I was trying to get them done for tonight, but there are still some technical problems, and Ray and I are headed to Spain tomorrow for Mobile World Congress and demoing the game with Google. So it will have to wait until we return. It's important to get the "giant station" assets completely right, because it may be upwards of a 10MB patch (the collision hulls for these "huge" objects have to be high resolution), and I need them to be close to "absolutely certain" for possible Android device pre-loads. I don't want to have to patch a zillion new android devices when they hit retail (not for the user end, mostly for our poor patch server).

So, yet another delay, but still plugging ahead.

Have a good trip to spain, hope it all goes well.

Buen viaje
Buena suerte

Hope the rain stays in the plain.

Jamón ibérico - you'd best be eating it.

Why does everybody seem to think capships are going to be the panacea? I have questions.

Are these capships going to be tridents? Everything I've seen indicates the tridents are pure garbage. They're easier to crack than a queen, slower than just about any ship except an AGT Moth XC, Less armed than a rag.

Unless they have 600 CU or more of cargo space they'll fail as a trading platform as you could run 3 XC's full of said cargo in the time it takes one trident to make the trip.

Considering 200CU of any commodity will tank any non-static trade route it renders the capships pointless at best.

It's looking like along with capships, there needs to be a major economic overhaul, along with some other changes. This doesn't even cover that it will take 4 people besides the pilot to man up all 4 gun turrets.

The Trident's turret arrangement, its dinky cargo hold, and the economy in general are all well-known problems. Although, personally, rather than waiting for an undetermined period of time for such things to be fixed before player-owned Capships are launch-ready, I'd prefer that Capships be done first, and thus force the issue on resolving such matters. ;^p

"Considering 200CU of any commodity will tank any non-static trade route it renders the capships pointless at best."

Incorrect. Cargo ships have uses besides trade. For example, today I had to move 800 or so cu of Gauss Mk III that I looted a week or two ago from the station where it was being stored to the station where I needed it. No intention of selling it, just needed it in a more convenient location. A massive cargo hold is advantageous in that situation, regardless of the economy.

You are also not considering the fact that (at least with NPC cappies) you can RR inside a capship. You can also ride a capship with another ship. As opposed to hitchiking as a /gunner, where you can't bring your ship along for the ride. This could give VPR a whole new way to escort people, for example.

Considering how an xc handles carrying 200 gauss3s, having to move 600 in a trident doesn't really sound like a fun way to spend an afternoon..

I think the bigger point is that as new items they will be hunted and killed by us players pretty good destroying hours upon hours of work for the player or guild who made it.

I would like to point out that I will rag bomb any capship owned by anyone on sight just because it'd be cool to see if there is a new level of after death rage that VO has yet to encounter on 100

I agree and intend to do the same. But the novelty will wear off eventually.

As for hauling gear in a Trident, I've never flown one so I don't know how it would handle. But given that even a shielded Trident can be soloed pretty easily, I think I'd prefer standard moths. That way if attacked, I could jet the cargo and have a reasonable chance of killing the attacker. And if I don't, I'd only lose 120 cu.

I was thinking more about real capships, like Constellations, crewed by at least a few people. Obviously, that wouldn't work so well for me specifically, as I don't have much likelihood of ever obtaining a capship unless I steal it or acquire numerous minions. But if TGFT or ITAN wanted to haul Consumer Robotics down to Southern Grey, for example, that would be a good way to do it. Especially once we get shields.

It would also be a way to haul large amounts of manufacturing ingredients, or some of those obscenely large items that only fit in an XC.

And if we have a way to unload from a docked ship into the capship, miners could also use cappies as interstellar dump trucks.

And of course, people could bring their cappies into Deneb for border skirmishes. Once shields are added, they could even mount an invasion into the other side's territory. Two HACs carrying swarm rags could quickly wipe out all the defensive turrets in a sector. Once it's safely parked in an empty sector and the SF has been eliminated, the people riding can hop out and rep the ship, and then use the cappie as a safe harbor within enemy territory to receive RR after making raids. (Not too sure what the point of invading would be at this time, other than kicks and giggles and newb-hunting. But those are reason enough, no?) Perhaps don't even bother with an empty sector, just stay inside the wormhole. Whenever the turrets respawn, kill them off again - they'll be weak and easy. That way the door is held open for reinforcements to enter.

If these actually make it in, you may see a lot of old faces return to the game... at least briefly. I've been waiting for player caps since 2004.

Nation war with 1 cap ship on each side will add a lot of depth if players can dock and repair/reload.

I would like to point out that I will rag bomb any capship owned by anyone on sight just because it'd be cool to see if there is a new level of after death rage that VO has yet to encounter on 100

Hahahahahah.

To have worthwhile and useful cappies beyond having a little fun and experimenting, we need...

A fixed trade system. Conquerable systems. A half-decent capship. Limits on R/R. Limited docking
capacity. Shields. A larger variety of capships. Automated turrets (OR 500%+ of the current active playerbase). Perhaps more turret variety. And all this is just the tip of the iceberg. Complaining at this stage is pointless...

The little fun and experimenting is good enough for now, I think. :)

while we're talking about capships... could we get half decent capship AI?

And I want a pony.

And I want a pony!

And I want a Bunchie's UFO

You know what I want? Everlasting fear.