Star Citizen, Roberts Space Industries - Chris Roberts' life support and retirement fund [2012-]

I read on the interwebs that Martin Galway* was working at RSI, and I was about to jump headlong into Star Citizen territory, but then continuing to read the rest of the sentence I found out he later quit, so... Umm... Crap. :p

*You young 'uns probably don't know who he is.
 
Galway and Rob Hubbard put so many awesome tunes in my teen brain.
 
Which game engines are using 64bit coordinates? When the local physics grid is so easy to develop. Why isn't there one game using something like that? You can not travel with your yacht in GTA V. You can not move your yacht while other players walking inside. The local physics grid technology allows a revolutionary new gameplay experience never seen before.

Otherwise, the player would be tied to the seat or the vehicle would only move on rails.

Ben Parry
"I am reliably informed that I am excessively running my mouth. Elite does some smart stuff to allow some work to be done in single precision while other parts are in double, it's not horrendously exciting, and you could totally get a Frontierployee to explain the system, but I'm not in a position to ask permission to do so."

"You'll run into fatally weird behaviour before you hit a hard limit though. Technically even 32 bits gives you more light years than there are metres in a light year, but the precision issues start ruining you at roughly the radius of a station in Dangerous. 64-bit has plenty of precision as far out as we're planning to put anything worth visiting, but in a pinch we could just do the stuff Dangerous did to survive in single precision, only a bit less frequently."

"SC is 64-bit for everything in a system, which based on back-of-the-envelope calculations ought to start going funny somewhere near or beyond Pluto. Galaxy-scale stuff, I expect, is just a separate map since you'll have to hyperspace jump between systems anyway."
 
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TLDR(Too Long;Didn't Read)
Intro
  • Season three of Around the ‘Verse is here with changes to the format that feature a rotating focus on each studio, every week, and different areas of development.
  • Chris is back from London after finishing up some pickup performance capture shoots for Squadron 42 and some Persistent Universe captures as well.
  • The current Squadron 42 script is at 1,255 pages.
  • Chris says they may have solved one of their difficult to crack bugs that’s holding 2.5 from going to the Evocati testers. If all goes to plan, a wider PTU test should be happening next week with a live release shortly after.
  • Chris also says they’ve been working on some exciting stuff for Gamescom, so sit tight for that.
Studio Report
Atmospheric Flight Model:
  • design and engineering have begun work on the first implementation
  • ships that look more aerodynamic will handle better than those that don't
  • atmospheric densities increase closer to the planetary surface, decreasing your ship's maximum safe speed
  • there will be pockets of varying density creating wind and turbulence
  • not intending to create ships that fly by aerodynamics but for the flight model to handle spaceships in atmosphere
  • drag is largely determined by the cross-sectional area of the ship's three main axes
  • drag is calculated dynamically so damage affects the surface area and where drag is applied
  • other things can be used to tune performance like materials with different drag coefficients
Animations:
  • currently taking all the motion capture shot last month and applying it to ships
  • the first ships we'll see are Hornet, Super Hornet and Freelancer
  • also working on "life animations" (ambient animations) for the Persistent Universe
Male Base Model:
  • James Ku is doing a second pass on the male base model to bring it up to the level of the female base model
  • high poly sculpt, low poly sculpt are done, currently in the middle of texturing
  • focused on making the hands look really good and he's a little fitter
Ship Shape: Reliant
  • Patch 2.5 is very close with the flight ready Reliant
  • You should look for the Reliant's unique retro-thrust animation
  • This design has opened us up to multiple flight states for ships
  • Flight speeds are constrained by the current flight mode for the time being.
  • Pilots and Copilots may only leave their seats in horizontal landing mode - This may change in the future.
  • The devs can't wait to see our reaction to their proud baby.
Behind the Scenes: GrimHex Clothing
  • GrimHex clothing will be grungier, dirtier, counter-culture to fit the environment
  • References were taken from Blader Runner and they also looked at a lot of street wear
  • Band t-shirts will be prevalent in GrimHex as well as dark saturated colours
  • GrimHex was a starting point for designs for clothing for future locations as they want to make unique clothing for each location so when you see it, you’ll know where it came from
Source: http://imperialnews.network/2016/07/around-the-verse-episode-3-01/

New base male model

LLaOH7i.png



The new ATV format is very good and short. I like the fact that they developed a flight model for atmosphere flying.


So, Squadron 42 is getting released this year right? Why is there essentially no news about it?

We will know more about Sqadron 42 after Citizencon (October 10, 2016).
At Gamescom they will show most likely procedurally generated planets and places.
 
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I am 99% shure that they will not cancel the Citizencon. They have also sent an email for the Gamescom event. The E3 has not a high priority for them.


"Where:
This year’s event will take place from 8pm to Midnight on August 19th, 2016 at the Gloria Theater, Apostelnstrasse 11, 50667 Köln. Space is limited, so be sure you get your tickets fast!

They will be available to these groups on the schedule below until the event is sold out. We will restock additional tickets when we unlock each group.
• Concierge: Friday at 12pm PST
• Subscribers: Saturday at 12pm PST
• Everyone: Sunday at 12pm PST

When:
Doors open at 8pm local time for all attendees.
The presentation will begin at 9pm local time and be livestreamed via the Star Citizen Twitch channel: twitch.tv/starcitizen"



I look nothing like that in real life! How will I be able to relate?

:p

The dev said the model looks like he hit the gym. ^^ I would be happy if it would be that simple. Since one week I'm in Italy for vacation (Lido di Jesolo) and no one I have seen looks like this at the beach.
 
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But not this time, I can feel it, the game is juuust around the corner

Especially since the script is already at 1255 pages.

They're still writing the friggin' script. That's how close the game is from release.
 
2.5 Evocati PTU notes

Alpha Patch 2.5.0 has been released to the PTU, and is now available for players to test!

This patch provides access to our GrimHEX outlaw base, new clothing options, new automated landing technology and three new flyable ships – the Reliant KORE, Argo MPUV (Cargo Variant), and Argo MPUV (Passenger Variant). This is all in addition to bug fixes for the rest of our game and content. During this initial testing phase, PTU access will be restricted to a small group of players that we will expand on over time as required.

Important Issues:
-Do Not Spawn A Constellation and Retaliator. We are aware that GrimHEX has a few residual issues with gravity pockets, missing textures and a broken elevator. We are also aware of an issue with server-client desync taking place on both Crusader and Arena Commander.
Welcome Evocati!

Contents:

New Features

Star Systems:

Crusader
Crusader Industries would like to alert all pilots to avoid the Yela asteroid field. Pirates have become increasingly aggressive, and may attempt to lure pilots off course with fake requests for assistance. Crusader Industries believes they are based out of the decommissioned Green Imperial mining asteroid station, however attempts to locate the station have been difficult of late. Please report any suspicious activity, and consider any unidentified craft leaving the asteroid field extremely dangerous. GrimHEX asteroid station would like to cordially invite the Crusader Industries to QT into the nearest star. We’re open for business to everyone this goram economy left in the dust from here to Terra. You’re very welcome to visit and enjoy our fine goods, services and lodgings without the prying eyes of Big Crusader peeking under every door. Our bar, bounty office and race track are temporarily closed while we make some repairs from the last group of over-eager “heroes” that came through. GrimHEX can be located by navigating through the Yela asteroid field.

Port Olisar
The LiveWire Weapons franchise in Port Olisar is currently suffering a shortage of energy weapons due to several recent attacks on cargo transports. While they apologize for the inconvenience, only ballistic weapons can be purchased at this location for the time being. Outlaw armor sets are available on GrimHEX exclusively, and can no longer be purchased at Garrity Defense.


Game Systems:


Shopping
Skutters is a small weapon and armor shop on GrimHEX, that just so happens to be specializing in energy weapons for the discerning shopper… who does not ask where they were obtained from. KC Trending is a new location on GrimHEX station that offers a whole new selection of clothing for the discreet independent pilot. From shoes to hats, they’ve got the latest in underground fashion.

New Landing System
The first phase of our new landing system has been implemented into the game. This is the first part of a much larger series of changes we will be working on over the next few releases to provide a simpler, more intuitive landing experience. The landing pad targeting has been temporarily removed while other moving parts are being developed and integrated. Instead of selecting a pad and requesting permission, players in automatic landing will proceed to the nearest available landing pad. When they are within 20m, and speed is under 35m/s, the landing gear will automatically extend while the thrusters dampen your speed. When a ship approaches within 5m of a landing pad, in either automatic or manual landing mode, the local Landing Control System will take control of the ship and ease it into a smooth landing. Landing gears can now also be manually deployed by tapping the “N” key on the keyboard. Holding “N” will now activate automatic landing should you be within range of an acceptable landing pad and have the proper gears deployed. Please note, this system will change over time as further improvements and features are brought online.

Item System 2.0
We have begun converting player and ship items to our new item system. As with the prior, similar updates to ship components, this is largely at the back-end level. Implementing new component class systems, naming conventions and other needed functionality, as well as retrofitting all existing armors and weapons to be compatible. These changes will allow us to implement greater modularity to first-person items. Additionally, this will allow items to interact with one another in a more direct and less “handwavium” simulation, setting the foundation for greater player interaction and future game play mechanics. This should not affect the function of any in-game items, and changes to player item stats should be minimal.

Player Health System 2.0
We have implemented the first phase of our new player health system! This includes the implementation of better individual limb damage and health, more granular damage states, and many back end improvements to support a better FPS combat experience and future features like permanent health. Player health dolls should now show Normal (Green) health when between 100%-60%, a Hurt (Yellow) state from 59%-40% health, a Damaged (Red) state from 39%-10%, and the Ruined (Dark Red) state at 9%-0%. With this, we have also implemented some early versions of injury penalties. This includes a speed reduction for wounded legs, as well as a limping animation. Overall health damage (particularly head wounds) can also cause blurred vision around the edge of the screen, which will increase in intensity as more damage is taken.

Wanted Level System Update
Players with outlaw wanted level who enter Crusader will spawn in GrimHEX. This also applies to outlaw players who die and respawn in Crusader. Players with outlaw wanted levels will no longer have Port Olisar as a QT option, and instead will see GrimHEX.

Ships:
-The Reliant KORE, Argo MPUV (Cargo Variant), and Argo MPUV (Passenger Variant) are all now flight ready! Reliant KORE is available in both Arena Commander and Crusader. The Argo MPUV is only available in Crusader at this time, as it does not have weapons to defend itself in the Arena Commander simulation. A new size 5 laser cannon, the M7A, has been introduced!

Updates and Fixes

Star Systems:

Crusader
-Fixed an issue where shadows around Port Olisar would flicker at certain angles and perspectives.
-Updated and simplified the Quantum Travel marker names for better readability.
-Made some minor visual effects updates to the interior of Port Olisar.
-Made some balance changes to the pirate ships in Crusader so they use updated components.

Area 18, ArcCorp
-Finished a massive lighting and visual effects update to Area 18, ArcCorp.
-Fixed an issue where a large green arrow could be seen in reflection of the Jobwell glass.
-Fixed an issue where the user camera could clip through the wall of the incinerator on Area 18.

VFG Industrial Hangar
Adjusted the lighting in the VFG hangar to be less dark.
 
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Game Systems:

Arena Commander

-Fixed an issue where the decals would disappear off of the landing pads in Free Flight game mode.

EVA
-Fixed a bug that allowed player characters to slide uncontrollably across landing pads when transitioning out of EVA at speed.
-Fixed an issue where EVA animations would stutter when approaching a landing pad.

shopping
-Fixed an issue where inspecting weapons would cause the users outfit to switch into the standard flight suit regardless of what they were currently wearing.
-Fixed an issue where the weapon shops were not correctly recognizing the maximum number of equipped weapons, resulting in a number of problems, including causing some size 3 FPS weapons to disappear.

Social Module
-Name-tags for players in Augmented Reality now appear at 25 meters.
-Fixed an issue where using the MobiGlas hotkey while in a turret would cause a chain reaction of problems.

Ships:
Ship Weapons
-Fixed an issue where the CF-007 Bulldog Repeater, CF-117 Badger Repeater, and CF-227 Panther Repeater didn’t slow their rate of fire when running low on energy.
-The M3A, M4A, and MVSA laser cannons have had their time-to-overheat lowered, so that heat now has a more meaningful gameplay impact on the weapon now.
-Fixed issues where the missile smoke trail effects could not be seen unless the missile is very close to the viewer.

Individual Ships
Aurora
-Fixed an issue where the engine thruster exhaust effects was displaying circular blurs instead of proper visuals.

Avenger
-Made a number of exit and enter animation improvements for the Avenger Warlock.

Constellation Andromeda
-The missile racks for the Constellation Andromeda can no longer be edited by Port Mod.
-The side missile racks on the Constellation Andromeda should now target and fire properly.

Cutlass Black
-Made a number of exit and entrance animation improvements for the Cutlass Black.
-The missile racks for the Cutlass Black can no longer be edited by Port Mod.

Freelancer
-Added strafing control animations for the Freelancer pilot.
-Updated the audio for the Freelancer cockpit doors so it is properly synced.
-Added boosting visual effects to the Freelancer’s thrusters.
-Toned down the brightness of the Freelancer maneuvering thruster.

Gladiator
-The missile and torpedo racks on the Gladiator can no longer be edited Port Mod.

Gladius
-Fixed an issue where the shell casings on the Scorpion gun would fly in front of the pilot before disappearing.

Hornet
-Made some improvements to the Hornet series audio, for all variants except the F7C-M.
-Fixed an issue with the F7C-M Hornet, where the ship would not transition into damage states correctly on being damaged.
-Fixed some of the control issues with the F7C-M Hornet turret.

M50
-The missile racks for the M50 can no longer be edited by Port Mod.

Mustang
-Fixed an issue with the Mustang Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Omega wherein the ships had no explosion audio or visual when destroyed.
-Fixed an issue where the Mustang series could not be repaired if wings were damaged.
-Fixed an issue where users could not exit the Mustang Gamma if it was partially damaged and landed.
-Fixed an issue where there were no lights present in the back of the Mustang Beta.
-Fixed an issue where the exterior lights on the Mustang Alpha did not function.
-Fixed an issue where the locker onboard the Mustang Beta could not be interacted with.
-Fixed an issue where the armor plates on the Mustang Delta wings would continue to float alongside after the wings were destroyed.

Reliant KORE
-Fixed an issue where excessive fog was leaking out of the Reliant in the Hangar.

Sabre
-Fixed an issue with the AEGIS Sabre where the throttle floats in mid-air during entry animations.
-Made some alterations to the Sabre handling to make it more nimble, and have less jerkiness when rolling.

Starfarer
-Added strafing control animations for the Starfarer pilot.

Vanguard Warden
-The missile racks on the Vanguard Warden can no longer be edited by Port Mod.


First Person:
-First-person camera views have received significant attention to provide a much more stable and smooth viewing experience for players.
-There is now a UI sound triggered when an enemy is shot by the player.
-Updated the “Examine Pistol” animation for shopping.
-Made a number of improvements to character prone animations.
-Fixed an issue where the death animation would play twice when a character was shot.
-Fixed an issue where the burp emote contained no audio.
-Fixed an issue where the user would desync after aiming down the sights of the Arrowhead Sniper Rifle.
-Assault rifles will now properly re-center after the user sprints.

User Interface:
-Fixed an issue where the aiming reticle on a Gamepad or a HOTAS would become very erratic when targeting enemies.
-Fixed an issue where the Port Modification Hangar modes would still show the name of a ship after it had been removed.
-Fixed an issue where users in free cursor mode would still fire their Weapon Group 1 when clicking.
-Fixed an issue with Hostility UI, where the orange wanted icon for Wanted Level 1 would not appear.
-Fixed an issue where the 3rd person Free Cam could not zoom in or out.
-Ship target HUD now dynamically changes colors based on the allegiance of the target.

Keybindings
-Fixed an issue where changes to the Graphics Quality in the options menu did not actually change the quality of graphics. Added a keybind mapping for X52 Pro HOTAS.

Technical:
-Fixed a number of client crashes.
-Fixed a number of server crashes.
-Fixed a client disconnection (Code 1) that would sometimes occur when loading into Arena Commander.
-Added a new error (10002) for players who are disconnected due to duplicate login.
-This can be due to the account already being logged in on another computer or client.
-This can also happen after a crash or force-close of the game, when the prior connection has not timed out yet.

Optimizations
-Fixed an issue with Area 18, ArcCorp, where there were severe FPS drops when looking at the center of the level.
-Fixed an issue where switching between 1st and 3rd camera view would briefly drop the client frames per second down to 5.



I have changed a the layout to make it more easy to read.

Source: https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/4v6y6j/ask_and_ye_shall_receive/


Its not the most impressive patch but its necessary for the more significant 2.6 and 2.7 versions.
 
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Best ATV ever?

Especially from 19:30 to the end.

They are showing capital ship damage, new VFX and ambient sound design. The capital ship has exactly the atmosphere which I wanted for this game since the beginning.


EDIT:

There are some errors in the editing in the particle segment. Sometimes the as "old" signed stuff is the new tech.
 
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Reverse the Verse summary. ´
TLDR (Too Long; Didn't Read)

  • The show today was in the U.K with guests Nathan Diersley, Vehicle Art Director and Gordon Mclean, Gameplay Programmer at Foundry 42 U.K.
  • The video in ATV showing off the Catastrophic damage was ingame and not pre-rendered.
    • The Idris was crashed on a planet and the damage was handcrafted, but the lightning techniques they used allow them to reuse effects and such to replicate it in different ways easily to create variation.
    • It’s possible for the damage to be procedural as that’s what they’re working towards, but they’d have to be clever at how they do it because spawning debris right infront of you would be pretty jarring to a player and immersion breaking. They’re investigating that with the Tali right now.
    • CryEngine on a rendering aspect gives CIG a lot to work with in terms of flexibility and fidelity, it allows them to do so much and build upon it. The lightning and effects you see in the ATV video are examples of that.
  • The cover system won’t be available in Zero G when it comes out apart from some aspects like preventing the weapon from clipping when close to walls. Gordon said they’d look into maybe having the peek feature available, but for now it’ll be gravity only for the cover system.
  • Star Marine is on track for 2.6 at this time,
    • It was close to being done a year ago at the time, but was pushed back. However it’s now in a state now they’re pretty happy with it.
  • Shooting from ladders isn’t going to happen and having multiple people on a ladder is something that’s being looked at for later on.
  • Using the cover system while in Prone isn’t in the game right now. Prone needs another pass before it can work with that, but you can roll currently.
  • Player’s health state wont affect how you use the cover system in the initial release, but down the road they’ll implement something.
  • Next week’s ATV and RTV will be Austin.
Source: http://imperialnews.network/2016/08/reverse-the-verse-episode-2-02-summary/


I don't think that one person would read the long Monthly Studio Report (July).
Therefore i will link the July Monthly Report Summary. Done by imperialnews.network: http://imperialnews.network/2016/08/july-monthly-report-summary/


PC games interview with Chris Roberts

Roberts says that that they want 1000 of players in one area with the new network system.
He also stated that he rather takes his time and do it right. (around the 18:10 mark)

Someone made a list of the asked questions in Youtube.
 
Playing PTU 2.5 right now and it is better than I expected.

Few points.
-still bad fps (should be fixed with Item System 2.0 plus new network stuff [2.7]).
-Arc Corps got a new lighting pass. Looks much better.
-New landing system in its first iteration is very intuitive -->I can land the Starfarer without using the third person cam.
-New bloom/lense flares (graphics) looking impressive
-Reliant and Argo are good ships.
-GrimHex is very nice and is atmospheric.
-Overall better sound and music quality.

Arc Corp after lightening pass plus new buildings in the background plus more assets (I will not spent too much time for screenshots this time)

ArcCorp2.5 (1) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

ArcCorp2.5 (2) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

ArcCorp2.5 (9) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

ArcCorp2.5 (10) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

ArcCorp2.5 (15) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

Full Album: https://flic.kr/s/aHskBwHehr

Cant wait for NPCs (Subsumption AI). Maybe we can land there this year becaususe of the procedural planet tech. I dont know.

Side by Side comparison shots of Arc Corp 2.4.1 vs 2.5 PTU: http://imgur.com/a/0Jzdh (not mine)

Later I will upload more pictures from GrimHex and the new tech/ships.
 
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Outlaw GrimHex Station - UHD; TAA

Outside
GrimHex (1) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

One of many entrances
GrimHex (2) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

Inside; you can still look outside and see the action
GrimHex (5) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

GrimHex (8) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

Respawn Areas for criminal Players
GrimHex (10) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

Clothing
GrimHex (12) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

Weapons
GrimHex (16) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

Zero G area inside
GrimHex (20) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

Found another Exit
GrimHex (22) by X-RAY-89, auf Flickr

More pictures: https://flic.kr/s/aHskBwrksq

I dont think a console CPU could handle this MMO with that asset quality and scale. No Man Sky runs at 30fps and this is not at the same technical level. There will be also a lot of NPCs, giant flying ships (levels), hundreds of players in the same area etc.
 
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I dont think a console CPU could handle this MMO with that asset quality and scale. No Man Sky runs at 30fps and this is not at the same technical level. There will be also a lot of NPCs, giant flying ships (levels), hundreds of players in the same area etc.

Your shilling is ridiculous, No Man's Sky is out now with a fraction of sc budget.
Star Citizen has been a next year maybe project for a few years already
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
 
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