[Suggestion] Tala Juun parjoms prebvu busap

[Suggestion] How Huge ships might work

Tividar · 2022-06-27T00:53:36+00:00

The Panther Clipper, Boa, Imperial Explorer, and [Nameless Federal Cruiser] would all be welcome additions to Elite. As Huge ships, they wouldn't fit on any of the existing Large pads (and couldn't get through the mail slot). But they don't really need to do they? Add a "ship hanger" optional module and you could store and use the smaller "ship-launched-ship" (SLS) for interacting with Stations and Planetary bases that lack Huge facilities. The smaller ships could be deployed in the same way we deploy Fighters and SRVs. The Dismiss/Recall ship command available to an active SRV could be used here as well. Note: this is not the Carrier Hanger module. More like an SLF Hanger. No Landing Pads, no outfitting services. Allow transfer of Cargo between the Huge ship and its smaller companion. We already have the interface from working with the Carrier. Allow the Huge ship's AMFU to repair/rearm ships in its Hanger, and allow ships in the Hanger to refuel from Hydrogen stores in the Huge ships Cargo. The Huge ship would have a traditional fuel tank, but since it can't refuel at a station, it would need Hydrogen Cargo donated (same UI as for a Carrier). To rearm the Huge ship, we need a new Commodity type (a generic ammunition item). "Convert" the rearming costs to tonnage at a standard rate (20,000 Cr per Ton?). Collectively, to refuel and rearm your ship, you launch a Ship-Launched-Ship, land at a station and take on Hydrogen and Ammunition Cargo. Return to your Huge ship and transfer the cargo to the Fuel Tank and Ammunition Stores. Excess goes to Cargo (which can be transferred to the Huge ship later as needed). Repairs to the Huge ship are handled via repair limpets (slow) or by visiting a Carrier Construction Dock and requesting repair via the Communication [Contact] Panel (where you'd normally request docking permission. The Carrier Construction Dock would be the only way to repair structural damage or damage to the engine module. For wing-play, allow wing-mates to dock if there's available hanger space (same UI as for a SLF). As a non-persistent asset, if the Huge ship logs out, the wing-mate is left in normal space at the Huge ship's location (exactly as if a CMDR logged out while not docked with a station). Allow a crewman to be assigned to (turreted) weapons on the huge ship. The benefit is turrets now ignore chaff in the same way a multi-crew gunner ignores chaff. Huge ships are not going to be dog-fighters, and functional Turrets would be a necessity against smaller ships. I'd unlock the 3rd crewman for a second active SLF/SLS as well. A fabrications module that converted mineable commodities into generic "Ammunition Cargo" would allow a Huge ship to fulfill a deep-space exploration mission for as long as its powerplant stayed functional. With this implementation, a Huge ship could be configured as a mobile base for a solo player - a non-persistent asset without an upkeep cost.