Trading & cargo

Freight elevator issues are being looked at, including missions with no cargo to collect and a generic overload error that is hard to fix without more granularity, plus a cleanup bug that can lose cargo.

They agree the cargo deletion violates their principle that player items are sacred, say it comes from a cleanup meant to prevent another issue, and want to find the root cause, possibly removing the cleanup entirely.

The cargo hold holds 6,000 SCU, with an extra 2,000 SCU on an elevator at the back of the medium hangar, and the team says they aimed to make the best possible version of this ship despite compromises.

Cargo metrics have solidified, with 32 SCU as the largest container, so the Hull A rose from 48 to 64 and the Hull B is going to 512 and arrives in 2026.

The Railen is going from 320 to 640 and will support standard cargo metrics; they plan to keep the triangle visuals, but how the cargo works isn't settled yet.

Hull D and E capacity is dropping substantially to more reasonable levels, to 6,912 and 12,288 SCU, because the original numbers were impractical; they remain the top bulk carriers and aren't coming in 2026.

Both Ironclad variants' cargo is going up, with figures that may shift slightly before release, because layout changes in whitebox, like moved ladders and a bulkhead, freed space that looked odd left empty.

The developers say bases can be used however players choose, from small mining outposts to trading hubs, with likely links into most gameplay, and even players without bases benefit by using other players' facilities.

Sellers can list items via freight elevators, terminals or physical shops and advertise in a new app, while buyers browse listings or place costlier buy orders for specific items delivered to a location.

Long term, cargo is supposed to affect mass and handling, and flight control would handle extra mass correctly, but currently cargo mass isn't passed to the ship, and speakers are unsure of the tech's status.

After trying several cargo layouts, the design settled on three pods because they are quick to pick up and drop, and more looked cramped with flimsy mechanisms, which also helps escape pirates.

Cargo can be stolen with the tractor beam after destroying a ship and its boxes spill into space, but not directly from a ship's cargo grid until a future cargo refactor.

The Banu Merchantman is back in concept, larger but in the same landing pad size category with its cargo unchanged; more should only be seen once active development starts, which won't be soon.

The Phoenix will get a shielded cargo bay that makes scanning harder, while the Taurus gets a separate hidden compartment where the underside turret would be, though the speakers can't stop players from finding it.

Docking is not expected to be developed with the Merlin or Archimedes; it will come alongside the Hull C, starting with ship-to-station and later ship-to-ship docking.

Yes, flight is very reactive to mass, so heavy cargo will make ships sluggish or unable to take off depending on a body's gravity, though uneven cargo balance is only a hoped-for feature.

Chris outlines what he wants, and for cargo the requirements, such as a grid, physical cargo and kiosks, largely fell out of the design, which made it easy to pitch to the team.

Engineers receive a feature request with user-story-style steps from design, then work out the underlying systems, resources and timeline, raise concerns early, and plan in a kickoff meeting.

Automated cargo unloading is currently instant, as the first iteration, but they want to make it take time in future for balance and for things like piracy.

The Polaris differs from the Retaliator by carrying another ship in its hangar, supporting a full crew, and holding cargo without a module, with facilities supporting a broader range of contingencies.

Chris Roberts says he is unsure what the question means, but missions are designed for roughly half an hour to an hour of play, with longer tasks spread over sessions and no strict metric.

You can fly the Freelancer in 2.1, but gameplay for it depends on a cargo system that has no ETA, with missions around it being discussed and no known timing.

Yes, destroying supply shipments to hurt a rival org is meant to be possible, as the game is built around logistics like fuel and ammunition, so attacking supply lines becomes emergent gameplay.

Smuggling with hidden compartments is intended and will let players install items such as false bottoms, but the design isn't finalized and it won't be in 2.0, since simpler gameplay comes first.

Chris Roberts says a full blockade would be very difficult or impossible because planets usually have multiple instances, though destroying cargo ships would still feed into the economy and raise prices.