Now that the Hull C has been added to the ‘verse, we posed a few questions to the vehicle and gameplay teams about MISC’s enterprise-level cargo hauler. Here are the answers, straight from the designers themselves.
Is it planned that, at some point, craft like the MPUV Cargo or Drake Mule could move and carry the detachable cargo boxes from the Hull C?
Yes, we want to have a synergy between those sorts of vehicles to allow players to manually load/unload their vehicles, not just the Hull C.
Can you provide information on the firing angles of the ship's defensive turrets? Also, does the swing range of the turrets vary based on the ship's status, such as deployed, retracted, loaded, or without any cargo?
The turrets have a single set of firing arcs regardless of the spindles. In the closed state, all turrets can fire forwards and the majority have a 360° arc on the upper side. The underside of the Hull C is more vulnerable and only attackers coming from the front underside will be within the turrets’ firing range, so it’s recommended to plan ahead for encounters. This is a civilian hauler, not a military gunship after all!
Will there be different sorts of containers (heavier armor, less capacity)?
Not in this initial release, though we are looking to add containers with various properties in the future.
Can you tell us about the available storage for weapons and gear, or even small vehicles, inside the Hull C?
There are individual personal lockers/storage and a shared weapon rack storing items. There are no vehicles small enough to fit aboard the ship and it isn't intended to load vehicles inside it.
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Can I trade cargo at outposts and landing zones if I make my Hull C able to land with the spine extended by knocking off/shooting off the bottom cargo arm?
No, the Hull C will only be able to trade at the four LEOs. However, we will be adding support for the three jump points in Stanton in the future.
What additional trade routes will be available for the Hull C so that it is competitive with existing ships, like the Crusader C2 Hercules?
As mentioned above, we will have the four LEO stations supported and will be adding the three jump points. The Hull C is designed to fill a specific role in the game - hauling large volumes of cargo to various points in the system with high demand. Some of the economic support for this is still forthcoming as well as other content, like hauling missions, that will further distinguish the Hull C from other ships.
Will you be able to create buy/sell orders from the Docking Services counter, or will you have to travel all the way to the Admin Center in the Galleria?
For now, this is only available in the Admin Center.
Are all of the components able to be removed from the ship via tractor beam?
Like all other ships, S3 and above items are not intended to be removed by players via tractor beams. As a general rule, repairing, upgrading, and swapping these items is intended to be done at a dedicated facility.
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Is it possible to jettison the cargo during an emergency landing in order to contract the ship and extend the landing gear?
This is not currently possible. However, it is something we want to look into for future releases of the cargo system. Ideally, all relevant ships will eventually be able to jettison their external cargo.
Given the ship’s role as a cargo hauler, what sort of long-term amenities are available to the crew for long hauling trips? For example, food, water, medical supplies, and activities during quantum travel?
Like our other multi-crew vehicles, the Hull C has a typical assortment of amenities on board, including a shared hab area and personal storage for items and weapons.
Are there any no-questions-asked terminals available for the Hull C for pirates/salvagers to take advantage of when selling recovered cargo?
Not at this time.
Are the advertising panels from the concept included with the Hull C? If so, can they be customized with our own placed art?
During production, we decided to remove these for three reasons. Firstly, they took up a fair amount of space geometry-wise and provided additional complexity to the animations. Secondly, we have no way to allow players to choose what’s on them, so it would result in all Hull Cs looking the same advertising-wise. Finally, the cost of having such large RTT screens was an unknown, especially as the budget for these is shared across what’s onscreen and may cause degradation to other UI elements using the same system.
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Does the center ship spindle rotate to accommodate the loading and unloading of cargo?
It does not rotate as the four tractor-beam turrets have enough coverage to reach any crate attached to the spindles.
If a player finds a cargo-loaded Hull C floating in the unloading bubble within an armistice zone, can they steal cargo off its cargo grids with a tractor beam?
Not for now. When in an armistice zone, tractor beams only work within hangars. The only way would be to shoot open the door and fly the Hull C out of the armistice zone before pulling the cargo off with a tractor beam.
We’ve seen players get creative with attachable pods, like attaching Mirai Furys to the Starfarer in place of the fuel pods. Are there similar possibilities with the cargo boxes on the Hull C?
While we applaud the creativity, the Starfarer/Fury carrier is the result of a bug and not intentional design; it will be fixed in the future as it isn’t the desired way to transport vehicles. As shown on Inside Star Citizen, we're looking into future changes to allow various items to fit on cargo grids. However, at this moment in time, it is restricted to cargo boxes.
Will there be future cargo hauling missions that the Hull C would be better suited for?
There are definitely plans to have more in-depth cargo missions that larger hauling ships benefit from.