Special Edition line of ships

[Bloodsign]

So your brand new FDL is exactly the same as the FDL that I bought. Boring! What if there were tiers of many of the standard ships? It is already strongly implied by some ship descriptions that there are military and civilian variants of some ships.

The Python we have now is pretty soft, for example, but maybe we could get a harder-hulled military variant. Variants would have slight improvements over base models, such as an extra utility slot, or better thrusters, or a couple extra hardpoints, etc.

The Corvette's description alludes to differences between the military and civvy version. Which one is in-game already? Presumably the civilian one, since no unlocks are required to get it.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Yes!
I've suggested this before.

Some kinda of variants of existing ships, same model, same cockpit, new default paintjob.
Just tweaked stats, and price.

 

[GlitchedVision0101]

I'd love to see this as well. My only concern is that these "special" ships should be found in various locations, as if they were modified/changed by the faction in control of that system. An example could be the corvette. Anywhere you go that has one, it would be the civi standard variant, but if you go to the home of the federation and dock at a specific station, you can get the military version. In lore, this could be easily described by stations that carry special ship variants being the soul suppliers of that variant. Think of how interesting it might be to dock at a station, only to discover that they have the rare and illusive super jump sidewinder that holds an oversized FSD

 

[Sylow]

Hmm. So we should have the very same ships available for sale again, just better? Really? Smells of yet more power creep to me.

I mean, I read the OP. The "problem" is that the default ship is just like every other ship of the same production run? Might be just me, but I found a trick here. If I want a ship in the "military package" version, I buy the ship and install military armor and equipment. The game really allows us to do that. And even further down the line, you could engineer things differently. So if you don't religiously follow the meta, you can have very individual ships already now. Without needing to have better-than-default ships available for sale.

 

[GlitchedVision0101]

Hmm. So we should have the very same ships available for sale again, just better? Really? Smells of yet more power creep to me.

I mean, I read the OP. The "problem" is that the default ship is just like every other ship of the same production run? Might be just me, but I found a trick here. If I want a ship in the "military package" version, I buy the ship and install military armor and equipment. The game really allows us to do that. And even further down the line, you could engineer things differently. So if you don't religiously follow the meta, you can have very individual ships already now. Without needing to have better-than-default ships available for sale.

I don't think the point would be so much better than default, but different than default. Some variations may have slots of different sizes and restrictions. The military edition corvette for example may have more military restricted modules and other differences that make it a choice as to which variant to use.
It would be difficult to properly balance this but if done correctly, it could be an awesome addition.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

Hmm. So we should have the very same ships available for sale again, just better? Really? Smells of yet more power creep to me.

I mean, I read the OP. The "problem" is that the default ship is just like every other ship of the same production run? Might be just me, but I found a trick here. If I want a ship in the "military package" version, I buy the ship and install military armor and equipment. The game really allows us to do that. And even further down the line, you could engineer things differently. So if you don't religiously follow the meta, you can have very individual ships already now. Without needing to have better-than-default ships available for sale.

I don't think they would be "better", but "different".

Same ship, different module layouts.

Although, it would be nice to have some small ships have "elite" variants, which are very expensive, but have really some really good stats (for their size), so they're no longer niche or stepping stone ships, but viable as a "daily driver" for late game players.

 

[Sylow]

I don't think the point would be so much better than default, but different than default. Some variations may have slots of different sizes and restrictions. The military edition corvette for example may have more military restricted modules and other differences that make it a choice as to which variant to use.
It would be difficult to properly balance this but if done correctly, it could be an awesome addition.

But isn't that already the point of the current customization system, to make ships different than default?

It might be just me, but I see little gain in having "same but different" ships, when the game already has such a big customization system in place. I mean, the OP is all about "same but harder hull" and "same but another utility slot and hardpoint".

In this case, we can also just go the way we already do: new ship. See FDS/FAS/FGS, Chieftain/Challenger/Crusader, Krait MK II/Phantom. These ships always are similar but still different.

And that's what the suggestion in the end also boils down to. Python vs. military Python with harder hull, more weapons and more utility slots. If those are different ships, FD already does that. But the OP is like "same ship, but still different" and that in my eyes is not cutting it. Same ship means all the same, you can use the already existing options to make it really your own. As soon as there's differences, it is a different ship. It's as simple as that in my eyes.

Although, it would be nice to have some small ships have "elite" variants, which are very expensive, but have really some really good stats (for their size), so they're no longer niche or stepping stone ships, but viable as a "daily driver" for late game players.

You know which strings to pull for me. This is something I'd actually appreciate a lot. I wouldn't mind spending a billion to buy and outfit a courier, if it then also performs adequately for that price.

But even then I wouldn't think of it as "Imperial Courier with hidden better stats". It would be a different ship. Make it MK II or give it any other fancy name. For FDs sake, they could actually use the same model, skins and ship kit. That would mean that sales for all the many skins and kits for small ships could rise up, as they'd suddenly see much more use. But the ship itself, no matter what, in my eyes would be a different ship, not a secret one-of-a-kind hidden upgrade.

 

[CMDR Cosmic Spacehead]

But isn't that already the point of the current customization system, to make ships different than default?

It might be just me, but I see little gain in having "same but different" ships, when the game already has such a big customization system in place. I mean, the OP is all about "same but harder hull" and "same but another utility slot and hardpoint".

In this case, we can also just go the way we already do: new ship. See FDS/FAS/FGS, Chieftain/Challenger/Crusader, Krait MK II/Phantom. These ships always are similar but still different.

And that's what the suggestion in the end also boils down to. Python vs. military Python with harder hull, more weapons and more utility slots. If those are different ships, FD already does that. But the OP is like "same ship, but still different" and that in my eyes is not cutting it. Same ship means all the same, you can use the already existing options to make it really your own. As soon as there's differences, it is a different ship. It's as simple as that in my eyes.




You know which strings to pull for me. This is something I'd actually appreciate a lot. I wouldn't mind spending a billion to buy and outfit a courier, if it then also performs adequately for that price.

But even then I wouldn't think of it as "Imperial Courier with hidden better stats". It would be a different ship. Make it MK II or give it any other fancy name. For FDs sake, they could actually use the same model, skins and ship kit. That would mean that sales for all the many skins and kits for small ships could rise up, as they'd suddenly see much more use. But the ship itself, no matter what, in my eyes would be a different ship, not a secret one-of-a-kind hidden upgrade.

I think what the OP, and myself are saying is, we like certain ships, but they're not suitable for doing what we'd like to do in them.
Before the Krait MkII came out, I really really wanted an SLF capable Python, I was willing to trade quite a bit to get SLF capabilities.
Obviously the Krait took on this role, as a whole new ship, which I enjoy flying.
The Challenger is my other new favourite ship, but due to its military locked slots, I can't really use it for other things I'd like (namely, mining lol).

So essentially we're (or atleast, I am) asking for ships which have fixed limitations, to have balanced variants which don't.

But yeah, I'd like to be able to spend a lot of money (and engineering) on an Eagle or iEagle, and have that be worth while other than racing.

 

[Sylow]

I think what the OP, and myself are saying is, we like certain ships, but they're not suitable for doing what we'd like to do in them.
[...]

I know what you mean. I also can agree on the goal. I just think that the method for it suggested in this thread is not the right way. I rather have more officially different ships, even if they'd just be variants along the lines of FDS/FAS/FGS or Krait MI II/Krait Phantom, than having the same-but-different ships of the OP.

I just think that the current line of really different ships is more beneficial to the game easier to understand than what's proposed here. The suggestion is to have different tiers of existing ships. The FAS could easily be the "Tier 2 gun focused morph" while the FGS would be the "Tier 2 carrier morph". But I rather have them as separate ships. My old brain just finds it easier to understand it this way.

 

[Bloodsign]

I know what you mean. I also can agree on the goal. I just think that the method for it suggested in this thread is not the right way. I rather have more officially different ships, even if they'd just be variants along the lines of FDS/FAS/FGS or Krait MI II/Krait Phantom, than having the same-but-different ships of the OP.

I just think that the current line of really different ships is more beneficial to the game easier to understand than what's proposed here. The suggestion is to have different tiers of existing ships. The FAS could easily be the "Tier 2 gun focused morph" while the FGS would be the "Tier 2 carrier morph". But I rather have them as separate ships. My old brain just finds it easier to understand it this way.

So I think we agree on the basic ideas, just differ on the semantics. I'd be just as happy to see more Mark "X" variants of ships, it would give the increased diversity I'm looking for.

 

[Exeider]

Smells of yet more power creep to me.

And It smells like teen spirit..

 

[CMDR Cknarf]

Buff my already hilariously durable Python? Nah, man. She's in a good spot for a ship that's supposed to be a multirole, but will duel with the best of them.

Do the Krait thing- make a lighter, faster version of the Python, and I'll be all for it.

More ships in general are always welcome, really.

 

[Sylow]

So I think we agree on the basic ideas, just differ on the semantics. I'd be just as happy to see more Mark "X" variants of ships, it would give the increased diversity I'm looking for.

Aye. The difference is in the details, and the Mark X method just seems better to me.