Ship Spotlight - The Barque

Ship Lore

The Barque is a tried-and-true design approaching nearly sixty years in service from its first flight. In that time, virtually all problems with the initial design have been worked out, making it an incredibly reliable ship, and the availability and ubiquity of its parts make it very affordable to maintain and operate. Several companies exclusively fly fleets of second-hand barques retired from service with larger carriers.

While most large-scale freight carriers have turned to newer, higher-capacity bulk freighters for interstellar routes, the older Barque has found a new lease on life as one of the most commonly employed intra-system cargo vessels, where its lower operating costs keeps it competitive. Their modular hold makes them easy to configure for different cargo types between runs, and they can be found ferrying every type of product imaginable.

Shuttle pilots and loading crews praise its wide, transverse shuttle bay, allowing simultaneous take-off and landing operations. Its 1,200 SFU's of cargo space (more than twice the capacity of the Cutter) are unmatched by any ship in its class, allowing Barque captains to turn a healthy profit on a single run. Its twin high-efficiency plasmajet engines provide barely enough thrust for a ship of its size, especially when at full load, leaving it lumbering and ponderous to maneuver. However, its compliment of 16 cannons and relatively strong armor ensure it has a chance to survive anything it can't outrun (which is pretty much everything)

Gameplay

The Barque is the entry-level freighter for aspiring traders. It has the largest cargo hold of the smaller ships, and plenty of crew space and armor to ensure that cargo gets to its destination in once piece. And you'll need it, because it's one of the slowest ships in the game, so you won't be outrunning any pirates you encounter. If you manage to make it, the Barque's large capacity can turn it into quite the early game money-maker.

Design

The Barque started from one of Mark's initial Cutter sketches that looked too cool to abandon, but didn't fit the profile for the Cutter. The diamond shape of the hull gave it a tanky, freighter feel, so we decided to work it into the Barque.

The trickiest aspect was figuring out where to place the shuttle bay. Initially, we had a dorsal bay on the underbelly with doors under the engines, but we wanted to try a different configuration from the cutter, which also had a dorsal bay (just on top instead of below). That placement also required the underbelly to be expanded to make sense, which didn't look good. Mark was able to work shuttle bay doors into the underside of the "wings", with doors opening on both the port and starboard side. Not only did this look great, it allowed us to smooth out the underbelly and give the ship a better overall silhouette.