player bound to a single ship

[bill2505]

what this mean that you will not be able to change ship.
am i the only one that worries about this
also is there going to be a seamless planetary travel

[caleb]

The info we have up to now states that we will be on board a large, modular and customizable ship. However, we will be able to control a variety of drones remotely for some dog-fighting action.

I'm not sure on the 2nd question. You mean travel from one planet to another? Or atmospheric flight? For interplanetary travel, we will have "highways" what accelerate our ship to high speeds. Atmospheric flight, I have no idea on that one.

[bill2505]

[Seon]

They might be going the path of Darkstar One on the player ship. Only get one ship, but you can upgrade it into something even more powerful.

[bill2505]

[caleb]

We have to wait for more info on what we can control or not. We CAN fly other ships, you just control them remotely (combat drones). We do not know yet if we will be able to control larger ships (corvette class for example).

This has some advantages. We can fly small M4/M5 class ships, and we will not automatically lose the game if they go *splat* in some M2 windshield. It makes more sense that the player sits in the position of a commander, and not a grunt pilot.

I do understand the sandbox aspect of the game as well, but there have to be certain limitations in place to guide the player in the direction Egosoft wants us to go. It seems they want us to move to the role of commander, and make the game more tactical/strategic (ordering ships to disable turrets/shields/engines), while still retaining the ability to manually fly some ships (VR controls). Personally, I like the direction, and sincerely, after 3 full games plus countless mods, we kind of need something new...

[Seon]

XBTF had only one ship you could pilot. And it is loved by many here. This seems like an improvement on that imo. They are using part of a concept that has worked for them in the past, and improving on it. I was a little shaken by this 1-ship deal, but so far that's being swept under the carpet.

[Musicker]

People need to relax and check it out before making judgements on whether they will or will not buy it.
I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunity to get input from those of us who are absolutely, without a doubt going to buy it and try it when it's finally released.

Sure, they're limiting us to a single player ship, but they're expanding other aspects. You couldn't walk around the ship you were flying in previous games.. that alone sounds like a super cool feature to me.

[Gazz]

[DJ0JJ]

[Mightysword]

[corhen]

i reserve the right to reserve judgment on how awsome/lack of awsome this feature is untill the game is out

[Ludicer]

also being discussed here : http://forum.egosoft.com/viewtopic.php?t=307828

Just wanted to mention for those who missed the topic, and post the thread's link instead of making several quotes from there

[Playbahnosh]

Chillax people! Don't be hasty in drawing conclusions from a few snippets of information. Go read the sticky where they explain the new playership/drone concept.

As I see it, nothing will be taken away from the look&feel of the old control scheme. In vanilla X3 and TC there were no cockpits or bridges, only a HUD, and it was the same for all ships from tiny scouts to capital ships. Just like if you had been controlling them from the same VR system all along. At least I always roleplayed it that way (when I got access to bigger ships in my games, I always named one of them my "flagship" and roleplayed that when I switch ships I only VR control those other ships while staying safe and sound aboard my flagship.)

It looks like the Egosoft guys read my mind

Aside from having a canon explanation why there are no cockpits for all the hundreds of types of ships, this brings many improvements. For one thing, you won't "die" when your drone explodes. If you have the cash, you can now go on literal suicide runs with your drones.

Second, this removes the size and design restrictions from all ships (drones). I believe we'll still get a huge and diverse selection of ships including most of the ship classes we had before, and then some. But now, that a cockpit/life-support/etc is no longer necessary, ships can be as small or as elaborate in design as we want. Imagine controlling a tiny spy drone and flying inside a capital ship or station, or tailing somebody without them noticing, being camouflaged as an asteroid or a storage crate or whatever. Also, this can give birth to VR controlled missiles, spy modules, boarding pods, etc, the possibilities are endless.

Also, we'll get a fully modeled and animated flagship, which you can actually walk around in, use the many rooms and facilities it has, talk to all the NPCs, maybe customize it a little (kinda like the Normandy in Mass Effect). Plus, you'll get to upgrade your flagship with better engines, shields, weapons, gear and maybe specialize it to your own liking (like Darkstar One). If that isn't totally awesome, I don't know what is.

And you can still remote control and give detailed orders to all your drones via the AI menu and all your other NPC-controlled ships via the "going there are telling them to their face" method.

Also, EVA suits are overrated. Most people only used the EVA because of the repair laser. I bet if that wasn't the only way to repair ships for free, most player would've never even noticed that feature

[ezra-r]

The you cant switch ships is a role thing I think, as mentioned by Bernd controlling drones will be as if controlling other ships, just that you return to the main ship when finished or command them remotely, just as when you piloted your favourite M2 and used transporter device back and forth.

So I don't think we will miss the miriad of ships we found in previous games, this time there will be drones.

I really believe this will make the game for focused on specialized ships/drones instead of a miriad of ships that are all too similar.

Just my opinion/speculation, anxious to get the new game on my hands (or steam)