Summary of the Collectibles Q&A with Sandro

[Ozric]

I still don't understand how it's balanced that the Anaconda is an equal combat ship, while being a better trader, explorer and miner to the Corvette, when the Corvette requires a 3000 mission grind and more credits.

The Anaconda is not an equal combat ship to the Corvette and purely out of interest where did you get confirmation that it requires a 3000 mission grind and will be more credits?

Not allowing FSD, cargo-capable fighters (such as the sidewinder) in the largest of hanger bays, runs contrary to giving players the freedom to play how they would like and pigeonholes fighters into one, very specific, use.

And to be honest I'm not sure it would be a very good use I can't see a fighter standing up long against anything

 

[AnnuverScotinExile]

The one thing that worries me, is the magic storage box.

It goes with the magic Mario Kart to pick things up, the magic AI on a ship you send away in a universe where AI is banned, the magic respawn in your ship if killed in the SRV, etc., etc. FD did make an effort to avoid handwavium wherever possible in the early days, but its use is getting more and more frequent.

 

[Kestril]

And to be honest I'm not sure it would be a very good use I can't see a fighter standing up long against anything

Hehehe. I love popping imperial fighters and condors in combat zones.

Thanks for being patient with me from my knee-jerk reaction in my first few posts, but I think the discussion helped develop the idea into a solid point underlying it. Good show! It's nice to see good discussions like that on the forum. I'd rep you again for both the discussion and the initial post, but I'll have to spread some around first.

 

[Willa Allason]

Livestream about collectables.

"Sorry we can't talk about collectables yet. Look, ships!"

 

[Drelthar]

The answer on launchable fighters wasn't vague. He said you will be able to launch the tiny ships you get in conflict zones. The federal version is in CQC, and just those.

Though he also said you can launch multiple if your ship can carry them.

Still bad though, sidey and eagle with an SRV inside would have been amazing.

 

[xyphic]

It goes with the magic Mario Kart to pick things up

I presume you're talking about the SRV driving over cargo containers and them being instantly collected? Given when it happened the little cargo scoop widget popped up (but with no obvious use) I'd suggest that might just have been placeholder to demonstrate the mechanic (i.e. that you can pick up canisters with your SRV). Having cargo collection involve a little precision and time (get it central under the SRV, wait a few seconds while it's retrieved) would add an element of suspense if you're trying to retrieve something valuable under heavy fire. I'd be interested to know what's planned here.

the magic AI on a ship you send away in a universe where AI is banned

While AI is banned, clearly algorithms aren't. There are many aspects of ship operations that involve some level of automated control (e.g. flight assist, docking computer) and we're happy to accept that those aren't classed as AI. It isn't hard to imagine that the algorithms governing the dismissal and retrieval of your ship are similar, in that they aren't classed as AI as they're performing a set function. Now, if your ship could defend itself or autonomously assist in base raids, there'd be more of an argument.

the magic respawn in your ship if killed in the SRV

Yes, there's a point after which it becomes impossible to avoid that handwavium. There was *always* going to be some level of that around the death mechanic, and Frontier chose the option of fade to black and wake up in the last station you docked at. They *could* have implemented escape pods and made you wait for rescue, but there's a balance between realism and fun. Same goes for SRVs: remote control operation would make a lot of sense, but that would limit options further down the line when we'll want to be able to get out of the SRV and walk around. With the magic respawn it's still possible to invent your own explanation (such as neural transfer or cloning) but that doesn't have an offical in-lore explanation.

, etc., etc. FD did make an effort to avoid handwavium wherever possible in the early days, but its use is getting more and more frequent.

I'm not convinced it *is* becoming more frequent. I do agree with the criticism of the "magic box" though as it's much harder to explain away the physical transfer of goods upon death, especially when it's seemingly impossible to transfer electronic data under the same conditions. The *reasons* for it are clear and understandable, but the level of suspension of disbelief is much higher than it would otherwise have been. I would much prefer the transport of materials to be risky, but coupled with a mechanism to be able to store materials at a station and have them shipped around so that you can have a limited stockpile and take a subset with you (and if your ship is destroyed, so are they -- with the potential for them to be plundered from your wreckage).

 

[Siilk]

To be honest, I'm not really sure where are they going with this "collectibles" thing and if I even like the idea of crafting in ED in general. sure, something akin to setting up a tiny orbital refinery or something along those lines could be nice but the way they described the upcoming crafting feels completely out of place. It's too, well, game-y; it feels tacked-on for the sole purpose of doing something with those non-commodity trinkets that they are adding. Sure, they mentioned "other uses"(tm) for those things but so far it doesn't seem to fit the theme of the game all that well. And don't get me wrong, performing a field repairs with "improvised parts and space duct tape" kind of gameplay would've been welcome if done right but what they described seems too much like brewing your own buff potions and it really doesn't seem a like a good mechanic to add to a (rather)hard sci-fi kind of game ED is. Just my 0.02 credits.

 

[SuperNova15]

What the heck would be the point in a Sidewinder inside of a larger ship. Its completely redundant and comes with a lot of issues. Example, it means you could abandon your larger ship in one part of space wich just clutters up a system with instances. Its almost like you guys don't know what a FIGHTER is.

A. Fighters aren't meant to fight alone their meant to assist the mother ship.
-Imagine a type 9 being interdicted by a vulture. Currently, all It can do is run away. But what happens if that type 9 deploys say 3 fighters. GAME CHANGER! The vulture can do one of two things, focus on the fighters or the type 9. Ether way he's in trouble, while being completely exposed to the other.

B. Its always been known that fighter could not carry lots of cargo or have fsds. You just chose to live under a rock.

Spoiler

Spoiler

C. Fighters are cool and hard to hit and bases will have big anti-ship weapons which fighters can evade. Fighter plus srv wings will be epic in these places and you don't even have to worry about putting a ding in your mother ship.
So stop dissing fighters for what they are not or never were meant to be. Imo, their the coolest thing coming in season 2 and their srv like mechanics make them all the better.

 

[faluc]

About Sidewinder in Anaconda: I have been expecting this since I first read the Anaconda description. It says it can launch up to sidewinder size craft. STORED SHIPS DO NOT NEED TO GO THROUGH THE CARGO HATCH, THERE IS A HUGE HANGAR DOOR! This is even in one of the trailers, where a Condor is launched.

 

[SuperNova15]

About Sidewinder in Anaconda: I have been expecting this since I first read the Anaconda description. It says it can launch up to sidewinder size craft. STORED SHIPS DO NOT NEED TO GO THROUGH THE CARGO HATCH, THERE IS A HUGE HANGAR DOOR! This is even in one of the trailers, where a Condor is launched.

That was probably a poorly worded way of saying anything smaller than a sidewinder. Also I don't think the actual anaconda has a hangerbay door like that. It wouldn't be fair to the other ships. It was an early concept at the time so they hadn't worked out the exact mechanics yet.

 

[CmdrJacks]

It would be ridiculous to launch a ship with a universally sized cargo hatch from a universally sized cargo hatch. Maybe they'll make carriers in the future, or docking mechanics, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

 

[Hilight]

An excellent Q&A Sandro and crew. Thanks a bunch

 

[Patrick_68000]

Thank you for this work. Pleasant Livestream

 

[Patrick_68000]

Livestream about collectables. "Sorry we can't talk about collectables yet."

It was just to confirm that they will be there for Horizons

 

[faluc]

That was probably a poorly worded way of saying anything smaller than a sidewinder. Also I don't think the actual anaconda has a hangerbay door like that. It wouldn't be fair to the other ships. It was an early concept at the time so they hadn't worked out the exact mechanics yet.

Oh but of course it does have a hangar door:

ingame pic:


GDC 2015 trailer


Anyhow, I'll be happy if I can launch a few Condors and no Sidewinder

 

[goemon]

thanks for this write-up, OP!

 

[SuperNova15]

Oh but of course it does have a hangar door:

ingame pic:


GDC 2015 trailer


Anyhow, I'll be happy if I can launch a few Condors and no Sidewinder

Are you sure thats not the cargo hatch. I've honestly never flew the anaconda. Also based on the size of that condor compared to the door a sidewinder could not fit in there.
You are aware that a sidewinder is at least 3 or 4 times bigger than a condor right. Either way if the anacondas hanger door is ever used it will merely be a requirement for fighters so that only specific large ships will be able to store the fighter module. Possibly they will add a dedicated fighter compartment.
I don't know I'm just rambling here. We'll see how they tackle this in a few months or less.

 

[cmdr sandman]

Thanks Ozric - hugely appreciated!

 

[Willa Allason]

The in-game description of the Anaconda says it can launch Sidewinders. Might want to change that if it's wrong...

 

[faluc]

Are you sure thats not the cargo hatch. I've honestly never flew the anaconda. Also based on the size of that condor compared to the door a sidewinder could not fit in there.
You are aware that a sidewinder is at least 3 or 4 times bigger than a condor right. Either way if the anacondas hanger door is ever used it will merely be a requirement for fighters so that only specific large ships will be able to store the fighter module. Possibly they will add a dedicated fighter compartment.
I don't know I'm just rambling here. We'll see how they tackle this in a few months or less.

The big hangar door takes up almost the whole width of the Anaconda, it is not the cargo hatch. The cargo hatch is standard size, same for all ships. On the pic you can see two of them, one right behind the hangar door and one at the front, but only one is actually functional (I don't remember which one).

A Sidewinder would certainly fit in the hangar door, but Frontier do not want to implement that for whatever reasons. I'm just sad a bit because that would have allowed for more interesting gameplay, like access outpost to take on and turn in missions even while in an Anaconda.

Anyhow, why I got a bit upset and wrote here in the first place is that the lead designer says things like "oh but we would have to cut a big hole in the bottom" when there already IS a big door there... The Condors will not come out through the cargo hatch either.

Oh by the way look at the bottom of the Gunship, there is also something that looks just like it was made for launching little fighter ships (or tank SRVs, hehe):