Does a dedicated Dropship need Quantum Drive or Jump Drive?

[Zookajoe]

I was contemplating this while reading some posts on Spectrum about how the Valkyrie should have a cargo capacity. Dropships are normally deployed from a mother vessel or forward base, do they really need to have QD and JD? From what I have been able to find, the Kraken and Javelin can carry the Valkyrie as well as Vanguard, it is possible the Valkyrie might fit in an Idris. So, does a quick deployment vessel for combat troops and vehicles need QD or JD to function?

Now, I am talking dedicated Dropship design here, the Vanguard is a variant, so I can accept the inclusion of QD and JD, but the Valkyrie is a dedicated Dropship.

Just would like to get others thoughts on this.

 

[MikeNificent]

Valk should be able to carry cargo or vehicles, like EVERY OTHER SHIP WITH A CARGO BAY IN THE GAME, and I believe it will happen.

Also, I believe it should have a QD, and be JD capable. Intrasystem jumps for assaults will be common. Intersystem jumps less so, but not unheard of. Sometimes the element of surprise might require travel of many smaller ships from multiple small jump points to a rally point in a system, followed by a group QT to the release point. Depending on how scan mechanics work, many small ships might go unnoticed while a large carrier may only have one jump point into a system and be easily detectable upon entry.

I don't have any skin in the game, as the Valk isnt my cup of tea, but I don't like the idea of limiting gameplay options just because something is not necessarily how something was intended to be used.

 

[Deroth]

It'd still need a QD to travel to the nav points, but wouldn't need a large fuel tank.

I do think it should have a very small limited cargo capability to support extract operations (recovering precious beer cargo.)

 

[Zookajoe]

I can agree on your point concerning the QD, that makes sense.

I am also down with it being able to carry cargo or vehicles intercheangebly, if the same would be true for cargo vessels. It is hard to rationalize that you can carry either on the vehicle grav plates of a Valkyrie, but not so on a Freelancer, as the Freelancer does not have the special "Vehicle Only" plates.

As for the small limited cargo, 4 to 6 SCU would be totally acceptable, for medical supplies, foodstuffs and that sort of thing, but not the whole aft section of the ship.

It seems to me that what people are calling for is an "Omni-Ship". "Look, it is fast, long-ranged, heavily armored, heavily armed, can carry lots of troops, or lots of cargo! TAKE MY MONIES!"

I kind of like the idea of specialized ships, with a few multi-role "jack of all trades" types.

But not something that excels at everything.

 

[Printimus]

QD? sure. Jump Drive? naw, doesnt need it. You got 25 people on one ship with one bathroom, its not meant for super long journeys. And as for cargo space, CIG is doin it right. Its not a cargo ship. If you wanted a cargo ship, go buy a cutty or a freelancer. Valkyrie is for personnel and vehicular logistics only. I like this stance that CIG is starting to take with ships, not every ship can do all the things. Otherwise, whats point of having all these ships if they all do the same shit? This is what we call, diversity.

 

[August]

It's too big to fit on an idris (AFAWK) so yes, it needs these things.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

Now, I am talking dedicated Dropship design here, the Vanguard is a variant, so I can accept the inclusion of QD and JD, but the Valkyrie is a dedicated Dropship.

The Vanguard is really not a dropship. The general platform is supposed to be "long range fighter".

Personally I don't think they can get $330 for ship with no QD and I think they know this.

Still no official word what to think on JD. I think they expect a firestorm when they come out on this, and probably no matter what they do many will object. I think though the only thing they are committed to is that the Lancer is the largest can fit through a small jump point. No telling what they'll do.

 

[Zookajoe]

It's too big to fit on an idris (AFAWK) so yes, it needs these things.

Well, they did resize the Idris, up to 240m in length. They stated the reason was to make the hangar larger and were able to put a Cutlass in the hangar bay, though it was a tight fit.
It was also stated that it will fit 3 Hornet sized vessels. The Cutlass is only a meter and a half narrower than the Valkyrie, and three Hornets add up to 67.5m in length, which gives us 29.5m more room than is needed for the length of a Valkyrie.

2014-02-24 10:30

(Citizen Star News) - 2014-02-24 - Today we got a confirmation here of what many thought was an error: The Idris Corvette has grown to 240 meters in length as depicted in the Vanduul Size Comparison Chart.
Thank you Mike Northeast of the Squadron 42 team for the clarification.


Mike went on to expand on the changes:

The original reason was to make the hangar a bit bigger but that only allowed me to add more interesting spaces for the player to use. You will have a MedBay, Mess Hall and *gasp* your very own Mission Ops room! As for other ships sure you can fill this baby up with M50's (the Aurora fits very nicely too) - I even dropped a Cutlass in there as a giggle the other day and, although tight, I reckons a skilled pilot could land one in the hangar ;)​

And again further:

OK folks,

I don't want to go too far off topic here - this is the SQ42 design thread after all. Essentially I have been working on the military Idris i.e. the one used in the SQ42 single player campaign. DISCLAIMER: The PU Idris' deck layout *may* change when the good folk over in the US take our version of the Idris and make it ready for the PU. Any questions regarding the PU Idris should be posted on the appropriate thread.

That said the MilSpec Idris does have captain and EXO quarters.

It also can comfortably hold three Hornets :)​

 

[Zookajoe]

The Vanguard is really not a dropship. The general platform is supposed to be "long range fighter".

True, which is why I can see it having a QD and JD. The Hoplite is more of a modification of a long range heavy fighter to accomodate the carrying of troops and thus was given the title "Dropship", though it is a "kinda, sorta, in a way" dropship.

 

[August]

Well, they did resize the Idris, up to 240m in length. They stated the reason was to make the hangar larger and were able to put a Cutlass in the hangar bay, though it was a tight fit.
It was also stated that it will fit 3 Hornet sized vessels. The Cutlass is only a meter and a half narrower than the Valkyrie, and three Hornets add up to 67.5m in length, which gives us 29.5m more room than is needed for the length of a Valkyrie.

2014-02-24 10:30

(Citizen Star News) - 2014-02-24 - Today we got a confirmation here of what many thought was an error: The Idris Corvette has grown to 240 meters in length as depicted in the Vanduul Size Comparison Chart.
Thank you Mike Northeast of the Squadron 42 team for the clarification.


Mike went on to expand on the changes:

The original reason was to make the hangar a bit bigger but that only allowed me to add more interesting spaces for the player to use. You will have a MedBay, Mess Hall and *gasp* your very own Mission Ops room! As for other ships sure you can fill this baby up with M50's (the Aurora fits very nicely too) - I even dropped a Cutlass in there as a giggle the other day and, although tight, I reckons a skilled pilot could land one in the hangar ;)​

And again further:

OK folks,​

​

I don't want to go too far off topic here - this is the SQ42 design thread after all. Essentially I have been working on the military Idris i.e. the one used in the SQ42 single player campaign. DISCLAIMER: The PU Idris' deck layout *may* change when the good folk over in the US take our version of the Idris and make it ready for the PU. Any questions regarding the PU Idris should be posted on the appropriate thread.​

​

That said the MilSpec Idris does have captain and EXO quarters.​

​

It also can comfortably hold three Hornets :slight_smile:​

1.5 meters makes a pretty big difference. And the Valk is a lot taller than the cutlass (which has a jump drive)

 

[Zookajoe]

1.5 meters makes a pretty big difference. And the Valk is a lot taller than the cutlass (which has a jump drive)

Yeah, 1.5m is a good bit when one says that the Cutlass was a tight fit. But, as the Idris is not finished yet, we cannot say for certain what the hangar dimensions will be.

Actually, the Valkyrie is 9.5m and the Cutlass is 10m height. So, it is a bit shorter.

 

[Grimm_Reaper]

I was contemplating this while reading some posts on Spectrum about how the Valkyrie should have a cargo capacity. Dropships are normally deployed from a mother vessel or forward base, do they really need to have QD and JD? From what I have been able to find, the Kraken and Javelin can carry the Valkyrie as well as Vanguard, it is possible the Valkyrie might fit in an Idris. So, does a quick deployment vessel for combat troops and vehicles need QD or JD to function?

Now, I am talking dedicated Dropship design here, the Vanguard is a variant, so I can accept the inclusion of QD and JD, but the Valkyrie is a dedicated Dropship.

Just would like to get others thoughts on this.

I'm sure strategies will develop to jump from a neighboring system where everyone is amassing undetected and quickly deploy troops.

 

[Mr Irish]

From a governmental perspective it wouldn't make sense. They already have massive capital ships that could carry multiple Valkyries. However, from an organization stand point both would be a must unless we want to have our very few and expensive capitals jumping in and out, attracting attention while dropping Valkyries off to sit there like ducks until the operation started. (Keep in mind this is from the perspective of an average size organization.)
As for cargo, I understand how CIG wants to limit how ships are used. But adding illogical limitations to restrict function is just dumb and lazy. If you want a ship to specialize in something give it a capability that makes it useful for that task only. Like really heavy armor, but insanely bad fuel consumption.

 

[Michael]

Storage -> Yes also it might be just a minor one (lets say 10 SCU)
Jump Drive? -> No
Quantum Drive -> It totally depends on the future weapons platform we will get. I don't see that people will risk their Idris just to get the Valk near its droppoint. So Yes if there are no cheaper transport options i would say it needs a minor QD which at least gives it the ability to Jump from a moon towards a planet.
If we get a option to transport the valk somewhere (Connect it with a Hercules or give a small carrier for ~ 2 Valks (not more)) i say no

 

[NaffNaffBobFace]

In regard to drop-ships and the capability of an enemy, QD's would be essential.

Imagine the scene:

A Krackkern comes out of QD around Yela where a pirate base has been spotted on the surface. Two Harbingers are dispatched but pirate fighters appear from behind the 'roids and the carrier has to pull back. The drop-ships are now abandoned and can't escape, they are picked off before making the surface.

Now imagine this scene:

A Kricken comes out of QD at Daymar. It releases it's two dropships which QD to Yela via two different Comms towers. They approach the planet from two different directions, one is detected and intercepted so it makes a quick escape back to the Krappen, the second is not noticed having approached from an unmonitored direction , makes land fall and storms the base.

In real life logic, it makes sense. In game logic... whats the best balance?

We may get grades of Quantum Drive, for instance "Emergency Grade" for Snubs and Dropships which can only go one jump back to the Mother Ship or nearby base...?

 

[August]

By Pirate base you mean one of our bases?

I’m reality anything which is inbound from space will be spotted well before it gets to its target. Heavy defence and pre-deployment bombing runs with air support are likely to be required. Alternatively drop out of sight and come in very low and fast.

 

[Mich Angel]

Valkyrie is first most a trope and vehicle transport/gun ship oh yeah we can call it a gun ship too, but it is not a dedicated drop ship only !!
( and this is where every one surf over to ship page to verify... https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pledge/ships/anvil-valkyrie/Anvil-Valkyrie ha ha ha )
So yeah it might be a good thing to have quantum and jump drive on it...
As a second yes it can operate as drop ship, but so can a Hercules, Cutlass, freelancer, Avenger and many other ships do (let's rip out the QJD in them too), that don't make them to a dedicated drop ships...

IMHO ! Just leave the theory crafting of ship to the dev's... and put your focus on testing, reporting bugs then have some fun too wile you're at it.

Just saying :- P
CHEERS!

 

[JackAvalon]

If a Buccaneer has a QD and JD, then why wouldn't a Valk? My point is that the technology can fit in much smaller things. Also a QD is mandatory in this game imo. What's the point of having a spaceship if it can't travel to other planets or moons in the same solar system without it taking years or even decades? So yeah, it should get both drives.

Side Note: Parasite fighters like the Merlin should also get a QD. What's the point of having a small scout that can't see what's in the asteroid field without the mothership being there as well?

 

[Phelan13]

I would say yes to the quantum drive and no to the jump drive. But it absolutely needed to have a cargo grid for me to buy it. It did not so hard pass for my wallet

 

[Crymsan]

This vehicle is being sold for civilian use. As such how can it not have a jump drive? The cargo plates thing is just stupid. They can restrict it to not all the space but there is no doubt it should have that capability. What civilian capability are they selling it for ? Drug barons?