Hello Citizens, The Monthly Report is here, but in a summarised version for you all you folks out there who don't quite have the time to read through it all, check it out!
Engineering
Engineering has been busy with the new Modular Character Customisation screen.
Working on bringing the core systems online that allow Solar system sized maps
These include reimagining entities, fundamental components such as lights, radar system and level hierarchies.
First technical application of node-based controller managers was introduced which enables improved networking of item components that also benefits Multi-crew gameplay
New damage controller for explosive props and destroyable objects to the Item System framework.
Tech Design
Buccaneer and Cutlass black have entered greybox phase.
Aurora update coming along well.
Prototype by Calix on players interacting with the world and items.
Kirk worked on ingame pricing, ship balance and underlining systems.
Art
Elwin Bachiller, Daniel Kamentsky, and Byungjin Hyun worked on the Buccaneer which has moved to the final art stage and the Aurora rework.
Justin Wentz is creating concept art for a new Anvil ship.
Explorer suit has been created for the PU as well as Heavy Marine Armour for Star Marine.
Continued work on more clothes for shops and NPCs
Tech Content
Sean Tracy has been working with 3lateral and other outsources on R&D projects that will be revealed soon
Fps weapon optimisation to ensure universal compatibility with male and females.
R&D on foot anchoring that adapts leg IK and ground alignment based on whether characters are on their feet or heels.
Alex Remotti recently joined the team and has taken initiative on procedural environments for planets and has integrated the initial system into the planet editor which allows for outposts and buildings to be spawned using splatter maps for ecosystems
Updates to older ships such as the Mustang, Super Hornet and others.
Improvements made to animation tools such as prop rigging, health tests, bone influence reduction tools, automated LOD creation for facial assets, and an improved tool for managing the Database of Animations.
Updates to the facial and head assets which is over 120 currently.
Updates to the Female Rig: Gripping of weapons, skinning tools for the rest of the team.
Facial idles for pilots has been added to 2.6.1
Narrative
Fleshing out mission stories for 3.0
Building a database of text needs for SQ42: Terminals, Galactapedia entries.
Continued work on building out the Xi’An language.
Quality Assurance
Design
Busy with defining details for PU shop Archetypes and making design doc outlining specifics. This helps in the long run with having shops having universal requirements.
Work on the foundations for the first iteration of the PU economy.
Final approval for the Shopping Kiosk feature and has been given the go ahead to start development
Art
Emre Switzer Wrapped up work on lighting for Star Marine and moved onto SQ42
Chris Smith finished his work on the Super Hornet and is now working on a new vehicle.
Josh Coons is working on the Cutlass Black which is in the greybox phase.
Animation
Work on usable interaction animations for Sq42: Pushups, stretches, leaning on a table and polished some of the useables to work for use by players in first person.
Ship animation team has finished work on ship enter/exit combat speed animations and await approval.
Work on animations for the Prospector and Buccaneer have begun.
Backend Services
Refactoring the backend infrastructure to new architecture being labelled as Diffusion which improves scalability.
Quality Assurance
Network Message Queue, Serialized Variables, Particle Preloading, Megamap, and AI balance tests.
Also focused on issues with Gamedev steam to ensure stability of SQ42 and 3.0 development.
Player Relations
Caught up with backer’s support requests from the holidays. Last years holiday requests took till April to get caught up.
IT/Operations
General housekeeping.
Focus on expanding bandwidth between offices.
LiveOps/DevOps
Graphics
Focus on lighting improvements: Shadow quality and performance within interiors.
Cubemap capturing is almost complete and begun writing systems to maximise the tech for truly dynamic lighting on planets and stations.
Work on area lights have begun.
Early stages of planning for a new and more efficient particle system.
Programming
Leaderboards and MegaMap implementation.
Networking: Serialized Variables, message queue rewrite.
FPS actor code refactor for reliability and robustness
Mission system, item pickup and drop improvements, 3d minimap, etc.
VFX
Internal data cleanup using Asset Manager.
Improving particle streaming for better dynamic loading.
Pipeline documentation updates
Planning breakdowns of Atmospheric Flight Model Effects
Experiments with new assets to blow up
QA
SQ42 testing, weapon balance, Star Marine bug fixes.
Shoutout to Evocati and frequent PTU testers.
Art
New to be announced ships entering concept and wrapping up a new Anvil design
Reclaimer is in production with two teams working on exterior and interior.
Prospector has received polish for LOD’s and preparing it to be be made flight ready.
MISC Razor has been adapted to work within the constraints set by animation and resulted in a sleeker technical design.
Technical and sanity pass over SQ42 interior sections.
Props for medium ship components and dressing sets.
Destructible props were added to 2.6.0, further will be added on a larger scale.
Narrative assets have been added to certain environments for 2.6.1
Allocating more resources to universe development including moons, nebulas and space stations.
R&D on improving the planet's material systems to keep the same fidelity and realism from space to the ground.
R&D on what space will look like visually.
Audio
Housekeeping: Bugfixes, cleanup of assets for older ships.
First pass of the Mix System which means SQ42 will have a full music logic set.
UI
Leaderboards for 2.6 and a new pause menu.
Planning and scheduling large scale UI features for upcoming releases such as purchasing and selling through the kiosk interfaces.
Animation
Two new additions to the team.
Improvements to animations for 2.6.1 such as fps assets, and grenade throwing.
Ongoing improvements for weapon animations that will be used for new weapons in the pipeline.
Improvements to Prone Locomotion assets.
Female mocap data implementation for subsumption.
Design
Preparing for the new, more robust Mission System that will replace elements previously done in Flowgraph.
Maximising the performance of the Object Contain Stream System by splitting chapters into logical object containers
Fixing bugs and implementing a scoring rebalance for Arena Commander and Star Marine.
Moving ship functionality to Item System 2.0
AI
The team started with a week long summit in Los Angeles.
Subsumption core functionalities being put into the Subsumption Mission System
These are being integrated into existing Crusader missions
Continuing work on changes to the Cover System and Posture Manager to allow the AI to be able to make use of the environment and work within the Object Containers system
Refactor work on flight control towards removing some of the complexity involved from an AI perspective
QA
The month of January has been spent catching up with test requests that were low priority
A time was spent revamping Editor checklists and documentation and providing additional training for testers in the UK
Community feedback for Star Marine was addressed and test cases done to provide more information for the Design Teams
Liaised with Production over bug tracking procedures to ensure the process is smooth as possible
Additional debugging was implemented to the Game-Dev branch to track down a bug in the ZoneSystem, that lead to a crash introduced in 2.6 release and is now fixed
Cinematics
Part of the team is working towards a more final look and feel for the conversation system for player to NPC communication
UI text placement and animation for dialogue choices.
Solving if, how, and when to slow a player down running towards and NPC
How to make gentle collisions between characters
Adjusting performances based off where the player is or changes position
Dynamic camera effects for when a conversation starts.
Conversations should feel as a film, but giving player freedom.
Steps were taken to gradually tune the FOV so that it doesn’t cause distortion issues if the player is too close and brings it to a wide angle lens.
Engine
Work started on the Solar System Editor to create a top/down universe view for better customisation.
Continued work on procedural object distribution on planets,moons, etc.
Initial passes on object containers such as small outposts and also adapting them to adjust to the parts of the terrain and colours
Zone system fixes and optimisations.
Work on new Pak system for patcher updates (Delta Launcher).
Tech Art
Support from technical artists in frankfurt on FPS features and weapons for 2.6.
Improvements to the weapon IK grip setup.
New cVars for previsualizing and testing new weapons in engine with their functionality.
R&D on improving foot planting.
Design
Prototyping the modularity system for Satellites, Surface Outposts and Space Station Interiors is almost complete.
Continuing work on the Truck Stop, Refinery and Cargo Station in preparation for when that gameplay becomes available.
Refactoring the Useable System to allow both AI and players to make use of objects (e.g. tables) at the same time.
Adding support for multiple actions (e.g. eating, talking) to be performed inside a useable state.
Started implementing the Oxygen, Breathing & Stamina systems.
Started implementing the Landing and Take-off systems and unifying the S42 and PU mechanics; implementing an air traffic control system.
Making small additions to the designs for the Mercenary and Bounty Hunter careers, and Customs.
VFX
Working with programming on tools required to spawn particles across planets.
Rewritten the planetary wind system to account for the spherical nature of planets.
Environment Art
Two new people have joined the team.
Building assets for individual moons
Refining procedural tech and tools for moons, planets and full systems.
Spectrum Alpha
To release alongside of 2.6.1 and to be used by the community’s many orgs
Includes web version of private and public chat, forums, search functions, member presence and a decent mobile experience
Evocati reports helped to focus our fixes on the most important of these tools
Improvement will continue upon release with continued feedback
Customization and dedicated mobile apps will be added past this introduction and stabilization phase
More to come
Sales
A revamped Vanduul Swarm and Pirate Swarm competition awarded an aggressor badge upon successful completion as well as the opportunity to purchase a Vanduul Glaive and Pirate Caterpillar respectively
Also new were the Dragonfly Posters and Squadron 42 hoodies that won’t last long
Broadcasts
Continue to balance Around the Verse showcasing progress versus monopolizing developer’s time
A rare inclusion of Chris & Erin Roberts, Tony Zurovec and Todd Papy happened in the Subscriber’s Town Hall of January
A new show, Star Citizen Happy Hour, was introduced that focuses on fan streamers, CIG developers and gameplay while hanging out with the community
Another introduced new show is Citizens of the Stars highlighting the community contributions to the game and includes Quantum Questions, a two minute quickfire Q&A session from the community to the devs
Iteration continues
Events
Tyler Witkin and Jared Huckaby a stellar Bar Citizen in San Antonio and attended Pax South
Being 100% fan organized Bar Citizens for your area can be found at barcitizen.sc
This Week in Star Citizen
A weekly front page post that has replaced the old Community Manager’s Log and Schedule highlights the week’s events and points out community content that you may miss
You can join the testing of Spectrum that will replace our current forum and chat systems at ptu.cloudimperiumgames.com/spectrum.