{"data":{"id":16647,"title":"Q&A: Drake Vulture","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/engineering\/16647-Q-A-Drake-Vulture","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/16647","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/16647","channel":"Engineering","category":"Development","series":"Concept Ship Q&A","images":[{"id":7109,"name":"DRAK_Vulture_Promo_Cockpit_Exterior_AA01.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/m3x6vpaimw0sxr\/source\/DRAK_Vulture_Promo_Cockpit_Exterior_AA01.jpg","alt":"","size":598340,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2018-07-03T12:29:12+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/7109","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/7109\/similar"},{"id":25004,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/w0shv2sobeaiw\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":927693,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2019-05-09T20:01:24+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/25004","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/25004\/similar"},{"id":25309,"name":"CS_SC_DRAKE_COMP_01B.png","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/wkhdnqeidlyfsr\/source\/CS_SC_DRAKE_COMP_01B.png","alt":"","size":195341,"mime_type":"image\/png","last_modified":"2018-07-03T10:31:59+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/25309","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/25309\/similar"},{"id":26482,"name":"Shipdetail-Concept-Bg_bw.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/media\/c2ae7q1c7cg63r\/source\/Shipdetail-Concept-Bg_bw.jpg","alt":"","size":1111159,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2017-05-24T19:35:00+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26482","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/26482\/similar"},{"id":38062,"name":"source.jpg","rsi_url":"https:\/\/media.robertsspaceindustries.com\/huwhfjtdvra4r\/source.jpg","alt":"","size":3377215,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","last_modified":"2025-03-21T15:18:25+00:00","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/38062","similar_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-link-images\/38062\/similar"}],"images_count":25,"translations":{"en_EN":"Q&A: Drake Vulture\n\nFollowing the launch of the Vulture from Drake Interplanetary, we took your community-voted questions to our designers to give you more information on the recently unveiled light industrial salvage vessel.\n\nIf you haven\u2019t watched our recent Ship Shape on the Vulture, you can do so here. Then, on Reverse the Verse, John Crewe, and Paul Jones answered questions about the Vulture live on Twitch.\n\nSpecial thanks to John Crewe for answering the top-voted questions.\n\n\nDoes the Vulture have any special synergy with other Drake ships like the Caterpillar? For example, the rear of the Vulture looks like it could easily back up to the Caterpillar\u2018s front air-shield door for easy offloading of salvage. (fan image example)\nThere are no particular plans to have any synergy with other Drake ships as suggested in the image, however the idea is interesting and should work in theory with the Caterpillar and other ships of a similar arrangement.\n\n\n\nThe Vulture has 12 SCU however, the similar entry level miner MISC Prospector has 128 SCU. With that significant difference of cargo, how will profit differ between the ships?\nThe Prospector has its 128 SCU capacity spread across its multiple saddlebag containers, but cannot hold the full 128 SCU at a single time and must detach these containers to keep collecting material. Each container currently holds 8 SCU so without detaching them the Prospector can naturally only hold 32 SCU at a single time, the current value in 3.2.\n\n\nIs a scant 12 SCU of scrap material going to be economically viable, considering that scrap usually isn\u2019t worth much as a commodity, plus the cost of fuel burn, cost of demolition charges, and risk of operating a relatively undefended ship in potentially hazardous environments?\nAs with all things economy based, we will be reviewing the profit\/hour balance and make adjustments where needed. People should not speculate on the viability of the Vulture based on the current in-game scrap metal prices, as these are not the same as what the Vulture will produce. Internally, we discussed the size of the cargo bay during concept and made sure that if we need to increase the size of it, it can be brought in line with the other profession starter ships without requiring a significant rework. Likewise, if we feel the Prospector containers skew the comparison, they can be brought down in capacity.\n\n\nSince the Prospector can scan to locate mineable nodes, will the Vulture have similar scanning tech onboard to tell its pilot what components are still salvageable (salable\/usable) and what are not instead of having to EVA out to check manually?\nAbsolutely, all ships will have the scanning ability and certain ships, such as the Vulture, have enhanced scanners specifically suited to that role.\n\n\nDoes the 12 SCU of cargo space include the space for storing cubes of salvage, or is there a different hold specifically for that?\nThe 12 SCU cargo space is the cargo grid for both cubes and scavenged items which you wish to legitimately store. Of course, as in all ships, you can place items outside the cargo grids. However, this has downsides, such as your cargo not being secure and risking being damaged, as well as not being recognized or detected by the kiosk or sales interfaces as legitimate goods for sale.\n\n\nIf intact components will typically be more valuable for low-volume salvaging versus compressed scrap, and the Vulture can only secure those items by pilot EVA, why would players find the Vulture more desirable to use for light salvage instead of better defended and\/or cheaper fighter craft\/light hauler like the Hornet, Cutlass, Freelancer, or Aurora CL?\nComponent salvaging is only one part of the salvage career, and while any ship could technically do this, the Vulture is equipped for the whole process (scraping, processing, and ship breaking) which will maximize profit from your trips versus just grabbing components alone. The Vulture, and other salvage ships such as the Reclaimer, come equipped with dedicated salvage scanners that allow you to identify components and their states much easier than non-dedicated ships. So while you could strip every item out of an abandoned ship into a Cutlass, 90% of it could be such low value that the Vulture owner would return essentially the same end profit by only grabbing the 10% identified as worthwhile.\n\nAn example to use would be Mining in 3.2. Players can just fracture and extract every rock in sight, but without scanning and reviewing their composition and carefully fracturing, returns will be low compared with a player who specifically targets the high-value assets.\n\n\nGiven that the initial Vulture concept that the community voted for emphasized a ship oriented towards salvaging valuable components over processing large volumes of low-value scrap material, what prompted the shift towards making the Vulture a low-volume, low-value raw material reclamation ship?\nDuring the concept phase we started out with just the component salvaging process as its key aim, but as we progressed through the concepts, it became clear that this wasn\u2019t a particularly interesting or fulfilling role for the ship. As such, we decided to make the Vulture a more rounded introduction to Salvage covering all the basic principles.\n\n\nConsidering the Vulture can only carry roughly a snub-fighter\u2019s worth of compressed scrap, why were live-aboard features prioritized over just making it a daytripper with increased storage space for cargo and\/or better tools for harvesting intact components?\nPlayer accommodation and live-aboard features will have a role in the future. As such, we decided that entry-level ships should have these basic features to support solo players in being able to spend long amounts of time away from base, rather than requiring daytripper style planning.\n\n\nWill there be any risks associated to salvage akin in to mining? I.e. rupturing a fuel line, tractoring in a live wire or causing a structural collapse?\nDefinitely, like Mining we don\u2019t want it simple to be a click and leave mechanic, but to require some level of skill to control the return on investment for salvaged materials.\n\n\nWhat advantage does the Vulture have over another ship that simply removes profitable\/intact components and not stay to melt the hull of a wrecked ship?\nPlease see our answer to question six above.\n\n\nSince the Vulture requires some manual cutting of scrap, will it come with the requisite hand tools, or will those have to be purchased separately?\nEvery Vulture comes equipped with the Multitool which can be used for welding and cutting of objects, alongside a full complement of salvage charges.\n\n\n12 SCU of cargo\u2026 okay let\u00b4s try some math.\nThe Cargo area must be at least 2 SCU wide and 2 SCU in height. So 2 \u00d7 2 x L = 12 SCU ; L = 3. So the cargo area should be about 3 SCU long.\nFor comparison: 1 mid sized power plant (Terrapin for example) is about the size of 1 SCU.\nConclusion: The most profitable job in salvage is to find used components that are still working so cutting them in smaller parts is no option.\nSo the pilot of the Vulture can store up to 12 mid sized components. Isn\u00b4t that a little bit small? Or did I forget an important aspect of salvage?\n\nAs mentioned earlier, we\u2019ll be making sure the return is appropriate from an economy point of view and that one method of salvaging is not vastly superior to the other. Components salvaged from a ship are extremely unlikely to be in pristine condition and their value will drop appropriately, presuming you can find a buyer willing to accept items in that condition. On the flip side, processed and compacted raw materials from salvage will be readily bought by most manufacturing locations and refineries.\n\n\nAre there VTOL thrusters on the ship? The RTV section mentioned the Vulture had VTOL thrusters instead of a grav-lev system, but the ship description only has main, retro, and maneuvering thrusters.\nThis is just an oversight on the ship matrix and will be updated soon. The ship has two dedicated VTOL thrusters in the front nacelles at the rear of the landing gear, plus the rear two main engines will have VTOL capabilities if required. An early concept had them doing thrust vectoring, but this was left off later images. We may just use an additional integral thruster depending on what can be implemented at the time of production and whether it is required based on the other thrusters on the ship and their capacities.","de_DE":"F&A: Drachengeier\n\nNach dem Start des Vulture von Drake Interplanetary haben wir Ihre Fragen an unsere Designer weitergeleitet, um Ihnen weitere Informationen \u00fcber das k\u00fcrzlich vorgestellte leichte industrielle Bergungsschiff zu geben.\n\nWenn du unsere aktuelle Schiffsform auf dem Geier nicht gesehen hast, kannst du dies hier tun. Dann, auf Reverse the Vers, beantworteten John Crewe und Paul Jones Fragen \u00fcber den Geier live auf Twitch.\n\nBesonderen Dank an John Crewe f\u00fcr die Beantwortung der am besten gestimmten Fragen.\n\n\nHat der Geier eine besondere Synergie mit anderen Drake-Schiffen wie der Caterpillar? Zum Beispiel sieht die R\u00fcckseite des Vulture so aus, als k\u00f6nnte sie leicht bis zur vorderen Luftschildt\u00fcr des Caterpillar zur\u00fcckkehren, um die Bergung einfach zu entladen. (Beispiel Ventilatorbild)\nEs gibt keine konkreten Pl\u00e4ne f\u00fcr eine Synergie mit anderen Drake-Schiffen, wie im Bild vorgeschlagen, aber die Idee ist interessant und sollte theoretisch mit der Caterpillar und anderen Schiffen \u00e4hnlicher Anordnung funktionieren.\n\n\nDer Vulture hat 12 SCU, der \u00e4hnliche Einsteiger-Miner MISC Prospector hat 128 SCU. Mit diesem signifikanten Unterschied in der Ladung, wie wird sich der Gewinn zwischen den Schiffen unterscheiden?\nDer Prospektor hat seine Kapazit\u00e4t von 128 SCU verteilt auf seine mehreren Satteltaschencontainer, kann aber die volle 128 SCU nicht gleichzeitig aufnehmen und muss diese Container abnehmen, um das Sammelmaterial zu erhalten. Jeder Container fasst derzeit 8 SCU, so dass der Prospektor, ohne sie zu l\u00f6sen, nat\u00fcrlich nur 32 SCU auf einmal halten kann, der aktuelle Wert in 3.2.\n\n\nWird eine knappe 12 SCU Schrottmaterial wirtschaftlich rentabel sein, wenn man bedenkt, dass Schrott in der Regel nicht viel wert ist als Ware, plus die Kosten f\u00fcr den Kraftstoffverbrauch, die Kosten f\u00fcr Abbruchgeb\u00fchren und das Risiko, ein relativ unverteidigtes Schiff in potenziell gef\u00e4hrlichen Umgebungen zu betreiben?\n\nWie bei allen wirtschaftlichen Aspekten werden wir die Gewinn- und Stundenbilanz \u00fcberpr\u00fcfen und bei Bedarf Anpassungen vornehmen. Die Leute sollten nicht \u00fcber die Lebensf\u00e4higkeit des Geiers spekulieren, basierend auf den aktuellen Schrottpreisen im Spiel, da diese nicht mit dem \u00fcbereinstimmen, was der Geier produzieren wird. Intern haben wir w\u00e4hrend des Konzepts die Gr\u00f6\u00dfe des Laderaums besprochen und sichergestellt, dass er, wenn wir ihn vergr\u00f6\u00dfern m\u00fcssen, ohne gr\u00f6\u00dfere Nacharbeiten mit den anderen Berufsschiffen in Einklang gebracht werden kann. Ebenso, wenn wir das Gef\u00fchl haben, dass die Prospector-Container den Vergleich verzerren, k\u00f6nnen sie in ihrer Kapazit\u00e4t reduziert werden.\n\n\nDa der Prospektor scannen kann, um abbaubare Knoten zu lokalisieren, wird der Geier eine \u00e4hnliche Scantechnologie an Bord haben, um seinem Piloten zu sagen, welche Komponenten noch zu retten sind (verkaufbar\/verwendbar) und was nicht, anstatt EVA herausfinden zu m\u00fcssen, um sie manuell zu \u00fcberpr\u00fcfen?\nAbsolut, alle Schiffe werden die F\u00e4higkeit zum Scannen haben, und bestimmte Schiffe, wie der Geier, haben verbesserte Scanner, die speziell f\u00fcr diese Rolle geeignet sind.\n\n\nEnth\u00e4lt die 12 SCU Laderaum den Raum f\u00fcr die Lagerung von Bergungsw\u00fcrfeln, oder gibt es einen anderen Laderaum speziell daf\u00fcr?\nDer 12 SCU-Laderaum ist das Laderaster f\u00fcr W\u00fcrfel und gesammelte Gegenst\u00e4nde, die Sie rechtm\u00e4\u00dfig lagern m\u00f6chten. Nat\u00fcrlich kannst du, wie auf allen Schiffen, Gegenst\u00e4nde au\u00dferhalb der Ladegitter platzieren. Dies hat jedoch Nachteile, wie z.B. dass Ihre Ladung nicht sicher ist und besch\u00e4digt werden k\u00f6nnte, sowie von den Kiosk- oder Verkaufsschnittstellen nicht als legitime Ware zum Verkauf erkannt oder entdeckt wird.\n\n\nWenn intakte Komponenten typischerweise wertvoller f\u00fcr die Bergung von Kleinmengen im Vergleich zu komprimiertem Schrott sind und der Geier diese Gegenst\u00e4nde nur durch den Piloten EVA sichern kann, warum sollten Spieler den Geier dann f\u00fcr die leichte Bergung bevorzugter halten, anstatt besser verteidigte und\/oder billigere Kampffahrzeuge\/Lichtschiffe wie Hornisse, Entermesser, Freelancer oder Aurora CL?\n\nDie Komponentenbergung ist nur ein Teil der Bergungskarriere, und w\u00e4hrend jedes Schiff dies technisch tun k\u00f6nnte, ist der Geier f\u00fcr den gesamten Prozess (Schaben, Verarbeiten und Schiffsbruch) ger\u00fcstet, der den Gewinn aus Ihren Reisen maximiert, im Gegensatz zum blo\u00dfen Greifen von Komponenten allein. Der Vulture und andere Bergungsschiffe wie der Reclaimer sind mit speziellen Bergungsscannern ausgestattet, mit denen Sie Komponenten und deren Zustand viel einfacher identifizieren k\u00f6nnen als mit nicht dedizierten Schiffen. W\u00e4hrend Sie also jeden Gegenstand aus einem verlassenen Schiff in ein Entermesser ausziehen k\u00f6nnten, k\u00f6nnten 90% davon so niedrig sein, dass der Geierbesitzer im Wesentlichen den gleichen Endgewinn erzielen w\u00fcrde, indem er nur die als lohnenswert identifizierten 10% aufnimmt.\n\nEin Beispiel f\u00fcr die Verwendung ist Mining in 3.2. Die Spieler k\u00f6nnen einfach jeden Stein in Sichtweite brechen und extrahieren, aber ohne ihre Zusammensetzung zu scannen und zu \u00fcberpr\u00fcfen und sorgf\u00e4ltig zu brechen, werden die Renditen im Vergleich zu einem Spieler, der speziell auf die hochwertigen Verm\u00f6genswerte ausgerichtet ist, niedrig sein.\n\n\nDa das anf\u00e4ngliche Geier-Konzept, f\u00fcr das die Gemeinschaft gestimmt hat, ein Schiff betonte, das darauf ausgerichtet ist, wertvolle Komponenten \u00fcber die Verarbeitung gro\u00dfer Mengen an geringwertigem Schrott zu bergen, was veranlasste den Wandel hin zu einem Geier mit geringem Volumen und geringem Wert f\u00fcr die Rohstoffgewinnung?\nW\u00e4hrend der Konzeptphase begannen wir mit der Bergung von Komponenten als Hauptziel, aber als wir durch die Konzepte gingen, wurde klar, dass dies keine besonders interessante oder erf\u00fcllende Rolle f\u00fcr das Schiff war. Aus diesem Grund haben wir beschlossen, den Geier zu einer abgerundeten Einf\u00fchrung in die Bergung zu machen, die alle Grundprinzipien abdeckt.\n\n\nWenn der Geier nur ungef\u00e4hr den Wert von komprimiertem Schrott eines Stumpfk\u00e4mpfers tragen kann, warum wurden dann die an Bord lebenden Merkmale so priorisiert, dass er nur zu einem Tagesausfl\u00fcgler mit mehr Stauraum f\u00fcr Fracht und\/oder besseren Werkzeugen f\u00fcr die Ernte intakter Komponenten wird?\nSpielerunterk\u00fcnfte und Live-Abo-Features werden in Zukunft eine Rolle spielen. Daher haben wir uns entschieden, dass Einsteigerschiffe diese grundlegenden Funktionen haben sollten, um Solospieler dabei zu unterst\u00fctzen, lange Zeit au\u00dferhalb der Basis verbringen zu k\u00f6nnen, anstatt eine Planung im Daytripper-Stil zu erfordern.\n\n\nGibt es Risiken bei der Bergung \u00e4hnlich dem Bergbau? Z.B. Bruch einer Kraftstoffleitung, Traktorfahren unter Spannung oder Einbruch der Konstruktion?\nDefinitiv, wie im Bergbau wollen wir nicht, dass es einfach ist, ein Klick zu sein und den Mechaniker zu verlassen, sondern dass ein gewisses Ma\u00df an Geschicklichkeit erforderlich ist, um den Return on Investment f\u00fcr geborgene Materialien zu kontrollieren.\n\n\nWelchen Vorteil hat der Geier gegen\u00fcber einem anderen Schiff, das einfach profitable\/intakte Komponenten entfernt und nicht l\u00e4nger den Rumpf eines Schiffbruchst\u00fccks schmilzt?\nBitte beachten Sie unsere Antwort auf Frage sechs oben.\n\n\nDa der Geier etwas manuelles Schneiden von Schrott erfordert, wird er mit den erforderlichen Handwerkzeugen geliefert, oder m\u00fcssen diese separat gekauft werden?\nJeder Geier ist mit dem Multitool ausgestattet, das zum Schwei\u00dfen und Schneiden von Gegenst\u00e4nden verwendet werden kann, zusammen mit einer vollen Palette von Bergungskosten.\n\n\n12 SCU der Ladung.... okay let\u00b4s versuchen Sie etwas Mathematik.\nDer Laderaum muss mindestens 2 SCU breit und 2 SCU hoch sein. Also 2 \u00d7 2 x L = 12 SCU ; L = 3, also sollte der Laderaum etwa 3 SCU lang sein.\nZum Vergleich: 1 mittelgro\u00dfes Kraftwerk (z.B. Schildkr\u00f6te) ist etwa so gro\u00df wie 1 SCU.\nFazit: Die profitabelste Aufgabe bei der Bergung ist es, gebrauchte Komponenten zu finden, die noch funktionieren, so dass das Schneiden in kleinere Teile keine Option ist.\nSo kann der Pilot des Vulture bis zu 12 mittelgro\u00dfe Komponenten lagern. Isn\u00b4t ist das ein bisschen klein? Oder habe ich einen wichtigen Aspekt der Bergung vergessen?\n\nWie bereits erw\u00e4hnt, werden wir sicherstellen, dass die Rendite aus wirtschaftlicher Sicht angemessen ist und dass eine Methode der Bergung der anderen nicht wesentlich \u00fcberlegen ist. Komponenten, die von einem Schiff geborgen werden, sind h\u00f6chstwahrscheinlich nicht in einwandfreiem Zustand und ihr Wert sinkt entsprechend, vorausgesetzt, Sie finden einen K\u00e4ufer, der bereit ist, Artikel in diesem Zustand zu akzeptieren. Auf der anderen Seite werden verarbeitete und verdichtete Rohstoffe aus der Bergung von den meisten Produktionsstandorten und Raffinerien problemlos gekauft.\n\n\nGibt es VTOL-Triebwerke auf dem Schiff? Der RTV-Abschnitt erw\u00e4hnte, dass der Geier VTOL-Triebwerke anstelle eines Gravitationssystems hatte, aber die Schiffsbeschreibung hat nur Haupt-, Retro- und Man\u00f6vriertriebwerke.\nDies ist nur ein Versehen der Schiffsmatrix und wird in K\u00fcrze aktualisiert. Das Schiff verf\u00fcgt \u00fcber zwei dedizierte VTOL-Triebwerke in den vorderen Gondeln am Heck des Fahrwerks, und die hinteren beiden Hauptmaschinen werden bei Bedarf VTOL-f\u00e4hig sein. Ein fr\u00fches Konzept lie\u00df sie die Schubvektorisierung durchf\u00fchren, aber das wurde bei sp\u00e4teren Bildern weggelassen. Wir k\u00f6nnen einfach ein zus\u00e4tzliches integriertes Triebwerk verwenden, je nachdem, was zum Zeitpunkt der Produktion implementiert werden kann und ob es aufgrund der anderen Triebwerke auf dem Schiff und deren Kapazit\u00e4ten erforderlich ist.","zh_CN":"Q&A: Drake Vulture\n\nFollowing the launch of the Vulture from Drake Interplanetary, we took your community-voted questions to our designers to give you more information on the recently unveiled light industrial salvage vessel.\n\nIf you haven\u2019t watched our recent Ship Shape on the Vulture, you can do so here. Then, on Reverse the Verse, John Crewe, and Paul Jones answered questions about the Vulture live on Twitch.\n\nSpecial thanks to John Crewe for answering the top-voted questions.\n\n\nDoes the Vulture have any special synergy with other Drake ships like the Caterpillar? For example, the rear of the Vulture looks like it could easily back up to the Caterpillar\u2018s front air-shield door for easy offloading of salvage. (fan image example)\nThere are no particular plans to have any synergy with other Drake ships as suggested in the image, however the idea is interesting and should work in theory with the Caterpillar and other ships of a similar arrangement.\n\n\n\nThe Vulture has 12 SCU however, the similar entry level miner MISC Prospector has 128 SCU. With that significant difference of cargo, how will profit differ between the ships?\nThe Prospector has its 128 SCU capacity spread across its multiple saddlebag containers, but cannot hold the full 128 SCU at a single time and must detach these containers to keep collecting material. Each container currently holds 8 SCU so without detaching them the Prospector can naturally only hold 32 SCU at a single time, the current value in 3.2.\n\n\nIs a scant 12 SCU of scrap material going to be economically viable, considering that scrap usually isn\u2019t worth much as a commodity, plus the cost of fuel burn, cost of demolition charges, and risk of operating a relatively undefended ship in potentially hazardous environments?\nAs with all things economy based, we will be reviewing the profit\/hour balance and make adjustments where needed. People should not speculate on the viability of the Vulture based on the current in-game scrap metal prices, as these are not the same as what the Vulture will produce. Internally, we discussed the size of the cargo bay during concept and made sure that if we need to increase the size of it, it can be brought in line with the other profession starter ships without requiring a significant rework. Likewise, if we feel the Prospector containers skew the comparison, they can be brought down in capacity.\n\n\nSince the Prospector can scan to locate mineable nodes, will the Vulture have similar scanning tech onboard to tell its pilot what components are still salvageable (salable\/usable) and what are not instead of having to EVA out to check manually?\nAbsolutely, all ships will have the scanning ability and certain ships, such as the Vulture, have enhanced scanners specifically suited to that role.\n\n\nDoes the 12 SCU of cargo space include the space for storing cubes of salvage, or is there a different hold specifically for that?\nThe 12 SCU cargo space is the cargo grid for both cubes and scavenged items which you wish to legitimately store. Of course, as in all ships, you can place items outside the cargo grids. However, this has downsides, such as your cargo not being secure and risking being damaged, as well as not being recognized or detected by the kiosk or sales interfaces as legitimate goods for sale.\n\n\nIf intact components will typically be more valuable for low-volume salvaging versus compressed scrap, and the Vulture can only secure those items by pilot EVA, why would players find the Vulture more desirable to use for light salvage instead of better defended and\/or cheaper fighter craft\/light hauler like the Hornet, Cutlass, Freelancer, or Aurora CL?\nComponent salvaging is only one part of the salvage career, and while any ship could technically do this, the Vulture is equipped for the whole process (scraping, processing, and ship breaking) which will maximize profit from your trips versus just grabbing components alone. The Vulture, and other salvage ships such as the Reclaimer, come equipped with dedicated salvage scanners that allow you to identify components and their states much easier than non-dedicated ships. So while you could strip every item out of an abandoned ship into a Cutlass, 90% of it could be such low value that the Vulture owner would return essentially the same end profit by only grabbing the 10% identified as worthwhile.\n\nAn example to use would be Mining in 3.2. Players can just fracture and extract every rock in sight, but without scanning and reviewing their composition and carefully fracturing, returns will be low compared with a player who specifically targets the high-value assets.\n\n\nGiven that the initial Vulture concept that the community voted for emphasized a ship oriented towards salvaging valuable components over processing large volumes of low-value scrap material, what prompted the shift towards making the Vulture a low-volume, low-value raw material reclamation ship?\nDuring the concept phase we started out with just the component salvaging process as its key aim, but as we progressed through the concepts, it became clear that this wasn\u2019t a particularly interesting or fulfilling role for the ship. As such, we decided to make the Vulture a more rounded introduction to Salvage covering all the basic principles.\n\n\nConsidering the Vulture can only carry roughly a snub-fighter\u2019s worth of compressed scrap, why were live-aboard features prioritized over just making it a daytripper with increased storage space for cargo and\/or better tools for harvesting intact components?\nPlayer accommodation and live-aboard features will have a role in the future. As such, we decided that entry-level ships should have these basic features to support solo players in being able to spend long amounts of time away from base, rather than requiring daytripper style planning.\n\n\nWill there be any risks associated to salvage akin in to mining? I.e. rupturing a fuel line, tractoring in a live wire or causing a structural collapse?\nDefinitely, like Mining we don\u2019t want it simple to be a click and leave mechanic, but to require some level of skill to control the return on investment for salvaged materials.\n\n\nWhat advantage does the Vulture have over another ship that simply removes profitable\/intact components and not stay to melt the hull of a wrecked ship?\nPlease see our answer to question six above.\n\n\nSince the Vulture requires some manual cutting of scrap, will it come with the requisite hand tools, or will those have to be purchased separately?\nEvery Vulture comes equipped with the Multitool which can be used for welding and cutting of objects, alongside a full complement of salvage charges.\n\n\n12 SCU of cargo\u2026 okay let\u00b4s try some math.\nThe Cargo area must be at least 2 SCU wide and 2 SCU in height. So 2 \u00d7 2 x L = 12 SCU ; L = 3. So the cargo area should be about 3 SCU long.\nFor comparison: 1 mid sized power plant (Terrapin for example) is about the size of 1 SCU.\nConclusion: The most profitable job in salvage is to find used components that are still working so cutting them in smaller parts is no option.\nSo the pilot of the Vulture can store up to 12 mid sized components. Isn\u00b4t that a little bit small? Or did I forget an important aspect of salvage?\n\nAs mentioned earlier, we\u2019ll be making sure the return is appropriate from an economy point of view and that one method of salvaging is not vastly superior to the other. Components salvaged from a ship are extremely unlikely to be in pristine condition and their value will drop appropriately, presuming you can find a buyer willing to accept items in that condition. On the flip side, processed and compacted raw materials from salvage will be readily bought by most manufacturing locations and refineries.\n\n\nAre there VTOL thrusters on the ship? The RTV section mentioned the Vulture had VTOL thrusters instead of a grav-lev system, but the ship description only has main, retro, and maneuvering thrusters.\nThis is just an oversight on the ship matrix and will be updated soon. The ship has two dedicated VTOL thrusters in the front nacelles at the rear of the landing gear, plus the rear two main engines will have VTOL capabilities if required. An early concept had them doing thrust vectoring, but this was left off later images. We may just use an additional integral thruster depending on what can be implemented at the time of production and whether it is required based on the other thrusters on the ship and their capacities."},"links_count":3,"comment_count":52,"created_at":"2018-07-05T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"7 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-07 23:08:43","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":16645,"next_id":16648}}