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Starfarer Tanker: The Ultimate Trade Ship


Jaxon Corvid

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I was thinking how cool it would be to have a make-shift refueling "station" with a tanker sitting in orbit of a gas giant, perhaps even two or three that go into the upper atmosphere to restock on fuel. It could be a lucrative business if the nearest port is far away and explorers would definitely benefit.

 

Other then that, flying a big hauler would just be a load of fun. Ive always been fond of the space-trucker idea.

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I was thinking how cool it would be to have a make-shift refueling "station" with a tanker sitting in orbit of a gas giant, perhaps even two or three that go into the upper atmosphere to restock on fuel. It could be a lucrative business if the nearest port is far away and explorers would definitely benefit.

 

Other then that, flying a big hauler would just be a load of fun. Ive always been fond of the space-trucker idea.

From my understanding, starfarer can have one of the tanks converted to fuel refinery and can refuel other ships in space. 

Or have all tanks loaded with fuel, or change them for containers for solid goods. 

Dont forget about starfarer Gemini as well that UEE military uses.

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From my understanding, starfarer can have one of the tanks converted to fuel refinery and can refuel other ships in space. 

Or have all tanks loaded with fuel, or change them for containers for solid goods. 

Dont forget about starfarer Gemini as well that UEE military uses.

 

I know that "Refinery Tools" is one of the ship upgrades that CIG has specifically mentioned in the Ship Design Document. I haven't heard about the Starfarer having to convert one of its storage tanks to be used for the refining process.

 

IMOit would make more sense to refit a Starfarer (or a larger ship, like an Idris) as a mobile refinery, dedicated to processing raw fuel delivered by Starfarer tankers, rather than for Starfarers to carry their own refinery tools. At least, that's how I think Imperium T&I should operate our fuel operations. It would be more cost effective to have a few dedicated mobile refinery ships, and more efficient to have Starfarer tankers hauling raw fuel, deliver it to the refinery ship, fill up with refined fuel, and deliver it to market. :)

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  • 1 month later...

Not sure how you can see out of that cockpit. Maybe drive in third person mode.

 

Just looking at the statements made by CIG on the Constellation variants, there is no way that Starfarer will be the ultimate trade ship. No ship is built to be the best of all. So likely it will be the best in liquid transportation, but when it comes to dry goods it just cannot be the best. 

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Not sure how you can see out of that cockpit. Maybe drive in third person mode.

 

Just looking at the statements made by CIG on the Constellation variants, there is no way that Starfarer will be the ultimate trade ship. No ship is built to be the best of all. So likely it will be the best in liquid transportation, but when it comes to dry goods it just cannot be the best. 

I read that as you need escorts since you can transport stuff well but cant really defend yourself.

As for the fuel tanks, they can be changed to containers to carry solid stuff.

Also keep in mind that how a ship handles varies depending of the mass of the ship, that includes cargo.  A fully loaded starfarer will not be fun to evade stuff with.

 

Finally, I like where they got the inspiration for the cockpit but would like a bit more field of view.

777-k58380.jpg

This is cockpit of B777 for reference.

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I'd be somewhat surprised if people looked at all those pictures and thought they were anything other than old WIP images, unless they were shown a selective handful which didnt include all the absolutely hideous alternatives.
Its quite remarkable that with all of those alternatives, not one of them has any redeemable features IMO. The one similar to the TNGS ship is passable, but bland IMO, and the rest are either awful, look fairly alien-like designs, or dont have a style or character which is relate-able to a fuel transporter.
TG3kCzR.jpg


These few pictures i find interesting, the internal planning (seeing as we've only previously seen concept art for external views) and the final image with the different options of # of fuel containers (no 4 tanks, oddly) and the box cargo variant, further confirming its in the works.

sbdEnZB.jpg
E5xN5S2.jpg

7cmC7wd.jpg

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Quote from Ben yesterday on the WIP pics

 

 

 

 

Per Ben above - these are WIP pics - and like the Freelancer they will probably improve the visibility - based on Player Comments like illustrated in this pic below (so don't be concerned if you own a Starfarer - on this issue).

 

Uluypt9.jpg

 

Why do Star Ships need "Windows" anyway - just have a "Screen" project whatever is out there from whatever angle or magnification you want ;)

 

ko8q2p8.jpg

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Per Ben above - these are WIP pics - and like the Freelancer they will probably improve the visibility - based on Player Comments like illustrated in this pic below (so don't be concerned if you own a Starfarer - on this issue).

 

Uluypt9.jpg

 

Why do Star Ships need "Windows" anyway - just have a "Screen" project whatever is out there from whatever angle or magnification you want ;)

 

ko8q2p8.jpg

 

Agreed, especially on things larger than a 1 man fighter...

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Hey, just want to put this out there... What do you think the escorts will consist of? Everybody seems to be thinking of fighter escorts but I personally wouldn't go down that route. 

 

If the fleet gets attacked, there is nowhere to repair a fighter. On the other hand, ships like the redeemer and connie can be self sufficient. As far as we can tell, they will probably have fuel stores to last the whole trip, they are made to operate alone, they should have a much better self repair ability and they can pull double duty (pull extra cargo, serve as medical ships, carry security teams to counter boarding parties etc)

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I see your point but I still think you'd want some fighter escorts, which would be more nimble and run circles around the redeemer and connie.  Maybe you'd want to have a support wing (medical, repair, fuel) follow in the next star system behind so they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire.

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I own a Starfarer, and I wouldn't give it up for a Connie though I certainly look forward to earning one of those in-game. I just think It's kind of disappointing how such a large ship only has 2 people on it. I mean semi-tractor trailers only have a driver or two people, but I feel like the Starfarer is more like an ocean freight ship. I can understand not wanting a large transport ship to have several combat capabilities, but perhaps only two people could actively engage in combat through piloting and  turrets, but why not allow more players or NPCs on board utilize mechanics of the mining, salvaging, refining process?

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

 

Often, numbers were envisioned before the systems that would support them were fully fleshed out, and those systems also were changing and evolving over the course of development. So what we initially thought would define (as much as a handful of numbers can define anything) a ship that served a particular purpose wasn’t always the same as what that ship would end up actually being. Once artists start conceptualizing these visually, things change even more. We might have thought initially that the M50 would be about the same size as the Hornet, but it turned out much smaller (and really awesome looking, to boot). The Idris doubled in size during construction (that’s one reason why it’s a frigate now). The Starfarer tripled just because the concept art looked so cool at that larger size!

B)

 

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14142-Design-Updating-Ship-Stats-For-Gameplay

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"The Starfarer tripled just because the concept art looked so cool at that larger size!"

 

source

 

Are they referring to the original now leaked renders of the Starfarer in a couple of posts above, or is this a consequence of the Starfarer receiving another round in the development process and is being overhauled?

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I hope the cockpit/bridge ends up with excellent visibility, piloting something that big you need it!

 

Regards the screen projector for cock pit view, not a bad idea if you had shutters or armor deploy for re entry, combat or what ever... but to replace it would just kill the romance of being in space. Imagine being on the space shuttle and not being able to look out the window...

 

"I went outside today and the graphics sux.." Kids these days I guess :)

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Per new ACv0.9:

 

Starfarer owners get the asteroid hangar.

We get any hangar we like, dont we??

Its there to be selected in the 'Hangar' page of the RSI website where our purchases are displayed.

 

Yeah, i got excited about that at first, but the way they've phrased it, "The Starfarer tripled just because the concept art looked so cool at that larger size!" suggests they picked a concept art which was much larger than anticipated, which is the concept art we got to begin with. There was a lot of Fugly concepts, and a lot of them were quite small, and yet the Starfarer is only shadowed by the Idris (from regular ships).

 

Personally, i think its big enough, it already holds a lot and bigger just means easier to spot on a radar.

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Hey, just want to put this out there... What do you think the escorts will consist of? Everybody seems to be thinking of fighter escorts but I personally wouldn't go down that route. 

 

If the fleet gets attacked, there is nowhere to repair a fighter. On the other hand, ships like the redeemer and connie can be self sufficient. As far as we can tell, they will probably have fuel stores to last the whole trip, they are made to operate alone, they should have a much better self repair ability and they can pull double duty (pull extra cargo, serve as medical ships, carry security teams to counter boarding parties etc)

 

I posted in the Gladius thread a while back wondering if anyone had similar plans to me, with their Gladius. What im planning on doing is buying a 2nd one (as i only bought the first one out of interest, not really sure why i did tbh, but i had RSI credit so i did) and then about a month after i remembered the old video (link) which displayed the 5 hornets flying together in formation, and it got me thinking i'd quite fancy doing this and buying another Gladius.

Its an old but capable fighter, lacks the modern features of the Hornet but its still a combat hardened ship, not a 300i playing pew-pew. Im not that bothered about seeking combat in the PU, unless its mission specific (bounty hunting, pirate attacks etc) but i think taking the Starfarer out, with a pair of AI piloted Gladius' would certainly be better than nothing, and if i can get a few friends to come on the run too, even better. Obviously you'd have to assess the risk factor, cos 2 Gladius' isnt going to stop a group looking for a fight, but it would hopefully put off a couple of opportunist chancers who see a sole Starfarer ripe for plucking.

Hopefully the ships upgrade slots will allow for a repair unit (drones), but obviously there will be other options which might be better suited, such as EMP protection, flares suite, hacking protection etc. So you'd decide whether prevention of some threats would be more effective than a repair drone to repair you when you've been in a fight, and is really only much use if you survive the fight, which something else might give you a better chance of survival.

But im sure we'll have the option of repairs, but at the expense of something else useful. There is the possibility a ship in the escort could provide those too (a Cutlass perhaps), but i'd still rather go out with fighter escort, than utility ships. We wont really know what will work best till we're in the PU though, but its always nice to think about these things ahead of time. Had i thought ahead and bought 2 Gladius' then they'd both have LTI applied it seems, whereas now any future Gladius i buy wouldnt (cos it almost certainly wont go on sale till its in-hangar).

 

I own a Starfarer, and I wouldn't give it up for a Connie though I certainly look forward to earning one of those in-game. I just think It's kind of disappointing how such a large ship only has 2 people on it. I mean semi-tractor trailers only have a driver or two people, but I feel like the Starfarer is more like an ocean freight ship. I can understand not wanting a large transport ship to have several combat capabilities, but perhaps only two people could actively engage in combat through piloting and  turrets, but why not allow more players or NPCs on board utilize mechanics of the mining, salvaging, refining process?

The ship stats list how many crew are required to operate the ship to its full capability.

There is a big roof mounted turret, and then 2 smaller guns either side of the cockpit, so you'd assume thats pilot (with basic combat capability) and a gunner.

 

Thats not to say any ship cant fit as many people into them as there is room for. You could get a good 20 people into the Starfarer i'd imagine, but they wouldnt have a role to play as such, but that doesnt mean they cant come along for the ride.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I was excited reading about the Reclaimer... it's tipped to have 2500 cargo units and 20k salvage capacity. I don't want one ATM TBH but this bit in particular got my attention...

 

"Cargo Disclaimer: The Reclaimer is a big ship! Much of the internal volume is taken up with salvage machinery and storage for scrap metal. Nevertheless, it does have a large cargo hold which can be used for standard freight. We are currently in the process of taking proper in-engine measurements, and existing cargo numbers for older ships are likely to shift. Expect to see the cargo capacity of several ships increase as we move from ‘paper design’ to finding out what actually fits aboard the 3D models. The intent is for the Banu Merchantman, Hull C and Starfarer to have more ‘pure cargo’ space than the Reclaimer, followed by the Caterpillar and then the Freelancer MAX."

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14171-Concept-Sale-Unveiling-The-Aegis-Reclaimer

 

 

So really happy about having at least 2500 cargo for my Starfarer and whatever capacity we end up with for fuel, liquids and or cargo if the freight modules are swappable and not hull dependent .

 

Short rant kinda off topic...

When I pledged for these ships we had rough tonnages to go off... and the Catterpillar was touted as the Freelancers evil twin. What a bum steer that turned out to be!

Freelancer having some paltry amount 168 FU's and the Caterpillar having 3600 FU's. I liked the Catterpillar but not the asymetrical design and side car cockpit is fail for a freight / loot/ salvage vehicle IMO. Though I wold have bought one if I had known about the huge difference in cargo capacity.

 

Anyhoo now I'm not so pissed off about it, knowing that the Starfarer at least will have some capacity. I still think CIG should offer the Caterpillar again with LTI as we were given some major misinformation. 

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