Hull B Blueprint

About the MISC Hull B

“I know it’s a cliche, but when I started my company I had nothing but the spacesuit on my back. We had this great idea to overclock laser weapons and sell them to enthusiasts… but the biggest loan the bank would give us wouldn’t even cover a ‘MAX. I saved up enough extra creds to afford a Hull B [instead of an A] knowing it’d be years before I was able to fill it up. Long story short, we had leased a second and then a third before the year was out. I still have that first ‘worker B,’ outfitted as a mobile office for the corp!”

- Captain Mellana Oarman, Catcom Laser Limited

“WAY TO B!” – Unpopular MISC Advertising Slogan

The Hull B is the transport for the serious entrepreneur. Featuring more armor and a significantly more complex cargo spindle than its smaller sibling, the Hull B the ideal choice for captains who know exactly what they want to ‘B.’ With over three times the cargo capacity of a Freelancer MAX and the thrust-metered engine section to push such a load, the Hull B won’t win any races… but it will get more cargo where it needs to go more efficiently than any other ship in its class. Self-cleaning scanner ports and an entirely modular cargo interface mean that planetside turnaround is simple: just land, refuel and you’re ready to take off again!

- MISC Cavalcade of Transports! brochure, 2945

Cargo Chart

Cubic meters? Freight Units? Standard Cargo Units?! We’ve gone through several iterations for measuring cargo, to the point that our own design team has confused the two on occasion. Today, we’re setting the record straight with a ‘master’ list. Dan Tracy has measured every ship currently ‘in-engine’ and made estimates for others (such as the Merchantman) which are not. As of today, this is the definitive list of cargo capacity and these numbers will be applied to the stats page. Please pay special intent to the comparative sizes rather than simply the number; these are the best indicator of where these ships are intended to fall on the spectrum, regardless of the units of measurement we use.

Backer Question and Answer

“How are you planning to land the Hull B fully loaded planet side?”

Very carefully! We are in the process of updating the landing gear design for the Hull B so that it can land with the lower cargo slot filled.

“Are there beds? How can the modules have things like a med-bay? Are they capable of long haul shipping, particularly A/B?”

There are beds, and the larger ships have room for more medical facilities (for the A and B, think more about an emergency kit under the seat.) Both the A and the B are capable of long haul shipping, and in some ways are even superior; they have more speed and maneuverability for traversing the more dangerous regions of space.

“The Hull B having TR8s while those engines are physically smaller than the Constellation’s TR5s would be ridiculous otherwise unless all ships are having their main engines changed to a new size system.”

Remember, TR rating indicates thrust and not size! For the entire hull series, especially efficient thrusters are required, as they may be required to push up to 16 times the mass of the ship.

“The A and B says max one crew. But do they only have space/seats for one or could I bring a buddy along?”

We envision at least a ‘two set’ cab, similar to a modern tractor trailer truck cab, on the Hull A and B. There is not room for multiple people to bunk down at once, but you can certainly carry a passenger.

“Will the Hull B have stronger shields than its Freelancer/Cutlass counterpart, or between the Hull A and the Hornet? It would be nice to be able to take a few hits before going down.”

The current plan is for the Hull series to have efficient shields for their class as they will lack the maneuverability of other ‘jack of all trades’ ships. This may change during game balance, but the intended role is for the Hull series to be well protected transports… but also slow, easy to chase targets.

“Will the Hull B have any upgraded cargo/ trade lane software?”

The cargo/trading software will scale depending on the ship, although it will be derived from the same based application. Rest assured that the cargo system for organizing the Hull E will be quite a bit more complex than the Hull A!

“If the Hull B lands empty and contracted/folded up, how will I put cargo on it while still on the landing pad? Will it unfold while still grounded?”

Yes! It will be able to unfold in segments to load cargo while on the ground.

“The beam dimension of the Freelancer and Cutlass are larger than the Hull B, so does that mean the Hull B might fit through smaller jump points than they will?”

The design for jump point limitations is still being developed, so there is no definitive answer yet.

“Will every arm on the spindle need to be unfolded at the same time? For example, can a “B” just use the left and right arms and leave the bottom and top folded?”

The spindle arms can be unfolded individually depending on the task at hand.