Ship components

They say engineering balance isn't where they want it, plan to keep tuning it over the next year, and want AI soft-death and cargo changes, while admitting development needs to be faster.

Docking is being worked on, including a docking-collar fix that was resolved but reopened after failing on the network, plus collision loss that ejects players and cargo services not answering hails.

The ship carries a large mix of manned and remote ballistic turrets in sizes 12, 10 and 8 plus two piloted quadruple laser cannons, all weapons built specifically for it rather than generic PU weapons.

The front of the ship is one giant beam weapon made of twelve barrels, plus a large suite of point-defense turrets and flak whose exact number is still debated, grouped in clusters so they're visible.

Preparing for engineering is a huge amount of work: ships must be reworked, tested and tweaked, since older ships were set up differently, and the vehicle design team is currently adjusting the features due in December.

A first version of armor is coming as part of engineering when it returns to PTU, and they say it will change combat balance and reward larger crews.

The Salvation's salvage heads are locked and forgiving because it's a starter ship meant to introduce salvage without added complexity, and locked bespoke versions let the team tune them if they underperform.

AI ships use the same radar component as players, and the team wants FPS characters to use the same items, with perception senses and ping reactions that designers can switch on or off per mission, without cheating.

Earlier attempts included speed-based nerfs and shield changes, but each fix created another problem; they think Master Modes avoids that loop.

Switching takes time that varies by ship and components, such as shields going down and up, so players must choose when to switch and face consequences.

The 600i's interior is getting a near-complete rework with many added features, but it is still in the design and investigation phase, not yet in art production, and not ready to show.

Flare and chaff were renamed to decoy and noise field to better reflect what they do with Star Citizen's multiple signatures and reduce confusion with real-world meanings.

The Mercury's fuel tank was enlarged because the ship had grown more powerful than its tank, and this rebalanced it against comparable ships, whereas lowering consumption would have left an outlier and affected thrusters across ships.

The Starfarer does have some spaces for components, and the team says all ships will eventually be revisited and retrofitted with component housings and other new features as they come online.

Radar detects signatures within a range, ping multiplies that range and shows vague blobs, and scanning reads details of a targeted entity; scanners are not tied to the hull and will be swappable components.

The Vanguard gets small tweaks rather than a rework, starting with redoing the central pod interior to use space better, then the turret, neck and tail, with exterior changes reviewed after the interior.

John Crewe shows images of base Vanguard improvements: a wider pod, smaller bathroom, lockers, a unified mesh with a bigger rear door, and component hatches, all done first to speed up the variants.

The Harbinger has changed very little beyond possibly more missiles or torpedoes, while the Sentinel keeps its turret rocket pods but will likely lose the awkward antennas and dishes for a different external look reflecting scanning and e-warfare.

Yes, non-lethal modules like EMP will be possible on other ships, usually bigger ones, as the game is built around swappable components, though producing all the component variety takes time.

The designers focus on ship-centric gameplay systems, interiors, components and mounts rather than FPS weapons, and they don't handle release timing questions.

Salvage design is still in progress, but the intent is that undamaged broken-off weapons can be collected and repaired later, though not attached to other ships; they would be scrapped.

How long swapping ship modules will take isn't decided; the default will probably be quick plug and play, with possibly a short delay, but nothing like real-life repair times.

Electronic countermeasures and modular systems are being built into some ships, but he isn't sure the Carrack will have such features, though he thinks modular plug-in systems are likely there.

Chris Roberts says access to weapons, munitions and components will increase during the Dogfighting Module as assets are built, probably with test money, and an Aurora should already have its cargo box, otherwise it's a bug.