The March Monthly Report came out yesterday, and if you don’t want to sift through it to find the important bits, here they are:
CIG Santa Monica
Engineering
- 1.1.0 released
- New landing mechanic implemented
- New ship damage system debuted on Gladius
- Moving toward physics based damage system
Design
- REC, Retaliator, Gladius, Vanguard introduced
- Working on rear seat functionality
- Pirate Swarm game mode in progress
- “Types of ships, AI skill, and number of ships scale dynamically based off the number of [human] players, their equipment, and their skill/success.”
Art
- 8 character models being reworked for FPS module
- Development of new ships, weapons continues
- Concepts for “larger” ships will be debuted Soon™
- Herald, P-52 Merlin, and Xi’an Scout work is ongoing
- Constellation/Freelancer rewords will debut with multi-crew AC functionality
CIG Austin
Persistent Universe Team:
Art
- “Hero” props in the works
- Things like “hulking radar dishes and solar panels for space stations, holo-object viewing kiosks for our shop locations, and the Medical Display Carousel prop which features prominently in the Medical Unit”
- Improving FPS props and characters for FPS module
- Working on different aesthetics for NPCs in different locations
- Terra = white collar, Frontier = counter culture, etc.
- Colonialist, Monumentalist, Hennowist, and Streamline architectural styles are being worked on for various locales
- Gladiator animations, drunk animations, and “grabby hands” animations being worked on
- mobiGlas prop receiving some love
Design
- SXSW video was big focus this month
- Thruster calculator work for balancing ships is ongoing
Engineering
- Progress made on multiplayer hangars, player persistence, universe simulator, and more
- Network Summit in Austin was a global affair
- AI editors, asset tools being worked on by “unsung heroes” of Star Citizen
- Green beer was ingested
Live Operations:
QA
- Testing 1.1 and FPS
- “QA has implemented regular comprehensive performance testing to help developers investigate optimization improvements for the game.”
Game Support
- Game Support team created:
- Sounds like a team focused on quickly communicating with the community and making sure players are getting the best experience.
IT/Operations
- Dozens of demo computers prepared for live events
- Successfully reduced the time it takes to move data from build system to all dev locations
Dev Ops
- Prototype launcher/patching system is getting attention
- Working on MP stability in 1.1
- Lots of developments to things like Build Server, crash handlers, etc.
Foundry 42
Engineering
- Multiplayer free flight mode introduced
- Tutorial system coming with AC release in April F42 now helping with AI development
Design
- Prepping for April motion capture shoot
- Casting is completed with “some very exciting actors now becoming part of Star Citizen”
- Art Ship team is growing
- A couple annoying bugs are holding back the tutorial
- First pass at multi cree lobby design and scoring system
Audio
- WWISE integration reaching final stage
- This will allow “sonic events”
- Jump in audio quality should be appreciable
- Foley session coming up
- Looking for ideas for ‘Dev Diaries’ from CIG audio
Art
- Working on ARGO, gun attachments, Starfarer modules, Bengal interior, etc.
- Tackling “style inconsistencies” in Idris
Ship Team
- In the process of producing a couple of the biggest ships in the game
- Capships being built out modularly
- Currently setting up modular systems and blocking out interior for Starfarer
FPS
- Weapon pipeline and schedule being completely revised for 2015
- Revisiting older weapons so they adhere to higher standard that has been set since
VFX Team
- Gladiator flight effects in-progress (thrusters, weapons, power plants, etc.)
- Style guides for human ship manufacturers are pretty much nailed down
- Vanduul style guide is next
- R&D for complicated effects like large electrical storms
Characters
- Facial scanning rig in UK being prepped
BHVR
Design
- More locations integrated in ArcCorp and Terra
- Augmented reality shopping is improving
- Holo-table revamp is ongoing
- Double monocles were proposed; friendships were ruined in the ensuing debate
- More subscriber goodies planned for coming months
- Engineering
- Chat implementation is ongoing
Art
- Work on new section of Nyx has begun.
- April flair finished, next flair “is going to look really cool in your hangars!”
- mobiGlas UI changes depending on the store you’re in
- Refining AC menu flow
Illfonic
Engineering
- Push/pull system work continues
- Implementation of partial ragdoll system that blends in and out of animations has begun
- SATA Ball game mode
- Two new weapons hooked up
Art
- One of the FPS levels is basically finished
- Other level is being reworked for more depth and readability
Design
- Prototyping SATA ball
- Play-testing weapon feel
VFX
- Standardizing effects across ships and FPS weapons
- Small laser weapons should be similar in effect to larger scale laser weapons
Turbulent
Electronic Access and the REC System
- REC system allows testing of future persistent systems
- REC will be extended to cover FPS module
Home
- New homepage design is coming up, has entered QA phase
Starmap
- Design considerations for things like undiscovered areas
CCU’s!
- Aware of convoluted nature of cross-chassis upgrades
- “Our current thinking is to allow you to upgrade by either starting with a ship you own or by choosing the ship you want to ugprade to. Both ways should be possible.”
Moon Collider
Design
- Design and implementation of “navigation objects” was a big focus
- Helps with AI pathfinding
- Very basic implementation is done
- Job system to maximize use of parallel processors
Engineering
- Local navigation grids getting work; these allow AI pathfinding in a barrel-rolling Connie, for example
Community
- Working on plans for Gamescom and Citizen Con
- 800,000 citizens!
- New RSI Instagram