BLUF: We need more land vehicles. Scroll to the numbers for suggestions.
With Odyssey the 'space legs' are only ever getting closer, so, some thought should be shifted towards land vehicles. Yes, I just said legs provoking the idea of walking, and immediately after I suggest adding vehicles... the horror! However, we need to address how people are going to be getting around. The SRV is a fine vehicle, it's rugged, has shielding, and can even flip itself over if upside down. But we need more, we have to have more, in this advanced future of spacefaring humanity, we have only one land vehicle? One, not five or ten, just one, and it is weird to think that these super corporations have only designed one. What no competition in the future? As a business when someone is working to corner the market you don't tuck tail and run, you get in there and fight for your spot. In this future, as we can all see in the game, there are multiple different companies of shipbuilders most of which are a conglomerate of other companies, makes sense... But you still have competition between them, take the Eagle made by Core Dynamics, it is a tried and true ship often the one players buy as their "first" ship following the loaned Sidewinder. The Imperial company Gutamaya also has an eagle, the Imperial Eagle. Now maybe you are thinking since Core Dynamics is Federation and Gutamaya is Imperial they would naturally have a rivalry, but in reality, they are just contractors for the superpowers, still independent in of themselves. If we can have multiple variations of the same ship, then why don't we have more then one land vehicle? Now to smooth over some stuff, yes the game is mainly spaceship related things, as in when people go to do surface activities its because it is mission-related, not 'just because.' So there is most likely less development going on there already, even with that one vehicle is the equivalent of starting Elite Dangerous with 4 ships to choose from, for the whole game. I know that was a bit of a ramble, but hopefully, that gets you in the right mindset. So on that note lets get into some suggestions for types of land transport.
1. The Tank
Ah yes, the tank is of course one of battles greatest instruments, deflecting small arms fire with ease while blasting holes in structures and other vehicles. This was the first type of land vehicle I thought of. I remember doing a surface mission where I had to take out a generator of one of those decrepit settlements, and as soon as I attacked I was swarmed with turret fire and Skimmers. It was a hail of fire that was too much for my SRV, wiping out its shields and hull within seconds. I thought then as I do now, why can I just have a tank that withstands the abuse? Now obviously it has to be balanced, if it has high hull points it will be slow and heavy. If it has a traditional cannon on it, it needs to shoot powerful rounds and be slow to reload and turret rotation needs to also be slow. Having only a cannon would prevent it from having multiple uses like firing on nimble targets, so adding a weak damage single repeater may work. Since the tank design is traditionally a large tracked vehicle, it would have to take up at a minimum of two slots in the Planetary Vehicle Hanger. As a reference for the tank design, I have in my mind Nathan Crowley's 'Tumbler' tank design from Christopher Nolan's Batman series of movies. And another reference the 'Xerxes III' tank design in Id Software's Rage 2. I think those two designs clearly are of relation with the Tumbler being the inspiration for the Xerxes III since it came first, however, the wheel style of four works but maybe model it off the SRV with six wheels or maybe eight for the added weight. The tank would have to be large. The height, length, and width would be closer to triple that of the SRV. It would also come out of the Fighter Hanger bay hatch instead because of its size, thus limiting it to (more) combat-focused ships.
2. The Glider
This is a rather simple one, I first had this idea when I was traversing a rather rocky and hilly planet, as I was climbing over these great hills or mountains depending on where I was I could never go in a straight line. Now of course who cares right, I mean explore everything leave no stone unturned. Except for when your stone that looking for is a couple of kilometers away and gaining any amount of speed beyond a crawl will inevitably flip you, turn you around, or both! So that is when the glider comes into play, simply rev up your speed up a hill and upon hovering in the air (or lack of) press a button and wings extend out. This allows you instead of plummeting to the ground and losing hull to instead glide in a straight line to your destination or point you looked at before glide engage. Now in the air, you can make minor adjustments in glide mode, exiting glide returns you to freefall and the same maneuvering as the SRV. Since this would be a direct improvement over the SRV we need to balance it. The glider variant would have to be weaker, less hull for less weight, light as a feather mentality. In glide mode, weapon systems would be disabled for aerodynamics and balance. Weapon systems would also be weaker or if not weaker you would carry fewer munitions to reduce weight. The wings (only how I imagine them) would fold along the side of the vehicle, shielding them and preventing damage to them while also allowing storage of the vehicle.
3. The Troop Hauler (or just Hauler)
This would really go hand in hand with Odyssey's "space legs" on planetary landings. Assuming people are going to want to travel together they could hop out of their vehicle and get into a crew style vehicle with weapons on it independent of each occupant, similar to that of multi-crew. There could also be the idea of enemy combatants who would also use this on patrols and whatnot. Like an APC dropping off troops/skimmers to fight. Or for the player to collect more containers of commodities and relics, since it would have more cargo space. Depending on what it is used for it would have disadvantages in other areas, for example, if the player was using it for cargo it would have less firepower. This would be controlled by either the player or the vehicle would sense this, like the player switching to their weapons or cargo scoop.
4. The Hover Barge
Like the tank, this would be a large vehicle only coming out of the Fighter Hanger bay hatch due to its size. It would be non-wheeled only having jets to keep it afloat in the air, this would also prevent it from being able to go fast. It would be able to transport a very large amount of cargo compared to an SRV over mainly flat and hilly terrain, but not mountainous terrain, it could however traverse over liquid too. For weapons, it would have what the tank would have as its secondary weapon, a single repeater. Since this vehicle would be mainly cargo transport focused it would not need a lot of weapon systems. Due to its size it would also have a lot of hull durability, but not as much as the tank.
5. The Motorcycle (Spacecycle?)
Again this goes hand in hand with Odyssey being you would need legs to use it (maybe). Having this would allow rapid terrain maneuvering over all types, it would however not be as fast as gliding through the air over everything, basically looking at half of an SRV two maybe three wheels and one repeater. I'm envisioning something like a dirt bike... Great for players and NPCs alike, could see the enemy troops zipping past you in the bike as they scout the area.
Anyway, those are just some suggestions for future land vehicles... there are more ideas out there, lets see if people can add to this list or improve it. But either way, I believe this is a good start in the right direction.
With Odyssey the 'space legs' are only ever getting closer, so, some thought should be shifted towards land vehicles. Yes, I just said legs provoking the idea of walking, and immediately after I suggest adding vehicles... the horror! However, we need to address how people are going to be getting around. The SRV is a fine vehicle, it's rugged, has shielding, and can even flip itself over if upside down. But we need more, we have to have more, in this advanced future of spacefaring humanity, we have only one land vehicle? One, not five or ten, just one, and it is weird to think that these super corporations have only designed one. What no competition in the future? As a business when someone is working to corner the market you don't tuck tail and run, you get in there and fight for your spot. In this future, as we can all see in the game, there are multiple different companies of shipbuilders most of which are a conglomerate of other companies, makes sense... But you still have competition between them, take the Eagle made by Core Dynamics, it is a tried and true ship often the one players buy as their "first" ship following the loaned Sidewinder. The Imperial company Gutamaya also has an eagle, the Imperial Eagle. Now maybe you are thinking since Core Dynamics is Federation and Gutamaya is Imperial they would naturally have a rivalry, but in reality, they are just contractors for the superpowers, still independent in of themselves. If we can have multiple variations of the same ship, then why don't we have more then one land vehicle? Now to smooth over some stuff, yes the game is mainly spaceship related things, as in when people go to do surface activities its because it is mission-related, not 'just because.' So there is most likely less development going on there already, even with that one vehicle is the equivalent of starting Elite Dangerous with 4 ships to choose from, for the whole game. I know that was a bit of a ramble, but hopefully, that gets you in the right mindset. So on that note lets get into some suggestions for types of land transport.
1. The Tank
Ah yes, the tank is of course one of battles greatest instruments, deflecting small arms fire with ease while blasting holes in structures and other vehicles. This was the first type of land vehicle I thought of. I remember doing a surface mission where I had to take out a generator of one of those decrepit settlements, and as soon as I attacked I was swarmed with turret fire and Skimmers. It was a hail of fire that was too much for my SRV, wiping out its shields and hull within seconds. I thought then as I do now, why can I just have a tank that withstands the abuse? Now obviously it has to be balanced, if it has high hull points it will be slow and heavy. If it has a traditional cannon on it, it needs to shoot powerful rounds and be slow to reload and turret rotation needs to also be slow. Having only a cannon would prevent it from having multiple uses like firing on nimble targets, so adding a weak damage single repeater may work. Since the tank design is traditionally a large tracked vehicle, it would have to take up at a minimum of two slots in the Planetary Vehicle Hanger. As a reference for the tank design, I have in my mind Nathan Crowley's 'Tumbler' tank design from Christopher Nolan's Batman series of movies. And another reference the 'Xerxes III' tank design in Id Software's Rage 2. I think those two designs clearly are of relation with the Tumbler being the inspiration for the Xerxes III since it came first, however, the wheel style of four works but maybe model it off the SRV with six wheels or maybe eight for the added weight. The tank would have to be large. The height, length, and width would be closer to triple that of the SRV. It would also come out of the Fighter Hanger bay hatch instead because of its size, thus limiting it to (more) combat-focused ships.
2. The Glider
This is a rather simple one, I first had this idea when I was traversing a rather rocky and hilly planet, as I was climbing over these great hills or mountains depending on where I was I could never go in a straight line. Now of course who cares right, I mean explore everything leave no stone unturned. Except for when your stone that looking for is a couple of kilometers away and gaining any amount of speed beyond a crawl will inevitably flip you, turn you around, or both! So that is when the glider comes into play, simply rev up your speed up a hill and upon hovering in the air (or lack of) press a button and wings extend out. This allows you instead of plummeting to the ground and losing hull to instead glide in a straight line to your destination or point you looked at before glide engage. Now in the air, you can make minor adjustments in glide mode, exiting glide returns you to freefall and the same maneuvering as the SRV. Since this would be a direct improvement over the SRV we need to balance it. The glider variant would have to be weaker, less hull for less weight, light as a feather mentality. In glide mode, weapon systems would be disabled for aerodynamics and balance. Weapon systems would also be weaker or if not weaker you would carry fewer munitions to reduce weight. The wings (only how I imagine them) would fold along the side of the vehicle, shielding them and preventing damage to them while also allowing storage of the vehicle.
3. The Troop Hauler (or just Hauler)
This would really go hand in hand with Odyssey's "space legs" on planetary landings. Assuming people are going to want to travel together they could hop out of their vehicle and get into a crew style vehicle with weapons on it independent of each occupant, similar to that of multi-crew. There could also be the idea of enemy combatants who would also use this on patrols and whatnot. Like an APC dropping off troops/skimmers to fight. Or for the player to collect more containers of commodities and relics, since it would have more cargo space. Depending on what it is used for it would have disadvantages in other areas, for example, if the player was using it for cargo it would have less firepower. This would be controlled by either the player or the vehicle would sense this, like the player switching to their weapons or cargo scoop.
4. The Hover Barge
Like the tank, this would be a large vehicle only coming out of the Fighter Hanger bay hatch due to its size. It would be non-wheeled only having jets to keep it afloat in the air, this would also prevent it from being able to go fast. It would be able to transport a very large amount of cargo compared to an SRV over mainly flat and hilly terrain, but not mountainous terrain, it could however traverse over liquid too. For weapons, it would have what the tank would have as its secondary weapon, a single repeater. Since this vehicle would be mainly cargo transport focused it would not need a lot of weapon systems. Due to its size it would also have a lot of hull durability, but not as much as the tank.
5. The Motorcycle (Spacecycle?)
Again this goes hand in hand with Odyssey being you would need legs to use it (maybe). Having this would allow rapid terrain maneuvering over all types, it would however not be as fast as gliding through the air over everything, basically looking at half of an SRV two maybe three wheels and one repeater. I'm envisioning something like a dirt bike... Great for players and NPCs alike, could see the enemy troops zipping past you in the bike as they scout the area.
Anyway, those are just some suggestions for future land vehicles... there are more ideas out there, lets see if people can add to this list or improve it. But either way, I believe this is a good start in the right direction.
