Time for some "new" ships, with minimal effort required from FDEV!

[Ronzer]

I haven't done much engineering, since I dont see the improvements mattering to me much...I just keep to how my basic ships are, and use them as such. But, if FDev were to make a few things like this possible, through engineering, that would be more incentive to get into the engineering side of the game.

For example, the basic Type6/Keelback, with some engineering, makes it fool the sensors into seeing it as a small ship. There, you'd do some engineering, maybe between a few engineers (so they "dont know the end goal") and your Keelback now can land on small pads.

Rinse repeat for all those other, and maybe more, suggestions, and now you have a greater reason to do engineering. Yes?

 

[Hellrider]

Instead something like "orca mk II" I would prefer rebalance of EXISTING ships.
I don't need beluga 2.0
I need beluga, which would take max amount of passengers.
Currently even combat vette can take more people on board, than PASSENGER ship.
And this is only 1 example, but I think that it showed issue.

 

[Rubbernuke]

No it's not.
And this is coming from a past HGE relogger



Material gatherer, remember?
That means quickly navigating between HGEs - i once got 7 HGEs in the same system in less than 25 minutes - good SC maneuverabilty and SCA fast dropoff are paramount.
It also means landing on planets and gathering stuff from bio/geo stuff.
Nothing related to BGS murders, au contraire - a material gatherer will not have weapons, unless you go for Haz Res / CNB material gathering, in which case you will use the biggest and strongest ships available (but not the same ships used for deepspace or planetary material gathering)

Leaving behind the HGE relogging (been quite some time since i last did it, years i'd say), SC maneuverability is king for anyone that spends more time in SC than in normal space.

BGS murdering requires at times to get quickly to POIs like distress calls to kill them, and then fly out and back in again (based on timer). This requires turning around easily and frankly most ships do this well enough. A real BGS murderhobo spends a lot of time in SC, moreso than realspace because not every target results in a chain of kills and you have to locate / hunt / evade other ships of differing factions and locales.

Also in Powerplay the technique of NAV rinsing requires SC chops in a similar way but with split second timing. Again, any ship can be made to do it and SC agility is not a massive factor- people do it in all manner of ships. And since the Scout is so big, using a smaller ship makes more sense since some places are too rough.

This is a comparison between smaller ships, and that the Asp Scout is so cripplingly marginal its 'abilities' are mild at best making it a novelty ship that most, if not all people would never notice being removed from the game its so invisible.

 

[Northpin]

BGS murdering requires at times to get quickly to POIs like distress calls to kill them, and then fly out and back in again (based on timer). This requires turning around easily and frankly most ships do this well enough.

What you're describing is a matter of prioritization for the main purpose.
Which, in your case, is murdering. Obviously you'd prioritize the murder capabilities over SC turn speeds, so let's say a Phantom over an Asp Scout.

But if you remove Murder from equation, you dont need any murdering abilities and suddenly AspS SC turn rate (which is so much better than Phantom's) becomes more important.

So you will end up with 2 ships: a Murderer Phantom and an AspS Gatherer.
Actually that would be me - since i go with the "one role one ship" moto

 

[SteveWW57]

The OPs suggestions were to give positive changes but nothing about compensating with negative changes. After all, nothing comes without a cost, if it does then we just have an inflationary spiral and it would not be too long for further improvement suggestions.

Steve

 

[Rubbernuke]

What you're describing is a matter of prioritization for the main purpose.
Which, in your case, is murdering. Obviously you'd prioritize the murder capabilities over SC turn speeds, so let's say a Phantom over an Asp Scout.

But if you remove Murder from equation, you dont need any murdering abilities and suddenly AspS SC turn rate (which is so much better than Phantom's) becomes more important.

So you will end up with 2 ships: a Murderer Phantom and an AspS Gatherer.
Actually that would be me - since i go with the "one role one ship" moto

The point is: you over-estimate how useful SC agility is, considering most ships are not bad enough to make the Asp Scout warrant further attention- hence why improving the Asp Scout might make it more attractive to run. And just as I stated earlier the same holds true for many ships that have better equivalents, because other game mechanics have been left bare that could have made them worthy of consideration.

 

[Northpin]

The point is: you over-estimate how useful SC agility is, considering most ships are not bad enough to make the Asp Scout warrant further attention

I dont think i do.
It's a much lower difference between Kraits and Asp Explorer - but everytime i jump from the Krait to AspX i get a wide smile on my face
And AspS is even better than AspX

 

[Tividar]

<Crusader>
It's the only medium ship with 4 crew slots, able to fit an entire team... and a SLF Hangar

A fine ship overall.

The Crusader has always felt a little under-slotted to me. I think the problem is relative to the Challenger it loses both the medium hardpoint and "half" the internal space from knocking down the size 6 optional to a size 5 and has to use that slot for the SLF hangar. I'd like to see an additional Class 5 Optional, but I don't think there's room to fiddle with the hardpoints without stepping on the toes of the Challenger or Chieftain.

Even so, the Crusader is a great option for Odyssey.

 

[Lukozer]

As everyone is so keen to point out, it's been years since any of these ships were added to the game, if they weren't already included at launch, so the chances of any of them undergoing changes is pretty much at absolute zero.... Which is a good thing because we've had years to perfect the loadouts for them to suit our playing styles, so they don't need changes. Ship limitations require player flexibility to overcome, not constant demands for them to be given extra X, Y, Z. If a player is unable (or more likely unwilling) to adapt their loadout ideas then that is the fault of that player, not the game or the ship module options. What we want is new ships, not changes being made to existing ones.

Oh and another thing that has absolute zero chance of happening is the Cobra Mk.4 being made available for everyone, no matter how many billion times it's asked for, or how much said request is buried within posts.

As far as the actual suggestions go. Points 1, 1 and maybe even 1 may have some validity... but points 1 and 1 in particular are absolutely out.

 

[Northpin]

The Crusader has always felt a little under-slotted to me. I think the problem is relative to the Challenger it loses both the medium hardpoint and "half" the internal space from knocking down the size 6 optional to a size 5 and has to use that slot for the SLF hangar. I'd like to see an additional Class 5 Optional, but I don't think there's room to fiddle with the hardpoints without stepping the the toes of the Challenger or Chieftain.

Even so, the Crusader is a great option for Odyssey.

Indeed, the Crusader could use an extra size 5 Optional Internal.
It should be able to fit it given the fact that it has the biggest hull mass from the series and less space taken by hardpoints and it loses half a size 6 internal.

 

[Hooplah]

Greetings,

Many ships in previous game versions were somewhat silly being more about eye candy versus usefulness. Still there is room for a few like the Boa, Gecko, Panther Clipper and someday a player operated Thargoid ship. Given the current War maybe this will happen in the future. Real wars capture enemy equipment all the time. I also miss ships like the Interplanetary (IP) Shuttle (lose the Star Trek look), Orbit Shuttle and the Transporter designed to move commodities and passengers locally within a system to and from an orbiting station and a planetary base. That could be a quiet past time for a player.

Meanwhile a few tweaks here and there on the current ships would be easy to do taking minutes to change a line of code and expand what a player can do with them.

For years I've asked Frontier to change one of the class 3 internal slots to a class 4 on the Asp Explorer. This small change expands the possibilities of the ship in many play styles and is still well balanced with no increased advantage over other ships. On the immersion side Lakon Spaceways designed the Asp Scout with a class 4 slot and didn't have one left over for the Asp Explorer? They should be the same up to class 5 as well...they are both Asps.

Internal Slots
Scout 1 2 2 3 3 4 5
Asp X 1 2 2 3 3 3 5 6

Regards

 

[Jumpin' Jack Flash]

Hi Hoopla

...Boa, Gecko, Panther....Perhaps the 'Puma Shuttle' and the 'Tiger Trader' as well

What is the ship (bottom right) Thargoid?
Anyway, I would personally like to have a ship that resembles the classical circular 'UFO' (flying saucer) shape, just for the fun of it!

Jack

 

[Hooplah]

Hi Hoopla

...Boa, Gecko, Panther....Perhaps the 'Puma Shuttle' and the 'Tiger Trader' as well

What is the ship (bottom right) Thargoid?
Anyway, I would personally like to have a ship that resembles the classical circular 'UFO' (flying saucer) shape, just for the fun of it!

Jack

Yes, that's a Thargoid variation on the lower right.

As for the UFO one could fly 'The Invaders' TV show version in X-Plane 10 and was it called the Matagel Yeepee by the developers. A player could enter/exit, walk around the full interior, lights, landing gear worked and was very fast.

 

[V'larr]

What you're describing is a matter of prioritization for the main purpose.
Which, in your case, is murdering. Obviously you'd prioritize the murder capabilities over SC turn speeds, so let's say a Phantom over an Asp Scout.

But if you remove Murder from equation, you dont need any murdering abilities and suddenly AspS SC turn rate (which is so much better than Phantom's) becomes more important.

So you will end up with 2 ships: a Murderer Phantom and an AspS Gatherer.
Actually that would be me - since i go with the "one role one ship" moto

HGE relog farming is a lousy niche for a ship to have as its one sole redeemable feature.

 

[Northpin]

HGE relog farming is a lousy niche for a ship to have as its one sole redeemable feature.

I guess you missed this

Leaving behind the HGE relogging (been quite some time since i last did it, years i'd say), SC maneuverability is king for anyone that spends more time in SC than in normal space.

and this

Material gatherer, remember?
That means quickly navigating between HGEs - i once got 7 HGEs in the same system in less than 25 minutes - good SC maneuverabilty and SCA fast dropoff are paramount.

A space material gatherer will spend most of its time in supercruise - and, at least for me, it makes a lot of sense to pick a ship that can really turn in supercruise.
But obviously everyone should fly whatever they like (or can afford).

 

[V'larr]

I guess you missed this



and this




A space material gatherer will spend most of its time in supercruise - and, at least for me, it makes a lot of sense to pick a ship that can really turn in supercruise.
But obviously everyone should fly whatever they like (or can afford).

There is no other niche regarding supercruise activities that calls for 'highest possible SC pitch rate'.

You're not the first to note that it's something the Asp Scout has going for it. But that's the only thing. That's the problem with it. This game, in many ways, when it comes to ship design, does not present adequate viable options - there is always an objective "best option" owing to the way the numbers work out. The more shielding, the bigger the PD, the more optional slots/hardpoints available, the more maneuverability, the more options you have; and intentionally choosing to go without is intentionally choosing to restrict your own options.

Suggestions such as outlined in the OP tend to try to remedy that for a reason.

 

[Northpin]

There is no other niche regarding supercruise activities that calls for 'highest possible SC pitch rate'.

For you.
For me, as i already mentioned it, it is very valuable.. hence my preferred explorer is the AspX not the Phantom or the DBX so i'm willing to put up with AspX's cramped internals, crap shields and crap brakes to be able to enjoy it's SC maneuverability and it's cockpit view

 

[V'larr]

For you.
For me, as i already mentioned it, it is very valuable.. hence my preferred explorer is the AspX not the Phantom or the DBX so i'm willing to put up with AspX's cramped internals, crap shields and crap brakes to be able to enjoy it's SC maneuverability and it's cockpit view

The Asp X is not the Asp Scout... in case you forgot?

It's not a matter of subjectivity, either. This is talking about the cold hard numbers at play. There is not a single aspect of the Asp Scout, aside from the supercruise pitch rate, that is superior to other options, not even within its relative size/credit price range. You and everyone else are free to use a ship if you want and how you want, these facts will remain facts nonetheless without a change from Fdev.

 

[Northpin]

The Asp X is not the Asp Scout... in case you forgot?

Nope. I was just expressing the value i put on SC maneuverability by picking an AspX over a Phantom (a sacrilege for some)

AspS has even better SC maneuverability than AspX

 

[Darrack]

picking an AspX over a Phantom

My type of explorer, clearly the AspX is superior to the Phantom.

Ill get my tin hat.

O7