S42 Primary Tech Hurdles
Content
Most of our base technology is now complete
Still in Progress:
Subsumption
- Pathfinding Logic
- Full Animation Integration
- Improved Combat Logic
- Mission System Integration
- Enhanced Fight AI
Object Container Streaming
CPU and GPU Optimizations
S42 Status Update
Content
- All chapters and gameplay features at grey-box or better
- Taking one chapter to final ship quality - flushes out any technical, integration and polish issues.
- Building Technology & Systems for the long term and the whole SC universe - no short cuts!
theyarecomingforyou wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 21:08:
Troll. Troll. Troll. Troll. Troll.
Peeeling wrote on Oct 14, 2016, 08:06:http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Brockian_Ultra-Cricket that just made the thread. I won't have to laugh for the rest of the day.
Good ol' Brockian Ultra-Cricket syndrome :)
theyarecomingforyou wrote on Oct 14, 2016, 07:51:Peeeling wrote on Oct 14, 2016, 07:09:I own Elite: Dangerous and they're not even in the same league. Same with No Man's Sky - it may have a huge universe but if there is so little to do there then it doesn't have any staying power. CIG is developing the game with the big picture in mind, basing it around an expansive lore and extremely involved gameplay mechanics. However, that doesn't come overnight. WoW took years after release to become a worthwhile game and even then it relied heavily on rinse and repeat fetch missions.
Just to clarify: it's not my contention that SC (by which I mean the vision of SC they've allowed fans to conjure in their heads over the years) would be done by now if it had been done properly.
What I'm saying is that if it had been done properly, everyone (including me) would, right now, be happily flying our ships around a huge multiplayer persistent universe, getting out and walking around space stations, driving around planets, trading, doing missions, upgrading our ships - and I can say that with confidence because Elite has already done most of that on a tiny fraction of the budget.
Owning both Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen I can say with confidence that I much prefer the route being taken by CIG. It's not about a sprint, it's about a marathon. They're developing a game that will be actively played for a decade, not something that will quickly lose its appeal. According to Steam there are less than 6,000 people playing per day - more people are playing DayZ and Borderlands 2, older games that have replayability and a community. Look at Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - it has over half a million daily players. That's what CIG is looking to achieve with Star Citizen and rushing the game out is a great way to kill off any chance of that happening.
Peeeling wrote on Oct 14, 2016, 07:09:I own Elite: Dangerous and they're not even in the same league. Same with No Man's Sky - it may have a huge universe but if there is so little to do there then it doesn't have any staying power. CIG is developing the game with the big picture in mind, basing it around an expansive lore and extremely involved gameplay mechanics. However, that doesn't come overnight. WoW took years after release to become a worthwhile game and even then it relied heavily on rinse and repeat fetch missions.
Just to clarify: it's not my contention that SC (by which I mean the vision of SC they've allowed fans to conjure in their heads over the years) would be done by now if it had been done properly.
What I'm saying is that if it had been done properly, everyone (including me) would, right now, be happily flying our ships around a huge multiplayer persistent universe, getting out and walking around space stations, driving around planets, trading, doing missions, upgrading our ships - and I can say that with confidence because Elite has already done most of that on a tiny fraction of the budget.
CJ_Parker wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 22:30:Even if they released all 100 systems today it wouldn't make the game enjoyable, as you still need the gameplay there to maintain interest. That's why they're focusing on building out one star system to full fidelity, all the while developing the gameplay mechanics (mining, refuelling, escort, salvage, repair, farming, rescue, etc). CIG has the ability to quickly put out all the systems now using their procedural planets technology - they demoed how quick it is to put together planets and landing zones - but they're looking to iterate and incorporate community feedback.
It's not coming together at all in 3.0. They have revealed at CitizenCon that travel to multiple star systems, which is the most basic essence and whole point of the game, won't be out before 4.0. And 4.0 won't be here before early 2018 at the very earliest (very optimistic estimate).
theyarecomingforyou wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 20:46:grudgebearer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 18:43:The hangar was the initial module, followed by Arena Commander (which introduced flight, combat and racing), the Social Module (introducing the first planetside location and social hub) and the Persistent Universe (which introduced multi-crew ships, local physics grids, 64-bit precision, missions, repair, FPS combat, currency, shopping and refuelling mechanics, etc). Star Marine is due out imminently, which will hone the FPS mechanics. Alpha 3.0 is due out later this year / early next year, which will introduce procedural planets, cargo mechanics, trading, etc.
How is anything that has been released by CIG so far, anywhere close to the WoW alpha, much less the beta?
You have a hangar where you can look at the polygons you've spent money on, and a box in space where you can fly a limited number of ships around and shoot things. Other than an exercise in flight mechanics, what has actually been released to the backers that shows the project is actually on track to completing the proposed project plan?
Last year at CitizenCon in October they showed off Alpha 2.0 and it was released in December of that year. The time from being revealed to being playable was relatively short. In other words we'll soon have what was showed off here. From there each patch will be more substantial and take the game that much closer to where it needs to go.jdreyer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 17:42:With NMS the developers deliberately concealed the gameplay mechanics and misrepresented what the game was. With SC the developers have been very openly and working with the community to develop features. They couldn't be further apart.
The tech is coming along nicely, sure. So was No Man's Sky's tech.jdreyer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 17:42:The game is consistently pulling in $30m each year, which is easily enough to sustain development and more. As the game gets closer to release it will attract more people who were unwilling to make a speculative purchase like the early backers. Certainly it's reasonable to question the sustainability of the funding but momentum has only been building and we still haven't had the Squadron 42 reveal. For now it's simply not a concern.
The question is, will they have enough funds to finish it? I've been amazed at their ability to pull in cash, but their progress has been slowww, and that money is going to dry up at some point. They've got at least another year of work on the engine, and years of work for the content. Do they have years of funding? Will they continue to get "donations" to the tune of $30M a year? It's got to start to decline at some point.
NasWulf wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 21:51:grudgebearer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 21:05:
.... I'm sorry, but even in buggy state of WoW's alpha, it was far more than what CIG has released so far.
By this statement I don't think you were in the WoW Alpha, at lease not in the first year. I could be wrong, but the early days of the WoW Alpha was mostly testing the systems. Zones were mostly barren with no content, cities hubs were barren, the map was just a giant camera pull out over head view of the entire zones (there was no paper maps), it was very unpolished and not alot to do but run around and test systems as they patched them in. Yes over time the Alpha turned into what you might have seen as it grew into the Beta, but in no way was the early days of the WoW Alpha more feature complete, like all alphas.
I understand the mentality now a days that a Alpha is the "beta" and the Beta is the "demo" but it was not like that back then.
theyarecomingforyou wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 21:12:
The mechanics are being built up over time but there's been substantial progress and Alpha 3.0 is really where the game starts to come together.
grudgebearer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 21:05:
.... I'm sorry, but even in buggy state of WoW's alpha, it was far more than what CIG has released so far.
grudgebearer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 21:05:Squadron 42 is being developed behind closed doors so as not to ruin the impact, so that's separate. As for Star Citizen, you're right that it's not yet in beta - that's why it's called Alpha 3.0. The mechanics are being built up over time but there's been substantial progress and Alpha 3.0 is really where the game starts to come together. CIG has had to build up the studio on the fly and only now is content creation starting to get going.
But none of that is a beta, or even an alpha of Star Citizen or Squadron 42. It's a collection of individual systems, that are not connected in any way to one another. I'm sorry, but even in buggy state of WoW's alpha, it was far more than what CIG has released so far. Given the time that has been spent so far on development, there's no way that they get to any sort of actual alpha of either game that is even close to including all of the features that were promised in either, before 2018.
Dacron wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 20:10:Troll. Troll. Troll. Troll. Troll.
Just enjoy their fan boi responses. I remember believing in DNF just as much, and that was by a proven studio. Who had to give away development like Chris Roberts did with his previous games, whilst having less of a name/resources as 3d realms.
theyarecomingforyou wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 20:46:
The hangar was the initial module, followed by Arena Commander (which introduced flight, combat and racing), the Social Module (introducing the first planetside location and social hub) and the Persistent Universe (which introduced multi-crew ships, local physics grids, 64-bit precision, missions, repair, FPS combat, currency, shopping and refuelling mechanics, etc). Star Marine is due out imminently, which will hone the FPS mechanics. Alpha 3.0 is due out later this year / early next year, which will introduce procedural planets, cargo mechanics, trading, etc.
grudgebearer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 18:43:The hangar was the initial module, followed by Arena Commander (which introduced flight, combat and racing), the Social Module (introducing the first planetside location and social hub) and the Persistent Universe (which introduced multi-crew ships, local physics grids, 64-bit precision, missions, repair, FPS combat, currency, shopping and refuelling mechanics, etc). Star Marine is due out imminently, which will hone the FPS mechanics. Alpha 3.0 is due out later this year / early next year, which will introduce procedural planets, cargo mechanics, trading, etc.
How is anything that has been released by CIG so far, anywhere close to the WoW alpha, much less the beta?
You have a hangar where you can look at the polygons you've spent money on, and a box in space where you can fly a limited number of ships around and shoot things. Other than an exercise in flight mechanics, what has actually been released to the backers that shows the project is actually on track to completing the proposed project plan?
jdreyer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 17:42:With NMS the developers deliberately concealed the gameplay mechanics and misrepresented what the game was. With SC the developers have been very openly and working with the community to develop features. They couldn't be further apart.
The tech is coming along nicely, sure. So was No Man's Sky's tech.
jdreyer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 17:42:The game is consistently pulling in $30m each year, which is easily enough to sustain development and more. As the game gets closer to release it will attract more people who were unwilling to make a speculative purchase like the early backers. Certainly it's reasonable to question the sustainability of the funding but momentum has only been building and we still haven't had the Squadron 42 reveal. For now it's simply not a concern.
The question is, will they have enough funds to finish it? I've been amazed at their ability to pull in cash, but their progress has been slowww, and that money is going to dry up at some point. They've got at least another year of work on the engine, and years of work for the content. Do they have years of funding? Will they continue to get "donations" to the tune of $30M a year? It's got to start to decline at some point.
grudgebearer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 18:43:
How is anything that has been released by CIG so far, anywhere close to the WoW alpha, much less the beta?
grudgebearer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 18:43:
How is anything that has been released by CIG so far, anywhere close to the WoW alpha, much less the beta?
NasWulf wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 17:09:
The 2003 WoW Alpha was closed and the 2004 Beta was open, WoW was announced as in development in 2001, so it took 2 years to have an internal Alpha and 3 years to have a closed Beta, with a 4.5 development period.
jdreyer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 17:42:
One thing I will say is that spending all that money on building a community and being in constant communication is a smart move. It really keeps a lot of people from getting fed up at the long timelines.
jdreyer wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 17:42:
The question is, will they have enough funds to finish it? I've been amazed at their ability to pull in cash, but their progress has been slowww, and that money is going to dry up at some point.
theyarecomingforyou wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 15:55:Dacron wrote on Oct 13, 2016, 11:14:You must be reading different posts because the ones I've read have been perfectly reasonable. The critics here are just trying to get a rise out of people, accusing anyone who has the audacity to like the game of being delusional zealots.
Wow, reading Naswulf losing his shit like a petulant child post after post was a great read this morning.
Based on everything I've seen so far I have confidence that the game will end up being excellent; I also have confidence that there will be numerous more delays.