Star Citizen stellt einige seiner bevorstehenden neuen Missionstypen und Änderungen beim illegalen Betreten von Raumschiffen vor.
Which of these upcoming missions are you looking forward to accepting in your Contract Manager? Join us today as we explore some new features the Mission Team is currently working on for Alpha 3.20 and beyond!
Lucky Human, Happy Monday!
Last week we released a big info drop on CitizenCon 2953! This year's event will be a TWO-DAY celebration! The biggest convention of all things Star Citizen will be taking place in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Convention Center from Saturday, October 21st, to Sunday, October 22nd. Get the lowdown on tickets, community booth, volunteer opportunities, and the return of the fan-favorite cosplay contest so you do not miss out on the fun!
Last week also saw the release of Star Citizen Alpha 3.19.1, which aimed to implement a variety of fixes. However, the team is aware and monitoring a number of ongoing known issues, such as ASOP terminals not consistently functioning, and others. We'll keep you posted as we have more information.
One of the big highlights of last week was the kickoff of this year's Alien Week, in which we explore the ships, languages, cultural nuances, and history of our non-human friends. If you haven't seen it yet, make sure to carve out a few minutes for the latest Banu commercial. And of course, compete to win in our latest Community Contest, in which we challenge you to recreate a mysterious alien encounter...
Finally, we wrapped up the week with International Bar Citizen Weekend inspired by First Contact Day and our personal favorite part of Alien Week. Having the opportunity to connect with you all in-person brings us an incredible amount of joy. Like-minded adventurers, gamers, and developers alike gathered near our offices in Los Angeles, Montreal, Austin, Manchester, and Frankfurt for food, beverages, and of course, a shared love for all things space!
Now, let's see what's going on this week:
The Alien Week fun continues, as this Tuesday, we're publishing a new Alien Language post for all you xenolinguistics out there to test your skills.
Thursday welcomes another round of Jumptown 2.1, for those looking to clash. In addition, we'll welcome a new episode of Inside Star Citizen, focusing on the Mission Feature Team's exciting work for Alpha 3.20 and beyond.
On Friday, Star Citizen Live returns - guest and times coming soon, and you'll also find our weekly RSI Newsletter directly delivered to your inbox. In addition, the Bar Citizen World Tour continues, with a few notable upcoming events. Members of the team are currently traveling to Shanghai, for the largest community-organized event to date (1,500+ attendees), followed by a Bar Citizen stop in Hong Kong, and South Korea, with many more to come throughout the remainder of the year
Plus, the Show Us Your Colors Celebration 2023 continues, so get colorful and share your best with us on the Community Hub! There's been some incredible submission so far, many of which have been passed around our studios.
Have a stellar week both in and out of the 'verse!
Christian Schmitt aka Wayne-CIG
Community Manager (for Humans and Banu)THE WEEKLY COMMUNITY CONTENT SCHEDULE
MONDAY, JUNE 19, 2023!
- Alien Week
TUESDAY, JUNE 20, 2023
- Alien Language Post
- Alien Week
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2023
- Alien Week
THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2023
- Inside Star Citizen (youtube.com/c/RobertsSpaceInd)
- Alien Week
- Jumptown 2.1
FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2023
- Star Citizen Live (twitch.tv/starcitizen)
- Weekly Newsletter
- Alien Week
- Jumptown 2.1
- Bar Citizen World Tour - Shanghai, China
SATURDAY, JUNE 24, 2023
- Alien Week
- Jumptown 2.1
SUNDAY, JUNE 25, 2023
- Alien Week
- Jumptown 2.1
- Bar Citizen World Tour - Hong Kong, China
COMMUNITY MVP: June 19, 2023
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.We're constantly amazed at the contributions made by the Star Citizen community. Whether it's fan art, a cinematic, YouTube guide, or even a 3D print of your favorite ship, we love it all! Every week, we select one piece of content submitted to the Community Hub and highlight it here. The highlighted content creator will be awarded an MVP badge on Spectrum and be immortalized in our MVP section of the Hub.
Don't forget to submit your content to our Community Hub for the chance to see it here!Area18 Cinematic Tour
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Hasgaha revisited Area18 on ArcCorp in the latest episode of their Cinematic Tours series, and we highly recommend checking it out!
Head over to the Community Hub for the epic video!
How much do you know about the alien races from the 'verse? Today we're joined by the Narrative Team to answer your questions about all things extraterrestrial while we explore deeper into the unknown!
Alien Week is among us! Join us today to see how the San'Tok.Yāi is progressing, followed by another upcoming ship just for the Hull of it!
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Following the concept release of the Tumbril Storm, we took your community-voted questions to our designers to provide you with more information on the recently unveiled solo-tank designed to blitz overcrowded battlefields.
What vehicles will the Storm fit inside?
The Storm officially shares the same garage size as the Tumbril Nova and Anvil Atlas-platform vehicles, so anything that supports them. However, its reduced height and length allow it to fit into some ships that cannot fit the above, such as the Anvil Carrack and Drake Corsair.
As the Storm is intended to be a smaller ‘fast assault vehicle’ but is so large that it currently only fits in vehicles that can transport the Nova tank/Atlas platform vehicles, where does it fit in the grand scheme of things? For example, in which scenarios would one be favored over the other?
As mentioned above, while it has the same garage size, the Storm’s dimensions allow it to be carried by many other ships allowing for greater flexibility in terms of transport and deployment. The two tanks operate vastly different roles - the Storm is fast and lightly armed, while the Nova is much larger and slower but packs more of a punch.
How fast is the Storm intended to be compared to other ground combat vehicles?
All stats are subject to change, so we won’t list specifics right now, but expect the Storm to be faster than the Nova and Atlas series and closer to the Ursa in speed.
What are the vertical plates supported by the struts? Decoration?
Rule-of-cool decorative pieces, though they are inspired by some modern-world stand-off armor panels that deflect incoming rounds away from sensitive areas.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.The Storm has clearly visible smoke/chaff launchers like those found on modern tanks. Will this vehicle have countermeasures, like noise and flares?
Yes, it has the full suite of countermeasures as found on other vehicles
What is 'tactical-spec' armor, and how does it differ from the 'mil-spec' components that have been offered in the past?
This is just a marketing phrase and has no special behavior in-game; the Storm is as normally armored as you’d expect a tank of this role/type to be.
How well-defended is this tank compared to say the Nova, Ursa, or Centurion, and how does its armor fare in comparison?
In terms of durability, it sits between the Nova and Centurion and has significantly more than the Ursa.
As tanks are intended to be off-road vehicles, will the low ground clearance of this model limit traversal? Does the tread configuration of the Storm give it any sort of advantage when hitting obstacles on rough terrain?
The Storm has relatively good ground clearance, especially compared to the Nova, and its design allows for much greater arrival/departure angles without hitting the hull.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Will the bespoke Size 3 weapon have the same upscaled damages for its size, similar to other vehicles with unique weapons? For example, the Size 5 Slayer Cannon for the Nova has (in the current state of the game) 18,500 alpha damage, while other S5 ballistic cannons only deal 1,500.
Yes. Like the Nova, the “size” of the weapon doesn’t truly follow the other systems given its bespoke nature, allowing for independent tuning, which puts it at a much higher alpha/DPS than the number would normally be.
What about barrel elevation and depression? Considering the Nova’s barrel can't depress far enough to aim a little downward, how does the Storm fare?
Again, all stats are subject to change, so we don’t want to give exact numbers at this point. However, it’s safe to say the Storm’s depression and elevation ranges are significantly better than the Nova, allowing you to hit things on the ground almost directly in front and to the side of the vehicle. To achieve this, the turret extends up a little when the vehicle powers on
Why just one Size 3 weapon?
This was an intentional design choice, as the bespoke nature of the gun allows it to perform very strongly for its size. We didn’t want the Storm to be excessively over-gunned or be too much for a sole driver to manage and fight with compared to other vehicles.
Does it have any additional ways to fight off small targets like infantry since it doesn't have a Size 1 anti-personnel repeater?
No, ideally like modern life, you do not want infantry getting close to armored vehicles. But, if you find yourself in this scenario, we’d recommend using the speed of the vehicle to get distance between you and the infantry and use the turret weapon.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Is the driver's control of the turret restricted to the area in front of the vehicle, or does it have proper 360-degree rotation?
It has full 360-degree rotation, allowing for views around the full vehicle.
The specs state that the Storm has a remote-operated turret. Can the Storm fire while in motion, or does it have to stop for the driver to enter the remote-turret interface in order to fire? What is the arc of fire, both while driving and presumably while using the remote turret?
Yes, the driver can control the turret while on the move or stationary. Whilst moving, the view limits are constrained to the front arc of the vehicle. When in remote view, you have the full 360-degree range.
The brochure indicates there's personal weapon storage, but the picture suggests there might also be personal inventory space in the rear track. Is this the case?
There's personal weapon storage in one of the front track housings and personal inventory space near the driver’s entrance. The rear of the main body contains critical components, including the powerplant, cooler, and shield generator, while the other front track houses less-critical components, like the radar, computer, and battery.
A single Size 0 powerplant seems very underpowered when compared to other vehicles; will this be sufficient to power not only the vehicle itself but also its shields and bespoke energy autocannon? How do you intend to support this should a single powerplant prove to be insufficient in the future?
This is something we’ll expand upon in the future, but the upcoming Resource Network changes have given us the opportunity to re-evaluate sizes and quantities of items aboard all vehicles. So, newer vehicles can seem under-specced relative to existing vehicles but, in reality, they will operate effectively as designed. Some vehicles will also have items reduced to be more in line with the upcoming changes.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.ALIEN SHIPS & PAINTS
RSI Store promotion. Visit robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link for details.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Alien Week Extras
Visit robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link for details.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Falling right around First Contact Day, which commemorates Humanity’s initial interaction with the Banu, Alien Week is an annual celebration where the Star Citizen community embraces all that is alien in our expansive, wondrous galaxy.
Alongside alien-made ships and meticulous Human recreations, we’re exploring the language, culture, and history of the Banu, Tevarin, Xi’an, and Vanduul species.
Plus, we have new alien-ship paints, very special episodes of Inside Star Citizen and Star Citizen Live, a community contest, in-person meet-ups, and more!
International Bar Citizen Weekend
Celebrate Unity Across the Planet
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Star Citizen fans all over the world can make first contact with like-minded adventurers during our International Bar Citizen weekend, from June 17-18. Join players and devs alike at watering holes in Los Angeles, Montreal, Austin, Manchester, and Frankfurt, and snag your very own in-game Banu tholo just for showing up.
(Photo: 2022 Los Angeles International Bar Citizen Weekend Event)
Close Encounters
Community Contest
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.We want to see how you make contact. Recreate alien encounters, be they terrifying, mysterious, awe-inspiring, or downright silly, through the magic of an in-game screenshot, for the chance to win some truly out-of-this-world prizes.
Screenshot taken by @Yambren.
Banu Tholo
Frivolous Novelty or Fortune’s Key?
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.The Banu tholo: a long-prized souvenir to commemorate journeys through the Protectorate, a mysterious portent of fate, and a way to pass the time while traveling long distances. But what is it exactly, and more importantly, how does it work? Be sure to check out the upcoming lore post to find out.
Out-Of-This-World
Programming
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.This week, Inside Star Citizen and Star Citizen Live will be dishing up heaping helpings of alien goodness in the spirit of the week. Tune in for some truly out-of-this world thrills.
Non-Human Ships
Now For Humans!
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Just your luck, Human, a Banu souli specializing in the procurement and sales of secondhand ships just dropped anchor in Stanton, bringing with it exotic paint schemes old and new, and some highly sought-after alien models. Check out its inventory and act fast; the Banu are a nomadic species and don’t tend to linger in Human systems for long.
Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Every two weeks, we accompany the Roadmap update with a brief explanatory note to give you insight into the decision-making that led to any changes. This is part of an effort to make our communications more transparent, more specific, and more insightful for all of you who help to make Star Citizen and Squadron 42 possible.
With that said, let’s go ahead and dive into this week’s Roadmap Roundup!
-CIG Community Team
Notable Changes for June 14, 2023
Release View
The following card has been added to the Alpha 3.20 column on Release View:
Wheeled Vehicle Handling Improvements
Updates and improvements to current ground vehicle movement parameters and simulation, allowing for more robust tuning and identity between various ground vehicles.
Progress Tracker
With this publish, we're beginning to add the Q4 2023 schedule for Upstream teams, with additional teams being added in subsequent publishes.
The following deliverables have been added to Progress Tracker:
Mirai Fury
Building, implementing, and balancing Mirai's snub fighter, the Fury, as a game-ready vehicle.
Tumbril Storm
Building, implementing, and balancing Tumbril's light tank, the Storm, as a game-ready vehicle.
That's all for this week! Join the discussion on Spectrum, and check out the Roadmap Companion Guide for more information on the Star Citizen Public Roadmap.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.This is a cross-post of the report that was recently sent out via the monthly Squadron 42 newsletter. We’re publishing this a second time as a Comm-Link to make it easier for the community to reference back to.
TO: SQUADRON 42 RECRUITS
SUBJ: DEVELOPMENT UPDATE 06:07:2023
REF: CIG UK, CIG DE, CIG LA, CIG TX,
FAO Squadron 42 Recruits.
Welcome to May’s Squadron 42 development report. Enclosed you will find details on the latest progress made across the campaign, including capital ship behaviors, buddy AI, and FPS weapon AI.
Thank you for your continued support of Squadron 42.
Sincerely,
CIG COMMUNICATIONS
AI (Content)
Throughout May, AI Content progressed with their remaining medical-behavior tasks. Following this, the full medical flow can now be demonstrated in the behavior test map. Additional animation variations for interacting with cupboards, beds, trays, and sinks (both with and without data pads) were created too. Once signed off, the behavior will be implemented in the Stanton and Krugeri’s infirmaries.
The AI Content team continued work on the ‘fight club’ caged arena, last month implementing the entry bouncer and rush animations for crowd spectators. For the latter, the crowd’s intensity varies pre, mid, and post-fight. As part of this, speed-quality fight animations were developed, with data coming from a recent motion-capture shoot.
The team also worked on speed-processed locomotion animations for NPCs experiencing severe pain. Part of this involved implementing animations for characters standing and locomoting while exhibiting sickness. They then processed and implemented polished drinking animations into the ‘Sit050’ usable area and created speed-drunk locomotion animations for inebriated NPC movements. Drunk locomotion animations were also created for NPCs holding cups.
Finally, AI Content implemented mobiGlas and datapad overlay locomotion animations to allow characters to seamlessly interact with digital interfaces
AI (Features)
AI Features continued to work on the buddy AI. Now, buddies ‘cheat’ when finding supplies, looting ammunition that doesn’t match their current weapon. They will also fully restock when they do so, replenishing their grenades and MedPen.
They also finished the first pass of a boss fight that challenges players to counter or block before they can attack, while progress was made on the targeting and melee attacks for a key enemy behavior.
AI Features implemented the core components of systemic and boss-fight sniper functionality, enabling the designers to finish it off and provide feedback.
On the animation side, the team wrapped up the performance capture for various features and implemented the full animation set for a collection of characters with a unique combat style.
AI (Tech)
Last month, AI Tech progressed with their final major Squadron 42 features and addressed feedback on older initiatives. They continued to improve the collision-avoidance system to give better results when ground vehicles pass each other or NPCs. They also added support for driving along a predefined route, similar to how NPCs can move along a path. For this case, the designers can specify certain properties for the route, like the maximum permitted speed, which direction it should be driven, and if it should loop.
Work then began on a dynamic pathfinding regeneration feature to improve how NPCs find and follow alternative routes. For example, if a hazard (tree falling, vehicle stopping, fire hazard, etc.) impacts a navigation mesh triangle, the navigation volume will notify all related paths and check if new requests are submitted. The first stage of this was implementing an anchor structure to keep track of a location's navigation meshes and triangles, which is notified when a triangle is changed. These navigation anchors are then used to understand when parts of a triangle are modified and to check if new pathfinding is needed.
May also saw AI Tech begin investigating and implementing a solution for NPCs entering and exiting ships from EVA using the external doors of an airlock system. For this, they set up ship and seat access as a usable to allow NPCs to find their closest entry position, fly to it, and trigger the right interaction. They also had to account for a ship’s rotational velocity and allow NPCs to adjust their orientation as they approach.
On the AI tools side, improvements continued for both the usable coordinator and Apollo Subsumption. For the usable coordinator, optimizations were made to the code and logic flow. They updated the visuals and changed to a new usable data view too. For Apollo, the team implemented ‘find references’ functionality with support for Subsumption functions.
AI Tech also completed various support tasks, including creating flowgraph nodes for all Subsumption assignments to help the designers create scripted AI behaviors. More variable types for use as assignment inputs were added alongside support for the usable and tactical point systems.
AI (Vehicle Features)
The Vehicle team progressed with their ongoing rework of combat AI. Last month, they hooked up various events for the AI to react to across the game. This is the final step before integrating the new combat AI into all encounters across SQ42.
“After that, it’s playtesting over and over again in situ in the levels of the game so we can judge and adjust difficulty, pacing, and so on to fine tune the experience.” AI Team
The team also improved the logic for how AI ships join splines to make it smoother and more natural looking.
Ground avoidance during atmospheric flight was also worked on. The aim is to have AI try their best to not collide with the ground when in combat while behaving as naturally as possible.
Animation
In May, the Animation team worked on various skill-level-based takedowns, movement in zero-g, and swimming.
For AI, the team continued creating assets for background actions to give life to various locations; this will continue as levels are playtested. A second enemy class animation style was developed alongside a knife fight and a melee enemy class. The team also continued to create assets for the various behavior lines and wildlines for both combat and non-combat AI.
The Mo-cap team spent the majority of the month shooting performances and delivering data for gameplay and cinematics.
Engine
The Core Engine team progressed with their work on StarBuild, adding the remaining Linux support. StarBuild is now on feature parity with the old code build system and will be rolled out to other departments soon.
For the renderer, the team started removing legacy Gen-12 code. There is a lot to remove, but this will result in leaner and easier-to-maintain renderer code when complete.
The Core Engine team also progressed with the generic shape system, adding editor support to save generic as well as remaining shapes. Multiple segments will be added before it’s handed to the designers to use.
For MemReplay 2.0, the team are currently adding more features, including file open dialog, faster loading, and async symbol resolving to get it ready for wider use. They’re also adding optimizations and continuing to stabilize their feature stream to integrate it back into the main development stream.
Last month, the Physics team focused on improving and bug-fixing the new method for tracking unique geometry parts. They then improved cloth simulation for better simulation results, updated the rope and pulley systems, and added cantilever simulation support.
Features (Gameplay)
Last month, the Gameplay Features team updated the character customizer. This included adding a new ‘sculpting mode’ that allows players to select and drag an anchor point on the face to change the size and shape of a particular facial zone, such as the nose, ear, and chin.
Further detailing work was done on the firing range, mostly around joining and leaving. Feedback was also actioned on the UI to integrate it better into the environment.
A new collectible was created that players will be able to find, pick up, and stow during gameplay. These items will then populate the player’s quarters as part of the collectibles system.
The frontend also received a new difficulty option. This exposes various modifiers to the AI, health, and weapon attributes to allow the Design team to balance the game depending on the player’s desired experience.
A new feature to allow the designers to create and save damage maps was created too, which enables them to apply pre-damaged areas to ships.
Following on from the recent Starmap work, the team is now developing the area map. This will render a holographic view of a player’s current environment, either from within the Starmap or as part of the visor, with markers for players, characters, mission objectives, and more.
Features (Vehicle)
Last month, work continued on the ‘control surface’ flight model. The team implemented special handling for ships in gas-filled zero-g locations, such as gas clouds. While ships still favor thrusters in this situation, they will experience drag and lift that slightly impacts how they feel.
Vehicle Features also iterated on UI and VFX for communicating the Quantum system’s state. They also began utilizing in-world VFX for this purpose, which allowed them to pair back the UI. The feedback on this has been positive so far.
A new feature for spawning waves of AI ships inside carriers was kicked off (similar to an FPS spawn closet). Now, AI will spawn on landing pads within carriers, take off, and join the fight. This feature can be used to support large battles by naturally spawning ships.
The Intelligent Flight Control System (IFCS) received updates last month. For example, the team worked on a bespoke relative throttle that allows players to assign a target velocity when the throttle is untouched. Various quality-of-life improvements were made to support this, including a trap for setting target speed to zero, a non-linear rate of change for improved precision at lower speeds, and an improved UI for displaying the throttle.
Work on the Vehicle UI continued, with the team creating a physical hangar terminal for modifying a ship’s loadout before missions. This enables players to view an inventory of available weapons and items, compare them against each other, and equip them to the ship in the hangar.
Multi-function displays (MFDs) also received various updates, including a UI pass to make them larger, simpler, and easier to read. The new MFD system also allows players to cast some screens to their visors, with the team changing the layout and aspect ratio of the screens when this occurs. This makes better use of screen space and allows certain elements to be more prominent. Furthermore, after the work last month, MFDs were enabled for wider use in the company.
Gameplay Story
Last month, the Gameplay Story team worked on various scenes involving the Stanton's quartermaster. These updates were requested by Design, with the goal of getting the scenes to integrate properly with the AI behavior.
New motion-capture data was used to update some significant scenes in the med bay, ensuring characters interact correctly with the latest swiveling-chair setup.
“It was great to see these scenes updated to use exactly the same setup as the AI, which should make the scenes very robust and future-proof.” Gameplay Story Team
In May, Gameplay Story began setting up 8 new scenes, bringing their total to 290. They also polished, pose pasted, and updated props in several scenes to ensure they were fully up to date.
The team also continued to set up operator seats, working to establish proper metrics and solid foundations for these complicated assets. Automated testing of the entities achieved a 100% pass rate, so they can move on to reviewing, improving, and approving the required animations.
Graphics & VFX Programming
The Graphics Feature team spent the month working on performance improvements and new features, including screen space shadows, improvements to quantum jump tunnels, and render-to-texture zone culling. A GPU memory allocator and an upgraded ResourceCache compiler were among the new performance-boosting upgrades, while the evolving Temporal Super Resolution (an automated upscaling system that can now up-sample opaque objects) officially passed its first milestone.
Global Illumination is well underway. So far, the first iterations of a hash-map-based radiance cache, ray-generation code, and a ray-tracing prototype were completed.
Improvements to Gen12’s validation error debugger were made to improve the accuracy of bug detection for faster issue assessment. In preparation for deferred Rendergraph execution, Vulkan’s frame synchronization was improved. Issues with gaps in pipeline-resource sets at bind time were resolved with a remapping update that uses continuous resource-set layouts.
The Planet Tech team started finalizing quantum obstacle generation with generic shapes in asteroid fields. A collision issue detector and wear, dirt, and paint modifiers were also added to the RaStar tool.
Ongoing improvements to the BiomeBuilder will reduce constant spawn/despawning, which in turn will relieve the Physics team of large destruction queues. Water can now be simulated in-engine and features the new disturbance component improvements.
VFX finished the new effect setup for quantum travel and are now looking into lightning. Lightning emitters are being refactored to decouple from targeting, and the team is investigating how to use current prototypes to spawn lightning from gas clouds. A crash that occurred when particle emitters attempted to resize using a buffer of 0 was also fixed.
Level Design
Last month, Level Design focused on their two main locations, the Stanton and Krugeri capital ships. Alongside general scene maintenance and bug fixing, they looked into scene ‘handshakes’ that transition NPCs into their required behaviors. This involves ensuring characters are prepped to transition, are pose matched, have holstered held items, and more.
They also updated the Stanton’s quartermaster scenes to reflect the revised AI vendor flow without negatively affecting performance.
The team then continued to work on the AI schedules for the Stanton, which has an 80-person crew playing out various behaviors around the ship.
“With this roll out, we have to keep tabs on NPCs gate-crashing scene content. For example, if the player is in a somber scene with a colleague discussing the horrors of war, we don’t want an NPC barging in with a “Hello Lieutenant” and jumping onto a console.” Level Design Team
Narrative
In May, Narrative held a performance-capture shoot focusing on additional combat and social wildlines. The goal was to capture a wide variety of voices to populate the universe while also maximizing the effectiveness of the content so that it remains within a reasonable scope.
Narrative also synced with Design on their recent gameplay progress to review adjustments and ensure that dialogue continues to function as intended. In some instances, the team made suggestions on how the revised gameplay scenarios could better align with the emotional tone of the moment. For example, if a puzzle scenario occurs during a particularly stressful sequence of the game, Narrative and Design will discuss ways to maintain the emotional underpinning during the puzzle.
Meanwhile, progress continued on the text items needed across the entirety of the game, including collectibles, Galactapedia entries, and mobiGlas UI elements.
R&D
In May, the R&D team continued improving the temporal render mode for atmospheric and volumetric clouds.
Additionally, planetary-terrain height-map generation was optimized to eliminate frame-rate hitches. Aside from using a more suitable partitioning scheme for the tessellation of terrain patches, the changes also include terrain quad viewport culling before further tessellation by the GPU. The resulting height maps are later used to render large terrain shadows and to spawn GPU particles on the ground.
UI
The UI Art and Design teams completed their work on modular fluff screens, getting them set up in different UI styles for various locations. They’re now ready to be handed over to the Art and FPS teams so they can be added to levels.
They also implemented new FPS weapon screens for the different brands within the game, and worked alongside the FPS and Vehicle teams on augmented-reality (AR) markers, which are floating UI elements that show players where their objectives and targets are. Last month, the art was signed off and the files were prepared for use in-game.
Work on the final visor UI also continued with the AI Feature team; this will include weapons and ammunition information, notifications, and mission objectives. They also applied improved shaders courtesy of the Graphics team to make the UI appear more holographic.
The UI Tech team continued to improve their tools, including making performance improvements and adding additional ways to debug the more complex screens. They also further developed the new interior and mini maps, which will bring a significant improvement to in-game navigation.
VFX
Last month, VFX revisited gas-cloud tunnels, working closely with Design and Art to create new hazards that can occur inside the tunnel networks.
Progress was also made on weapon effects, while support for the Art and Design teams continued across a variety of locations.
WE'LL SEE YOU NEXT MONTH...
// END TRANSMISSION
Star Citizen und Starfield teilen sich abseits mancher Ähnlichkeit auch einige Fans. Andere wiederum lehnen Starfield rundweg ab. Ein Überblick.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.This article originally appeared in Jump Point 6.08.
Tumbril Cyclone
DEVELOPMENT HISTORY
Tumbril Land Systems was incorporated in 2536 on Saisei with the specific goal of producing exploratory ground vehicles to assist with humanity’s burgeoning stellar expansion. The company’s founders, Kavya Crosby and Aaron Douze, were lifelong homesteaders financed by the University of Saisei who believed that recent attempts to apply hover (HOV) technology to exploratory ground vehicles were the wrong tact. Their project took the slogan ‘Tough, Fast, Durable’ as the set of watchwords for creating their first wheeled design, the ‘DX20.’
The initial version of the DX20 was developed by Crosby and Douze. The specifications for the vehicle were planned in record time with a bespoke prototype following quickly. The DX20 was designed specifically to traverse the extreme environments of Yar’s Red Desert and intended to be capable of traversing environments ranging from sub-zero ice worlds to low marshes on aquatic planets. The pair spent years testing prototype after prototype ‘in the wild’, in order to build a true ‘rough and tumble’ craft.
The DX20 became available on the open market in 2537, following deliveries to initial investors late in the previous year. Initial sales were unremarkable but the DX20 proved itself popular among outbound colonial concerns, with end users praising the vehicle’s ability to traverse extreme environments and its relatively simple maintenance requirements. The design team, it seemed, had delivered exactly what they had promised: a tough, fast, and durable all-terrain vehicle. While sales remained low, Tumbril itself seemed to be earning a reputation as a quality supplier of frontier-capable goods. The DX20 seemed briefly set to be another symbolic vehicle of Humanity’s peaceful expansion into the stars.
The DX20 would not, however, go down in history as a revered explorer. Current events quickly caught up with Tumbril, namely the beginning of the First Tevarin War. With the coming of the war, the shape and tenor of the UPE changed overnight, with investment in colonization efforts ceasing immediately and with designers and manufacturers around the known galaxy being recruited to adapt their machines and factories for the war effort. Desperate to outfit their expeditionary forces for the first major interspecies war, the UPE Army turned to Tumbril to convert the DX20 into a tough, fast, and durable weapon of war. The DX20 design team set upon the task immediately and quickly turned out the first military version of the vehicle, formally named the Cyclone by the UPEA.
The vehicle’s first moment of glory occurred in early 2543 during fighting that would later be named the First Battle of the Argon Chain. A hastily equipped UPE Army unit operating armed Cyclones found themselves with the high ground to overtake a significantly stronger Tevarin tank division. Colonel A.J. Krate, who would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions, devised a strategy that allowed his limited forces to destroy or capture the entire enemy complement. Krate ordered a third of his Cyclones to the left and right flanks alongside the Argon range, making sure that they took care to make their position easily visible to the enemy. Meanwhile, he positioned another contingent of Cyclones armed with rockets along the ridge itself, allowing them to act as makeshift artillery firing into the divided Tevarin forces in the valley below. His third group of Cyclones remained camouflaged directly in the center of the battlefield, springing them and the rocket support only after the Tevarin seemed to believe they were assured victory. With one signal, Krate sprang the trap and engaged the Tevarin tanks in a close range, head-on battle. There, the handling of the Cyclone proved vital. While Tevarin tanks had trouble targeting at such close range, the Cyclones were able to maneuver through and around them during three hours of intense, almost face-to-face fighting. The battle was closely recorded by a group of embedded reporters and the outcome made for a major propaganda victory. Additionally, several Tevarin tanks were captured whole, allowing essential research into enemy weapons which helped turn the tide during the early days of the war.
For the rest of the war, Cyclones were everywhere. They served in every impacted system and heavily behind the lines. The UPE government bought additional allotments of them by the tens of thousands, with production by the war’s end encompassing 27 factories together capable of completing a Cyclone somewhere every 35 seconds.
In the years after the war, Tumbril divided their corporate energies between attempting to recapture the explorer market and to continuing to satisfy lucrative government contracts. The former proved to be something of a victim of the latter, as countless Cyclones produced for the war effort were now available on the open market as surplus equipment, reducing the overall need for newly-built explorer models. As time went on, Tumbril became fully reliant on government contracts and extended a great deal of effort attempting to capture the Cyclone’s success with more complex weaponry. While the company went on to create HOV weapon barges, tanks, artillery platforms, and other familiar weaponry for the Messer government, none proved as successful or emblematic as the Cyclone.
In the public sphere, the reputation of the Cyclone flourished. The ready availability of countless surplus vehicles, many never used in combat, meant that even the most cost-conscious homesteaders often had a Cyclone parked outside their prefab. The secondary market for parts and upgrade components flourished, while Tumbril Land Systems itself suffered alongside other military contractors of the era. Their one saving grace was that the nimble Cyclone itself never became strongly associated with the Messer regime. By the time it fell, the Cyclone was seen as an heroic veteran of a more noble war rather than a tool of oppression. A famous holograph showing a squad of Cyclones blockading outside Linton Messer XI’s palace also reinforced the idea that the design belonged to the people.
In 2862, Tumbril Land Systems shut down following a decline in interest in military vehicles. The company’s assets were sold off, with factories being converted to build spacecraft for companies like Argo and MISC. Intellectual property, including the overall design and mark of the Cyclone, was sold to a consortium of small-scale buyers as part of the bankruptcy process. The Cyclone story should have ended here… but it didn’t. In 2946, a joint venture by DevCo CEO Terrence Naban and a series of smaller investors surprised the Empire by announcing that they were bringing the Cyclone back, once again under the Tumbril branding. A small design team had spent four years modernizing the original DX20 with 30th century components, once again aiming to equip explorers with a reliable and iconic vehicle. There was also the familiar aim to secure lucrative government contracts to build weaponry for the increasingly large Vanduul conflict. Modern Cyclone factories were opened at Centauri, Terra, and Ellis with other locations already locked down for expected expansion.
Tumbril currently produces five distinct civilian variants of the Cyclone in addition to a military-only model built for the United Empire of Earth armed forces. The civilian models are based largely on aftermarket upgrades used by frontiersmen in the 28th century. They are:
- Cyclone: the base model. Almost identical to the military model aside from the removal of some armored plating and classified control surfaces.
- Cyclone-AA: the anti-aircraft model. The AA is armed with surface to air missiles and a set of countermeasures. It’s a nod to the makeshift artillery version used at the Argon Chain, though it is nominally equipped for light air defense rather than ground strikes.
- Cyclone-RC: the racing model. The RC is stripped down and has been given a modified intake system to improve speed and handling. It’s an attempt to modernize the sport of buggy racing, popular among colonists on distant worlds without access to more organized entertainment.
- Cyclone-RN: the light reconnaissance model. It’s intended for prospectors and other explorers who need access to fast and detailed in-person scans. It’s armed with additional sensors and is configured for beacon deployment.
- Cyclone-TR: the ‘heavy’ of the group. The Cyclone-TR includes upgraded armor and a civilianized human-controlled turret that can mount a small gun. The TR is primarily sold to frontier worlds facing the threat of Vanduul raids.
Today, the Cyclone is the best-selling wheeled vehicle in the galaxy, surpassing even the ubiquitous Greycat. The new Tumbril Land Systems is clearly ascendant, despite following in the footsteps of their predecessor and aiming for additional military contracts with the revived Nova tank. The company has stated that they intend to produce additional civilian variants of the Cyclone should the need arise, with badged updated versions of the existing range on a yearly basis.
Happy Monday, everyone!
And Happy Pride Month! In case you missed it, our yearly Show Your Colors Celebration has returned, and your submissions have already been nothing short of incredible. Be sure to check out the Spectrum thread to see how you can join the festivities and potentially take home an Anvil C8X Pisces!
June also hosts our annual Alien Week in honor of First Contact Day, which kicks off this Thursday! Alongside a bevy of alien-themed content, we're also hosting a series of Bar Citizen events this weekend, one near every one of our studios: Los Angeles, Austin, Montreal, Manchester, and Frankfurt. Join your fellow citizens and CIG developers for a weekend of comradery; we'll have plenty of goodies to give away as well! For details on the event nearest you, head over to last week's Spectrum Announcement. Hope to see you there!
Last but most certainly not least, word on the wire is that more information about this year's CitizenCon event is coming this week. Keep your eyes on the main website for news on tickets and more in the days ahead!
Now, let's see what's going on this week:
This Tuesday, the latest edition of Whitley's Guide covers the Tumbril Cyclone, originally appearing in Jump Point 6.08. From being a frontier explorer to front line fighter, the Cyclone has had a long and illustrious history as one of the empire's most popular ground vehicles.
On Wednesday, the latest Roadmap Roundup will be published alongside a Roadmap Roundup. We'll also post last week's Squadron 42 Monthly Report newsletter as a Comm-Link.
Thursday kick's off this year's Alien Week! We'll post a Comm-Link with all the otherworldly details on contests, offerings, and more. Thursday's episode of Inside Star Citizen will join in the festivities of Alien Week as well, along with an update on the upcoming MISC Hull C. We'll also have our Tumbril Storm Q&A post ready, with your burning questions on Tumbril's newest tank answered by our vehicle team.
On Friday, Alien Week continues as our Narrative Team joins us on Star Citizen Live, starting at 10 AM Pacific / 5 PM UTC on our Twitch channel. You'll also find our weekly RSI Newsletter directly delivered to your inbox.
Finally on Saturday, we've got a pair of race competitions for the speed demons of the 'verse. First at 5:45 PM UTC, the Division Pro race from XGR will go live on twitch.tv/extremegracing. Then later that evening are the System 7 finals from ATMO esports, going live at 8 PM UTC on twitch.tv/atmoesports. Good luck, racers!
For Light and Life,
Jake Bradley
Community ManagerTHE WEEKLY COMMUNITY CONTENT SCHEDULE
MONDAY, JUNE 12, 2023
- This Week in Star Citizen
TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 2023
- Lore Post: Whitley's Guide - Tumbril Cyclone
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2023
- Roadmap Roundup
- Roadmap Update
- May 2023 Squadron 42 Monthly Report Comm-Link
THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2023
- Inside Star Citizen (youtube.com/c/RobertsSpaceInd)
- Alien Week Begins
- Tumbril Storm Q&A
FRIDAY, JUNE 16, 2023
- Star Citizen Live - 17:00 UTC / 10:00 AM Pacific (twitch.tv/starcitizen)
- Weekly Newsletter
SATURDAY, JUNE 17, 2023
- XGR Division Pro (twitch.tv/extremegracing)
- System 7 Racing League Finals (twitch.tv/atmoesports)
COMMUNITY MVP: June 12, 2023
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.We're constantly amazed at the contributions made by the Star Citizen community. Whether it's fan art, a cinematic, YouTube guide, or even a 3D print of your favorite ship, we love it all! Every week, we select one piece of content submitted to the Community Hub and highlight it here. The highlighted content creator will be awarded an MVP badge on Spectrum and be immortalized in our MVP section of the Hub.
Don't forget to submit your content to our Community Hub for the chance to see it here!HOW TO DO 45s
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.BuzzCutPsycho in their latest in their series of tutorial shorts has put together a quick visual on how to get a handle on 45 turns in a dogfight, enabling you to stay on target far easier.
Head over to the Community Hub for the video!
Have you ever considered becoming a gaming artist? Join us today as we interview Lead Environment Artist, John Griffiths, to discover what this career path looks like from the inside and how different artists collaborate to create immersive gaming worlds.
Which experimental mode are you most excited to try? Get ready to lock and load, because in this episode of Inside Star Citizen, we've got our sights on introducing even more features and game modes coming to Arena Commander in Alpha 3.20.
Welcome to the latest PU Monthly Report! Last month, Cloud Imperium’s dev teams continued working towards Alpha 3.20 and beyond, including making updates to Sever Meshing, Arena Commander, new vehicles, and more. Read on for everything done across our global studios throughout May.
AI (Tech)
Last month, AI Tech continued to improve the collision-avoidance system to give better results when ground vehicles pass each other or NPCs. They also added support for driving along a predefined route, similar to how NPCs can move along a path. For this case, the designers can specify certain properties for the route, like the maximum permitted speed, which direction it should be driven, and if it should loop.
Work then began on a dynamic pathfinding regeneration feature to improve how NPCs find and follow alternative routes. For example, if a hazard (tree falling, vehicle stopping, fire hazard, etc.) impacts a navigation mesh triangle, the navigation volume will notify all related paths and check if new requests are submitted. The first stage of this was implementing an anchor structure to keep track of a location's navigation meshes and triangles, which is notified when a triangle is changed. These navigation anchors are then used to understand when parts of a triangle are modified and to check if new pathfinding is needed.
May also saw AI Tech begin investigating and implementing a solution for NPCs entering and exiting ships from EVA using the external doors of an airlock system. For this, they set up ship and seat access as a usable to allow NPCs to find their closest entry position, fly to it, and trigger the right interaction. They also had to account for a ship’s rotational velocity and allow NPCs to adjust their orientation as they approach.
On the AI tools side, improvements continued for both the usable coordinator and Apollo Subsumption. For the usable coordinator, optimizations were made to the code and logic flow. They updated the visuals and changed to a new usable data view too. For Apollo, the team implemented ‘find references’ functionality with support for Subsumption functions.
AI Tech also completed various support tasks, including creating flowgraph nodes for all Subsumption assignments to help the designers create scripted AI behaviors. More variable types for use as assignment inputs were added alongside support for the usable system, tactical point system, and Alpha 3.19.
Animation
The Facial Animation team continued to create assets for PU-specific character types, this time relating to missions and gameplay.
Art (Characters)
In May, the Character Art team began work on two outfits for the Dusters gang and one for the Headhunters. Alongside this, Character Concept Art prepared hand-off documents for further Dusters outfits.
Art (Ships)
In the UK, the Vehicle Content team moved an as-yet-unannounced ship through the whitebox stage; it’s currently in greybox, with both the interior and exterior progressing well. A new ground-vehicle variant progressed through the greybox stage too.
The team approached the end of their pass on vehicle tractor beams. This included work on the Origin 315p, Drake Caterpillar and Cutlass Black, Consolidated Outland Nomad, and MISC Hull C.
Development of the Crusader Spirit continued – the C1 is almost greybox complete, while the A1 had its LOD0 review scheduled for early June.
The MISC Freelancer’s component rework progressed through the final-art stage, with LODs mostly finished and some polish tasks outstanding; it’s due to finish final art this month.
Last month, the team began preparing the RSI Polaris for whitebox.
“Because this is a sizeable capital ship, we have been breaking the vehicle down and planning a resource pack so that an interior can be constructed out of reusable elements. We also spent time reviewing the concept to highlight any areas that would need additional design time due to new gold-standard requirements.” EU Vehicle Team
In the US, the Tumbril Storm approached the end of the LOD0 greybox stage, with the team applying materials, poms, and decals to the exterior and interior. This is currently in the polishing stage, with the devs tuning the visual balance. They also applied wear to the entire exterior and prepared to begin customization work with various paints. The vehicle’s interior lighting is nearly complete, with an upcoming pass planned for the exterior.
Greybox on the Aopoa San'tok.yāi is mostly complete, with only dashboard work remaining.
“We have been generating a new set of textures to be used for labeling and the dashboard buttons as well as creating a new damage map to show through the gaps in the armor, which will be unique to Aopoa. We are also creating a new pom sheet, which will also be unique to Aopoa.” US Vehicle Team
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Community
In May, the Community team supported the completion of the Alpha 3.18 patch cycle and the launch of Alpha 3.19: Call to Adventure by providing the developers with a wealth of feedback from the community. This involved working alongside the Player Experience team to collect, collate, and implement feedback to further improve the overall player experience. They also continued tracking, reporting, and following up on the more common bugs and performance issues the community was facing.
In preparation for Alpha 3.19, the Community Team released another edition of Patch Watch to highlight new features not on the roadmap, as well as a contest welcoming the community to ArcCorp.Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.May also saw the culmination of months of preparation as the doors of the Bevic Convention Center opened for Invictus Launch Week 2953. To set players up for success and ensure that both newcomers and veterans got the most out of the military-themed event, the team compiled a comprehensive collection of information, including the ILW FAQ, New Player Guide, Welcome Hub, Welcome Back Pilot Page, and a Spectrum catch-all post.
To add to the festivities, the community-favorite manufacturer screenshot challenges returned. Invictus Launch Week also saw the unveiling of several new vehicles, and to share more information with the community directly from the designers, the team published separate Q&As for the Tumbril Storm, RSI Lynx, and Mirai Fury series.
Furthermore, the team supported and attended community-driven events and met players in person at the Be@Con event in Belgium and the Sacramento Bar Citizen as part of their Bar Citizen World Tour.Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Lastly, the team continued preparing for several upcoming real-life events, such as CitizenCon and the upcoming International Bar Citizen Weekend.
“International Bar Citizen Weekend 2023 will take place June 17 through 18 at venues near all our studios, and we would love to see you there for some beverages and banter!” Community TeamExterner Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Engine
Part of the Core Engine team’s work last month was supporting Alpha 3.19. A major element of this was enabling Design to overwrite density lifetime manager settings based on spatial markup. Once Design utilize this, the Engine team will be able to add specific ‘cleanup’ rules to different areas of the game. For example, some areas could be cleaned up more aggressively to prevent persistent items from negatively affecting gameplay.
The team also progressed with their work on StarBuild, adding the remaining Linux support. StarBuild is now on feature parity with the old code build system and will be rolled out to other departments soon.
For the renderer, the team started removing legacy Gen-12 code. There is a lot to remove, but this will result in leaner and easier-to-maintain renderer code when complete.
The Core Engine team also progressed with the generic shape system, adding editor support to save generic as well as remaining shapes. Multiple segments will be added before it’s handed to the designers to use.
For MemReplay 2.0, the team are currently adding more features, including file open dialog, faster loading, and async symbol resolving to get it ready for wider use. They’re also adding optimizations and continuing to stabilize their feature stream to integrate it back into the main development stream.
Last month, the Physics team focused on improving and bug-fixing the new method for tracking unique geometry parts.
They then improved cloth simulation for better simulation results, updated the rope and pulley systems, and added cantilever simulation support.
Finally, Physics supported Vehicles on tech issues and investigated performance issues with Alpha 3.19 for the Release team.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Features (Arena Commander)
Last month, the Engineering team began a full refactor of how the game-rules system serializes network variables and communicates with the server, which will make it compatible with Server Meshing. Work also continued on a full refactor of the spawning module.
Initial work was completed on a new game rule difficulty module. This was handed off to the Squadron 42 team for expansion, as it will initially be used to allow them to set varying parameters based on the selected difficulty mode. However, the Features team is expecting to pick it up again after Alpha 3.20 for use in Arena Commander's PvE game modes.
A refactor was also done on how loading screens are utilized. The team are currently experimenting with having separate game mode load screens that update to show the map once a response from the server confirms where the client is heading. This will fix a long-standing issue of load screens inaccurately showing the map players are about to enter.
A rework of team balancing and competitive scoring also began last month. This will enable groups of players to stay together more consistently, balance teams based on leaderboard stats, and enable a new mechanic allowing players to volunteer to switch teams if an imbalance is detected during a match. For competitive scoring, the team are currently experimenting with various adjustments, including awarding higher scores based on the KDA/rankings of opponents and awarding lower scores for killing the same player repeatedly.
Finally, Engineering began experimenting with increasing max server FPS, decreasing the actor delay buffer, and increasing packet rate in an effort to reduce latency and desync in Star Marine.
In May, Arena Commander’s Design team began converting the Theaters of War spawn screen to most other game modes. This will allow players to select their general spawn area, customize FPS loadouts from within matches, and select FPS and vehicle loadouts on the fly.
Work also progressed on an upgrade to Vanduul Swarm, with the team experimenting with new gameplay mechanics. The conversion of Security Post Kareah was also completed, which will be added as a new map to all game modes except Classic Race. The team also polished the track layout for the fourth new addition to the New Horizon Speedway collection, Halloran Circuit, while putting the finishing touches to the first atmospheric arena. The arena, Winner's Circle, will be available in all dogfighting game modes.
Finally, the Design and VFX teams completed a pass of all locations featured in Arena Commander to increase their overall visual quality.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Features (Characters & Weapons)
Last month, the Features team worked on ammo re-pooling, which allows players to redistribute the ammunition stored in their suit and inventory to maximize the number of full magazines. Once complete, it will make it less likely a player is left with a large number of magazines containing a few bullets each, as it will prioritize filling up the magazine in the weapon first.
The team also explored a new negative actor status triggered by radiation. Radiation can be generated from a point emitter, which has a bigger impact on characters the closer they are to the source, or can be ambient within a room. Irradiated water was also explored, which affects an actor based on how submerged they are. When a character is affected by radiation, the protection of their outfit will start to decay. Once protection is gone, the actor will suffer radiation sickness and will need to seek medical aid to recover. The outfit will regenerate its protective layer over time.
Features (Gameplay)
Montreal’s PU team focused on proof-of-concept investigations for the entity-removal/destruction/trash-bin feature. The feature’s test-driven development will be based on these investigation results and proof-of-concept findings, the latter of which was completed last month.
The team also supported the ‘VehicleDied’ event, which is used by Soft Death and vehicle destruction, and made quality-of-life bug fixes for Alpha 3.19.1, staging content, and game dev.
Plus, an issue with the RSI Constellation series’ co-pilot seat UI not connecting properly to IFCS was fixed in the content files. This was combined with a code fix aimed at the UI rules to prevent it from only tracking the pilot. These changes also create the potential for other ships to have their co-pilot UI updated properly if needed.
Features (Mission)
The Mission Feature team continued to work on the ship escort, data heist, and consignment retrieval missions and added the finishing touches to a new unlawful salvage mission where a ship must be stripped of an incriminating paint job before law enforcement arrives.
“Another exciting development is that we’re exploring a new lightweight PVP/PVE event set aboard a modified version of the Siege of Orison barge, in which players must figure out how to open shipping containers in order to steal the items within, all while Nine Tails outlaws hold down the location for themselves.” Mission Features Team
For Alpha 3.19.1, the team rebalanced cargo generation within ships across various mission types, including salvage, assassination, and bounty hunting. This involved removing unsellable commodities and ensuring the profit fits the risk involved.
Mission Features actively worked on refactoring old missions into the current modular library, including Missing Person. Alongside this, they refactored how the 'destroy drugs' missions work and made parts of them modular. For example, the previous versions spawned hundreds of individual boxes but, with the help of new code, they can now simply spawn pallets that come with drug box ‘load outs.’ Alongside significantly improved performance and reliability, this method allows the team to control the number of pallets spawned for different mission difficulties.
Mission Features' ongoing work on Bounty Hunting v2 progressed well too. The designers are currently working with Systemic Services and Tools to develop the systems required to have virtual NPC bounties traveling around the system. One of the engineers, with help from the Interactables team, is also developing a method for pods to attach to points in the world so they can seamlessly enter and exit the game space.
Finally, the designers supported Invictus Launch Week, which involved fixing bugs and maintaining the expo-hall-transition system, the Javelin tour, and Bengal fly-by.
Graphics, VFX Programming & Planet Tech
The Graphics Feature team spent the month working on performance improvements and new features, including screen space shadows, improvements to quantum jump tunnels, and render-to-texture zone culling. A GPU memory allocator and an upgraded ResourceCache compiler were among the new performance-boosting upgrades, while the evolving Temporal Super Resolution (an automated upscaling system that can now up-sample opaque objects) officially passed its first milestone.
Global Illumination is well underway. So far, the first iterations of a hash-map-based radiance cache, ray-generation code, and a ray-tracing prototype were completed.
Improvements to Gen12’s validation error debugger were made to improve the accuracy of bug detection for faster issue assessment. In preparation for deferred Rendergraph execution, Vulkan’s frame synchronization was improved. Issues with gaps in pipeline-resource sets at bind time were resolved with a remapping update that uses continuous resource-set layouts.
The Planet Tech team started finalizing quantum obstacle generation with generic shapes in asteroid fields. A collision issue detector and wear, dirt, and paint modifiers were also added to the RaStar tool.
Ongoing improvements to the BiomeBuilder will reduce constant spawn/despawning, which in turn will relieve the Physics team of large destruction queues. Water can now be simulated in-engine and features the new disturbance component improvements.
Finally, recent VFX features and bug fixes saw several direct improvements to both the editor and core-tech framework. For example, the new master VFX library can re-save and export in the P4 format, and particles can now be found in a dedicated effects browser. Bugs related to damage maps, particle effect placement, and in-editor crashes were solved too.
In-Game Branding (Montreal)
The In-Game Branding team continued working on interior and exterior signage for Ruin Station and supported the EU Locations team.
Lighting
In May, the Lighting team worked on Invictus Launch Week and continued to produce content for the Pyro system. This was mainly focused on Ruin Station's exterior and lighting modules for its interior.
Live Tools
The Live Tools Team continued to study the usability of the network operation center and are now starting to collect the results. This will allow them to establish an action to highlight improvement needs and priorities for the future.
The team also released a new version of the internal error-handling pipeline, which featured significant improvements over its predecessor.
Locations
In May, the Locations teams continued working on Pyro, making good progress on Ruin Station. They supported Invictus Launch Week too. Between major tasks, one of the artists worked on new racetracks, which was shown in a recent episode of Inside Star Citizen.
The Sandbox team further developed planetary content for Pyro and continued to support the Montreal-based team on the new underground facilities.
The Organics team created new fauna for Pyro and are currently reworking come of the upcoming system’s planets to bring them up to current expectations.
“We also have some very cool content that we are working on alongside all this and will share more info at a later date!” Organics Team
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Narrative
Over the course of May, the Narrative team continued working on several of the mission initiatives started in previous months, including data heist, package extraction, and consignment retrieval. They also worked with the various design teams to brainstorm new mission ideas.
Narrative also kicked off further discussions on Pyro, specifically going over the areas of influence of the system's various factions, as well as defining which groups are allies and rivals.
During a recent motion-capture session, the team recorded the first air-traffic-control assistant for cargo and will be looking to review and refine the wider experience in future months. The team also began polishing and implementing a new tourist behavior that will debut in an upcoming patch.
Narrative also dedicated several of their weekly 'jams’ to exploring some of the verse’s alien cultures and answering questions for some upcoming xeno-language development.
Finally, on the dispatch front, the team released a Portfolio outlining the history of Invictus Launch Week, a Whitley’s Guide to the Prospector mining ship, and wrapped up the month with another batch of Galactapedia entries.
Online services (Montreal)
In May, the Online Services team applied fixes to the character-repair system, enabling players to fix some log-in and other issues without requiring CIG support. They also provided bug fixes and optimizations for ASOP terminals.
The remainder of the month was spent optimizing Persistent Entity Streaming to improve the performance of its backend database.Research & Development
In May, the R&D team continued improving the temporal render mode for atmospheric and volumetric clouds.
Additionally, planetary terrain height-map generation was optimized to eliminate frame-rate hitches that were reported by players. Aside from using a more suitable partitioning scheme for the tessellation of terrain patches, the changes also include terrain quad viewport culling before further tessellation by the GPU. The resulting height maps are later used to render large-scale planet terrain shadows and to spawn GPU particles on the ground.
Systemic Services & Tools
Systemic Services & Tools spent the month working towards Bounty Hunting v2, including finalizing upstream work on the character creation service, R&D for bounty contract missions, a bounty-marker prototype, and connecting the NPC tracker service to the game server. Additionally, a new C# service wrapper was completed.
The team also continued working on the Quantum/Odin tool, including making progress on the data-driven economy, Quanta state, Quanta life, and the battle matrix and battle system.
Finally, SST continued to support the recent live release, including several bug fixes and ship-price modifications.
UI
In May, the UI team’s artists and designers worked on the user interface for bounty hunting as well as concepts for upcoming gameplay features, while the Arena Commander team upgraded the multiplayer game’s frontend menus.
The UI Tech team continued improving their tools, including making performance fixes and improvements to the debugging of complex UI screens. They also continued to work on the new interior and mini-map feature. This is initially for Squadron 42 but will eventually be added to the PU, making navigating caves and landing zones a much smoother experience.
VFX
Last month, the VFX team revisited several old particle libraries to take advantage of newer attributes that didn’t exist when they were originally created. For example, Alpha Erosion is a setting that ‘erodes’ a particle’s alpha channel, reducing overall transparency in the process and helping to optimize the game’s visuals. This was used effectively in Lorville’s recently updated chimney smoke effects.
Work also continued on several new derelicts and the modular kits for various Pyro locations.
Welcome to June, Subs! After the excitement of last month’s Invictus Launch Week, we’re preparing to kick off our annual celebration of all things alien in the ‘verse. From June 15 – 26, it’s Alien Week, so to get you in the spirit, the latest Ship of the Month is the Tevarin’s very own Prowler.
June’s Flair also has a conveniently exotic theme, with three unique variants of Banu knife available in-game from Tuesday, June 6.
Banu Zogo Knife
The Zogo knife is prized among many Banu soulis for its versatility and cutting edge. The strong tip and wide belly of the blade make it particularly durable, a crucial feature in survival situations in which this blade excels.
Current Centurion-level Subscribers get the Banu Zogo Knife as part of their subscription.
Banu Myuda Knife
A brutally effective product of Banu engineering, the Myuda knife is a vicious weapon designed for leaving wounds that won't heal easily. The special metal alloy used in the construction of the blade is rust-resistant and remains ultra-sharp even after extensive use.
Current Imperator-level Subscribers get the Banu Zogo and Myunda Knives as part of their subscription.
Banu Pambada Knife
Honed to a razor-fine edge, the Pambada knife has a wide range of applications. The serrated edge is great for cutting through soft and flexible materials like ropes or fabrics, while the gut hook can be used to overcome tougher resistance.
The Banu Pambada Knife is available to all Subscribers to pledge for from the Subscriber-Exclusive Store.
If you would like to receive this flair as part of a subscription, you can subscribe before June 11th, 2023, 20:00 UTC.
If you subscribe after June 11th, 2023, you can pick up these and previous months’ flair (going back to 2014) in the Subscriber-Exclusive Store. You can fill in any gaps in your collection and pick up extras to gift to non-Subscribers.
Earnable In-Game
Our goal is to make most items earnable in-game. For this reason, many Subscriber Flair items have been added to the in-game loot table as rare drops from Alpha 3.17. Most pre-2023 items that can be carried by players are available now, with new and future flair being added after a three-month exclusivity window.
NOTE: Some exclusive digital event items, such as those from CitizenCon Goodies Packs, will not be discoverable via the in-game loot system.
IN-GAME REWARDS (FLAIR)
Visit robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link for details.
Happy Monday, everyone!
Work continues on various upcoming quality-of-life fixes for Alpha 3.19.1, and we've made significant progress on some of the recent ASOP terminal issues, specifically where terminals and kiosks can become inoperable. A fix candidate is currently going through all the checks, and we're looking to have this in your hands shortly along with other performance improvements. As we ramp up our preparations for the upcoming Alpha 3.19.1 patch, we'd like to give a friendly reminder to check out our Star Citizen Alpha 3.19.1: Long Term Persistence Update to keep you in the loop with what to expect with the upcoming patch. We'd also like to take the time to express our gratitude for your continued patience and support.
Last weekend, members of the Community team had the privilege of attending the Equinox 2953 Bar Citizen event in Ohio, USA. This was one of the most recent stops of our Bar Citizen World Tour, and if you weren't able to attend, fear not, there's plenty more to come throughout the rest of the year. Also, in case you missed it, we'll be hosting not one, not two, but FIVE Bar Citizen events on our International Bar Citizen Weekend near all of our offices in celebration of the upcoming Alien Week and YOU, the community! So, come by and have a chat with the team; we're looking forward to hanging out with you in person.
Oh, and did someone say "CitizenCon"? We know that many of you are excited to learn more about this year's epic in-person celebration of all things Star Citizen, and we are just as excited to share all the deets with you about the venue, volunteering, cosplay contest, community booths, and more! Expect a transmission very soon!
And last but not least, race #6 of Atmo Esports' System 7 event kicks off this Saturday. Watch the contestants put the Drake Dragonfly through its paces on microTech in "River Canyon Chaos" on Twitch.Now, let's see what's going on this week:
This Tuesday, Subscribers will receive June's Subscriber comm-link and newsletter.
On Wednesday, catch up with the latest development updates with May's Monthly Reports for both Star Citizen and Squadron 42. Don't forget to subscribe to the Squadron 42 newsletter here.
Thursday's Inside Star Citizen continues exploring the updates coming to Arena Commander in Alpha 3.20.
On Friday, there will be another episode of Star Citizen Live, which will air at 15:00 UTC / 8 am Pacific, with guests to be announced later this week. You'll also find our weekly RSI Newsletter directly delivered to your inbox.
Have a fantastic week, and see you in the 'verse!Associate Community Manager
THE WEEKLY COMMUNITY CONTENT SCHEDULE
MONDAY, JUNE 5, 2023
- This Week in Star Citizen
TUESDAY, JUNE 6, 2023
- June Subscriber Comm-Link & Newsletter
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 7, 2023
- May 2023 PU Monthly Report
- May 2023 Squadron 42 Monthly Report (via newsletter)
THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2023
- Inside Star Citizen (youtube.com/c/RobertsSpaceInd)
FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 2023
- Star Citizen Live - 15:00 UTC / 8:00 am Pacific (twitch.tv/starcitizen)
- Weekly Newsletter
SATURDAY, JUNE 10, 2023
- System 7 Racing League Race #6 "River Canyon Chaos" (System 7)
COMMUNITY MVP: June 5, 2023
We're constantly amazed at the contributions made by the Star Citizen community. Whether it's fan art, a cinematic, YouTube guide, or even a 3D print of your favorite ship, we love it all! Every week, we select one piece of content submitted to the Community Hub and highlight it here. The highlighted content creator will be awarded an MVP badge on Spectrum and be immortalized in our MVP section of the Hub.
Don't forget to submit your content to our Community Hub for the chance to see it here!THE BEAUTY OF STAR CITIZEN - PART XII
From thrilling heights to bright city lights, KungLi takes us on a journey through the 'verse in this beautiful cinematic video.
Head over to the Community Hub and feast your eyes on this artful display of altitude, atmosphere, and aerial views.
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.Galactapedia Update April 2023
Externer Inhalt robertsspaceindustries.comInhalte von externen Seiten werden ohne Ihre Zustimmung nicht automatisch geladen und angezeigt.THE ARK, TAYAC SYSTEM
Welcome to this month’s Galactapedia update roundup. This month, we visit the Kellog and Osiris systems, meet a few groundbreaking explorers, and learn about the life of Magda Hurston. Join the Spectrum thread for any discussion or feedback.
Full-Length Article:
- Magda Hurston – Architect of the planet Hurston.
Short Articles:
- Kellog system – Where the Fair Chance Act and the prison-industrial complex collide.
- Kellog I – This one’s for the lava lovers.
- Xis – Origin of the Orm (and Flo-Pets).
- Kellog III – Corrosive conditions.
- Kellog IV – Of interest to several corporations.
- Kellog V – A source of hydrogen.
- QuarterDeck – Prison planet.
- JusticeStar Satellite – Warden’s office.
- OB Station Pegasus – Observers of the Orm.
- Patek Coen – Disappointed to have discovered the Kellog system.
- Daniela Argen – Suspect Senator and founder of QuarterDeck.
- Osiris system – The first Fair Chance Act-protected system.
- Etos – The first Fair Chance Act-protected planet.
- OB Station Kobold – The first Fair Chance Act station.
- Osiris belt alpha – The Fair Chance Act-persecuted asteroid belt.
- Osiris II – The first not-technically-but-adjacently-Fair Chance Act-protected planet.
- Noah Traeger – Discovered the Osiris system.
- Antoine Lebec – Discovered the Nul system.
- Juliet Maupin – Inadvertent founder of Apocalypse Arms.
- Dalton Colabello – Actual founder of Apocalypse Arms.
