Happy New Years! We hope everyone has had good holidays and we look forward to getting back to making Star Citizen a reality next week. In the meantime, we thought it would be a good time to share some of the latest MSC Freelancer renderings. Please note that this is not the finished ship: an upcoming pass will update the turret, nose and other areas.
01.
02.
03.
04.
05.
MMORPG Award
We’d also like to thank the readers of MMORPG for selecting Star Citizen for a 2012 Players Choice Award! It’s always great to win an award, but it’s especially an honor when that award is selected by the fans. So thank you all for making us 2012′s Rising Star! We’re also excited to see that Star Citizen was the runner up for the ‘Most Anticipated’ award.
Grats on the awards!!
The ship design is coming along nicely, looking forward to the next updates
It’s awesome that the pictures are big enough for wallpaper. Congrats on the awards!
I’m upset that this ship looks like it has more cargo space than the Constellation lol. Constellation: 35 tonnes, Freelancer: 20 tonnes.
My mistake, I’m not thinking of things to scale. The Constellation is almost twice as long overall.
Keep in mind the Stella appears to have a wider fuselage and, from the data we have, is about 20m longer overall.* That said, it could be that the 35 tonne cargo capacity is without a fighter loaded and that the fighter counts toward the maximum.(just a guess) It also looks as though the Freelancer has more internal space dedicated to cargo while the Stella has more space dedicated to “creature comforts” and weapon systems.
*Latest pictures show Freelancer length around 30m and Stella PDF list length at 51m.
I had an image of the Starfafer in my mind like an Iteron or a Badger from EVE. But after these screens it’s hard to imagine that the cargo is only going to be 4 times as this one…
Personally I think the Freelancer looks a bit thin and I don’t like the elevated neck but I see what they are trying to do with the 2 way ladder. So lets wait for the final version.
Xane likes ship too! ^..^
That ship looks damn sweet,it just keeps getting better
It’s tremendous to see you guys really listening to the community – I can see this design shares more in common with the original sketch. Loving the nose treatment. Elsewhere, liked Moriendor’s point about tapering the neck towards the cockpit – could potentially make it look even more ‘predatory’.
What about re-positioning the rear turret mount so that it’s placed below the fuselage and towards the aft – my thought is that accessing the turret in the current position could impact on your cargo space (even with a drop down ladder you would need some form of means to access the ladder). Alternatively, a hidden sliding manned gun turret (again below the fuselage) that emerges and locks into position in a similar manner to the turret on the APC in Aliens. Also, the rear cargo ramp looks a little steep – you may be able to remedy that by making the ramp sectionally telescopic.
Overall though, loving the direction the design is taking!
It is also good to see fans giving well thought out and constructive criticism, I personally do like the newer cockpit design, and you are correct that having a top mounted turret would impact cargo space a little. would be good for the turret to be on the bottom, however what if the turret is not manned? could it not be used by a gunner sitting in the second seat in the cockpit remotely? That would remove the need for a ladder and allow the gun turret to be in any position. Which would allow greater freedom for CIG to place it to give a more generous field of fire.
I’m still tossing up between a Freelancer and Constellation (that the correct spelling?), and these improvements to the Freelancer are just making that decision harder!
Cheers,
PALADIN
It looks like there is a ladder built into the rear (those short blue lines coming out towards the front of the craft) so I don’t think that will cause issues with cargo space. My question is where does the gunner SIT up there, since there doesn’t appear to be a seat for that turret.
Well I’d say they will probably have it controlled by the second seat in the cockpit, it appears that the ship will be a 2 man operation… so there won’t be any need for people to actually get into the turret. About the only thing you might need is a maintenance access point to repair the turret if it takes damage but isn’t destroyed. Then if your mid flight, your gunner can run down to the hold and get up there and repair some of the turrets damage.
That is my assumption for why you would need access to the turret housing, not to actually sit in the turret, but based off of Chris Roberts plans to allow players to do everything from fly the ships to repair and fight boarding actions on larger ships, I’d say it’s important to be able to access hardpoints like turrets in order to make repairs.
Cheers,
PALADIN
I also think the Turret is remotely operated. Besides the problem of climbing over your cargo to reach the turret, you also have no visual of what your shooting at and I don’t see room for controls, so it makes more sense to be remotely operated. As for the ship it’s self, I LOVE IT! Great work people! Love the way this is coming together, my scout ship is looking Good! Can hardly wait to fly my first unknown jump point!
@Paladin
It was the profile cutaway of the Freelancer that prompted my initial thoughts of relocating the turret. Seeing the ladder and turret access shaft in that diagram, I simply assumed that the turret was manned.
Jaegerwolf’s and Badgerpants points that there isn’t a gunner’s seat does strengthen the suggestion that the turret may be remotely controlled and that certainly makes sense.
You may however, still require a narrow access channel either between the stowed cargo, else narrow channels to one or either side of the cargo to reach the ladder and turret access shaft even if it is purely for maintenance.
My thoughts were that as a player walking/running through the cargo hold, it won’t prove an issue if it isn’t fully laden, but a full cargo hold, may hamper access to the ladder. That could be inherent of the design though. Perhaps to make it slightly challenging in terms of decision-making about how much cargo you carry.
Things are shaping up nicely. I’m with you on the whole “unmanned turret on the keel” idea. I still think it needs to go under what is now designated as the secondary hold.
From a shipbuilding standpoint, it would be cost effective to put the turret under the secondary hold because your power and control runs are going to be roughly the same length for all the cannon.
From a tactical standpoint, it’s probably the best compromise for the kind of ship in question. The cockpit redesign gives it a lot of visibility for the dorsal “deck” aspects, but nothing along the ventral “keel” aspects. Putting the turret under the secondary hold would allow for more visibility, albeit at one remove through the gun cameras, as well as reduce potential attack vectors from hostiles.
Looking at the cutaway again and would have to agree that locating an unmanned turret below the fuselage at the point you suggest (i.e. Below the secondary hold) definitely makes more sense on all fronts. It addresses power direction, maintenance access and with the landing gear retracted, would also provide an unhindered 360 degree view for the turret’s camera. Access for maintenance could then be via a short shaft either from the systems core or through the secondary hold.
The only issue then is that you can’t target enemies above the ship. Not to go too crazy on hard points, but perhaps a similar remote turret diametrically-mounted and above the secondary cargo hold again with access shaft could address that aspect. Just sounding that one out.
i like the position of the upper rear mounter turret. it gives support fire in a landing position, something u can’t have if it’s under, because the loading doors… i picture a loading/unloading operation in a hostile location with the rear gun’s 360º and 90º azimuth coverage scaring the crap of anything in the sky above the ship. also for the hardpoint access u don’t use the 100% of the volume of a cargo hold. u tend to leave empty pasages to walk and check the cargo… so i picture that even at full capacity u can acces the walls, the doors and every hardpoint in there…
+1
Fantastic design!!!
I love the bus flavor to this, but with guns! I’m
already roleplaying in this universe. God love you all!
Happy New Years, like to see my MISC Freelancer getting rounder and rounder
I blame the christmas snacks
I know what that’s like, so long as it doesn’t get too round, or you might have to take the Freelancer for a walk and try and burn off some of that excess fat lol!
Now that is a nice looking Freelancer, thanks for the update and a merry new year to all at CIG
Nice ship! Looking forward to more in the future…
Third
Damn, ended up as fourth :p
Hehehehehehe, there’s always next time mate!
Happy New Years to the best darned community the gaming world has ever seen !
WM
Wingman Happy New Years!!!! to you and all the staff at CIG….
Happy new year Wingman! and THANKS for all what you and the team are doing for us!
Happy New Year WingMan , and a big thanks for all that CIG are doing for us
Right back at you Wingman and all the crew at RSI.
Happy New Year to the best developers the damn planet gotten.
Mfg
Happy New Year!!!!
Happy New Years, and I have to say Im loving the new rear turret much more than I thought I was going to.
Happy new year guys, have a good one.
The Freelancer is coming along nicely, I’ll be proud to own and fly one
Looking pretty good! Congrats on the awards and Happy New Year to CIG and all SC fans
Happy new year! 2013 is looking good, hopefully ending with an alpha in december 8)
Love it.
Gz a lucky and happy new Year to everyone
Happy New Years! And wow.. love, love the update to the Freelancer. Definitely evolving quite nicely. A bit concerned about the internal diagram, seems to not leave much space for bulkhead/machinery but with only a side view it seems doable. And hopefully the kitchen area has a bathroom/shower spot.. hate to be on a long haul without one!
I love the look too, but I agree it should have a bit more room for structure, machinery, consumables and fuel. Obviously don’t want to be to realistic on the fuel, but it should take some space.
I don’t know if I want a combined kitchen/bathroom though.
Happy New Year to everyone!
LOL pretty sure I said that – in my comments to the last rendering – and was I right in what I said that time or was I right? Yup I was right, it was nowhere near enough size to match the stats listed.
As for the turret – I think unmanned would personally be more logical, especially in a bad combat situation it would help that the 2nd pilot was in the main cockpit able to monitor other things that the pilot can’t coz he’s too busy flying like a banshee from hell, trying to shake those bandits, plus if the turret goes down – likely if there’s hardpoint targetting; any good pirate will want that gone asap – the 2nd pilot won’t have to run to the the cockpit, or worse get locked out because an emergency internal air bulkhead has closed, and he’s stuck aft waiting to die…
And on that idea; an ability to jettison all cargo might come in handy – might buy you enough time to gtfo….
Happy New Year to all the Star Citizens and especially the RSI crew.
Also congratulations for the winning of the “Players Choice Award.”
Congrats on the award, you’ve made quite the mark in a short period of time.
Please note the comment: “would make most hardcore gamers cry with joy”. They aren’t being hyperbolic here, you better believe i’m pulling and praying for you.
Wow, that is a great improvement on the Freelancer… Love the rear cargo ramp
Happy New Year all and nice update!
In all honesty I’m finding the Freelancer to be a bit ugly and too reminiscent of a turtle. I think it might look cooler if it had a more narrow “neck” so the distinction between neck and head/cockpit area would be more pronounced. Then it would look more aggressive, too, because it would more resemble a pit viper rather than a turtle.
Might just be me though. In the end it’s all a matter of taste.
The point is that it look industrial, not aggressive. Look at the description on the ships pages.
He’s right – it’s a workhorse NOT a racehorse – you want pit viper buy yourself a fighter, give me an armoured turtle over a snake any day.
Agreed. It reminds me of the alien that bursts out that guy’s stomach, would rather it didn’t so obviously resemble a turtle/alien. If you do go with this, please give us some skins with shadows that alter the look.
The current design looks like a serious chunk of machinary, it might start to look fragile if you thinned out the neck.
With a thinner neck it will also start to look like the “Hooded Swan” from Brian Stableford’s “Star Pilot Grainger” series. Not necessarily a bad thing, but the Hooded Swan was fast, not tough…
I like this design much better. It’s progressing nicely. Thanks for the new images.
ship is looking good. but still with those wings, and a bunch of missiles stuck to it really seem out of place.
Ok here’s an idea – how about in the second hold the ability to swap it for a dropdown pod for loadouts? ala thunderbird 2 styleee – zeroG no need to worry about drag
then you can sacrifice cargo for say some missiles that are emp or jammer drones or a chaff pod (or a hunkin’ great, one time only, last chance saloon; energy bomb – ala Elite) – generally things that are designed for escape – also I guess for a one time, one way only, reaaaaly expensive conversion you could have a secondary remote turret installed, which forever removes the ability of using a pod, or cargo in that space for the pilots that like to fly on the dark side 
just my 2 isk – plenty more ideas like that
Hmm, I’d drop the little wings, they don’t look useful or strong enough for use as weapon platforms.
Unfortunately, with the missiles underneath, the wings are even more fugly than before :/
Please get rid of the wings, and relocate those missiles elsewhere.
Personally I think the should go back to the larger wing designs, I didn’t think that they were a purely cosmetic addition before, but didn’t really know why they were there. Now that we see they are intended as a surface for the missile hardpoints to attach I think it would be best to go back to the larger design but give them a thicker aerodynamic appearance rather than their current cross-section/slab-like appearance.
The ship is progressing nicely. My faith in this game is continually justified by releases such as this and our chance to see Chris Roberts’ vision coming into focus.
Cant wait to fly it!
it’s coming along nicely! the missile pylons on the wings looks a little out of place though. i did like the old nose windows better; they seemed to offer more visibility. the cargo door hydraulics look a little over-built. see c-17 globemaster cargo doors for inspiration; they are pretty minimal and tucked in a bit more. perhaps the turret can be remotely controlled instead of actually having to have a person way back there?
also, those engine pods seem to be connected to the ship at one point; would it be possible they can pivot at that point (like the vampire engine pods in wc: prophecy)? that would be cool!
i look forward to seeing this ship flying in-engine soon! that will be sweet!
re: engine pods pivot: “Crazy Ivan” ~!
2nded on Remote turret, (putting 2nd crew member up in cockpit to also allow for Radar/EW suite.)
That what i wanne konw, if they can pivot and it looks like,
it will help me make a fighter out of it.
With AM engine 3 mods and 10 x upgradeslots, it could work.
Design is getting beter and it looks like i have to upgrade my 300i.
If they make the visibility good somehow, i would like it to stay with the current nose job than the previous one. Otherwise im worried about visibility too a bit, but only a bit. Also love the hangar door, it reminds me very much of Serinity’s door. Only the missiles look a but out of place. Maybe if they are hidden like some of the Stella’s?
Love the design process..
Happy New Year to the whole team at RSI and keep up the good work!
Congrats for the Award! And Happy New Year all !
Even though I know this is still not the final concept for my Freelancer, this one looks fabulous. So, if it improved this much between concepts, think of what the final one will be.
Oh, and Happy New Year to everyone at CIG an our awesome community. I made an account at MMORPG purely to be able to vote for SC.
looks good, keep up the great work, & #2 for the M50 is my fav, thankx.
On behalf of the Mercenaries Guild Clan I would like to congratulate Chris and his team for all of the achievements they have received thusfar. The fundraising levels alone are noteworthy and will likely be the benchmark for other Devs to attempt to emulate.
Although those goals and levels would never have been reached without the community. It was one thing for us to come check this out just based on it being a Chris Roberts project, but to get us to stay here and contribute, that was going to take something special. The 10-10-10 event was just that. Had you not hit that grand slam homer, it would have been passing interest at best. But beyond that, it was going to take even more to keep us here. Yet here we are. And, here i suspect, we shall stay.
You gave us something to rally to, and you gave us a chance to become a part of something that is special. But more than that, you gave us a voice. You allowed us to say “we are tired of game developers TELLING US what kinds of games we want to play”. You listened to all of us who had been disenfranchised by the game publishing corporations, those of us who wanted nothing more than to just fly in space and shoot our friends.
And Sir, you and your team are doing it with a vision that has given us reason to not just want to play in space again, but a vision that has us genuinely excited at the prospect.
You did this by doing what you have always done better than anyone, youre creating a world, and you have very generously invited us to not only come play in it, be a part of it, help to shape what it will be, but given us the opportunity to earn Citizenship in it!
So Mr. Roberts, we thank you. I can only speak for the Guild on this matter officially, but i think you will find that others will agree with me and offer their fondest and most sincere thank you as well.
FOR THE GUILD
={MG}=Damocles
PS, now, just dont screw it up
hehehehe
Well said sir well said….
I’ve truly felt and wanted to express every one of those same sentiments myself, but you’ve summarized it so eloquently that there is nothing more to add.
Well said, sir.
So this is awesome, however I can’t help picture it any other way than under my cross hairs about to explode from its final laser barrage from me. Can’t wait to shoot some of these out of existence in game.
Laughing like a maniac over here. People are staring. That was great.
Cargo areas seem a little small to me. Then I reminded myself that there really is no reason to haul cargo “inside” a ship. You can store it in massive cargo containers, attached to the ship and hauled through space.
been there done that it’s called Darkstar one – although a good idea, saving the need for a bigger ship; just tow it, it has other limitations – so unless you want a great spacetrain kinda deal with almost no possibility for self defence and relying solely on escort fighters, then it wont work realistically in a game where the other pilots are thinking ppl not mindless AI.
What do you expect to be hauling – polystyrene ?
That ship has more cargo space than a 20ft container – something which can carry 28 tonnes…
Its original Mk1 design could take that much too if carefully packed.
This Mk2 is even Bigger now.
a 20ft container can carry 21 tonnes of grain.
I folks Still asking for a bigger ship are likely pirates that want a bigger target!?? LOL
what you are forgetting is that a container is full to the brim. the cargo hold allows for the crew to move around in it and maybe carry 20t of less dense cargo than grain. the shipping standard for net register tonnage is 100 cubic foot per tonne (2.83168 m3). from that it looks like the main hold can carry 16.9 tonnes and 4.2 for the secondary, if those cubes are 1m3. so it’s just slightly over the current shipping standard.
the problem with hauling, is you cannot manoeuver at all, with a towed charge. (even in zero-g environment, the inertia is still there, so your 40t tow will want to continue in a straight path when you attempt to steer.
One last late Christmas gift thank you ladies and gents.
All me and my family’s best wishes for a safe and happy new year. Looking forward to an awesome 2013 with you folks on the job.
Forgot to say congrats on the award! Well deserved! Admiring the updated design on the Freelancer and another quibble would be the wings. They seem too thin for the design, would like to see them have more shape to them – like perhaps the missiles retract into them rather than hang from rails on them. They also appear to have variable geometry like the F-14 Tomcat but with their shape I am not sure they would have any aerodynamic effect on the craft in atmosphere. If they only slide out for firing missiles, perhaps change them to a swing out pods like the UD-4l Cheyenne drop ship in Aliens?
Happy new year and congratulations!!!!
Loving the new changes on the lancer! I noticed you took special care on showing the cargo space in the pics, wich was one of the big concerns among the old COCKpit
Keep it up, and enjoy well deserved rest!
Awesome design. Reminds me a little of a FireFly.
I hope that the Firefly Design will find its way to SC. The Engines glow alone woud be a reason to buy one.
Regards
Also did remind me of the FireFly. And weird that i haven’t thought about how great it would be if there was a firefly like ship in SC.
But now i do and can’t think of anything beeing more awesome than having your own firefly like ship =)
In any case, it would be cool to see a ship of similar size to the Firefly class, which would allow it to be used for passenger transport, with several people / small groups of people, who each get a cabin.
I mean, realistically, the universe would just have dedicated craft, designed for passenger transport, maybe more like Colonial One from BSG, or more like the firefly class, but I’d like to see a craft capable of filling the role available for the players use.
It’d give slave traders potential targets as well.
Great renderings. I’m so glad that this is going to be my starter ship.
I still don’t like those wings, however. They seem tacked-on.
Happy New Year to the entire team of RSI! Congrats on winning the Award guys, you deserve it. The Freelancer is looking better and better, nice to see my baby is definitely going to be one fun ship to fly!
Congratulation on the award! Well-deserved, in my humble opinion.
I have a question, if you don’t mind. Every time I see this great ships I wonder: how hard will they be to get in the game? I mean, if you don’t buy them with real money now, will it still be possible to buy it in the game? will the money given by NPCs by doing missions be enough to afford them? Or if I am planning on playing mostly on my own I will never have a Freelancer?
You can earn it ingame with credits you earn in squadron 42 or flying around and buying/selling stuff.
I cannot tell you at the moment how hard it will be to collect all the money to buy one and to be able to buy a full cargo load of good stuff to sell, but it will be definately possible to buy one with ingame currency.
Chris also said he dislikes grinding in games, so I don’t think it’ll suffer from the artificially-dragged-out plague that most MMOs suffer from.
hopefully you wont hit max level in a week or 2 either…
No such things as “levels” in this game.
Looks much more like the sketch, I like it. The cockpit aesthetic is great. Feel great about this being my perma ship
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
I wasn’t pleased with the last render, and I must say, THIS has now truly made up for it. I once again am proud to be a Freelancer owner and cannot wait to get my hands on this ship.
Happy New Year to the Star Citizen stuff and to the community, oh well to all people and aliens of this universe
This ship is awesome. Chris and all at RSI are great. Feedback from the fans shows here. Thanks RSI
The MSC Freelancer is looking great.
The latest render is leaps and bounds over the last! Keep up the great work.
This ship looks great I like the look (the Firefly look before would have just got you into trouble) keep it up and Happy New Year to you all!!! I so can’t wait to see the other ships when they are finished it is going to be a long two years but take your time I can wait as long as it comes out great and so far I’m thinking it will
seems excellent !
Only just realized there are no visible docking collars on it, but the Lancer does look fabulous.
Congrats on the MMORPG.com accolades and happy New Year!
You can see the docking collar in picture 2, just behind the cockpit. I’m still very glad that this will be my main ship.
The ship is looking great love the look of the Turret on the back and the missiles on the wing. Thanks for the new pics.
The back wings look a little to rounded and I’d like to see some alien tech on it as it was a joint venture but that’s just my two cents.
This is probably low priority but would love to see some rendered shots of the Vanduul cockpit.
Looking forward to interior shots!
That looks so badass.
Congratulation CR team for the awards!
The freelancer ship design is getting better and better, keep up the work.
Awesome!
Thanks and regards, wish U all a happy new year!
Happy New Year to all of you at RSI and of cause to you community.
Also my grats to the award. Looks like someone over there realy likes the concept.
About the concept of the new Freelancer:
It is now getting awseome. The size is now right compared to the size of a human, and also you can fit enough cargo in. If I get the boxes in the cargo space right to be 1 m³ containers, you could fit in from the drawings about 48 boxes in there + some in the secondary store. I would love to see a bigger living rooms in there, but not that important. Also the new cockpit windows are again much better fitting a Freelancer ship. It is not the uber fighter, so it has some advantages on cargo and some disadvantages on fighting. The visibility accounts to that and makes it also a little bit harder to crack the cockpit with a lucky shot.
If you now could remove the wings … and find something bulky to carry the missiles .. then it would be absolutely awesome (to my liking of cause)
Happy new years! Thank you RSI Team. You catched me in an hard time of my live and gave me something to believe in. You not just create a game, you create a new community i’m proud to be a part from it.
Happy new years guys and congrats on the award! I’m really liking this new design of the freelancer compared to previous versions. The issue with the cargo hold seems to be taken care of by removing the two main engines and turning that into a cargo hold. This was a good move but it kinda sucks that it lost the two engines to make room for the cargo hold but I rather have the more space. On the other hand, having the main engines in the pivoting wings may help with maneuverability in the long run. The other problem that seems to be addressed was the scaling issue. I diffidently think this is much better and more reasonable then it was before. The bigger scale works greatly towards what this ship was meant to be size wise. The side scale picture of all the compartments really helps show how much room we are dealing with when it comes to the inside of the ship. This is why I thought it needed to be bigger in the first place because i thought it would be too cramped on the inside with the smaller scale. Now that i can see how it will be organized on the inside and what the scale of each compartment will be, it diffidently like like it is going in the right direction. The other part I like in the version is that the nose went back to what the old version was like but with better windows. This was a nice touch and I don’t see any problems with visibility if I compare it to the side view of the person standing in the cockpit. the gun turret is a nice feature also but the only problem I see is that with it being above the cargo hold I can’t imagine how someone is supposed to get up to it. The only ways I can think of is a ladder going to it or like in the older WWII bombers they used crawl tubes to get to other compartments that were on the other side of the bomb bays [in this case the cargo hold]. It’s hard for me to tell if I like the missiles on the wings or not but in some way they don’t seem to fit in that spot. I keep thinking of the old missile/torpedo launchers as beings the missile system for this ship. This not to say the aggressive look that the missiles bring is not welcome but it just doesn’t seem to fit being on the wings like that. The wings in general I don’t seem to have any problems with other than maybe the roundness of the tips could be changed. Other than that I really like were this ship is going and I am glad to see that this ship is improving at a steady rate. This can be said for just about every other ship that has been presented [especially the 300i which I am considering on upgrading my Aurora too after seeing what the 300i looks like]. Congrats again on your awards and keep up the amazing work.
The stairs are at the back of the rear hold. You can see them illustrated in the side on plan.
How stupid am i that i drive a truck in real life yet i want to do the same thing in space, and what is boring and tedious in real life can be so much more fun if it was just in outer space………..damn you technology catch up already.
@HouseOfSwing Mate, I used to work underground, I’d come home after 10 hours and jump on Eve Online, jump in my barge and head out to the roid belts for 4 hours lol.
I’m going to install a refrigeration unit in the secondary hold and cruise around catching exotic alien fish and crab to fill up her primary hold. Then off to the Terra fish markets to sell what I don’t eat.:)
Congrats on the awards CIG/RSI and have happy New Year!
This ship reminds me of the serenity, form firefly.
Now just make the missile bay below the cargo hold. Kinda like F22 raptor style. “sleeper” freelancer would burn a lot of pirates, since the enemy wouldn’t know how many missiles you carry.
Or make it optional, missile bay or more space for cargo
Like that idea. Make it more versatile. Player can decide if he wants cargo or missiles (e.g. the secondary cargo hold) or whatever fittet in there. Maybe some more space to live in ? So if it is possible to get it refittet (for money and time of cause) or make a module bay where you can fit modules like, living space, cargo hold, exploration equipement or weapon stuff (whatever it might be). This would be a very versatile and modular design, that I expect from a shiptype for freelancers.
The ship is supposed to be only a shell, which is later filled with whatever the played wants. Fluffy dice, for example
I’m sure MANY modules will be available to fill the ship, or leave it empty for max sellable cargo.
I was speaking from visuals POV, because the wings really look out of place.
This looks so much better than the previous duck version
thanks for the update…
Have a great new years eve! And thank you for this awesome render. It’s actually my first view of the Lancer, which I picked more or less blindly from all the pledges available. And I couldn’t be happier with my choice now that I see it!
YES!!!! I love it!
Now we’re talking! Oh Baby!
Congratulations on the well deserved award !!!!
Wishing you a Happy and Safe New Year….
Loving the Freelancer.. just fantastic…
This ship is so beautiful! It’s a shame that I’ll buy a Hornet.
Progressing nicely!
Congrats on winning that award and being runner up for most anticipated. Getting runner up on that is pretty impressive when you think of how far off this game is from release. A year from now it would probably win from all the built up anticipation and from the word getting around to more people.
Also that Freelancer is looking fantastic, keep up the great work.
I’ll say Happy New Years when it actually is though lol.
Amazing!
Like the way the cockpit is shaping up now
Loving how the Freelancer is shaping up! The cockpit is loads improved over the version 1 3d render.
p.s. ventral blisters underneath the aft hold for fuel?
p.p.s. Everything here I like, and they eachall make great OPTIONS…
Happy New Year and please stop making these designs so damned awesome my wallet can’t take it anymore.
Hmm, in this revision the wing fins appear to be too small to serve any purpose other than mounting missiles, which makes them seem forced onto the design, rather than actually functional. It seems that the profile and weight could be reduced by removing them and mounting the missiles directly around the engines and landing struts. However, the fins were part of the aesthetic appeal of the earlier revisions. Perhaps they could take a more prominent role again by tucking the engines under or above them? that would eliminate the problem of them obstructing the intakes or the output…
Also, I realize we are talking about space-hydrogen accumulators here and not atmospheric jet-engines, but it looks a bit odd having the intake smaller than the output.
I believe the intakes on all the ships is solely for the purpose of harvesting your own fuel from a gas giant or nebula. In that regard the intake size is completely unrelated to the engine sizes, and would merely dictate how fast you could fill your fuel tanks.
A fantastic update! How about the 300i next, yes?
The Jump Gate that came out a few days ago had several pics of the 300i. I would love to see pics of the ships that haven’t been seen yet like the Gladiator or the Starfarer.
Hi Jim: After looking at it ship for another time, it looks like the missiles location is too expose. It would be nice to put it below the hull, near to the main guns. Another thing should not have any stair like design on the spacecraft, preferable a ramp.
I hope you able to tweak it.
Thanks and regards…aidle
Once you assume that you have shields there is a strong argument to be made that you want the high explosive ordinence as far from the main structure as practical.
Putting them closer to the main guns might cause problems once the shields go and you risk the magazine cooking off. Wouldn’t want to loose most of your weapons to a single successful hit on the missles.
I’m guessing that if the missles are deployed on wings in actual combat that there will be decoys available that would automatically fill any empty slots so it always looks like you start combat with a full missle load. Wouldn’t be expensive either, cheap painted metal shell is all you need.
I like it, very nice. I’m glad fan input is getting consideration!
Love the how the Freelancer is shaping out, happy new year to all of you!
I have to admit, despite having been so in love with the concept art, I’m liking the renders less and less. I think it keeps moving further from ‘long-range exploration’ and closer to ‘F-22 with a glandular disorder’.
Congratulations on the award. Good to see i didn’t register in MMORPG for nothing..
I really like this updated version and the fact that it looks much more like the concept art. The missiles look a bit out of place but i can live with that.
Keep up the good work!
…and that gun still looks huge..
I really like the new updated freelancer. I would say my only gripe would be the twin cannon turret. the ship already has 2 sets of twin cannon guns. i think the Turret should be a bubble turret like on the constellation but instead of a detached twin cannon turret it should be a single more powerful cannon coming out of the bubble part. kind of like the way an observatory with a telescope coming out of it looks. It would look better like that in my opinion. too many sets of twin guns on the ship.
Happy new year to all!
So engine nacelle will hold engines, fuel tanks and all?
So this is some special type of refine hydrogen treated with deuterium and tritium so there is no need to have big tanks, hehe. gee. Alll ship is cargo space….this is nono…
NoOOO the wings are getting bigger again. I hope there is a way we can remove them in game, they really ruin the ship.
I like both versions of the cockpit, they both have character. Looking good otherwise. If it were me I’d make the engines and cargo a bit bigger and perhaps a little more window, but it’s cool.
Seriously please get rid of those terrible wings.
Happy New Year to the team and to the community – and thanks for this update… my decision to grade up to a Freelancer was the right one…
Happy New to all the team,
Looking good
Happy new year you too guys!
And great work on Freelancer design…
Happy new year to everyone. I love that ship. <3
Happy New Year Everyone
The MISC Freelancer is shaping up well. I’d say those wings might need a slight touch up to make it more aesthetically pleasing but otherwise it is looking great
I really love the shape of that ship.
So, the hangar playing version should be ready next week ? it will be a nice present for the new year eve !!!
Traduction de l’article pour la communauté française : http://www.force-unifiee.fr/news/article.php?view&id=607&star-citizen-joyeuse-annee-msc-freelancer-et-rewards
You’ll never please everyone – but damn if you aren’t doing a great job at it! Im really excited about the game, and getting more-so with each update
Gratz on the MMORPG award – that’s an element of the game I really looking forwards to!
Happy post-Christmas lul everyone!
But where are the toilets? D:
Oh this needs to be addressed lol! I am fine with even just a simple stall style without sink or something you can find at the back of the coaches. Hopefully not some kind of dry-toilet you see with subway/train drivers where you just go on about your business while lift the padded seat up…
This is one aspect of ship design that seems to be neglected by most designers. If you look at the original spec’s for the “Millennium Falcon” it has no toilets. The “Ebon Hawk” also has no toilets (or “Refresher” as it’s known in that universe) I’m also worried about the size of the bunks. They don’t look long enough to lie down on for a normal male adult. But I’m willing to wait for the Final design. Keep up the good work people!
Looking at the space for the living quarters I have to say that, being as this will be my exploration ship, I would like a way to modify it so the secondary cargo hold is the living quarters, and slightly more luxurious than standard. I would then turn the current living quarters into a kitchen/sensor suit. Don’t give anything away if you like but could you make that possible in game? Pretty please?
Or perhaps make the kitchen part of the secondary hold and have a more extensive sensor suit in the neck?
I always wondered how space pilots could take a.. refreshment. Especially in ships with only one seat. Sleeping is possibly dangerous enough in space with all those pirates and small scale meteors. At least i would possibly find no sleep but having to running to the end of the ship to use the toilet in the middle of a dangerous passage or even battle.. that’s not very practical.
I guess shipbuilders would simply attach a toilet function to the pilot seats even though this appears quite disgusting and not “glorious space adventurers” like at all.
Looks good, I also like the way the Windows look now.
Seeing the cargo hold made me wonder, how will loading and unloading your cargo work, will you see like little robots swarming around your ship moving boxes?
I would like that!
It would also be nice to see them fixing up my hull and systems after a fight.
Maybe you could even carry your own drones, for picking up debris, ship to ship trade, and hull repair in space.
Well back to something that is less out oh my imagination, will you be able to upgrade your cargo hold, like producing fake scanner readings for smuggling, or life support for passenger transportation.
Now that Freelancer render looks badass. Glad I bought it along with my Hornet.
Congrats for the awards. Are well deserved and widely justified. I’m sure are the firsts of many more in the months to come
In this phase the MISC Freelancer looks great. Seems the 2D concept has became alive and I love it. However I’ve got a couple issues. The most important is the wings. I didn’t like them when I voted the concept art and I don’t like them now. Personally I would rid them off. Are completely useless and, to me, not cool at all. There are alternatives to place the weapon’s pylons. One alternative is attach them on the engine pods sides and tops. Another alternative is make a sort of vertical wing (short and narrow) attached to the engine’s pods sides on which place said weapon’s pylons.
My seond issue is with the hump. It’s not cool at all. In the concept art the lines were more natural and the curve was smother and I liked. I guess the problem is that in the concept art the ship is longer than in these 3D model.
Loking at the pictures again I realized there’s a big problem with the turret if it can rotate 360º. At 180º, when is facing forward, it’s got in the line of fire the ship’s spoiler so it cant shoot to the front. Possible solutions to this problem are:
1.- Move the spoiler a bit to the back and move the turret a bit to the front and place it on top the spoiler.
2.- Place the turret at the bottom of the ship instead of on top.
Anyway, this phase is way cooler than the previous one and I love it. Eager to see next iteration of the MISC Freelancer
I agree with putting the turret on the top of the spoiler so it can rotate 360º
This is the only thing that will really make it functional and provide the best firepower.
I get the impression you have really listened to the feedback in various places! This is exactly what a lot of people were saying they felt needed done to improve on the aesthetics and feel that was shown to us in the earlier concept. A heat felt thanks for a really well done job!
I hope you all had a lovely christmas and happy newyears in advance.
.
The renders look great
and congrats on the well deserved awards!
Gratz on the awards yes
And this is the best cristmas gift i have got, being able to see new renders of my ship, allmost makes me cry.. Happy new year to all of you, backers to 
I love you guys..
Happy New Year.
Hello my fellows citzens (and bandits) I hope all of you had a pleasant thankks giving and I wish you all the best for 2013.
Now the Freelancer is growing up! I must admit, that I start to think about buying it!
Well done!
And congrats on the award, I voted for you guys
!
Love the new design!
Lovely, very very nice.
All I think is that perhaps it just needs to be a tad bigger in size – but that’s a very minor nitpick.
Happy New year & congrats on the MMRPG awards RSI team. It appears that your excellent work & commitment are being recognized worldwide in the gaming community. I anticipate the unveiling of the Hornet design renderings for all of us Colonels out there who are chomping at the bit for the Beta/Alpha releases.
Happy New Year, Cloud Imperium! I love the Freelancer renders; you guys are really good at this. I’m tempted to upgrade to one.
I realize you value backer/fan input, and that’s really cool, but please don’t let it sway you too far. Design-by-committee won’t please anyone; listen to your gut.
Very nice, looks like you’re taking criticism seriously. That’s what I like to see in a developer.
The Freelancer looks amazing, by the way.
Happy new years to the team!
the freelancer looks much better now. love the cargo door, but i still think the landing rear gear looks very weak unless it was a perfect landing it would just buckle. Should put shocks on the landing gear to so there is a little give for all us noob pilots.
Very impressive, indeed! I really love the progression of the Freelancer so far.
The ship looks really amazing! The back turret lasers and the rockets are a bit too prominent for me for a cargo/smuggler/explorer ship yet i can’t wait to sit in the cockpit of one of those and enjoy the view!
Very nice. For a cargo ship it certainly looks well armed. I suppose it’s for dealing with all the pirates and Vanduul out there.
Guten Rutsch!
~S~
All I can say is SWEET!!! Happy New Year and thanks for the teaser
Looking better very cool
For me the landing system needs to be reworked a bit and the turret needs to be shifted a bit,but as you said that will looked at
ship looks pretty sweet but the visor thing on top of the cockpit looks a bit weird and i am disappointed with your choice of units for the measurements
I agree with the measurements, feet, really? I’d have hoped that imperial measurements would have been dropped by the year that the game is set in
Really liking the way the Lancer is coming along. Can’t wait to use it.
Congarts. to CIG, RSI team and have great new year.
Ooo, Sexy!!
Where is the bathroom?
Can the larger spoiler from the original concept be put back? I really liked that
The Freelancer has improved significantly. I liked the first improvements but after a while I started agreeing with several posts that it was just too phallic in appearance. This new model combines the increased cockpit visibility of the first renderings with the neck and cockpit design of the original concept art. I’m glad they kept the curved turtle neck design as well as it is a distinctive design feature of the ship just as in Firefly without being a carbony copy. The turret is well placed as well. The Stellas has the turrent mount up front indicating an agressive ship used for offensive tactics. The Lancer is not the biggest fish in the pond and while it has a strong weapon loadout it will probably will have to evade dogfights as much as fight. A rear turret provides cover fire to do just that. The overall design of the ship lives up to that industrial workhorse style they were aiming for. The ship looks formidable without being too flashy.
There are some criticisms. I’ll start with the obvious, the fins/wings. I liked that they made them smaller from the original design but they still seem awkward and the missile placement doesn’t help. I underdtand why the wings are there. It serves to broaden the aft area of the ship. If you put your thumb over the wings in image 2, you see how the ship will look without them and it looks plain in contrast with the front section of the ship, as if your looking at a sexy woman with nice round breasts but with no curves and a flat ass.
Two suggestions: Simply bring the wings forward some so only the part past the white line is in the rear. the other suggestion is to shrink the wings even further and simply extend the engines outward more. If you move the engines outward significantly you might be able to lose the wings entirely however I’m guessing that is deviating from the original design too much.
The next thing is the landing gear. They are way too thin and frail. They simply don’t look as if they can take a lot of weight nor do they appear able to land in any form of uneven surface. This is a serious design flaw in a ship that is supposed to be used for cargo and exploration. I suggest doing away with the thinning landing gear storage area below the engines and simply widen it to house a more robust landing equipment. It may take away some aesthetic but this ship was made to be rugged and reliable not pretty. Either way, the ship is vast improvement from the last model and it clearly shows you guys take our feedback seriously so one doesn’t feel like he’s talking to himself when he writes a long post : ) Thank you for that and I wish you all a Happy New Year.
Wow!…in the right way!
That looks loads better.
Glad to see the devs listen to our concerns. 2 minor niggles though…where is the toilet? is there enough room in the berths to get off with a green alien woman? 
Happy new year to you all!
Well done, guys. Love the latest look of the Lancer. Always loved that window design from the first sketches and I see the visibility issue is being addressed. Can’t wait to fly that ship.
I can see that I will not only need a new joystick, but a 2nd fridge for the office.
Happy New Year!
I have a question regarding the missile loadout and damage model. are you going to allow hits to missiles and the resulting damage to ship from there explosion? if so can you add a hardend missile pod on the belly under the secondary hold. don’t want a lucky shot blowing my engine off. reading a few comments saying to put therear turret on the underside. i think that would be a bad design…if it were a real ship as it would leave it wide open to attack if on the ground. as for the manning the turret argument. most turrets in real life on ships are unmanned and use electronic targeting. for player targeting there could be a camera mounted on it, no need for a seat or ladder.
the missilebay would make it easier to have rearward firing missiles too. just pop one out spin it round and launch.
The Lancer is looking amazing! Almost makes me sad that I upgraded to the Constellation at the last minute… almost.
Keep up the great work guys! I cant wait to see what you start producing once you are moving full steam again in the coming weeks.
I am really just amazed that there was an update Friday! Most people I know take the full Christmas week off, so this speaks of massive dedication!
The Freelancer is coming along extremely well; moving from what was already great (in my opinion) to becoming absolutely extraordinary.
Many thanks for the update, and Happy New Year to you all in just half-a-day’s time.
Happy new year and really great work on Freelancer! Ship now is much more attractive than previous render!
I take back what I said – the rear turret looks really good on top. Good job. Happy New Year all.
I figured that if you clip of the fins and reverse the missile wings towards the front instead of the back of the ship, it will look way cooler.
Oh wow, i am loving it! This reminds me back when i was a kid drawing up all sorts of designs.
Either way: Happy New Year and shine on.
Happy New Year!
I for one love the design, the only questions I have is, what is the ‘spoiler’ looking thing on the top middle of the ship? and can it be turned into the Class 3 bay if it serves no actual function?
Coming along very nicely. Just a few nitpicks though. I’ve spent considerable amounts of time aboard sailing vessels and can’t help but notice the placement of the Berths to the cockpit and kitchen. In most boats the Kitchen is placed closer (or at least in a more immediately accessible location) to the cockpit, than the Berths would be. As I believe it, this is to prevent the frequent traversal of the Berths to access the kitchen. As a boat must be manned at all times, even if it’s on autopilot, to monitor the equipment it is quite common for the watch to be in need of a hot beverage or other sustenance during the night. Also if a sailor is going through any long passages it is common for members of the crew to go to sleep at any time of day due to irregular sleep patterns caused by watch. Looking at most layouts of boats, you’ll find the Berths to be more removed than the kitchen from the cockpit. So I would swap the kitchen and berth locations here. Oh what a nitpick.
On another note, just more of a suggestion than anything. If there are bathrooms accessible in game, I think it would be cool if they were very much like those used today. Very small and utilitarian. One head (toilet on a boat) that may have a hand pump, (though this is the future sooooo that’s not that important) a mirror, a fold out sink, and fold out shower. I don’t know if it’s just me, but this would add a touch of realism and humbleness that should be present in a merchant’s ship.
Ah, progress. It’s looking better than it did before. The proportions are still a little funky though. It’s like everything aft of the waist guns needs to be like 20% bitter or just wider. But I love that the cockpit is looking more like the concept.
That ship’s a beauty! Can’t wait to see my Hornet though
And good job and congratulations on winning those awards! You definitely deserve such appreciation from the fans!
Carry on the great and fantastic work you’re doing.
but… Hornet is already out! You can see it in every video of Star Citizen!
Or you were talking of YOUR Hornet?!
Welp, I’m sold, was a little worried at the last update but as long as you continue along these lines it should turn out amazing. Happy New Year!
Yeah! Now we’re ralking! I’d still like the wings/fins to be more like the sketch but its heading in the right direction!
Congrats on the awards!
oops! *Now we’re talking*
I am wondering what you’re going to do do about the huge blind spot on that visor though…
Don’t get me wrong, I love the visor, but it might need to be transparent or have some kind of aid so that its not in the way. Video screens perhaps (although simply adding windows would be the more realistic (production-cost effective) option.
I was already in love with the concept design + name… now I’m thinking on proposing, after a nice dinner…
Congratz on the awards.
That’s sleek
But is it just me the missiles make the free lancer very militaristic.
I hope people can put sensor or ECM pods in place of missiles!
Looking at it again I still think the back end and the ‘spoiler’ need to be wider…
I absolutely don’t want to be “That Guy”, and I promise I’m not trying to be funny — but am I the only one who thinks the recent iterations of the Freelancer’s front end have made it look rather … phallus-like?
In the earliest sketches, the forward section seemed more rectangular or squared-off, at least to my eye.
I regret to report that as that same forward hull gets rounded in iteration, it looks more and more penis-like. I was actually a bit startled when I first saw the latest pics.
Maybe it’s just me, but I wanted to say something here, early on. Gamer humor being what it is, nobody wants to be flying “the dick ship” (or worse) once the game goes live.
I don’t really see the phallus-like inspiration. Just a simple looking, more or less utilitarian design,…which I suppose, some people may look at in that way. I don’t have a problem with it. My issues are with the tacked-on look of those wing hardpoints, which also leaves those (likely expensive) missiles so vulnerable to enemy fire, and to the elements of any planet you land on.
My suggestion: mount the missile hardpoints UNDER that ‘spoiler’ looking structure. It would protect them and give the ‘spoiler’ a far better reason for being there.
One other bit that bothers me is the rear cargo door. Simple looking hatch that drops down into a ramp… all well and good. Except that said door also serves as the ships rear-most armor. That should be a bit thicker, I think, but that would require heavier hydraulics to move it. Still do-able, for sure. But…
My suggestion: Make the rear cargo doors a clam-shell-type, that splits in the middle and opens to each side, with a telescoping ramp as someone mentioned earlier. Heck, could even make the entire cargo bay telescope out, or maybe just the cargo container. Kinda like those used by shipping/trucking companies today.
I like the major part of the new design.
However the missiles at the wingtips -> no,no,no!
They make the ship as wide as long. That does feel out of proportion for me in this case. (fits nice on Klingon birds though
Everything on the ship looks quite massive. The wingtips rather frail.
I do not know about the targeting system in the final game but if you are able to target individual parts of a ship I would shoot off the missiles first. That might be a programmed weak point of the ship!
Either the missiles are moved to the inner side between the engines and the hull or you should have something like a retractable system underneath the ship (similar to the Constellation).
As the ship is advertised having Xi’An tech onboard I wonder where this comes in.
Top turret remote controlled from co-pilot seat? Virtual 360° view radius…
Targetting individual parts of the ship presumably happens after the shields fail.
If you’re still carrying missles after your shields fail then you didn’t shoot the bad guys enough, which is why your shields failed…
You shoot guns and fire missiles…!
And I shoot well enough.
Indeed, it’s about shooting the bad guys enough that you don’t loose your shields, and don’t need to fire any missiles.
Since you shoot well enough you won’t have any problems.
Merchants will probably be looking to conserve their profit margins (prioritised just after survival of course) so they might fit dummy missiles on the wingtips to attract fire away from the important stuff.
Either way I would really prefer that explosive ordinance that might attact enemy precision fire is kept away from engines and other weapons systems.
This is a good Design, but I do like the other Concept of the Freelancer with the less evil look and more glass on the Cockpit much more.
This is meant to be a Ship for Explorers and Traders, I bought it for that reason, and I think the above Design looks too aggressive. A sleaker design where the missiles are maybe hitten in a Pod under the Wing so the Ship looks less “armed” is what I would prefer.