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why one-piece indies?
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Nefertiri Ra'apharo
Mabad Ilhba Alasw'd
#1 - 2012-06-05 14:39:00 UTC
So why are indy ships in this universe all one-piece ships? I'd like to see, say, a freighter be more like a RL 18-wheeler, you know, just have the front part of it be the actual ship and then it can attach cargo pods behind it and then haul them whereever, and each pod attached reduces cap/cpu/speed, and if theres trouble you can detach however many you need to lose weight and gain back the speed/cap/cpu you need, and the fully detached hauler part would actually be able to fit (offlined when pods attached, back online when pods detached) good defensive and offensive items and rigs and actually have the speed agilty power and tank to be able to fight to defend the cargo pods it dropped...or to escape....something like that...
sabre906
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#2 - 2012-06-05 14:40:40 UTC
Nefertiri Ra'apharo wrote:
So why are indy ships in this universe all one-piece ships? I'd like to see, say, a freighter be more like a RL 18-wheeler, you know, just have the front part of it be the actual ship and then it can attach cargo pods behind it and then haul them whereever, and each pod attached reduces cap/cpu/speed, and if theres trouble you can detach however many you need to lose weight and gain back the speed/cap/cpu you need, and the fully detached hauler part would actually be able to fit (offlined when pods attached, back online when pods detached) good defensive and offensive items and rigs and actually have the speed agilty power and tank to be able to fight to defend the cargo pods it dropped...or to escape....something like that...


Indeed, gank the trailer and leave the tractor.Big smile
Jorma Morkkis
State War Academy
Caldari State
#3 - 2012-06-05 14:46:58 UTC
Nefertiri Ra'apharo
Mabad Ilhba Alasw'd
#4 - 2012-06-05 14:47:28 UTC  |  Edited by: Nefertiri Ra'apharo
sabre906 wrote:
Nefertiri Ra'apharo wrote:
So why are indy ships in this universe all one-piece ships? I'd like to see, say, a freighter be more like a RL 18-wheeler, you know, just have the front part of it be the actual ship and then it can attach cargo pods behind it and then haul them whereever, and each pod attached reduces cap/cpu/speed, and if theres trouble you can detach however many you need to lose weight and gain back the speed/cap/cpu you need, and the fully detached hauler part would actually be able to fit (offlined when pods attached, back online when pods detached) good defensive and offensive items and rigs and actually have the speed agilty power and tank to be able to fight to defend the cargo pods it dropped...or to escape....something like that...


Indeed, gank the trailer and leave the tractor.Big smile


I would say each pod would have a reasonable tank to allow it to live for a bit without sploding too fast but still keep determined gankers interested.
Nefertiri Ra'apharo
Mabad Ilhba Alasw'd
#5 - 2012-06-05 14:51:31 UTC
Jorma Morkkis wrote:
IRL freighter isn't 18-wheeler.

RL freighter: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/COSCO_Freighter.jpg


Something like that still wouldn't be able to maneuver or fight even if it dropped all it's pods overboard IRL.

But I get your point. Some confusion of terms....
Dark Pangolin
The Tuskers
The Tuskers Co.
#6 - 2012-06-05 15:23:26 UTC
+1 to OP for Name and Avatar. That is all.
Zarnous
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#7 - 2012-06-05 15:29:50 UTC
Nefertiri Ra'apharo wrote:
Jorma Morkkis wrote:
IRL freighter isn't 18-wheeler.

RL freighter: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/COSCO_Freighter.jpg


Something like that still wouldn't be able to maneuver or fight even if it dropped all it's pods overboard IRL.

But I get your point. Some confusion of terms....


Your concept still makes sense. Those shipping containers are the same idea. And huge ass space craft never have any agility. Roll
Renier Gaden
Immortal Guides
#8 - 2012-06-05 15:43:33 UTC  |  Edited by: Renier Gaden
This is a freighter layout common in science fiction.

Bridge and living quarters in the main hull at the front of the ship. A long spine runs from the front section to the engines at the back. Modular containers attached to the spine to hold cargo. The idea is that the modular containers can be loaded on the station before the ship arrives and then be quickly attached to the ship, so the ship does not have to waste a lot of time sitting at a station while it is being loaded/unloaded.

Also common in science fiction is the practice of rigging weapon systems into the freight modules to give pirates a nasty surprise. Of course rigging a container with weapons means you can’t use that container for storage.

If such a ship dropped it’s cargo modules it would be very fast due to the resulting low mass for such big engines. Without the attached modules the long thin spine (backbone) would have low structural integrity.

So you can rig it to fight, but the better defended it is the less cargo space it has. Fully weaponnized you would have the equivalent of a T1 battleship for 10 times the price of a T1 battleship, with minimal cargo space. The ultimate bait ship I suppose. If things don’t go well, it also has the option of dropping the expensive weaponnized modules and running. So the wolf in sheep’s clothing, would quickly turn into a loot pinyata. Smile

Setup for Cargo hulling the ship would have the combined cargo space of the containers you attached to it. If it lands in a gate camp and is scrambled, or lands in a bubble, the pilot has the option to jettison containers to increase speed to burn away, but each container when jettisoned remain undamaged sitting in space with all its contents. So, the freighter pilot might get away, but the pirates get more loot than if they blew up the ship.

Actually, I suppose this could be a good premiss for a T3 industrial.
mxzf
Shovel Bros
#9 - 2012-06-05 16:11:00 UTC
sabre906 wrote:
Indeed, gank the trailer and leave the tractor.Big smile


Better: gank the tractor and then bring your own one in to steal the trailer Pirate

However, to the OP, the reason that things aren't set up as you suggest is two-fold. First off, a large number of customizable and variable ships like that would be a programming nightmare to make everything work together as expected. Second, and much more important, such a system would be a complete and total balancing nightmare.

So, even if it might make some sense RP-wise, it would cause so many issues with actual gameplay that it won't happen.