Real costs of ships if they existed
- Thread starter kiario
- Start date
Considering that every commander gets a free sidewinder, which is the equalivent to a small Honda, I guess its around $6000 for a no frills ship.
I think it all has been measured in cars 'worth' in a similar discussion held a while ago.
If you're likening space ships to planes then I guess the sidewinder is on the light single engine arena,
while anaconda's and such are big heavy haul commercial/military jets.
Of course they'd be nearer B52's with all the weapons hard points fitted, but those aren't used in modern aviation, so there would have to be a bit of mix and match between eras to get comparisons.
The OP's F22 would be a very upgraded Vulture I suspect.
I'd be more specific, but my knowledge of aircraft is quite limited.
If you're likening space ships to planes then I guess the sidewinder is on the light single engine arena,
while anaconda's and such are big heavy haul commercial/military jets.
Of course they'd be nearer B52's with all the weapons hard points fitted, but those aren't used in modern aviation, so there would have to be a bit of mix and match between eras to get comparisons.
The OP's F22 would be a very upgraded Vulture I suspect.
I'd be more specific, but my knowledge of aircraft is quite limited.
1 Ton of gold is worth about $31 Million USD.
1 Ton of gold in Elite is worth between 8200 and 9700 credits. So I will go with about 9000 credits as the average and say that $31 Million USD = 9000 credits.
So 1 credit = $3444 USD
Thus a sidewinder that costs 30,000 credits is worth about $103.3 Million
Estimating the cost, today, of buying a futuristic spaceship is kind of difficult, because we have absolutely no idea how much it would cost, with today's economy and technological level, to reproduce one. We're so primitive we don't even know how to build a hyperdrive, let alone the much more advanced Frame Shift Drive. Nor do we have any idea how to build the powerplants (portable fusion power is still a remote dream), weapons or even a hull which can sit a couple of light-seconds from a star and not evaporate even slightly.
I'm reminded of that scene from The Core, which went something like this: "How much would it cost to build it?" "I don't know - 5 trillion dollars?" "Will you take a cheque?"
I'm reminded of that scene from The Core, which went something like this: "How much would it cost to build it?" "I don't know - 5 trillion dollars?" "Will you take a cheque?"
For a while I thought it strange that a single cargo load from a medium ship, or rares run in a small ship could pay for a new small ship plus fit out.
But a semi-trailer full of goods could probably be sold at enough profit to buy a consumer level car. And a car boot full of diamonds or caviar could probably also be sold at enough profit to buy a new car.
So I think the costs work out ok.
But a semi-trailer full of goods could probably be sold at enough profit to buy a consumer level car. And a car boot full of diamonds or caviar could probably also be sold at enough profit to buy a new car.
So I think the costs work out ok.
I would not compare Elite ships in cars or airplanes, but maritime vessels. Well, they are ships, right! Definitelly not cars. IRL there are much more people pilotting cars than planes or ships. And in ED for example, even one single spacestation houses millions of people and only fraction of them have own space ship, otherwise docking bay should be HUGE. It is port, not a parking lot. Fortunatelly, we are among those lucky ones to own a ship!
So, I would say for example basic Type 9 would cost what large cargo ship (irl) would cost, which is about 500 million dollars. Big military and multipurpose ships ofcourse much more, small ships maybe less. But we are talking tens and hundreds of millions!
Edit. Since we dont have tech for these ships, I assumed that tech would be available allready and prized similarly to our current leading edge in maritime vessels.
So, I would say for example basic Type 9 would cost what large cargo ship (irl) would cost, which is about 500 million dollars. Big military and multipurpose ships ofcourse much more, small ships maybe less. But we are talking tens and hundreds of millions!
Edit. Since we dont have tech for these ships, I assumed that tech would be available allready and prized similarly to our current leading edge in maritime vessels.
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A semi-trailer can haul 36 tons so lets do a little math there. If you are hauling TVs...
A typical 50 inch weighs around 41 pounds according to amazon and sells for about $800
41 punds is about 19kg
36,000 / 19 = 1894 TVs if they could fit
1894 * 800 = $1.5 Million
It's not free!
... it's the only one you've paid for with real money!
just saying ! ^^
I think you got that bit about propulsion backwards. The science behind frame shift/warp we understand and could theoretically reproduce if we had the insane amount of energy that is needed. Hyperspace travel on the other hand, is summorized as traveling through a different dimension of space time. While it might be possible with wormholes and all that, it's pretty much just science fiction.
There's probably no perfect way to compare, but this seems as good a way as any. Thanks for doing the math.
Now...how much is that in tons of beer?
Excuse me if someone has already pointed out the flaws, but you assume that gold is worth as much in 3301 as it is today.
the price of grain per ton today in USD is about 190$ in elite dangerous the galactic average is 275 credits. which means 1 USD = 1.4 credits.
Obviously the comparative values have not stayed constant then. Grain is probably a more accurate measure though being more necessary for subsistence.
There are numerous old threads discussing the exchange rates between ED credits to current US dollars using the commodity boards. It's difficult, because supply and demand are totally different in the ED galactic economy. Gold, for instance, is ludicrously cheap, because any old idiot can go out to a nearby asteroid belt and mine some. Grain and Fruit'n'Veg, on the other hand, is ludicrously expensive because it all has to be grown down on agricultural planets (since we don't seem to have any agricultural space stations) and, since the vast majority of the population eats the goo found in "food cartridges" from day to day, things we consider today to be basic foodstuff, such as fruit, would be considered luxury items by most people in the ED universe.
^This using gold as a benchmark is the only way to know.