Elite 1.5 "Ships" all ships revealed in live stream last night

[ArithonUK]

The Asp Scout

Stripped down, more lightweight, more affordable version of Asp  Explorer. Still got a great jump range. Fewer weapons, same hard similar  hardpoints to viper (2 small, 2 medium), but it's faster than Explorer.

[video=youtube;n9rkd1j1IzI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9rkd1j1IzI[/video]

[ArithonUK]

Cobra Mk IV

Reward ship for owners of core Elite game & Horizons. Better  hard point positions, directly above cockpit and on centreline, with  bonus little one. Good arc for gimballed weapons when chasing up. Not  quite as fast or manoeuvrable.

[video=youtube;D_hw1RCTOd4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_hw1RCTOd4[/video]

[ArithonUK]

Viper Mk IV

Tougher, bigger, stronger. Better power plant, and better FSD. Slower. Same hardpoints.

[video=youtube;h52lCL9r964]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h52lCL9r964[/video]

[ArithonUK]

Keelback

A trader that leans towards combat. Approx the same size as Type 6. but  has 2 mediums and 2 small hard points. Still reasonably manoeuvrable.  Better internals, more armour. Does lose some cargo capacity, closer to  around 70t in the default loadout. Better power plant. Chunky bits on  the side move as you come into dock. Jump range still quite reasonable,  not much worse.

[video=youtube;ysYDnyr13sA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysYDnyr13sA[/video]

[ArithonUK]

Federal Corvette

2 Huge hardpoints set centrally behind bridge. Very similar in size to  Anaconda (but slightly bigger), a little bit more streamlined. 2 small, 2 medium, 1 large, 2  huge hard points. Little bit more manoeuvrable than the 'Conda. Slightly  less space / internals. Rank requirement not known right now.

[video=youtube;choK7Z4FXSQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=choK7Z4FXSQ[/video]

[ArithonUK]

Imperial Cutter - The Empire's answer to the Anaconda.

Might be a bit taller than the 'Conda. It's faster than the 'Conda and  the Corvette. It's pretty fast for its size. 4 mediums, 2 large, a  single huge. Slight upgrade to the 'Conda in firepower. Not very  manoeuvrable. Boom and zoom. More multi-role than the Corvette, less  than the 'Conda.

[video=youtube;INLcyPZgY68]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INLcyPZgY68[/video]

[ArithonUK]

Final video - an SRV driving around a landed Corvette on a planet surface.

[video=youtube;E8iNq2LI0g0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8iNq2LI0g0[/video]

[ArithonUK]

Taken from here - thanks to CMDR Zorrito

Collectibles (Materials)

 

• A precursor to the crafting system, but not the actual crafting  system. They're elements which you can discover and collect, initially  on the planets' surfaces. You can store them, a whole bunch of them. You  find them with the SRV and its special sensors.
• In the long term they will be part of crafting. For 2.0 they will  be available for something new: 'Synthesis'. This allows commanders, in  situ, to synthesise materials to create effects. IE you're taking a lot  of module damage, and your auto-repair unit is out of resources, you  can combine materials to make more resources. No need to go back to  starport etc.
• There's a new module coming called the Munitions Fabricator. This  allows you to fabricate ammo, and probably missiles, while in space.
• Frameshift drives can be boosted with the correct set of materials for a one-off jump increase.
• There are plausible connections between the minerals you collect and the effect you get.
• Different quality levels. Additional temporary enhancements with  high quality materials. Ammunition resupply could have a damage bonus.
• Can't sell produced ammo etc.
• Applies to SRV as well. New fuels for example, for extended runs. Could overfeed the shields (this will wear off over time).
• There are about 6 'things' [materials?] in total at the moment. They intend to expand over time.
• Hull can be be made more resistant to damage by feeding high quality materials into auto repair module.
• The process of Synthesis isn't limited to Horizons, but at first  will only be available to Horizons users as Materials only on planets.
• Canopy repair? Initially no, but being discussed.
• Q: Can limpets be repaired by Materials? A: Very excited about plans for more types of limpets, but not saying anything yet.
• Q: Are there any materials that can be found on the other sides  of the galaxy? A: Possibly. There will be lots of places to find  materials, of different quality levels and different rarities.
• Q: How do we scan for these materials from Space? New scanners or  do we need to surface scan again? A: Materials, you won't be able to  spot them from space, you will need the SRV.

  General Q&A
 

• Q: Will Horizons bring new exploration tasks such as surface  mapping, taking rock samples, finding ancient ruins, relics, fossils and  life? A: Hopefully, yes. I'm not going to say that all the stuff is  going to be there in 2.0... We have been discussing things specifically  like... planetary surface mapping... I'm not sure when exactly it's  going to come in... but that's kinda on point of the things that we want  yes.
• Q: Are there future plans to include an in game discovery log for  us explorers to record our findings across the galaxy? A: It is  something again that we have been discussing. We're not afraid to make  changes to the interface or the game mechanics. I'm not sure exactly  what form it's going to take. It's on our list. I personally think it's  very important, the concept that you're telling your own story.
• Q: What is the largest ship that can be stored as a fighter? A:  The largest fighter that can be launched is... the fighters. We're not  going to have a Russian dolls syndrome... I'm not going to rule it out  totally.
• Q: Will there be new weapons in 1.5 and Horizons? A: At the risk  of getting in trouble, hopefully yes. Fairly confident won't be 2.0.  More weapons, especially in the large hard point scale. Huge, maybe...
• Q: Will we be able to mine and mineral survey planets? A: Yes,  and going forward, more yes. There's stuff you can do on the planet, and  it does involve minerals. I don't want to say any more.
• Q: Will NPC wingmen for hire be available before season 3? A:  Hopef... I don't know. The timing on that I've no idea. It's definitely  something that I'm all over. We've got multi crew coming.. and as part  of that it only makes sense that we look at NPCs at the same time. It's  certainly something that we'd like to do.
• Q: Will passenger missions be added during season 2 or later? A: Yes. The plan is to get passenger missions... passenger gameplay,  in Season 2. We're going to do it. We have multiple ships which are  passenger ships, it would be weird if we didn't do it. It's just a  matter of timing. It's definitely going to happen, there's no doubt  about that.
  
• Q: How will we store the loot we find? A: I don't want to go too  much into loot at the moment... The concept for things that you collect  is that they are slightly different from normal commodities in that you  have personal storage that's always available to you, so even if you die  you don't lose it. That's not to say that commodities won't be useful in crafting. You have a maximum amount that you can carry.
• Q: Will you introduce in season 2 more galaxy map tools, such as  the possibility of creating routes by using waypoints, saving routes,  etc...? A: No idea sorry.
• Q: If we have the room for it, will we be able to store more than one fighter in our ship? A: Yes!
• Q: When can we expect to get Alliance ranks and ships? A: Dunnoo. We do want it, but don't know.
• Q: Will there be new modules to customize our ships for planetary  exploration? A: There will be in Season 2, a bunch of stuff to do with  modules... I can't say more than that.
• Q: Will loot only be natural stuff or will there be unnatural  (alien) loot to find as well? A: There will be a mixture of natural  stuff and processed materials as well.
• Q: Will there ever be an option to select which star in a multi  star system to jump to? A: That's really interesting, I don't know is  the honest answer. But from a personal point of view it's something that  I've always wanted... I don't see any downside, other than, it takes  time to do.
• Q: Will player crew mates count as wing members? Or will wings be  count ships instead of players? (i.e. six player wing, with 3 ships)?  A: The current plan is that crew members will be wing members.
• Q: Why aren't instances gathering friendly players by default ?  In a near future, will we be able to chose which instance to join? A: It  does try to do that. It can't always do it. I don't think we'd want to  go to a chose-your-own-instance scenario. But I don't know.
• Q [From Ed]: What are you most excited for? A: Pretty much all of  it... I think it's worth noting this is... a beginning not an end. When  it goes live that's the start of a whole new season, there's so much  stuff ... and that's not to denigrate, hopefully, some of the cool  features that we'll get in for the core game anyway, such as, I would  hope, during season 2 we'll get in the ability to have your ships  delivered to your location. There's just a load of cool stuff, and we  want to get through as much of it as possible.

[ArithonUK]

One of the things that was interesting about materials was that, depending on quality of the base minerals used, you could synthesise fuel that was better than normal. Nitrous for your FSD drive!

What's more, you could be half-way to Sagittarius A*, land on a planet and manufacture ammo for your auto-repair-modules, meaning explorers could remain in the deeps of space forever! No going home because your heat-sink or ARM is out of ammo.

Frontier have also discussed the possibility (in future) of crafting a new canopy while out in space, or at least repairing the one you have. Being able to repair your ship while planet-side from the SRV is a very interesting prospect.

There's a really good illustrated fact sheet on Horizons here.

Something not below that was mentioned; While your bigger ships can carry small fighters (any ship used in CQCC - Eagle, Sidewinder, Hunter and Condor) which can be deployed as AI defence or player-flown, they are not limited to one, so multiple "fighter bays" are possible. "BattleConda Galactica - deploy fighters!".

Bearing in mind the largest cargo bay is still (as of now) the Type 9, so major trojan horse potential there!

[Liberator]

This is the sort of meat that will get rid of the rinse and repeat mission apathy that had set in with me.

Looking forward to it.

[ArithonUK]

Another peek at the Cutter, this time on planet side with an SRV driving around it. Huge ship!

[video=youtube;TmrkDO9iFyw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmrkDO9iFyw&feature=youtu.be[/video]

[ArithonUK]

1.5 Beta has hit the web!

NEW CONTENT/FEATURES (1.5)
 
- Added Asp Scout
- Added Viper MkIV
- Added Federal Corvette
- Added Imperial Cutter
- Added Keelback
- PC/Mac: Added Bobbleheads!!!
- Added Imperial Fighter to CQC
- Added new missions
                - Don't die missions
                - Don't get scanned missions
                - Multi-stage missions
                - Missions can be received in space
                - Assassination variants
                - Contact missions
                - Unique cargo missions - you have to deliver what you are given
                - Timed window missions
- Added new open space scenarios:
                - Search and rescue scenarios
                - Wrecked ships scenarios
                - New deep space salvage scenarios
                - Distress call scenarios
                - Alliance vip escort
- PC/Mac: Updated French, German and Russian translations
- Added more player group sponsored minor faction descriptions
- Master Chefs rare good added
- Renamed various planets
- Local emergency rescue NPCs added
- Spanish localisation added - a big shout out for the Spanish community for their hard effort on this!

Full release notes here.

[Liberator]

Bobbleheads are a bit of a rip off at £5 each, for something that sits in your cockpit and only visible to you the player.

Maybe a couple of quid would have made it a fun item.

[Sneakytiger]

there collectables like those models you can buy in SC.

[Sneakytiger]

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my clipper check out the size of the that gun.lol