What about planetary landings?
Ships: Nostalgia or New?
- Thread starter Geers
- Start date
Nostalgia first.
The great thing about all your favourite films and shows is the way they make everything feel old and worn, Star Wars, BSG etc... But yes, experimental designs, new releases etc should come down the line as manufacturers look to lead the way.
So In answer to the poll, New stuff please, but happy to wait until the devs have populated the game with the original ships.
The great thing about all your favourite films and shows is the way they make everything feel old and worn, Star Wars, BSG etc... But yes, experimental designs, new releases etc should come down the line as manufacturers look to lead the way.
So In answer to the poll, New stuff please, but happy to wait until the devs have populated the game with the original ships.
Hahhahaha Elite ships in a nutshell.
This is wildly inaccurate. Nostalgia is the feeling of joy when you remember old memories.
BSG and Star Wars technology (as well as Firefly's) have a worn and old look because they were designed to look utilitarian things in a normal, used galaxy, not because of "nostalgia".
I miss some not-so-popular ships from First Encounters - Merlin, Harris, Gyr - FFE added a lot of not cheese shaped ships. I'd like to see more ships available for more than money, like Imperial Clipper or Federal Dropship now. Ships which can be bought only by players of certain Pilot Federation rank or allied with certain minor faction, or after doing some chain of missions etc.
Planetary Landings don't require a ship that is shaped like a doorstop. Look at a Cessna, a F16, a Stealth Bomber, and a 747. No, they don't fly in space, but they all handle atmospheric flight. And all of them have completely different cross-sections visually. Compare this with the Sidey/Cobra and Python/Conda - i have to actually read the label to see what it is, because visually there's little difference in the HUD.
The Eagle, Clipper and Orca break the "polygon look" very nicely, so I'm hopeful newer ships continue this trend.
Planetary Landings don't require a ship that is shaped like a doorstop. Look at a Cessna, a F16, a Stealth Bomber, and a 747. No, they don't fly in space, but they all handle atmospheric flight. And all of them have completely different cross-sections visually. Compare this with the Sidey/Cobra and Python/Conda - i have to actually read the label to see what it is, because visually there's little difference in the HUD.
The Eagle, Clipper and Orca break the "polygon look" very nicely, so I'm hopeful newer ships continue this trend.
And to be *quite* honest, aerodynamics aren't that important since Elite ships have no danger of stalling. They generate lift via the thrusters (which is why they can mantain their level even inside the 0.1g gravity of space stations) and therefore do not need an aerodynamic profile for planetary landings. Sure, it helps achieve a greater speed, but it's hardly necessary.
I never managed to find info about the shields, but if they are also deflector screens, they also help against atmospheric resistance.
What about them? Even the stream lined ships in ED do not have wings or a need for forward momentum to have to keep them airborn planet side. Big engines and thrusters and clever do hickory would keep them in the air, so again shape would not be a concern.
Anyway if they all looked like Borg cubes, parking would be a doddle, just rack em and stack em like a giant rubics cube.
I'm all for new things.
Maybe because I never played the original game.
I feel there are a few gaps to fill in terms of ship progression and it would be a shame if some decisions made 30 years ago for the original Elite would no hold the devs back (let's say to modify a previously available ship considerably because they are afraid of the backlash of old fans).
Maybe because I never played the original game.
I feel there are a few gaps to fill in terms of ship progression and it would be a shame if some decisions made 30 years ago for the original Elite would no hold the devs back (let's say to modify a previously available ship considerably because they are afraid of the backlash of old fans).
I haven't played the original Elite, but I really do enjoy the look of the ships we have so far (different, but very much like the original look in Elite), its a good change from the generic jetfighters-in-space look.
However with 30 or more ships looking very similar, things would be boring fast. I'd like to see many new designs with perhaps a few ships that look like the ones we have, just so everything is not completely different, but not so similar.
However with 30 or more ships looking very similar, things would be boring fast. I'd like to see many new designs with perhaps a few ships that look like the ones we have, just so everything is not completely different, but not so similar.
They apparently refuse to make the game less boring due to the backlash of backers, so I wouldn't be surprised if we keep getting slices of pizza to fly =P
(granted, game's been officially out for less than a month, so they may yet cather to the suggestions of new players and make a compromise between the two groups)
Lol, I was a young adult 85'er (C64), and I still had to google it. Never heard of the show.
How would you remember where you parked?
Ditto and +1
With planetary landings, they'd need WINGS more than "Sleek"... for aero-braking
Great big huge Delta wings for example.Or wings like those on a Lakon 9 might do the trick... except they need to be bigger cuz the L9's heavier.
But I'm no Aerospace Engineer so I couldn't give you realistic sizes of what they should be.
With planetary landings, they'd need WINGS more than "Sleek"... for aero-braking
Or wings like those on a Lakon 9 might do the trick... except they need to be bigger cuz the L9's heavier.
But I'm no Aerospace Engineer so I couldn't give you realistic sizes of what they should be.
I am. Assuming a normal Earth atmosphere and gravity well and given that the Lakon has a 1000t hull mass along with a max 582t cargo, you would need a wingspan of at least 240m and a wing area of 2438m² for it to land and takeoff safely. That's nearly 3 times the size of the biggest airplane in human history.
However, given how the technology in Elite already has atmospheric thrusters and energy shields, drag and lift ain't much of a concern anymore, and it is possible for it's third grade geometric shaped ships to traverse an atmosphere without much issue at all.
Fun fact: takeoff weight and landing weight are actually different -- the Lakon would be able to takeoff with nearly 1840t of cargo using that configuration.
Definetely down for the space winnebago first