What would your perfect player ship look like?

[Zandros]

I am curious If you could snap your finger and put your dream ship for personal use into the game what would it look like?

Mine would be a very small L ship, just big enough to fit in the features I want and much closer to a frigate in handling and speed than to a destroyer.
My wish list for features would be 2 S docks with 3 Storage capacity. Enough for a personal fighter in storage when you need it and 4 fighters on intercept mission to help deal with enemy fighter swarms.
A carriers capability to repair and rearm docked ships.
Enough M turrets for full coverage, so maybe 6 or so.
5 main guns in size M so a quartet of guns and a Missile Launcher of some sort or maybe 3 anti shield and 2 anti hull with a boron ship.

Essentially an over-sized frigate by X4’s standards or a vessel that actually deserves that designation because X4 frigates feel more like slightly over-sized corvettes.

[Alan Phipps]

My dream ship would be very like the one you just described, but used effectively in prolific numbers by my current mortal enemy. Basically a worthy challenge ship to defeat or capture in patient detail or in frenzied numbers.

What would I be flying to do all that? Why one of my trusty and in-game tweaked Cobras of course (with some friends along too). (Ah bliss!)

[MegaJohnny]

I was gonna write a reply but I can only completely agree!

I would love to see a ship of this kind for each race - in the same way as when M7s came in with X3TC.

[Calgor Grim]

A very large freighter like the 40k Universe Class Mass Conveyor.

A ship which can store a stations worth of building wares and while it might be the slowest thing in the known universe it stores everything I need to build. Might need a few transports to fill it up but who cares, I have monstrous cargo capacity to not need a conga line of freighters.

[Nanook]

I would never want a 'perfect' ship. There's too much fun to be had learning to effectively use and fly all different kinds of ships. It's one reason I put aside the X-Shuttle. It made things too easy and I found myself flying nothing else. It does sell for lots of credits, though.

[vvvvvvvv]

I am curious If you could snap your finger and put your dream ship for personal use into the game what would it look like?

Complete interior, a chair I can sit on and a bed I can actually lie on. Maybe a separate area with a workbench and bunch of interactive nonsense. Astrid is close to the ideal, although most of stuff in it is non-interactive (can't sit on most chairs, can't swim in the pool, can't get hammered at the bar and wake up at the other side of the galaxy).

While astrid is close to the ideal, this could be a very small ship and it does not need to be luxurious. For example, Manticore is close to this. Courier is almost right, but lacks chairs. Speaking of which, Rebirth's Skunk interior was also close to that ideal.

[birdtable]

Mine would look like a massive pair of ears ,,,, So that it listened to what I told it to do.

[chew-ie]

Nebulon B Frigate - external docking clamp for corvettes, internal hangar for a pack of fighters, plenty of point defense against fighters.

[Carador]

I think the current looks of the ships are actually quite cool. However, I would perhaps like to see S / M ships where the weapons and drives don't protrude so much from the front and rear of the ship, but are rather built into the chassis. Similar to fighter planes in WWII, where the weapons were mostly inside the wings and not in front or underneath them.

[alexthespaniard]

I think it all depends on the player and the needs and type of ship.
The common elements in terms of virtues that I think the different types of ships share according to the type of size are:

Attack: good attack capacity and shield.
Torpedo: many weapons and speed.
Exploration: Lots of speed and shield.
Anti-air: many weapons.
Miner: 3 main extraction weapons and good storage capacity and speed.(drones)
Trade: Good capacity and speed.

Having said that, for my personal use in S size I like a ship with good speed and many weapons. I miss ships with s turrets.
In M size I like to use two types of ships, one very aggressive like the Split, those that do not have to shoot. With turrets. For me the perfect M ship would be one with many turrets, 2 hangars and with an interesting speed.

As for the L, there are also 2 types: Destroyers and aircraft carriers. Again I'm a player who considers shooting to be for S and M size. I like to feel like I have people managing the systems. So a ship with my own seat that can oversee different parts of the ship (that have some utility) I also like having my own personal space. I like seeing my room and my office. I like immersive games where you build something that lasts, but also has those exciting moments, feeling alive and dynamic.

So a ship with a decent speed, with a good shield and a battery of 6 L turrets and no main battery with a hangar m and 4 s...

If it is an aircraft carrier type, I like it to be 1 m and at least 6 or 8 S-sized hangars. In this sense I understand that it has fewer L-sized turrets.

There are also several types of XL, Auxiliary, Cruiser and Aircraft Carrier. In these the feeling of being in a colossus must be magnanimous. The level of habitability and detail must be enormous, one must feel that any of these ships could be the mother ship of the fleet. We are talking about very armed ships with a lot of shielding.

Again, with this size of ship I don't want to shoot, I want to observe my fleet and see how they follow my orders. If it is a Battleship, the more turrets the better and above all a good shield.
If we talk about the aircraft carrier, there are many hangars for ships and a good speed. Sometimes it is not clear to me that the number of stored ships as well as the drones is not well balanced.

As for the perfect auxiliary ship, it is one with a good shield, good speed and the ability to serve many s + m ships and with 2 ports to repair L and XL size ships.

Ships that would be missing:
S recycling ships
M repair ships
Collision ships with a good speed with hardly any shield and a large hull without many weapons.
Personnel transport ships or Training ships.
M-sized drones.
More types of drones.
Drone carrier.

[Thomas2052]

Mine would be a very small L ship, just big enough to fit in the features I want and much closer to a frigate in handling and speed than to a destroyer.
My wish list for features would be 2 S docks with 3 Storage capacity. Enough for a personal fighter in storage when you need it and 4 fighters on intercept mission to help deal with enemy fighter swarms.
A carriers capability to repair and rearm docked ships.
Enough M turrets for full coverage, so maybe 6 or so.
5 main guns in size M so a quartet of guns...

This would suit me to the ground. The Sapporo is so close. Not a fan of the M main weapons idea (I like the launchers), but would love controllable turrets like X2 (I think it was) and perhaps some good, long range weapons to play with that.

Nebulon B Frigate - external docking clamp for corvettes, internal hangar for a pack of fighters, plenty of point defense against fighters.

But coupled with that idea! The Sapporo could definitely slot an M class under that bridge-like part. At the moment, only the Odysseus Destroyer can carry an M, which would be key feature to have.

Complete interior, a chair I can sit on and a bed I can actually lie on. Maybe a separate area with a workbench and bunch of interactive nonsense.

And that! I would settle for the Paranid expedition leader's office from the Boron storyline. Maybe the ability to denote a ship your flagship - gains that room, the carrier command list, and a few other goodies (can't think what).

-

I would also love drones to be expanded and more dedicated drone ships - the H is a great personal ship in that style - 70 drones and fast M2 laser tower deployment counters S/M attacks, 16 fighter storage fast deployed through the drone ports with torpedos to counter L/XL (I will have Moreyas to match the xenon aesthetic) and fast and maneuverable enough to be fun to fly whilst reasonable hull and shields don't make it overpowered (like the Sapporo).

I just wish the bridge didn't have that god-awful red glare! A light switch or mood options, and I think this would be my main ship - love the small crew size that makes it feel like an intimate, special ops ship.

Regards

[surferx]

I would never want a 'perfect' ship. There's too much fun to be had learning to effectively use and fly all different kinds of ships. It's one reason I put aside the X-Shuttle. It made things too easy and I found myself flying nothing else. It does sell for lots of credits, though.

Exactly! Whenever someone talks about an "IWIN" ship they aren't thinking about game balance, where each ship has been meticulously designed with its own strengths and weaknesses. IWIN ships eliminate challenges which make the game fun to play.

[Zandros]

Lots of interesting responses, hey and some even agree with my ideal ship idea!

A very large freighter like the 40k Universe Class Mass Conveyor.

I am assuming you read player ship as ship I would use and not as I would want to fly personally? But yeah this does sound useful and easier than chaining up dozens of trade orders. But definitely not a ship I would want to pilot myself.

Mine would look like a massive pair of ears ,,,, So that it listened to what I told it to do.

I think that falls under AI improvement.

Again, with this size of ship I don't want to shoot, I want to observe my fleet and see how they follow my orders. If it is a Battleship, the more turrets the better and above all a good shield.
If we talk about the aircraft carrier, there are many hangars for ships and a good speed. Sometimes it is not clear to me that the number of stored ships as well as the drones is not well balanced.

I get you there I personally don’t like how sluggish the big ships feel to personally fly which is why I rarely fly them myself, but I also just want a bit more capable ship than what the frigate offers, hence my ideal ship. Honestly I ships as sluggish as the x destroyers would be better served with XL turrets than they Main guns.
What is a Collision ship however? You mean meant for ramming?

Not a fan of the M main weapons idea (I like the launchers), but would love controllable turrets like X2 (I think it was) and perhaps some good, long range weapons to play with that.

Well the destroyer main batteries would be too large for a ship like what described and I kinda would like some flexibility and options for the load-out anyway hence I got the idea of just using M weapons.

[Zandros]

I would never want a 'perfect' ship. There's too much fun to be had learning to effectively use and fly all different kinds of ships. It's one reason I put aside the X-Shuttle. It made things too easy and I found myself flying nothing else. It does sell for lots of credits, though.

Exactly! Whenever someone talks about an "IWIN" ship they aren't thinking about game balance, where each ship has been meticulously designed with its own strengths and weaknesses. IWIN ships eliminate challenges which make the game fun to play.

Well I wouldn't want an I win ship just something in between a frigate and destroyer in size because as powerful as destroyers are, they are just to sluggish for me to enjoy flying.

[Calgor Grim]

Lots of interesting responses, hey and some even agree with my ideal ship idea!

A very large freighter like the 40k Universe Class Mass Conveyor.

I am assuming you read player ship as ship I would use and not as I would want to fly personally? But yeah this does sound useful and easier than chaining up dozens of trade orders. But definitely not a ship I would want to pilot myself.

No, I did. I'll take a manual trade run if I'm piloting a station sized freighter packed to the rafters with cargo, spacefuel and the like. A home away from home.

[jlehtone]

what would it look like?

Hideous. Pink. Or both, if possible.

[alexthespaniard]

I get you there I personally don’t like how sluggish the big ships feel to personally fly which is why I rarely fly them myself, but I also just want a bit more capable ship than what the frigate offers, hence my ideal ship. Honestly I ships as sluggish as the x destroyers would be better served with XL turrets than they Main guns.
What is a Collision ship however? You mean meant for ramming?

for ramming, exactly if I mean an "L" ship that you see coming you die of fear because you know that despite not having much life if it rams you it can easily destroy you.

I think it would add a very fun tactical aspect in that if you are the aggressor you must manage the timing to ram. And if you are the defender you must avoid at all costs that they come close. L ships because the S and L could be camcaze drones so it makes no sense to receive damage on your own ships after the impact. And because the S and L are too small and fast to be implemented in a fun way.

In the end they would be L ships with very little shield, a lot of hull and a speed that allows you to destroy them if they come to you. But you cannot allow yourself to let them get close because they can be devastating. Every time they ram the same one loses shield and hull but they have alot of hull and a bonus for ramming.

[LameFox]

The Odachi is probably the closest to a perfect player ship for me. Capable, mobile, not hideous, and has an immersive interior. Plus, being an M ship it can land on my bigger capitals when I don't feel like flying personally (I could teleport but I actually prefer not to a lot of the time). All it's really missing is a robust set of equipment for customization purposes, but frankly, this whole game is missing that.

I'd give this to the Astrid but it seems like it was designed to be as unpleasant as possible for a player to fly.

[gbjbaanb]

I am curious If you could snap your finger and put your dream ship for personal use into the game what would it look like?

Mine would be a very small L ship, just big enough to fit in the features I want and much closer to a frigate in handling and speed than to a destroyer.
My wish list for features would be 2 S docks with 3 Storage capacity. Enough for a personal fighter in storage when you need it and 4 fighters on intercept mission to help deal with enemy fighter swarms.
A carriers capability to repair and rearm docked ships.
Enough M turrets for full coverage, so maybe 6 or so.
5 main guns in size M so a quartet of guns and a Missile Launcher of some sort or maybe 3 anti shield and 2 anti hull with a boron ship.

Essentially an over-sized frigate by X4’s standards or a vessel that actually deserves that designation because X4 frigates feel more like slightly over-sized corvettes.

so, a nemesis vanguard with 2 S docks and 4 extra turrets. Though TBH I think 1 S dock and 2 turrets would be quite acceptable.

[GCU Grey Area]

Boron frigate.

Not remotely interested in unbalanced IWIN ships. However I adore Boron ships, I'm very fond of frigates (best ships in the game for personal use as far as I'm concerned) & love those wierd Boron guns (& other Boron gear). Biggest disappointment for me with the Kingdom End DLC was the lack of a frigate. Would not need to be anything fancy - standard frigate setup would be absolutely fine; couple of main guns, 4 turrets & an S dock with capacity for a single S ship in an internal hanger.