Roberts Space Industries








May 22nd 2019

Q&A: Tumbril Ranger

Q&A: Tumbril Ranger

Following the launch of the Ranger from Tumbril Land Systems, we took your community-voted questions to our designers to give you more information on the latest all-terrain adventurer.

Why would I choose an earthbound bike over a hovering/flying one?

‘Earthbound’ bikes have lower signatures due to the lack of thrusters/hover units and are generally more compact, allowing better access to smaller spaces and transport. In the future, there will be environmental hazards that restrict the ability to fly in specific areas which hover bikes will be somewhat impacted by too.

Is the ‘cargo vest’ actually functional? Will it allow players to carry more stuff (presumably down the road when physicalized inventories are implemented)?

Eventually, all players will have a local inventory and clothing/items will be able to modify its capacity (both positively and negatively). As such, clothing items like the cargo vest will most likely end up increasing the player’s local inventory capacity.

Will the bikes have a lower signature due to not being grav-lev? This, to me, would give a gameplay reason to use one over the alternatives.

Yes. As mentioned above, by removing the components required to permit grav-lev and space flight, the Ranger bike has a lower signature than existing grav-lev bikes, such as Dragonfly, Nox, and X1..

Can you name the flight-ready ships that can transport a Ranger?

The Ranger bike is currently our smallest in-universe, player-ownable vehicle. As such, it can fit in a huge variety of ships, even the ARGO MPUV. While the list of ships it could fit in is huge, a general rule of thumb is if a ship can fit a Greycat PTV buggy, it can easily fit a Ranger.

I’m going to just come right out with it: Wheelies?

Implementing two-wheeled ground vehicles into the game is a much trickier coding and balancing task than the current four-wheeled vehicles. We don’t want bikes to simply behave like short-axle quads, we want them to behave like actual bikes and possess all the interesting behaviors they come with. And, given our current vehicles can do wheelies in certain environmental situations, we don’t see this behavior being excluded from bikes.

The Ranger CV, as written, comes with a capacity for 1.2 SCU. Does this mean it can carry more than a Cyclone and, when 1 SCU is 8 mission boxes as it currently stands in-game, will it carry more than 8 mission boxes or only 3 and 0.375 SCU?

The stated 1.2 SCU is incorrect and the result of changes during production that chose to favor increased powerplant size over cargo capacity. The final concept is indeed capable of only carrying 0.375 SCU (3× 0.125 mission boxes). The text on the brochure and website will be updated accordingly.

Will you be able to use your personal weapon (pistol) while riding a Ranger?

We’ll evaluate this once the ability to use FPS weapons in vehicle seats comes online. The second seat on the Dragonfly uses this too. However, unlike the Dragonfly, riding and shooting requires a lot more animation overhead, as you need to single-handedly keep control of the bike. Because of this, we don’t want to commit one way or another at this point.

Will we be able to ‘right’ the bike if it gets stuck upside down or falls over?

Yes, there will be interactions to put the bike back on its wheels to mirror the self-righting functionality of grav-lev vehicles.

Both batteries and fuel tanks are mentioned in the text. What fuel/power systems do the bikes use?

All Ranger bikes use a vehicle-sized power plant that consumes fuel as their primary method of generating power to propel the wheels. A second powerplant in the RC model provides additional power and, as with any vehicle, a battery can be used to provide an alternate time-limited power source with lower signature emission.

Can we move the cargo rack to the other bikes?

No, the cargo pannier is bespoke to the CV and cannot be placed on other Rangers.

Approximately what speeds will these vehicles be capable of?

We envisage their top speed being faster than the current wheeled-vehicle top speeds (currently around 45m/s), but not as fast as the grav-lev vehicles (currently around 60m/s). They will also accelerate better on appropriate surfaces than other wheeled vehicles.

Are the size 1 weapons gimbaled? Otherwise, how are we expected to aim the guns without moving the bike for every minor aim adjustment?

The Ranger’s weapons are mounted on a bespoke mount that allows limited gimbal adjustment to account for this.

How does the Ranger steer, since I see no forks, and how sharply can it turn?

There is currently approximately + and – 15 degrees of steering angle within the forks. However, we’ll revisit this when the vehicle is in production if it becomes apparent that it’s too little.

The Tumbril Ranger TR has one s1 weapon in the technical description, while two weapons on the picture, with one on each side. How many weapons are there on the Ranger TR?

The Ranger TR comes with 2xS1 weapons. The original design brief called for a single weapon but, during one of the later concept review meetings, it was changed to two. Any messaging stating 1xS1 will be updated.

Will the strength of planet/moon gravity effect the amount of traction the bike has, or will it be simulated by the grippy tires?

Like all our current wheeled vehicles, the Ranger’s traction will be affected by gravity. However, Tumbril vehicles have a unique wheel design that, while not currently functional in-game, will be able to be ‘deployed’ to improve grip.

End Transmission

Part of

Concept Ship Q&A

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