Container Carrier, a Universal Freighter Concept quik n' dirty

[xenoscepter (OP)]

 --- After a bout of spirited bug hunting on the Discord, I hatched the beautiful idea to create a Container Ship. This is the first draft of it, and I will include the containers in the reply below it. The deployment time is disproportional to the fuel due to almost every container having 200,000 extra fuel for the ship to draw on. This concept is still subject to testing and refinement, and as such should be consider a WIP.

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Universal class Freighter      10,000 tons       170 Crew       609.3 BP       TCS 200    TH 160    EM 0
800 km/s      Armour 1-41       Shields 0-0       HTK 41      Sensors 1/1/0/0      DCR 10      PPV 0
MSP 1,960    Max Repair 100 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 2,000 tons     Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 1   
Shao Xiao    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 30 months    Flight Crew Berths 40   

Commercial Nuclear Thermal Engine  EP80.0 (2)    Power 160.0    Fuel Use 9.88%    Signature 80.0    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 140,000 Litres    Range 25.5 billion km (368 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 50,000 litres per hour     Complete Refuel 2 hours

Ordnance Transfer Rate: 40 MSP per hour
Active Search Sensor AS3-R20 (1)     GPS 20     Range 3.4m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor AS1-R1 (1)     GPS 1     Range 1.3m km    MCR 137.4k km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor AS10-R500 (1)     GPS 500     Range 10m km    Resolution 500
Active Search Sensor AS7-R200 (1)     GPS 200     Range 7.4m km    Resolution 200
Thermal Sensor TH0.2-1.0 (1)     Sensitivity 1.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.9m km
EM Sensor EM0.2-1.0 (1)     Sensitivity 1.0     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.9m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
Non-Racial Techs Required:
(From TN Start)

 - Maximum Engine Size - 40
 - Boat Bay
 - Commercial Hangar Bay

[xenoscepter (OP)]

Container Template:

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Container Template class Container      30 tons       2 Crew       4.2 BP       TCS 1    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      No Armour       Shields 0-0     HTK 0      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 122    AFR 0%    IFR 0.0%    1YR 0    5YR 0    Max Repair 2.5 MSP
Shao Xiao    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days   


This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction

 --- This is the basis for every container design, and all containers in this post contain these components. This is a 0.1 Deployment Time, No Armor ship with 1x Engineering Spaces - Tiny, 2x Maintenance Storage Bay - Small and 1x Maintenance Storage Bay - Fighter.

Containers:
 --- To build all of these containers from a TN Start requires the Commercial Magazine 100 Tech, the Troop Transport Small Tech and the Fuel Storage - Large Tech.

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Cargo Container class Container      1,000 tons       5 Crew       29.1 BP       TCS 20    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      No Armour       Shields 0-0     HTK 5      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 0
Maint Life 54.09 Years     MSP 2,104    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 1    5YR 21    Max Repair 15 MSP
Cargo 500   
Shao Xiao    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days   

Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range N/A

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Ammo Container class Container      1,000 tons       10 Crew       49.2 BP       TCS 20    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      No Armour       Shields 0-0     HTK 4      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 0
Maint Life 26.61 Years     MSP 1,507    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 4    5YR 62    Max Repair 25 MSP
Magazine 100   
Shao Xiao    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days   

Fuel Capacity 175,000 Litres    Range N/A

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Fuel Container class Container      1,000 tons       2 Crew       27.6 BP       TCS 20    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      No Armour       Shields 0-0     HTK 7      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 0
Maint Life 12.65 Years     MSP 104    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 1    5YR 18    Max Repair 5 MSP
Shao Xiao    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days   

Fuel Capacity 950,000 Litres    Range N/A

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

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Maintenance Container class Container      1,000 tons       8 Crew       57.6 BP       TCS 20    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      No Armour       Shields 0-0     HTK 7      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 0
Maint Life 60.46 Years     MSP 6,109    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 3    5YR 49    Max Repair 15 MSP
Shao Xiao    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days   

Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range N/A

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

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Troop Container class Container      1,000 tons       14 Crew       42.6 BP       TCS 20    TH 0    EM 0
1 km/s      No Armour       Shields 0-0     HTK 5      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 0
Maint Life 50.48 Years     MSP 2,106    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 2    5YR 24    Max Repair 15 MSP
Troop Capacity 500 tons     
Shao Xiao    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days   

Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range N/A

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

[kenlon]

Well, that's certainly unorthodox.  Being able to build a single class of freighter and have planetary industry build the containers for it is a good way to dodge retooling time.

How well does this work in practice, or were these theoretical designs?

[drakonbane]

Great idea! I'm curious how much more micromanagement this approach requires.  Going to have to try this for myself, thanks for the idea and i would enjoy hearing from you how well this works out for you.

[skoormit]

Intriguing.
You need a 1kt navy shipyard per container type, and a 10kt commercial shipyard for the Universal.
You are overpaying somewhat per ship, because of the hangar overhead, but you reduce shipyard costs and gain a lot of flexibility.

Also, since the Universal is a commercial vessel, you can leave deployment time at 3 months.
Not sure what I would do with the space that frees up.

[Nori]

Intriguing.
You need a 1kt navy shipyard per container type, and a 10kt commercial shipyard for the Universal.
You are overpaying somewhat per ship, because of the hangar overhead, but you reduce shipyard costs and gain a lot of flexibility.

Also, since the Universal is a commercial vessel, you can leave deployment time at 3 months.
Not sure what I would do with the space that frees up.

They are no armor, so you build them in industry. 

[Person012345]

How does this compare to a "space semi"? I kind of think this is thematically cooler and may employ them in some of my games but I'm wondering in terms of efficiency how it would compare to simply dragging them around with a tractor unit.

[skoormit]

Intriguing.
You need a 1kt navy shipyard per container type, and a 10kt commercial shipyard for the Universal.
You are overpaying somewhat per ship, because of the hangar overhead, but you reduce shipyard costs and gain a lot of flexibility.

Also, since the Universal is a commercial vessel, you can leave deployment time at 3 months.
Not sure what I would do with the space that frees up.

They are no armor, so you build them in industry. 

Duh, of course!

Building these with industry will be very convenient at first, since you avoid the up-front cost of a shipyard.
However, I have found that relying on industry to build a lot of stations over time really hampers my ability to build other needful things with industry.

I'm going to try your container approach in my next playthrough, but I suspect that I will build dedicated yards before I start mass-production.

[Pedroig]

Not sure I"m fully grasping the benefit.  The carrier can have two modules, so for small mixed load items it seems fine, but how often does that actually come up?  Minerals and infrastructure is all I can think.  Can't move any installations.  Having an underutilized commercial cargo container seems better.

The Troop Carrier Container is a great idea, allows a carrier to "convert" into an ad-hoc troop transport, thus cutting down on the need for specialized internal troop transports.  Would still want a dedicated Drop Troop Armoured vessel though.

[Energyz]

I'm doing the same philosophy in my current campaign, it's great so far. I'm no longer building commercial ships anymore, only tugs and station.

[xenoscepter (OP)]

@kenlon
 - The design given is still very theoretical, more of a proof of concept than an actually useful ship at the moment. I posted it with the intent of sharing the concept with others.

@skroomit
 - I could, but I consider that gamey.

@Pedroig
 - It's a proof-of-concept design, ideally a much, much larger hangar would be used. Also, this vessel sports an Ordinance Transfer System, Re-fueling System and Cargo Shuttles. Meaning it goes from Freighter to Collier to Tanker to Supply Ship with the simple swap of container.. or at least it is supposed to. It remains to be tested, and I'm quite sure I'll need to tweak it in the future in light of mechanics.

[skoormit]

@skroomit
 - I could, but I consider that gamey.

I don't see how it is gamey to use shipyards to build space stations.
There's an up-front cost to construct the yard and an ongoing cost of workers, and the production rate is much slower than industry.

Unless I misunderstand you?

[Gabethebaldandbold]

I don't see how it is gamey to use shipyards to build space stations.
There's an up-front cost to construct the yard and an ongoing cost of workers, and the production rate is much slower than industry.

Unless I misunderstand you?

on the class design window you can check the no armour box, which makes that design into a space station, meaning you build it with industry. all of these containers are being built with industry.

[Gabethebaldandbold]

That is no freighter... THATS A SPACE TRUCK

[skoormit]

I don't see how it is gamey to use shipyards to build space stations.
There's an up-front cost to construct the yard and an ongoing cost of workers, and the production rate is much slower than industry.

Unless I misunderstand you?

on the class design window you can check the no armour box, which makes that design into a space station, meaning you build it with industry. all of these containers are being built with industry.

Checking the no armour box means you can build it with industry. I don't think the intent is to force you to build it with industry.