get we ever more ships to fly again

[Maharaja]

I miss THE more ships we can fly a lot in rebirth
I love to trade so I want to fly a big ship to trade and don't want the ai letting it do it
Is there plans for a expention that will add the function to fly all ships again
Or is that a plan for a new game of the x series
I think I'm not the only one with this whish to fly all ships again

[Zloth]

Nope. This is a different game - which is why it's called "X Rebirth" instead of "X4: Something Or Other". There have been no announcements about any X4 game (beyond Egosoft saying years ago that X3:TC would be the last of the series).

[Nanook]

It doesn't have to be 'X4' to have multiple ships to fly. Why is it that any time anyone mentions wanting to fly more than one ship, some people assume they're wanting 'X4'? Don't you think Rebirth would be enhanced if you could fly more than just the Skunk?

[jasonbarron]

I don't care one way or the other about flying multiple ships, but I would however like to see an honest stab at giving the Skunk a true upgrade path, one that actually satisfied the desire for different play styles.

[BigBANGtheory]

It doesn't have to be 'X4' to have multiple ships to fly. Why is it that any time anyone mentions wanting to fly more than one ship, some people assume they're wanting 'X4'? Don't you think Rebirth would be enhanced if you could fly more than just the Skunk?

...because they can't say its ALPHA

I think Jason raises a good point, in that the absence or shallowness of certain XR features feeds the desire to 'fly more ships'. If for example you could radically upgrade the Skunk or perform more detailed movement orders/commands of your ships that would imho satisfy a lot of players.

In answer to the OP, I think we will at some point see more flyable ships certainly in X Universe perhaps not XR. It all depends on what type of lifecycle Egosoft has planned for XR, I don't doubt the core game will live on but I suspect we will see a new product in the next 1-2yrs as opposed to just a long stream of DLC. That's just my opinion we'll see...

[Len5]

Just the Skunk is OK, but it would be nicer if ES could add 1 or 2 (different kinds of) flyable ships. Asking for all ships to be flyable is too extreme.

[ZaphodBeeblebrox]

Personally I would like something like the Centaur. Maybe a little larger, with a landing bay or similar for the Skunk.

I could have mutliple rooms and more crew. Allowing me to carry round several sets of crew for stations and ships.

It could also have user controls, turrets and some nice big missiles.

Giving it a jump drive would be good to. But it would still only be able to jump to beacons.

However, I would still have to get back into the Skunk to do all the other things like dock at other ships and stations.

If this vessel was attacked by fighters, I would also probablly be better off using the Skunk, for its speed and agility.

[GCU Grey Area]

If for example you could radically upgrade the Skunk or perform more detailed movement orders/commands of your ships that would imho satisfy a lot of players.

Not me. Upgrade options are good to have, however the main reason I liked multiple flyable ships in the old X games was having a progression from a tiny starting vessel to increasingly bigger & better ships. For example, would have much rather started my current trade-based game flying one of those tiny Bulk Carriers you see in the mass traffic around stations, then trading up to a Gigurum, then on to larger trade vessels, only flying a ship with the capabilities of the Skunk in the late game (M6 was often my preferred end-game ship class in the old X games, rarely flew anything bigger). No matter how many upgrade options they gave the Skunk it wouldn't address that issue. Essentially I'd just prefer to have satisfaction of gaining a ship like the Skunk by my own efforts, over the course of several weeks or months, rather than just being given it for free right at the start.

[bmtv0957]

I don't care one way or the other about flying multiple ships, but I would however like to see an honest stab at giving the Skunk a true upgrade path, one that actually satisfied the desire for different play styles.

In lieu of another ship to fly, I would settle for a proper upgrade path for the skunk. Being able to significantly alter its looks and role in the game. Turn it from a fighter into a miner, or extending its hull into a lager cargo hold for use as a transporter. Maybe even outfitting it with repair lasers so it can help build stations faster and repair ships. Or go the other direction, and skim off all the unnecessary fat and turn it into a lightning quick fighter craft that can turn on a dime.

[piep]

Being able to significantly alter its looks and role in the game.

This is something I'd love to see. Making the Skunk a module-based ship, so that its look becomes role dependent.

[euclid]

Being able to significantly alter its looks and role in the game.

This is something I'd love to see. Making the Skunk a module-based ship, so that its look becomes role dependent.

There is a movement in the S&M forum to attempt a mod that allows to fly other ships but imho that is a rather long shot and may actually never be possible.

However, I do agree with piep and others here. It would be possible to introduce several different extensions/expansions of the Skunk that provide a choice for the player to turn it into anything from a super fighter to a battle carrier.

But again this would not only require new meshes & texture but also UI coding and we still lack the necessary tools.

Cheers Euclid

[Nanook]

I don't care one way or the other about flying multiple ships, but I would however like to see an honest stab at giving the Skunk a true upgrade path, one that actually satisfied the desire for different play styles.

In lieu of another ship to fly, I would settle for a proper upgrade path for the skunk. Being able to significantly alter its looks and role in the game. Turn it from a fighter into a miner, or extending its hull into a lager cargo hold for use as a transporter. Maybe even outfitting it with repair lasers so it can help build stations faster and repair ships. Or go the other direction, and skim off all the unnecessary fat and turn it into a lightning quick fighter craft that can turn on a dime.

I think the real problem is that the Skunk is so small. In another thread, someone showed some screenshots with the Skunk alongside various fighters. It's actually smaller than all of them. The Skunk is, in the old parlance, a small M3. It's not even close to being an M6 as it was in AP. Egosoft would have to dramatically increase the size of the Skunk if they were to make it upgradeable as you suggest. And give it a turret or two to help fend off those hordes of pesky fighters that like to attack all at once. Right now, the Skunk is actually outgunned by almost every fighter in the game, all of which can fire multiple weapons at once.

[Sparky Sparkycorp]

We're saved by having the only Strafe Drive left in the galaxy and rapid fire missiles

[Earth Ultimatum IV.]

We're saved by having the only Strafe Drive left in the galaxy and rapid fire missiles

Capships strafe when docking, and (not all) other ships fire missiles too (depends on combat skill of operative).



Give me a capship bridge, where I can walk around and talk to crew, and command things, add some additional commands (like double-click zone map to order my current capship to move there), or replace Skunk with a Katana/Daito (of course, with matching cockpit) and I'll be happy as hell
Skunk's all righty, but Katana is legendary

[BigBANGtheory]

We're saved by having the only Strafe Drive left in the galaxy and rapid fire missiles

Capships strafe when docking, and (not all) other ships fire missiles too (depends on combat skill of operative).



Give me a capship bridge, where I can walk around and talk to crew, and command things, add some additional commands (like double-click zone map to order my current capship to move there), or replace Skunk with a Katana/Daito (of course, with matching cockpit) and I'll be happy as hell
Skunk's all righty, but Katana is legendary

I'm with you on that one.

I must admit I wasn't initially sold on the idea of capship bridges thinking that it could all be done from the skunk or a command room within the skunk. After further reflection (and running the mod) I have definitely come round to the idea because fleet command and capship bridges works in harmony the two complement each other perfectly within the context of XR and X Universe.

It works because ownership of a capship then really means something, its a freaking capital ship not a toy boat to send into destruction or follow a corvette class ship into battle.

[Lander1979]

There is a movement in the S&M forum to attempt a mod that allows to fly other ships but imho that is a rather long shot and may actually never be possible.

However, I do agree with piep and others here. It would be possible to introduce several different extensions/expansions of the Skunk that provide a choice for the player to turn it into anything from a super fighter to a battle carrier.

But again this would not only require new meshes & texture but also UI coding and we still lack the necessary tools.

Cheers Euclid

Great news on the Mod Front, We now have the necessary UI tools to proceed with the Multiple player-flyable Ships Mod. (Introduced in the new 3.50 Beta) Though there is still a long road ahead of us, the prospects are looking good.

[Zloth]

Well I don't know about you folks but in X3, once I got the cash, I only flew around in my Vidar or my Angel. If the Vidar had been given more space for energy cells and classified as a TP, I never would have left it. I might steer a capital ship if it was being particularly stupid but normally I just sat back in the Vidar and told the caps which target to blast.

The only thing I really miss is the ability to see what's coming in the future. In X3 I could see NPCs flying better ships as soon as I started and dream about <ahem> acquiring them in days to come. There aren't any other Skunks out there, though, and I wouldn't know the weak ones from the strong ones even if there were. I may have gone from a weak M4 to an extra nimble M5 with the shields and firepower of an M6+ but the ship looks just the same.

[Solomon Short]

I really liked the Hyperion Vanguard as my personal ship, not the best for BigShip & Station destruction, but good for anything else, especially with the docking clamps for fighter delivery & return missions (also good if using a Blastclaw Prototype as fuel/eCell delivery tanker).

So I'm another one who is technically perfectly fine with the idea of only being able to personally directly fly one ship, though maybe the Skunk should be a bit more customisable, or at least useful (maybe some smallship docking ports for auxiliary S-size fighters?, yes, this would require scaling the skunk model up some, to something more like where an M6 should be).

I do think making "Capital Ship Bridges" (including the "crew taxi" function) a part of the main game would be nice (though I'd want to spawn directly onto the bridge).

I would also like to see a URV hacking drone series alternative for the Trojan.

[Graaf]

Well I don't know about you folks but in X3, once I got the cash, I only flew around in my Vidar or my Angel.

I really liked the Hyperion Vanguard as my personal ship

Personally I would like something like the Centaur.

3 pilots with 4 different ship. Add to this EUIV's choise for a Katana and my choice for a transport (one of those "redundant" Caiman's).

5 pilots with just as many preferred ships to fly, and Egosoft thinks that putting us all in the one Skunk is the right way to go?

[werewolves?]

I really liked the Hyperion Vanguard as my personal ship, not the best for BigShip & Station destruction, but good for anything else, especially with the docking clamps for fighter delivery & return missions (also good if using a Blastclaw Prototype as fuel/eCell delivery tanker).

So I'm another one who is technically perfectly fine with the idea of only being able to personally directly fly one ship, though maybe the Skunk should be a bit more customisable, or at least useful (maybe some smallship docking ports for auxiliary S-size fighters?, yes, this would require scaling the skunk model up some, to something more like where an M6 should be).

I do think making "Capital Ship Bridges" (including the "crew taxi" function) a part of the main game would be nice (though I'd want to spawn directly onto the bridge).

I would also like to see a URV hacking drone series alternative for the Trojan.

Yeah I'm a Hype-V fan as well, if they could make the Skunk more customizable I'd be more happy.

Maybe some some wing nacelles like early concepts could be added as weapon/engine/armor variants.