The May Monthly Report came out, and it’s a long one! We’ve trimmed off the fat and condensed the important bits for you here.

May Monthly Report

May Monthly Report Recap:  

CIG Santa Monica

Design

• MISC Reliant reveal and concept sale went up.
• Over 19,000 sold!
• Balance pass for missiles, specifically CS missiles.
• Tempest, Stalker, and StrikeForce missiles are more vulnerable to chaff.
• All missile lock-on times have been increased from 2 to 5 seconds.
• Crusader Industries Genesis Starliner making progress.
• Physically based damage system continuing to make progress.
• Ballistic and energy weapons will have unique benefits.
• Ship and Shield health, Powerplant output, Cooling rates will all receive similar updates.
• John Pritchett and Pete Mackay are dialing in thruster handling.
• Ship build out and component design will happen faster in the future thanks to back-end work.

Art

• Optimization for HUD and UI. Holographic elements can be rendered more efficiently.
• New helmet interiors have been designed for all FPS characters.
• New damage system is more efficient and should allow larger scale gameplay due to fewer draw calls.
• Also sets the stage for debris salvage and ship repair.
• You can now shoot off and claim a gun from a ship, for example.

Engineering

• Radar 2.0 is done. Anything can be made to show up on the radar given the situation, including things like grenades.
• New signature type: decibels. Includes footsteps, weapons fire, and other audio sources.
• Item system for attaching items to the player character (like tactical flashlights) is making progress.

CIG Austin

PU Art Team

• Nyx>Delamar>Levski landing zone is in final art stage.
• Stanton>ArcCorp>Area18 landing zone is being optimized for better performance ahead of Social Module.
• Anti-griefer/criminal turret concept art is finished.
• Marine and Outlaw characters are done. Now focusing on SATA ball characters.
• Doing R&D on Hair and Swappable Clothing ahead of Social Module.
• Cockpit and gunner templates, g-force animations, grabby hands all getting some love.

PU Design Team 

• Occupations being worked on: Pioneer/Explorer, Mercenary/Escort, Bounty Hunter, and Smuggler.
• First draft of the new Universe Simulator (formerly the Economic Simulator) is finished.
• Now includes more than just economy: “ability to create elementals and composites, the ability to create a planet within a solar system and assign it data, and the ability to create occupations for NPC’s and specify execution logic for each occupation.”
• Magnus>Borea>Odyssa and Helios>Tangaroa>Mariana landing locations have gotten initial designs/layouts.

PU Engineering Team 

• Generic Instance Manager has been completed. This will improve matchmaking and party. Should be in the upcoming FPS release.
• Universe Simulator proof-of-concept has been delivered.
• First iteration of Solar System Server is being developed.
• Player Info Server and Presence Server rewrites delivered.
• Version 1 of Useable Editor is finished.
• Character Archetype Editor making progress.
• Prototype for Mining occupation is finished.

Live Operations 

• Testing FPS.
• Community Bug Council and Server Status Page have made progress.
• Using FPS to test new launcher and patcher, but still needs more polish.

Foundry 42

Engineering 

• Conversation system is making progress, including multiplayer implementation.
• Personal Arc Welder is being fleshed out.
• Looting system has been revamped using an item port system.
• Hydraulic door security has been implemented, including an override system that uses the Personal Arc Welder to access the hydraulic pumps.
• A medpack has been added to FPS. It’s a syringe-like item.
• There are 2 forms of collectibles, items that can be physically looted, and information items that can be scanned.

Graphics 

• Automated system is being used to find meshes that can be combined for graphic performance improvements.
• The VFX team has been improving the particle lighting system.
• Fixing FPS-related bugs.
• Making fixes to “large world” rendering which allows CryEngine “to work with practically unlimited map sizes.”

Design

• Continuing work on chapters of SQ42.
• Motion capture shoot in London continues.
• Internal vertical slice is leading to confrontation of core gameplay mechanics and development of features for “experiential, dogfighting and FPS scenarios.”

Art 

• Vanduul fleet is concepted, with just turrets and guns to be worked on.
• More Squadron 42 storyline art has been worked on.

Environments

• Vertical slice has been main focus.
• “Particular focus has been placed on player traversal through the scene, rewarding exploration, great vistas and composition, and of course top quality artwork.”

VFX  

• Working on sparks, steam, fire damage, space storms, turret VFX, muzzle flash, tracers, impacts, and various ship effects.

Ships   

• Idris is coming along nicely and might have a few surprises!
• Working on uniformity among manufacturers.
• Starfarer interior is blocked out.
• ARGO needs a shader pass, and the Mining Drone is getting some work.

Audio  

• Wwise transition hasn’t been as smooth as expected.

Foundry 42 Frankfurt   

Engineering   

• Moving codebase to 64 bit.
• Progress on zone systems and ship-local physics grids.
• New systems are being tested with Retaliator.
• Started R&D on procedural generation.
• Many major tasks close to joining Star Citizen code mainline.

AI  

• Began unifying CryEngine Communication System with the CIG Contextual Reaction System.
• Began working on CryEngine cover system to connect it with Kythera.
• Started prototyping the functionality to have a navigation mesh attached to a moving spaceship.
• Began improving Kythera Behavior Tree system.

Audio  

• Continued converting old FMOD code to new Audio System.
• Rolled out the set of new audio asset pipeline tools for simplified workflow.

FX  

• Researching various types of fire.
• Ranging from small fire and debris to enormous fires and explosions.
• Also focusing on realistically blending in smoke.

BHVR  

• Focused on polishing, debugging, and helping other studios, especially with the FPS module.
• In-game chat, emote system: (/dance /dothebender), FPS Module, multi-seat and FPS load out lobbies.
• Improved the chat system in the Social Module.
• Implemented first version of conversation tabs for public, private conversations.
• Fixed some flairs, the holotable, and some doors.
• Created base spawning system for multiple players in planetside locations/hangars.
• Created set pieces for an industrial mining planet. Will be used inDelamar, Nyx (but others as well).
• Updated some legacy objects to be up to new visual/technical standards.
• Refining locations on Terra Prime, Marianna and Odyssa, and creating new interior locations.
• mobiGlas has made lots of progress, now has animations.
• Buying, selling, and displaying UEC balance now work.
• First pass on UI, code, and visuals for microTech Kiosk.
• “Some shops and other locations around the verse have microTech kiosks which are used to show holographic representations of extra large products that don’t fit the location.”
• First kiosk will be in Astro-Armada.
• Personal locker (separate from the flair item) is being worked on.
• “This locker will be used to not only display weapons but to prepare loadouts in order to quickly change your character’s equipment for the right job.”
• Flair item and other secret merchandise for this month is completed.

Illfonic  

• Working on new jukes, starts, and stops.
• There are unique animations for each speed, direction, state, and possible change. Lots of work!
• Work continues on zero-g and SATA Ball.
• Working on playability and visual cues for SATA Ball.
• Players should be able to easily find ball, easily navigate to it, easily pass it, etc.
• Working on converting Golden Horizon station items to work like they will in the PU, so they can be shared with other levels.
• Polishing weapons and creating a unified rail system for attachments.
• New VFX have been made for SATA ball and some have already gone a first polish pass with Chris’ notes.

Turbulent  

Starmap  

• “We now have full artistic designs for the top-level Galactic Level view where all star systems are laid out, showing their Jump Point connections.”
• 2D HeatGrid for showing politics, crime, economy, etc. has made progress.
• “Major UI component” called the “control disc”  is included in this art pass.
• Disc is how you interact with the StarMap, and might be an in-game component.

Community  

• Completed interface mockups for the Community Hub.
• Will include images, galleries, videos, streaming channels, podcasts, etc.
• More to be shown “soon.”

Issue council  

• Core coding completed, “including data models and system level API.”
• Actual UI is being designed.

Launcher

• Completed prototype rework of Star Citizen Launcher.
• Based on BitTorrent technology.
• More efficient in size and speed, and first step towards a web-driven launcher.
• Hangar configuration, future inventory, REC activation tools will be in the launcher, in the future.

Moon Collider  

• Worked on AI pathfinding.
• Big changes to AI behavior trees.
• Designers can now create/edit AI behavior trees more easily and with a better UI.

Community  

• Ship Shape made its debut on Around the Verse.
• A full season has been ordered of Mark’s bi-weekly show: Bug Smashers!

AnalogDan

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