serve the purpose of exploration. You would be skipping a lot of star systems that way and thus not explore them at all.

It would be cool if FD would add some exploration oriented upgrades to the game in the future. For example a special, fuel hungry exploration FSD that requires extra fuel tanks to be efficient and that takes up storage slots.

I would like a mining ship that looks the part, but I do not at all like the idea of a tractor beam. That belongs in another scifi universe. We get drones. I like that much better, although I deplore the fact that they have a short lifespan.

I disagree that the ship design makes the game feel rushed. FD just has another view than you do.
I also disagree that every ship is good at everything with the right modules. That obviously is not the case. I would never go into a combat zone with a Hauler or a T9 and a Viper is not very effective at trading whatever you do.

Perhaps a bit more ship specialization could be created by implementing certain modules that can only be fitted in certain ships.
For example there could only be an exploration FSD available for the Asp and Anaconda. Of course the Anaconda's exploration FSD would be much more expensive.

They could also make cargo scanners and kill warrant scanner incompatible with ships like the T6, T7 and T9 (It is just an example). This way you would get ships that feel more specialized for certain tasks than we have now

 

[Surly_Badger]

Wouldn't the most sensible design for any space combat ship be a sphere?

 

[Jordan Cobalt]

No ship is made to have zero hardpoints. Combat is an important part of the game. Every ship and every profession is expected to experience combat at least a little bit.

 

[Lobstris]

Disagree OP. The ships can all be made to do the same things, but the certainly don't all feel the same, nor are they equally good at specific roles. However, I do think that the heavies (Clipper, Python and Anaconda especially) could be made to rely more on turrets, shields, countermeasures and ultimately, escorts. I also believe that increasing the depth of roles and requiring more module specific set-ups to do roles would also add variety and distinction between classes. Hopefully powerplay and future expansions will also expand customisation options.