The developers cover the Crusader Hercules Starlifter (C2, M2, A2 variants) and the Anvil Hurricane. They discuss cargo capacity, crew size, weapons, armor, tank and vehicle storage, and doors. They also cover the Hurricane's turret and weak spots, plus the design process.
There are still technical designers. Just the folks who work for Sean Tracy, because he's the technical director of content, we're just defining them as technical designers. And the folks that work for Todd Papy for our game systems are now called systems designers. It's just a nomenclature change to help our organizational flow charts.
So we have a simple system for that. The thing is that we take basically two tanks. So two tanks is the amount of SCU for the cargo variant, so the C2 has 624 SCU, the M2 has 468 SCU, and the A2 is basically one half of this, so it's 234 SCU.
TL;DRWith no notes on the earlier Crusader ship, the team picked key shapes for a senior concept artist to build on, producing varied sketches and a few different options to show Chris before moving to 3D.
That's a good question. Were there any notes? I'm not quite sure if there were. Obviously, there were a lot of pretty good visuals already for the Starliner. And it's kind of always interesting when you've only got one ship. We didn't really have any sort of reference for basically where that original artist was coming from, where they were pulling their ideas and inspiration from. So it kind of makes it a little tougher. But in terms of for the concept artist and myself, it's always pretty fresh and interesting. This is a second ship in the line. It's been a long time since the Starliner was done. And it's really just sort of going through, looking at those original images and sort of pulling the key components. I mean, Mike Oberschneider, he's one of our sort of new senior concept artists. He's super talented, super strong. So when you're working with a senior, generally there's a lot more give and take. In fact, there's a lot more give. You pick on your key points, profiles that you want to work with, a hump here, an air vent there, a VTOL here. You pick on those sort of core things that you want to start running with. And then initially it's sort of down to Mike. You're giving him sort of a small set of Lego pieces and then you're like, right, okay, bring all your own Lego pieces to the party and let's see what you come up with. So it's very much, you rely on your artists and their artistic strengths just to see what they come up with initially. And so we did loads originally, in terms of sketches and really different sort of styles, different configurations, because also it's not just for me. I'm trying to provide something for Chris and it's what was in Chris's head. Sometimes we manage to pull it out of his head. Sometimes we just have to go it alone and give it our best shot. Like we mentioned before, it's always about providing a couple of options, two or three options, really quite different ones, and then that will give us a read when we show Chris of like, okay, he's like, oh, I like this double hull or I like this one neck or I like this VTOL, and that's basically how we just sort of launch then. Take those initial sketches and then just go into 3D and off we go.
TL;DRConcept time varies, since Chris sometimes rejects designs repeatedly, and the team handles blocks by stepping in or running a concept jam, while a new ship's function can push the shape in different directions.
Yeah, that's the tough one. Especially when you think you've nailed it and then Chris is like, no, I don't like this one, which is fine because it's artistic choice, right? I might like something, he might not like it, but we have had it in the past where things have crashed and burned three times in a row and it's just about how you deal with it basically. Sometimes an artist will basically hit a brick wall and then it's really about me stepping in, or sometimes we'll just do a bit of a concept jam and everyone will just sort of dive in and have a crack at it just to break through the block and come up with some alternative theories. Sometimes the functionality can often define the shape of the ship and, when it's a new ship, something we haven't dealt with before, you can go in multiple different directions, and that can lead to quite different configurations.
TL;DRThe Hurricane has no special cooling system; with default components, firing all six guns would choke power and heat, but with only the turret gunner shooting it can sustain fire for about a minute.
It doesn't have anything where it's a bespoke system, just its component default loadout is going to be really tuned for that. So it's the kind of thing where if you're trying to run all six guns on the Hurricane, so the four turret guns and the two pilot nose guns, all simultaneously, that's going to choke you out on power and heat throughput.
With the default components?
Yeah, with everything default, everything stock. But if you're really doing it where the pilot is flying the ship and the turret gunner is really the one doing all the heavy shooting, it's going to have enough cooling to hold up with that throughput. So there will still be a few pauses. I think right now, though, it can shoot for about a minute or so.
A minute of sustained fire?
Yeah. When you set it to the staggered fire that manned turrets have access to right now, it just can keep shooting and shooting and shooting. And it takes a while to actually choke out the power or the cooling on it.
So it goes from two, which is basically like on the Starfarer or any cargo ship, which is pilot, copilot, to three for the M2, which is basically another seat in the cockpit. And then we get into the A2, which is a lot, where it's eight seats total. And then you add one other guy for the bomb bay at the rear, which is pretty cool. There's a station in between the bombs at the back, so it's a cool visual. But obviously some players might want to solo it, and technically they can play it solo, but don't expect to fire any guns outside of the main guns if you're just alone.
Yes. So that's the thing that we wanted from the start, is that the Starlifter was built for two tanks. It was the main design point. And when we went on to making the gunship variant, it was like, oh, well, that takes a lot of place, but it's still a Hercules, it must fit a tank inside. So there's always space for a tank at the front, unless you fit some cargo or some Cyclones or whatever at the front.
You need to go from the front. The back is entirely just for the bomb system. Maybe Paul can explain the choice for the two doors and stuff like this, but it's easier, obviously, in terms of design. You can enter from one point or another, but also if you decide to put some cargo at the rear, for example, for a regular variant, obviously, well, you can't enter your vehicle from the rear and just push the cargo to the front or whatever. It just makes sense.
It's the sort of roll-on, roll-off kind of theory, isn't it? It's like the ferry. For once, we're trying to make it easy. You load up your tanks, go in and quickly sort of offload basically. That was the thinking originally, try and make it make sense for once. We're doing better, a lot better these days.
I expect it to be around the same operational range as the Hornet and the Sabre. So it's not on its own built as like a super long-range type ship. It's very much a sort of on-role, on-mission type craft.
So technically, anything smaller than a tank can fit inside. So that's a good thing about the tank, is that it's massive. So you can put many different ships inside. So we made some small list about what could fit relatively easily. Well, easily, I've seen people put ships in ships that shouldn't fit, but they fit. So technically, obviously all the ground vehicles, you can put an Argo, a P-52, Razor, 85X, M50, and technically the Aurora series as well, if you're good. It's a bit longer, but it should fit. So basically every ship that is relatively small, you can fit in. If it gets a bit bigger, like with wings, it might get a bit tough because it's mostly, well, getting through the doors.
Yeah, so basically it's a bit like the difference between the Starfarer and the Starfarer Gemini. The civilian variant of the Starlifter is medium armor, but the other ones, military and gunship, are heavy armor. So you will feel the difference. It has more guns, but also more armor. So it's not just like one more gun and a bit less cargo. It's a ship for, well, if you have some ships attacking you, you will still be able to defend yourself longer than a civilian variant.
TL;DRJones's favorite aspect is the iconic top-down shape and the rear view in flight, where the long curvature he pushed for, including the hump and swan neck, all works well.
Oh, that's a tough one. Are we talking visuals?
Yes. Your favorite visual, what was the get for this ship? The point where you're like, yes, I really like that and I'm glad Chris said yes.
That is a good question. Do you know what? I think Mike did a really stellar job of a couple of views, a couple of sheets that he put together to sort of sell sheets. And he did a top-down view just looking at the ship. And then it was like a widescreen format, and it was very sort of graphic design. Then he'd got a tank facing it. And it just looked like a really iconic shape. And also I think the rear of this ship, when you see the ship flying and you're going to be in that sort of camera position, sort of looking behind and slightly down on it, it just has a really good vibe about it. Everything just works. All the lines are really good. And I think it was that. It was hitting all the key beats as well. You know me, I want to see my box ticked. Here's the things we've got to get in it. And so I was constantly just going to Mike, where's the hump? Where's the hump? Just show me the hump. Where's the front and the swan neck and then leading up to the sort of rear spoiler essentially. So I was constantly pushing it to get this sort of long curvature going. He kept trying to do it as a straight line. I was like, no, no, just put the curves in. The curves have got to go back in.
No. The turret is just the four size 3 guns. Now, on the infinite timeline, if we ever offer any swaps for the manned turret housing, who knows, but in terms of what mounts the ship has, it is four fully separate size 3 mounts on that turret, so you wouldn't be changing any of the sizes for it.
TL;DRThe Hurricane is only a capital-ship killer in a wing, not alone, since several turrets can focus fire while flying parallel to a target, which fixed-gun fighters can't do.
In a wing of them, yeah. So one thing just to sort of squash with that is don't expect to be taking a single Hurricane and taking on an Idris by yourself in it. That's no. Even yesterday on ATV, the description was, okay, if you have a wing of Hurricanes, because you bring five Hurricanes to a fight, okay, now you've got 20 guns that can focus on target, firing perpendicular to the flight path of their ship, where a dedicated fighter is like, well, no, I'm basically focusing in this front 30 degree arc of my ship. So the Hurricane has just a hell of a lot better coverage range.
Yeah, I saw a lot of people comparing it to the Sabre or other ships that have size 3 guns. Like, well, why wouldn't they just be as effective? And I think you really spoke to it there. Whereas with the Sabre, they've got to come at you and then go away and come at you and go away. The Hurricane, because its size 3s are on that turret, can come right alongside you and just strafe the ever-loving...
Absolutely, yeah. And you can just keep that fire up because then, oh, your target's running in a straight line. Well, okay, I'm going to just fly parallel to you and my guns are able to stay on target the whole time, versus any other ship in that same size. So it's like, yeah, no, the Sabre wouldn't be able to do that. Okay, you could technically decouple, but then you're going to be fighting against red out, black out for how fast you're moving to try and maintain pace with the other ship. There will be enough complications to it where it's like, well, yeah, you could do that or try to do that, or you could just have a Hurricane flying parallel and shooting perpendicular and just blasting your target.
I made the joke in Ship Shape that you don't want to get in front of the Hurricane. I think you just don't want to be anywhere near it unless you're in the cockpit.
Don't be in the top hemisphere of the Hurricane.
TL;DRThe ship is a separate bespoke design, so there are no more plans for a Starlifter variant of the Starliner, while other lore variants like the Star Seeker or Star Hunter remain open ("who knows").
This is a different ship, basically. It's one of those things where we had an idea in 2015. If we ever pursued variants, we would do that. But of course, over the course of three years of development, the decision was made to just design a bespoke ship instead of trying to make it a variant of the Starliner. And I think the results speak for themselves. I mean, the look and feel of this ship, it hasn't even been 24 hours yet, but it's quickly becoming a community favorite. And that's a thing that you can only accomplish by making it a separate ship. So there is no more plans for a Starlifter variant of the Starliner, which is what the question here is about. That's off the board. As for the Star Seeker or the Star Hunter, who knows? The Starfarer Gemini was one of those lore variants. When the Starfarer was first introduced, there was no plans to actually put the Gemini in the game. That was a lore variant. It's one of those things we like to know exists out in the universe, in the history of the universe. And then a couple of years passed, and when it came time, like, we need this thing, some people were like, oh, let's do that. So who knows what the future will hold as far as the Star Seeker or the Star Hunter. But the Starlifter is now its own bespoke ship. It's the Hercules Starlifter from Crusader Industries, as it were.
TL;DREach variant has two fixed size 4 ballistic cannons plus size 3 remote turrets at the rear and bottom; the military adds a nose turret and the gunship adds Gatlings, side cannons and bombs.
Well, there's a lot of weapons. So let's start from the easy one, from the civilian variant. Each variant basically has two size 4 fixed ballistic cannons at the front, basically just a bit behind the cockpit. They are deployable guns. Then you got size 3 guns on two remote turrets, one covering the rear of the ship, which is pretty good, and one that is at the bottom of the ship. So even if you land the ship, technically, you will still have quite a good view because the cargo bay is pretty high up. So the feet are pretty high up as well. So even if you deploy the ramps as well, both ramps at the same time, you can cover a big range around it. For the military variant, it's easy. Basically, you add a remote turret, same size, size 3 guns, under the nose. So it's more power at the front. On the gunship, well, it's where it becomes a bit complicated. Same thing as the military variant, but on top of that, you add two size 4 ballistic Gatlings, which are on the side towards the front, and two size 5 remote side ballistic cannons, which are basically the same thing on the side, but a bit further behind. And obviously, you've got the bomb system, and you got either four size 10 bombs, which are really big. I think there has been a picture of Paul looking at his screen. It's a nice concept art of those bombs. And we got what was made for cluster bombing as well, which is about 60 size 3 bombs. So there's a big size difference, but there's a big number difference as well. So it's quite a bit.
Given the time constraints, that's the usual caveat. We've tried to address everything that's generally expected in these ships. If there's accommodation, if there's a bed, etc., there has to be some kind of food station. There has to be a toilet. Toilet is super important. But this has been a new interior for us, so new style. But as far as I'm aware, it's pretty much figured out as best we can. So in terms of the cargo space, access to the upper sections, the rear remote gunners, the pods, habitation section, airlock and front cockpit, we've done our best basically to factor in everything that's required.
The thing that is nice is that we got two floors, so you got a nice lift as well going from the top floor, cargo bay, and even outside. We got two beds as well. We got some basics.
The cargo doors or the cargo opening?
The cargo opening, sure.
Yeah, they should be the same size. I actually haven't physically measured it. But theoretically, yes. I mean, it would be crazy if they weren't.
Yeah, they don't open exactly the same way, but they are about the same size.
How do they open, Corentin?
So, I don't know. It's basically like it's two doors. It's kind of butterflies. And then [the other one] is a bit more classic, I'd say, where it just falls down. And then it extends as well, because it's a bit like on the Idris when we've shown the ramp extending, it's the same thing. It's high up, so the ramp will have to get longer.
If the pilot is good, yeah.
Yeah, I was going to say, regardless of whether we say you can or you can't, when it comes time to put this in the game, there are going to be a dozen videos in the first three hours of people attempting to do this. Like I said, that's one of those things where you tell us whether it's possible or not.
It technically has the ejection handle on the seat. I actually have to recheck for how we deal with people in manned turrets quickly evacuating from a ship. So it has the geo and the interaction to support that. It's just, do we actually blast the canopies, which I do not know.
Or maybe shoot it out down below?
You wouldn't want that. So the actual housing that you go into the turret for, it's not a full cylindrical tube. It's actually more rectangular, fit to the seat. And so if we just pushed you straight down, regardless of which way you were facing, there's a chance that you will end up eating your kneecaps down to your ankles and die just as painfully.
Nope. It's a full transport ship, but not a repair ship. We got some repair ships for that.
In the same way, nope. It's made just for bombs, and it would have needed to be designed differently if we wanted to fit torpedoes inside. There's other ships designed for this, like the Polaris, for example, but not this one.
So that's a good question because, as usual for concepts, well, it will change when we go to the balancing pass and stuff like this. But it's similar to other ships of the same size. So it's a transport ship, so it's a bit like the Caterpillar, for example, a bit like the Starfarer. So we made recently a post about fuel changes and stuff like this. So it should be like other transport ships; it should be able to refuel in space itself, I mean. So it should have a good range, because this is a transport ship in the first place.
So, no, that's not the case. We have some basic facilities in the cockpit, but it's just for the crew of the Starlifter. The thing is that, well, we wanted it to be a full transport ship where you go from one planet to another planet or from a system to another system, this kind of stuff. But it's not something like the Idris, for example, or some ships that have a lot of crew, and they are there, they can live there in space for a long time. It's not the case.
It's an important distinction. The Idris is meant to be your living mobile base. The ships that sit in the hangar bay are meant to be a part of the complement of the Idris. The Hercules is, let's get these tanks, let's get these Cyclones, let's get these Auroras, whatever, from A to B.
Basically the belly of the ship. Just because the turret is covering the top hemisphere of the ship. So you've got full 360 rotational clearance around the turret. You can go 90 degrees up with it, so you get this half sphere of coverage. But on the bottom of the ship, there's not really anything. That's definitely going to be its weakest spot, so you don't want to expose the stomach to anything.
I mean, we've given it fleeting thoughts. Obviously, it'll turn up on the horizon at some point. And I guess it'll just be a natural sort of progression. Basically, we'll take what was done in those early days and we'll probably just do a little bit of a nip and a tuck. It'll just be a slight altering of some of the lines and just bringing it a little closer to what's been done on the Starlifter. And they're not a million miles away, so I'm not too worried. They are quite different craft. So I would expect they're not going to be a one-for-one, but it's like a family, isn't it? Basically, not everybody looks the same, but there is a resemblance that runs through the family. And we'll just be feeding that into it when we get onto it.
TL;DRPaul Jones says manufacturers keep a family look but it gets tricky across divisions, as with industrial Aegis ships that feel closer to Anvil, and designs often take a second attempt to get right.
Yeah. I mean, some manufacturers definitely have a more pure sort of lineage, let's say, and there was more variance in the design language in the earlier stuff. Now there's a stronger push for those core family features to run through. It's like you mentioned the Mustang or say Porsche or whatever. You can see that progression for over 100 years, something like that. Ideally, you want to see similar lines. But where it gets tricky, interesting, it's when you go into different divisions, essentially. You're going from, say, a passenger line or a passenger vehicle to something industrial, then that's when it starts getting tricky. You're like, okay, well, what do we take with us? You've got the badge and maybe you've got the grill. Then you can go either way, basically. And I think the Reclaimer and the Vulcan, that's why I sort of call it industrial Aegis. Personally, they're probably more Anvil to me than anything, possibly. I mean, if you tightened up some of the radiuses on the geometry, yeah, they're sort of a bit of a hybrid.
Even on the Aegis stuff, we've sort of gone from softer lines, the Avenger, the Retaliator, that sort of stuff, to the theoretically newer ships in the timeline, and they've gone slightly sharper. But yeah, it's interesting. It's a constant struggle, challenge, basically. How do you achieve all the looks of these ships, keep the family history, but still progress them, keep them fresh? There are times when, well, I say we, I've gone really safe on a design. Chris has just crushed it and just said, no, that's just way too boring or way too ugly. And we just had to go back to the drawing board. But second time, second bite of the cherry, you always come up with something a lot better.
So the military variant can carry the same as the civilian variant, just less cargo. Basically, it's due to heavier armor, more guns, and some other differences where basically it's heavier. So it can't transport as much cargo. You can still fit two tanks, but basically you can stack less cargo than the civilian variant. So it's the same otherwise; if you've got some ships or whatever, if it fits, it fits.
So, yeah, obviously this is a big ship, so it can't really do dogfights or whatever. But there's two things. For the speed, it's about something in between a Starfarer and a Caterpillar, so it's around 130 meters per second. The maneuverability, obviously, well, it will go down to balancing again later on. But this is a ship that has been thought to be better in atmosphere than other ships its size, well, outside of ships that are dedicated for something else, like the 600i or whatever. But if you put a Starlifter versus a Starfarer or a Hammerhead in the atmosphere of a planet, the Starlifter will be way better than other ships like this.
So on the gunship, the side guns are ballistic. The front ones on every ship are ballistic as well. But the small turrets, the size 3 turrets, are all laser on every variant of the ship. So the small turrets are just lasers, like most ships.