Welcome to another episode of Casual Citizen. An on-going series about the upcoming first person MMO, Star Citizen by Cloud Imperium Games. I’m your host Alysianah from the Mystic Worlds Gaming Blog.
It's been awhile since the last Casual Citizen BUT rest assured that I haven't abandoned the series. Real life obligations and other voice over work had my schedule slammed pretty tight recently but the light at the end of the tunnel is nearing. since the last time I recorded a show, exploration has been on my mind. It’s one of the few Star Citizen careers I hadn’t made explicit plans to do. However, the more I delve into the lore and the Star Citizen universe, the more I’ve become interested in exploration as a career choice and the ships suited for that activity. With that in mind, this week’s show is about the Anvil Carrack.
Please sit back, relax and enjoy.
Show Transcript
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Let’s begin our journey with a brief discussion of the ship's manufacturer, Anvil Aerospace...
Anvil Aerospace was founded in 2772. To this day, it remains one of Terra’s success stories. Anvil initially found success delivering military-grade equipment to the UEE navy. In the early days, projects were led by J. Harris Arnold, the company’s founder. Arnold was an eccentric old school designer who insisted on personally signing off on every detail and design. And while Anvil has since grown to operating facilities on three dozen worlds within the UEE, it continues the tradition of CEO approval on all design changes.
Anvil’s entry into the civilian market is relatively new. While there had been internal debate over the company making this move, the UEE weighed in favorably on the idea. The government thought outfitting civilians with military-styled capabilities was a prudent cautionary measure for solidifying our general defenses. Equipped with Anvil ships, civilian pilots could be called upon as local militia, especially in distant frontiers.
Downsizing military-grade designs for civilian specifications was a complicated task. The UEE wanted civilians to be adequate as local militia without being capable of contesting government forces. Anvil rose to the challenge, delivering the Hornet series. The Hornet F7C was delivered to the market and contributed to a 34% increase profits.
Anvil’s success story continues. Their military contracts for Hornets and Gladiators necessitate several thousand be delivered to the UEE on a monthly basis. The superiority and quality of the civilian Hornet series, has made it a luxury brand that is only outsold by the Roberts Space Industries Aurora and Origin Jumpworks 300i series.
TERRA
The initial Anvil skunkworks facility was located in Nova Kiev, Terra, and the company’s headquarters are still there. Terra is considered by many to be the shining jewel of the UEE. It’s supporters would like to see Terra replace Earth as the seat of power, culture and influence. As to be expected, die-hard Earth loyalists are staunchly against such a shift. Amid this struggle for supremacy, Terra has continued to thrive with the influx of mega-corporations and a populace looking to capitalize on its lush environment and abundant natural resources.
The Terra system was first charted in 2508. It was explored as part of a five-system research expedition in 2516. When the long-distance images of its third planet were reviewed, it was immediately recognized as a phenomenal find. Terra III was a natural super-earth located in the system’s green band. Colonization opportunities were immediate. Within two years several colonial equipped ships had been dispatched. Of note is that Terra is one of only nine systems that contains multiple asteroid belts.
THE ANVIL AEROSPACE CARRACK
Many of us will undoubtedly explore the star systems that comprise the Star Citizen universe. Participating in player missions and pursuing careers will necessitate some travel. I can’t imagine anyone playing Star Citizen without some intention of exploration. That said, there's exploring in the vein of sightseeing and then there’s exploration as a career.
To perform exploration as a career choice in Star Citizen, necessitates that at a minimum, you can navigate jump points, scan areas to identify space anomalies, categorize the information and accurately document your findings. Several ships will fit the bill of performing minimal exploration, such as the Aurora ES. However, for more serious pursuit there are other modules and amenities that improve the overall experience for you and your crew. This is where a ship like the Anvil Carrack comes into play. It’s designed with sustained deep space exploration in mind. And includes features that support longer duration self sustained exploration excursions.
The Anvil Carrack is a multi-crew ship that supports 5 crew stations. Like several of the other ships manufactured by Anvil Aerospace, the Carrack was originally a military exclusive. Here are the features that set the Anvil apart as a dedicated exploration vessel
- Specially reinforced fuel tanks for long-duration flight
- Advanced jump drive capabilities provide by the Tarsus Tunneler
- Dedicated computer core for jump charting operations.
- Fully outfitted medical bay
- Fully functional repair facilities
- Mapping-oriented sensor suite
- 1058 cargo units
- Cockpit designed with full glass canopy to provide unobstructed field of view
- Cockpit canopy has protective garage door shield that slides into place during combat
- Docking collar
- Exploration related drones
- Comes with small scouting ship and landing bay
- Scientific rover for planetary exploration
- Antennas to help stabilize ship during jump point navigation
- Medical, Science, Repair, Cargo pods, etc. are detachable and swappable
With this configuration a ship captain is prepared to go on sustained exploration outings. You have everything you need to locate and chart celestial bodies and anomalies. If your ship is damaged you have the ability to perform some level of ship repair. If a member of the crew is injured, you can attend to their needs directly on board.
The Carrack is also effective for hauling cargo whether it be your supplies, contract hauling or merchant activities. It’s 1058 cargo unit is a compelling factor for doing cargo missions and trade while exploring. That much capacity is more than the Hull B, Freelancer MAX and Caterpillar. And that's on top of it being fully exploration capable. I've convinced myself that I need one of these in my life. Only thing left is to figure out what's getting melted or CCU’d to make it happen.
As of this posting the Carrack is still in the early design phase. Backers who pledged to Star Citizen development via the Carrack are likely looking for the “Go where no man has gone before” experience. At a minimum, we know that exploration will include locating and charting new jump points, surveying and charting systems, detecting other space anomalies such as black holes, etc. Opportunities for this much is already evident in the ARK Starmap published by Cloud Imperium Games. And the star systems planned for the start of the game are locked in, given that CIG has started shipping the physical STARMAP to players who purchased one.
The Star Citizen Universe According to the ARK Starmap
If you’re interested in exploration you may enjoy an article I wrote for Redacted.TV. It discusses the exploration opportunities the starmap itself reveals. I’ll include a link in the show notes but here are a few highlights.
- There are 2 systems we can get to that haven’t been fully surveyed - at least not by civilians. Orion and Tiber are flagged as “Military Classified” but have Jump Points identified.
- We are missing Jump Point coordinates for 13 known star systems. One of them, Oretani, had been populated by the UEE until it was taken over by the Vanduul. Since that time the known Jump Points have collapsed.
- There are at least 10 hidden star systems for players to find. We know this because the $6 million funding goal was to have 100 star systems in the game. While the current version of the starmap, only reveals 90 of them.
SHOW NOTES:
The show notes will include links to the Anvil Carrack ship page, Anvil Aerospace galactic guide and Terra galactic guide, as well as other related articles you may find useful.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of Casual Citizen. If so, please consider subscribing to the channel and giving the episode a thumbs up. It really does help. As ever, be kind and fly safe. This is Alysianah signing off until next time.
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