Greetings Citizens,
New for model year 2946, it’s the MISC Reliant! Following on the success of the Freelancer “Built for Life” campaign, MISC has begun development of a smaller, introductory-class spacecraft that can be operated by a single pilot. Although roughly designed to compete with the RSI Aurora and the Consolidated Outland Mustang, the Reliant is a very different animal. From the broad, sleek wings to the multiple flight modes and the second, fully-articulated crew seat, the Reliant is a small ship with a great deal of potential!
The MISC Reliant makes copious use of Xi’An technology, the most ever applied to a human ship design. From a moving cockpit that slots into place depending on the flight mode to omni-directional thrusters licensed under trade agreement with Aopoa, the Reliant is one of the most ‘high tech’ ships on the market today! Advanced Xi’An metal composites make up the armored wingspan, and every control surface has been meticulously updated from those developed for the Freelancer by MISC’s internal xenotech team.
A flying wing… or is it? The Reliant changes from horizontal to vertical flight modes at the touch of a button! With a larger cargo hold than the Aurora ES or the Mustang Alpha, the Reliant is a natural choice for anyone engaging in short-haul shipping. And that cargo space also means there’s plenty of internal room to expand, allowing the placement of medical systems, weapons racks and more. Ultimately, though, the Reliant is no transport: it’s a sleek and maneuverable utility ship more than capable of holding its own during combat!
The MISC Reliant
As the newest ship on the block, the Reliant has a lot to prove… but one glance should tell you it has the right stuff! Whether you’re interested in the distinctive ‘manta ray’ silhouette to the spacious, high tech open cockpit environment, the Reliant will likely be a common sight on the spacelanes when it launches.
The design process – A word from David Hobbins
Goals The design notes were for a Japanese aesthetic, which I interpreted by studying forms from both classical and modern Japanese art. I wanted the Reliant to evoke aspects of its Japanese design sensibility, and I looked at objects like the curve of a fan, the Ginko leaf, the beveled edge of a samurai sword, and other sources.
The design became less fan-like during the course of the concept process, and that’s okay, but it was a necessary step for me to kick off the design process. Another goal for the ship was to incorporate some Xi’An technology which was to be mostly internal but still should inform the ship’s exterior.
Challenges The biggest challenge was figuring out how to maximize the cargo payload without compromising the ship’s distinctive profile and without making the overall wing frame too large. The Reliant is a mini-hauler, after all, and I needed a way to fit a respectable cargo volume into a relatively narrow wing frame. Initially I thought I could integrate the cargo into the wing frame itself, but the increased rotational weight would slow spinning maneuvers and also would open the door to other problem such as, balancing issues. For example, what if one side of the craft is loaded and the opposite isn’t? Countering this potential weight disparity would be too much for the maneuvering thrusters. So my final solution was to place the cargo hold at very the center of mass, maintaining the visual integrity of the narrow wings as well as minimizing the rotational weight and mismatch cargo configurations.
Fun The most fun was creating an animation of the Reliant – going from a landing configuration to space combat mode. It’s really satisfying to see a design fully come to life.
Highlights The highlight for me was that not only does the ship semi-transform, but also the cockpit seats reorient themselves (rotating independent of the rest of the ship) to go from side-by-side when horizontal to a stacked when in vertical flight mode, giving both the pilot and gunner maximum visibility. Should make for a really fun and unique player experience.
A new starter ship
The Reliant is the first of what we’re calling ‘Tier II’ starter ships. In the future, the MISC Reliant will form the basis of an optional Star Citizen starter package, like the Mustang and the Aurora today. Ship pricing is always based on specifications, and as such the Reliant (and any future packages) will be slightly more expensive (or contain different extras) than base Mustang and Aurora packages.
Details of the Sale
About the Sale We are offering this pledge ship to help fund Star Citizen’s development. All of these ships will be available for in-game credits in the final universe, and they are not required to start the game. Additionally, all decorative flair items will also be available to acquire in the finished game world. The goal is to make additional ships available that give players a different experience rather than a particular advantage when the persistent universe launches. As a concept sale, the Reliant will include an in-game poster and ship model (available in a future Star Citizen patch) and is being offered with LTI during this sale week.
Have a question about the Reliant? Let us know in this thread; we’ll be posting two Reliant Q&A sessions on the Comm-Link next week!
Future Variants The standard model of the Reliant, currently nicknamed the Mini-Hauler, is designed to be a ‘jack of all trades’ ship with a slight focus on cargo transport. In truth, the base ship is more of a utility base which might be adapted to any number of purposes. Using the base Reliant, pilots can customize their ship for any number of roles, ranging from combat missions to electronic interception. Additionally, the development team is currently working on three future ship variants. Expect to see more on these ships when the base Reliant is hangar ready. Please note that these variants are very early concepts and that their specifications and purpose may change significantly as they go through the development process. Even their names are internal and not the ‘in-world’ designations they will launch with.
“Researcher” – A science-oriented model that carries internal signal dampeners and an advanced scanner suite for discovery missions.
“News Van” – Designed for deep space broadcasting, the ‘News Van’ Reliant adds an Image Enhancement Suite that helps capture every moment of life in the stars.
“Skirmisher” – The frontier combat version of the Reliant trades cargo for a high-yield powerplant, stronger shields and additional weapons mounts.
We are announcing that these ships are in the works today because we know that many backers are concerned about having LTI on their ships. With feedback from the Starfarer Gemini sale, we’re going to establish ongoing rules for variants in advance. Going forward, the policy is that if we announce variants in advance (which we will try to do when possible) they will not be made available with LTI on release and instead CCUs will be available. If an additional variant were added beyond those listed during the base concept sale, it would be considered for a possible LTI concept sale.
If you’d like to add one to your fleet, they’re available in the pledge store until Monday June 1st. You can also view a detail of the ship in the Tech Overview of the ship page!