{"data":{"id":18076,"title":"Star Citizen Monthly Report: March 2021","rsi_url":"https:\/\/robertsspaceindustries.com\/comm-link\/transmission\/18076-Star-Citizen-Monthly-Report-March-2021","api_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/api\/comm-links\/18076","api_public_url":"https:\/\/api.star-citizen.wiki\/comm-links\/18076","channel":"Undefined","category":"Undefined","series":"Monthly 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Alpha 3.13 on the horizon, this month\u2019s report naturally deals with the final steps and polishing tasks completed just before the patch releases. However, work continued in earnest on content coming next quarter and beyond, so read on to for all the details on everything done throughout March.\n\nAI (Content)\nMarch\u2019s report starts with the AI Content Team, who spent part of the month working on the engineer behavior, including improving the usable split of the Mannequin tags coming from the use channel and the objects it interacts with.\nOn-foot security, tourist, and tour guide activities were further developed too. The bed bunks behavior progressed, with the team working towards a better abstraction of bed shutter usage and investigating how to support bed sheets when characters are sleeping. Kick-offs to define the medic, illegal goods dealer, deck crew, and janitor behaviors were done too.\nSpecifically for the PU, AI Content completed the first pass on the hawker behavior and began modifying the kiosk setup to replace the old activities.\n\u201cOur goal is to quickly push through some of the content we can already exploit in Star Citizen based on the existing scenario and allow the players to experience a more interactive environment.\u201d -The AI Content Team\nAI (Features)\nMarch saw AI Features complete the first pass on subcomponent targeting. This is now integrated into the main game-dev branch and will initially improve the behavior used when smaller vessels attack capital ships, allowing for more effective element targeting, complex attack patterns, and tactics.\nThe pilot security behavior was also restructured and extended. This is used, among other things, when security spaceships validate illegal content inside ships. Alongside creating a better structured and more scalable activity, it allows the security pilot to request the target surrender and handle different player behaviors. The pilot will also continue to request that the player surrenders during combat, allowing players to end the conflict and be arrested. They also worked to allow AI pilots to correctly dock at any supported location. This functionality is similar to landing, as it allows ships to navigate close to the collar and then perform a docking maneuver.\n\nThe eat and drink behavior was further developed, particularly \u2018chowline\u2019 usage. In addition to cleaning up the chowline, eating, and drinking animations, the team improved the drinking behavior to make taking a cup a separate action. Plus, the exit animations are now split between taking the tray and exiting the tables so that multiple actions can be performed from specific bounce poses.\nThe surrender and cowering behaviors used by both trained and untrained agents progressed. This is used in hostile scenarios when NPCs are unable to fight back, are overwhelmed, or don\u2019t have the tools for combat and prioritize preserving their lives.\nOn the Subsumption-logic side, several new tasks were introduced, including: HasAnyTagInTagSelection: Evaluates whether an object has tags under specific parent tags\n\nBroadcastInMyActionAreas: Propagates an event in the action areas the agent is contained\n\nMergeMannequinTags: Takes two Mannequin tags variables and merges them into one\n\n\nThey also supported Alpha 3.13 with bug fixes and optimization, including issues causing slow NPC reactions and pilot security to complete flight activity too early.\n\n\nAI (Tech)\nThroughout March, AI Tech progressed with EVA, creating tech to allow characters to calculate 3D paths and systemically transition out of ships into space.\nLast year, code was introduced to give a hierarchical structure to the Subsumption mastergraph, which allows the team to create a state machine that describes the mental state of an NPC and preserves it across multiple activities. For example, surviving in a zero-g environment requires an NPC to have specific knowledge and handle requests differently from when on foot or piloting a ship. The team are utilizing this functionality to allow a better structure for the mastergraph and handle all states with fewer transitions. This groundwork will ultimately provide a better systemic transition into and out of zero-g environments.\nImprovements were also made to the navigation links that describe the external linking of navigation mesh triangles (essentially, two disconnected triangles connect and become traversable using animation, explicit locomotion linkage, etc.). In doing so, the NavigationLink component was simplified to allow the explicit instantiation of extensions that can use different types of data to create external links. They currently have support for the following scenarios: Explicit offsets that can be used to customize enter\/exit locations for doors\n\nAnimation-driven traversal, such as an animation used to vault over an object or jump up and down\n\n\nThe AI Team began extending the melee system to improve the definition of combo attacks. The goal was to avoid using explicit Mannequin transitions between states to reduce complexity in the setup, since they know the exact flow allowed between melee attacks. To achieve this, they introduced an automatic way to calculate the Mannequin tag of the transitioning attack so that the structure is more straightforward. This also makes it easier to test chaining animations, ensuring poses perfectly match and that timing is easily adjusted.\nFor patrol tech, \u2018hot reload\u2019 was implemented. This means the Subsumption logic edits associated with a path are automatically reloaded in the editor, giving the designers immediate feedback on-screen that they can quickly iterate on. The logic will also be validated if data changes without the editor running. During level loading, the saved data attempts to match with the current updated logic too.\nThe team also spent time refactoring the usable code to better calculate usable-attached Mannequin tags related to items they want to manipulate. The code is now split to propagate the tags associated with the usable and the use channel, including the one coming from the tool. Once calculated, they\u2019re merged and passed into the animation request to select the appropriate animation.\nThe unification of the usables and operator seats flow continued, which now only uses two blocks in the movement plan for the usable component. The actor state machine communicates the different states with the component, such as entering a seat or starting idle, which is then propagated and evaluated to understand when to consider the success for entering and exiting the usable.\nFor the communication system, AI Content fixed the automatic creation of group channels based on the target of dialogue. This allows them to control who is allowed to talk to a specific target to avoid overlapping when the \u2018Group\u2019 channel type is specified. They also improved the system allowing communication context to override silence on a specific channel. This gives designers more granular control over the pacing of voice lines used by AI to communicate readability of their actions.\n\nAnimation\nMarch saw the Animation Team create sets for tourists and tour guides and make plans for creatures. On the facial side, a mo-cap shoot was done for an upcoming event and the pipeline was improved for the mo-cap select tool.\nArt (Characters)\nThe Character Art Team progressed with refinery decks, assets for Orison, and NPC outfits for Alpha 3.14\u2019s hospitals. A new mining-themed set for an upcoming patch is nearing completion, while armor for Alpha 3.15 moved through the pipeline. Research and development also began for armor props and interiors in support of the physicalized inventory. This involves refactoring old armor sets to add interiors and setting up the tech to allow armor sets to exist as standalone objects that can be carried by the player.\nArt (Environment)\nAlongside support for Alpha 3.13, the Modular Team moved the colonial outposts from whitebox to greybox, with gameplay considerations and functionality being added to the various modules. The new docking arms and lobbies were also finalized and will be live in an upcoming event.\nThe Landing Zone Team progressed with Orison, with the new cloud tech enabling stunning vistas above the Crusader gas cloud. Work on the platforms is nearing completion, with final polish currently being completed. The latest iteration of the exhibition halls was finished too.\n\nThe Organics Team finalized the new cave entrances, produced new flora for the Orison habitation platforms, and supported the gas cloud tech needed for Crusader.\nArt (Ships)\nIn the UK, the Ship Team wrapped up the majority of the Crusader Hercules, with only the A2\u2019s bomb release mechanism requiring further attention. An as-yet-unannounced ship continued through the final art phase, with only one interior area and an exterior polish and damage pass to go. March saw the Aegis Redeemer progress through the final art phase, with the exterior and manned turrets both nearing completion. The greybox phase was finished for the remote turrets and landing gear too.\nMore ships were converted to the hard-surface shader to make them \u2018paint ready,\u2019 and wear and tear was looked at to make it consistent across the ship line-up. The \u2018gold-standard\u2019 pass was completed for the Gladius, with the team moving onto the Sabre.\nThe US-based team continued to focus on the Tumbril Nova, specifically finishing the art alongside Design who worked on movement, treads, and the overall experience. They also worked alongside Vehicle Tech, Vehicle Experience, and QA to ensure the tank is up to standard before release. Progress was made on the Constellation Taurus and bugs were squashed for the vehicles coming in Alpha 3.13.\nArt (Weapons)\nMarch saw the Weapons Team progress with the S7 Behring ballistic Gatling gun before completing close-out work and polishing for the mounted-gun asset. The MultiTool salvage attachment and standalone tools went through the first-pass block out and were added to a development build for early testing. The UltiFlex Novia was iterated on, with the team improving the rigging setup and making sure it was working as intended for Animation.\nSeveral other tasks were completed, including support for the Nova\u2019s S5 cannon, bug fixing for Alpha 3.13, and updates to the MedPen and other devices for the upcoming medical gameplay.\nAudio\nThroughout March, the Audio Team worked on content and features for Alpha 3.13 alongside supporting some upcoming trailers.\nOn the ship side, they focused on the UI and practical SFX for ship-to-ship and ship-to-station docking. They also looked into improving ambience design across all derelict ships following work on the new derelict Freelancer variant.\nThe Actor Features Team created audio for the trolley push\/pull mechanic and crafted Foley and SFX for the mounted turret gameplay.\n\u201cWe have been very excited to be working on the Nova tank, designing and implementing SFX for vehicle movement, moving parts, turrets, and it\u2019s notable cannon!\u201d -The Audio Team\nCommunity\nThe Community Team started the month with the Ship Naming Announcement, sharing the Ship Naming Guide article on the Knowledge Base to ensure players had all the information they needed.\nFor International Women\u2019s Day on March 8, they shared employee spotlights on Star Citizen\u2019s social channels and YouTube, and celebrated Stella Fortuna with the Temp Fate Video Contest. A Q&A was published for the recent Tumbril Cyclone MT, as was a Postmortem on the PU\u2019s first dynamic event, XenoThreat.\n\nThe team also published a recap of the AMA with the Character Tech Team and detailed upcoming updates to the character customizer and Med Pens functionality and the new FPS Cave Missions. Alongside a variety of miscellaneous tasks, the team has been coordinating efforts on concepting the updated Community Hub which they are very excited about.\nEngine\nIn March, Engineering added physics support for multiple solar systems. A new grid type (GT_SOLARSYSTEM) that replicates the configuration of the current root grid was added along with the ability to skip the inside\/outside checks to allow multiple instances of such grids to overlap without entities randomly transitioning between them. To ease debugging (which can be difficult without a visual representation of what\u2019s going on in the physical world), a simple debug raytracing framework was added to visualize the results of ray world intersection (RWI) checks. This has been hugely useful already and allowed the team to fix various bugs quickly. The team will also be using this to optimize RWI in general as it accurately uncovers performance issues otherwise hidden in the game\u2019s RWI queries.\nMarch also saw various code optimizations, including the physicalization of planets, ray-bound intersections, and using octrees for ray-occlusion tracing. Furthermore, the velocity limit for explosions and shockwaves was removed, interior grids can now be saved as CGFs to allow proper instancing, and support for kinematic parts (animated parts that get proper velocity estimates) was added. The Physics Team also spent time bug fixing and supporting Alpha 3.13.\nWork on the G12 renderer continued, with internal resolution scaling and native resolution rendering being reworked. The render graph that controls the scheduling of render passes and associated resource management was merged into the main development branch. Alongside this, more existing features were ported to Gen12, such as emissive lights and object motion blur, and the shader parser was refactored in parts to allow for faster processing (especially for code dependency tracking).\nEngineering made great progress with volumetric clouds last month, with tint support being added to allow more flexibility on the art side when coloring clouds for exotic planets. The multi-scatter solution also received various subtle improvements, including taking an atmosphere\u2019s optical depth along shadow rays into account. Cloud shaping was further improved to provide a better sense of local volume, while support for shadow refinement was added to further contribute to cloud detail. Alongside these visual improvements, initial optimizations were implemented to speed up the raymarching process, and the implementation of an efficient empty space skipping scheme has begun.\nOn the core-engine side, more work was done on performance analysis and regression. The in-engine profiler received various improvements, including the ability to group samples captured by their respective function. The team also started to look into replacing their current UI solution for postmortem performance analysis based on captured performance telemetry data. Python scripts were written to run performance tests and write corresponding reports. Additionally, the threading logic was refactored to further improve performance and the job system now utilizes specific APIs introduced with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (Windows 7 still works but won\u2019t benefit) to allow for much-improved waking of jobs and preventing contention in the fiber system thread. This is particularly noticeable on CPUs with a significant number of cores and will be rolled out in Alpha 3.13. The entity component update scheduler received a profiler and GUI as well as various optimizations.\nFinally, C++17 language support was enabled and a performance issue with code generation in MSVC with regards to thread local storage initialization behavior was addressed.\nFeatures (Characters & Weapons)\nThe Character Features Team reduced the update frequency of certain character components based on their distance from players. This was possible due to the changes made to the underlying update logic by the Engine Team earlier this year. A component can now be told to update every other frame (or every nth frame) and, when it does, it\u2019s informed of how much time has elapsed since the last update. Early prototypes suggest using elapsed rather than frame time allows for a surprisingly early reduction in update frequency of the character state logic (as long as the character visual updates remain at a per-frame frequency). As with any optimization, this is currently being tested before implementation.\nOne key feature developed in March was the trolley push and pull mechanic, where players can grab movable props and push or pull them around. The Actor and Physics teams worked closely to iterate on the controls and feel of moving these larger props where the weight of the prop, weight of the cargo loaded onto it, and the surface they\u2019re on affects handling and behavior. The input of the player generates acceleration requests on the prop and the player character attempts to keep up with the prop as it moves. If the input is greater than the actual resulting movement, the player character leans into the prop to show the extra effort required. The wheels are physically simulated as a constrained sphere, with a modeled wheel synchronizing with its sphere\u2019s movement to procedurally rotate caster and tire.\n\n\nFeatures (Gameplay)\nThe Gameplay Features Team spent March preparing features for Alpha 3.13, fixing critical bugs, and planning for future initiatives.\nThe US-based team continued to work on two new mobiGlas features: the reputation system app and asset manager. The engineers finalized the TDD for the asset manager and began to create the \u2018provider\u2019 that will manage a majority of the application logic. Meanwhile, Design completed polishing tasks and bug fixing for the reputation system app, now known as Delphi, which will be launching with Alpha 3.13.\nIn the US, the team continued to plan for the upcoming cargo refactor, with the goal of physicalizing cargo contained within the grid. This refactor is quite extensive as the cargo and commodity system is intertwined with several other areas. The team will also convert the commodity kiosk from Flash to Building Blocks and tie it into the asset manager. Progress was also made on the next dynamic event, which is now in the final stages of implementation. The engineers fixed any remaining bugs while the designers focused on audio integration and polishing tasks.\nFeatures (Mission & Live Content)\nAlongside content for upcoming events, the Features Team progressed with a new security system that allows them to identify when a player enters a location they don\u2019t have permission to. This allows the AI to act accordingly without the need to give the player a CrimeStat.\nThey also began working on features for Q2 and beyond, including the new Starfarer and Caterpillar derelict used in Alpha 3.13\u2019s timed delivery missions, and implemented FPS cave missions and new harvestables. Space combat mission locations were also quadrupled around Crusader and progress continued on the Pyro system.\nFeatures (Vehicles)\nMarch saw the Vehicle Features Team progress with docking. Merlin-to-Constellation docking is largely complete, with the team dealing with bugs and feedback from Evocati testing. The last step involved finalizing the physics of how the ships connect.\nThe team heavily refactored and partially rewrote the air traffic control system to account for the docking arms used in ship-to-station docking. Now, docking arms are fully integrated with station control and benefit from all the features of air traffic control, such as loitering around stations, spawning and despawning ships, and hailing for docking through the comms menu.\nChanges were also made to align docking arms with the procedural universe tools, which are used to create bases and space stations. Work was also done to integrate docking with other gameplay systems, such as Personal Inner Thought, so players can initiate docking with the interaction wheel. Lastly for docking, a large number of edge cases were worked through to ensure it\u2019s as polished as possible. For example, the Constellation quantum traveling while the Merlin was docking caused the Merlin to get stuck, and players exiting the Merlin while docked to a moving Constellation caused the player to fall into space.\nDevelopment of the thruster ground VFX mentioned in last month\u2019s report continued. This has been improved and expanded on since then, with the team working on aerodynamic wake effects that cause dust to be kicked up when ships are flown close to the ground at high speed. Focus was on 3D rendering inside MFD screens to give the team more options in building the MFDs they want.\nFinally, the missile guidance and control refactor made great progress, with missiles flying much more predictably in recent playtests.\nGraphics & VFX Programming\nThe Graphics Team spent early March fixing bugs. For example, the Render To Texture (RTT) system didn\u2019t have a fixed memory budget and was dependent on how it was used by the game. However, this could sometimes lead to out-of-memory issues, particularly when running at higher resolutions. Now, the memory reserve for the RTT system is linked to the screen resolution, because higher-resolution outputs require higher resolution intermediate textures. If the fixed budget is exceeded, they now dynamically down-res the RTTs until they fit, which ensures stability in extreme scenarios.\nThey also began planning for the transition to the Gen12 renderer to better understand when each milestone will be delivered to help determine the balance of staff working on the transition, features, and bugs.\nThe VFX Programming Team split time between bugs, fire, SDF shields, and particle lighting. The fire feature is a long-term task, with the current focus on fire spreading between rooms, light spawning, and repair. The first iteration of SDF shields was prepared for release. The upcoming update improves the glow effect and how the \u2018shaping\u2019 tech works, which is responsible for wrapping the impact effects around the curvature of the hull. Particle lighting is a new model that gives higher quality and more consistent and physically plausible results.\nLighting\nLast month, the Lighting Team supported the upcoming docking feature, providing unique moods for the R&R space stations and more military-minded security docks. Work on the docking arm continued, including prototype animations for the lights as the arm extends and retracts.\n\n\n\n\nThey also supported Alpha 3.13 with bug fixing, optimizations to the non-commercial space station overlays, and new cave entrances. Support was also given to the UI Team for the new reputation interface on the mobiGlas.\nWork also continued on hospitals for Orison and New Babbage, with the team working closely with Environment Art and Design on the lobbies, pharmacy shop, individual floors, and recovery rooms.\n\n\n\n\n\nNarrative\nNarrative\u2019s March kicked off with a small motion-capture shoot, the first since the start of the pandemic, to pick up some characters for upcoming events. Members of the LA-based team worked remotely to provide direction and work with the animators, capture specialists, audio team, and actors who were on set in Manchester, UK.\nThey provided general support for Alpha 3.13, tackling mission fixes and adding names and descriptions for the various new items. They also worked with the mission teams on upcoming content, including future events, general missions, and a voice-over session for future locations too.\nThere were also several lore releases on the website, including the re-release of the Portfolio for armor manufacturer Caldera, the final installment of Sid & Cyrus, another installment of OP.Net, new Galactapedia entries, and the 100th issue of Jump Point. Members of the Narrative Team also appeared on Star Citizen Live for a Lore Builders episode where they built one of the outlaw factions in Pyro with help from the community.\nPlayer Relations\nMarch saw Player Relations hire additional staff to support the growing needs of the service and backer base. They also worked on ship naming and ran Evocati PTU tests each night for Alpha 3.13.\nProps\nMarch saw Props support several locations, including colonialism outposts, with some assets going to greybox. The greybox pass also began for hospitals, including the bed and gurney, which will be a big part of the gameplay experience.\nThey also worked closely with AI Content and AI Features to produce template geometry for new feature usables, such as the shop keeper and tourist, and fixed a large number of bugs.\nQA\nThe UK team\u2019s main focus was preparing Alpha 3.13 for release, which involved publishing several builds for Evocati testing and ensuring all player-reported issues were properly documented in JIRA. Testing continued for several upcoming features and events too.\nIn Frankfurt, QA continued to support the feature teams. For AI, they continued to perform sanity checks on the PU and test new locations. Dev requests increased as the team reproduced and investigated issues while providing feedback on the general state of AI.\nEngineering focus shifted to server stress-testing and minimum PC spec testing to help improve the overall stability of the game. QA worked alongside the Tools Team in their continued testing of DataForge, StarWords, ExcelCore, and the sandbox editor. Work also began on a new tool that will allow QA to take a more proactive approach to testing.\nSystemic Services & Tools\nThe Systemic Services and Tools Team pushed forward with various resources for their public presentation of Quantum. Service-wise, they put the finishing touches on the AI Info Service that ties directly into Quantum and various other services. Development into new services began in earnest, specifically on new NPC spawning and ATC service systems. General upgrades were also made to various tools and systems to allow for easier workflow for developers.\nTech Animation\nMost of the Tech Animation Team spent last month iterating on the in-house facial pipeline. They\u2019re aiming for a faster and more intuitive approach to FACS expression authoring for the complicated facial systems, part of which will incorporate the smooth skinning decomposition technology from last month\u2019s R&D.\nThey maintained and triaged assets from several other departments to ensure the project structure, builds, and animation systems are kept in a stable state, and helped author and refine some head and body assets to enable the animation teams to work directly in Maya. Finally, assets that will be used as the basis in the development of various creatures were completed.\nTurbulent\nTurbulent Game Services continued working on server meshing, onboarding more team members along the way. They also delivered the first demo of a fleet management system currently deployed on internal development environments. The configuration service, responsible for distributing client configurations to game clients, was also finalized.\nThe team supported the upcoming Alpha 3.13 release, specifically adding new features to the reputation service, such as the ability to notify players when their reputation changes as well as view, lock, and unlock reputation and view reputation history. Test passes were also performed on services to validate them for the upcoming release.\nThis month, the Live Tools Team continued work on the crash handling pipeline, with fixes to Sentry and Jira linking, and created a monitor to watch the \u2018elasticsearch\u2019 stream for errors and them into Sentry. They also created software in support of tools developed by the Montreal-based Location Team and created code to allow the Hex gateway to talk to the diffusion game services.\nUI\nThe UI Tech Team supported other teams\u2019 user interface work on the reputation app, adding new functionality and fixing bugs as needed, and progressed with several small-but-vital features, including text formatting and tooltips, that will be used throughout future UI. They also further developed the underlying tech for the new map systems and ported some older UI to Building Blocks to help with futureproofing and performance.\nThe artists entered the pre-production phase for the upcoming medical UI, with visual target concepts signed off and functional prototypes ready for full production in April. The UI was also polished for radar and scanning gameplay (both in vehicles and on foot).\nVehicle Tech\nThroughout March, the Vehicle Technical Team progressed with the update to the radar scanning system, focusing on \u2018ping\u2019 to make finding distant objects a more satisfying experience. UI and VFX elements are currently being implemented. Locomotion and tread movement for the Tumbril Nova was iterated on to ensure it feels appropriately \u201ctanky\u201d across all planetary bodies.\nA project to ensure ship landing gear functions properly in all areas of the game is nearing completion. This involved properly syncing landing gear with the server to make sure they function properly in all non-flight scenarios. They also closed out several tasks for Alpha 3.13 to make the launch as smooth and engaging as possible.\nVFX\nDuring March, VFX finetuned and optimized the SDF shield impact effects before their release.\n\u201cThis was a real team effort, with VFX programmers, artists, and QA all working together to bring this important feature work to fruition.\u201d -The VFX Team\nEffects were created for the Tumbril Nova, including its main weapon. This included prototyping a subtle shockwave effect that displaces loose surface matter on the ground and on the vehicle itself. While this prototype isn\u2019t guaranteed to make it in time for the tank\u2019s initial release, the groundwork will prove useful for a variety of other effects that utilize physicalized shockwaves. The Crusader Hercule\u2019s effects were completed in March too.\nA prototype for thruster wind volume effects was also worked on, which will allow vehicle thrusters to better interact with loose surface matter on planets and other locations to give thrusters a more powerful feel as they hover in locations with gravity.\nWE\u2019LL SEE YOU NEXT MONTH\u2026","de_DE":"Mit der Alpha 3.13 am Horizont besch\u00e4ftigt sich der Bericht dieses Monats nat\u00fcrlich mit den letzten Schritten und Polierarbeiten, die kurz vor der Ver\u00f6ffentlichung des Patches abgeschlossen wurden. Die Arbeit an den Inhalten, die im n\u00e4chsten Quartal und dar\u00fcber hinaus erscheinen werden, wurde jedoch fortgesetzt, also lest weiter, um alle Details \u00fcber die Arbeiten im M\u00e4rz zu erfahren.\n\nKI (Inhalt)\nDer M\u00e4rz-Bericht beginnt mit dem KI-Content-Team, das einen Teil des Monats damit verbracht hat, am Verhalten des Ingenieurs zu arbeiten, einschlie\u00dflich der Verbesserung der nutzbaren Aufteilung der Mannequin-Tags aus dem Nutzungskanal und der Objekte, mit denen sie interagiert.\nAuch das Verhalten f\u00fcr Sicherheitspersonal, Touristen und Reiseleiter wurde weiter entwickelt. Das Verhalten der Bettkojen machte Fortschritte, wobei das Team an einer besseren Abstraktion der Nutzung von Bettl\u00e4den arbeitete und untersuchte, wie man Bettlaken unterst\u00fctzen kann, wenn Charaktere schlafen. Kick-offs zur Definition der Verhaltensweisen des Sanit\u00e4ters, des H\u00e4ndlers f\u00fcr illegale Waren, der Deckcrew und des Hausmeisters wurden ebenfalls durchgef\u00fchrt.\nSpeziell f\u00fcr die PU schloss AI Content den ersten Durchgang des Hawker-Verhaltens ab und begann, das Kiosk-Setup zu modifizieren, um die alten Aktivit\u00e4ten zu ersetzen.\n\"Unser Ziel ist es, einige der Inhalte, die wir in Star Citizen bereits nutzen k\u00f6nnen, basierend auf dem bestehenden Szenario schnell durchzusetzen und den Spielern eine interaktivere Umgebung zu erm\u00f6glichen.\" -The AI Content Team\nAI (Features)\nIm M\u00e4rz haben die AI Features den ersten Durchgang des Subcomponent Targeting abgeschlossen. Dies ist nun in den Hauptentwicklungszweig des Spiels integriert und wird zun\u00e4chst das Verhalten bei Angriffen kleinerer Schiffe auf Gro\u00dfkampfschiffe verbessern, was ein effektiveres Zielen auf Elemente, komplexe Angriffsmuster und Taktiken erm\u00f6glicht.\nDas Pilotensicherheitsverhalten wurde ebenfalls umstrukturiert und erweitert. Dieses wird unter anderem verwendet, wenn Sicherheitsraumschiffe illegale Inhalte im Inneren von Schiffen validieren. Neben der Schaffung einer besser strukturierten und besser skalierbaren Aktivit\u00e4t, erlaubt es dem Sicherheitspiloten, die Kapitulation des Ziels anzufordern und mit verschiedenen Spielerverhalten umzugehen. Der Pilot wird auch weiterhin den Spieler w\u00e4hrend des Kampfes auffordern, sich zu ergeben, was es Spielern erm\u00f6glicht, den Konflikt zu beenden und verhaftet zu werden. Es wurde auch daran gearbeitet, dass KI-Piloten an jedem unterst\u00fctzten Ort korrekt andocken k\u00f6nnen. Diese Funktionalit\u00e4t \u00e4hnelt der Landung, da sie es Schiffen erlaubt, nahe an den Kragen zu navigieren und dann ein Andockman\u00f6ver durchzuf\u00fchren.\nDas Ess- und Trinkverhalten wurde weiterentwickelt, insbesondere die 'chowline'-Nutzung. Zus\u00e4tzlich zur Bereinigung der Chowline-, Ess- und Trinkanimationen hat das Team das Trinkverhalten verbessert, um das Nehmen einer Tasse zu einer separaten Aktion zu machen. Au\u00dferdem sind die Exit-Animationen nun zwischen dem Nehmen des Tabletts und dem Verlassen der Tische aufgeteilt, sodass mehrere Aktionen aus bestimmten Bounce-Posen ausgef\u00fchrt werden k\u00f6nnen.\nDas Kapitulations- und Kauerverhalten, das sowohl von trainierten als auch von untrainierten Agenten verwendet wird, wurde weiterentwickelt. Dies wird in feindlichen Szenarien eingesetzt, wenn NSCs nicht in der Lage sind, sich zu wehren, \u00fcberw\u00e4ltigt sind oder nicht \u00fcber die Werkzeuge f\u00fcr einen Kampf verf\u00fcgen und die Erhaltung ihres Lebens Priorit\u00e4t hat.\nAuf der Seite der Subsumption-Logik wurden mehrere neue Aufgaben eingef\u00fchrt, darunter:\nHasAnyTagInTagSelection: Wertet aus, ob ein Objekt Tags unter bestimmten Eltern-Tags hat BroadcastInMyActionAreas: Propagiert ein Ereignis in den Aktionsbereichen, in denen der Agent enthalten ist MergeMannequinTags: Nimmt zwei Mannequin-Tag-Variablen und verschmilzt sie zu einer\nAu\u00dferdem wurden in der Alpha 3.13 Fehler behoben und Optimierungen vorgenommen, darunter Probleme, die dazu f\u00fchrten, dass NPCs zu langsam reagierten und Piloten ihre Flugaktivit\u00e4ten zu fr\u00fch beendeten.\nKI (Tech)\nDen ganzen M\u00e4rz \u00fcber machte die KI-Tech Fortschritte mit EVA und entwickelte Tech, die es den Charakteren erm\u00f6glicht, 3D-Pfade zu berechnen und systematisch aus Schiffen in den Weltraum zu gelangen.\nLetztes Jahr wurde Code eingef\u00fchrt, um dem Subsumption-Mastergraphen eine hierarchische Struktur zu geben, die es dem Team erlaubt, einen Zustandsautomaten zu erstellen, der den mentalen Zustand eines NPCs beschreibt und diesen \u00fcber mehrere Aktivit\u00e4ten hinweg beibeh\u00e4lt. Zum Beispiel erfordert das \u00dcberleben in einer Schwerelosigkeit, dass ein NSC \u00fcber spezifisches Wissen verf\u00fcgt und Anfragen anders behandelt, als wenn er zu Fu\u00df unterwegs ist oder ein Schiff steuert. Das Team nutzt diese Funktionalit\u00e4t, um eine bessere Struktur f\u00fcr den Mastergraphen zu erm\u00f6glichen und alle Zust\u00e4nde mit weniger \u00dcberg\u00e4ngen zu behandeln. Diese Vorarbeit wird letztendlich einen besseren systemischen \u00dcbergang in und aus der Schwerelosigkeit erm\u00f6glichen.\nVerbesserungen wurden auch an den Navigationslinks vorgenommen, die die externe Verkn\u00fcpfung von Navigationsmesh-Dreiecken beschreiben (im Wesentlichen verbinden sich zwei unverbundene Dreiecke und werden durch Animation, explizite Lokomotionsverkn\u00fcpfung etc. durchquerbar). Dabei wurde die NavigationLink Komponente vereinfacht, um die explizite Instanziierung von Erweiterungen zu erm\u00f6glichen, die verschiedene Datentypen zur Erstellung externer Links verwenden k\u00f6nnen. Sie unterst\u00fctzen derzeit die folgenden Szenarien: Explizite Offsets, die verwendet werden k\u00f6nnen, um Ein- und Ausstiegspositionen f\u00fcr T\u00fcren anzupassen - Animationsgesteuertes Traversieren, wie z.B. eine Animation, die verwendet wird, um \u00fcber ein Objekt zu springen oder auf und ab zu springen\nDas KI-Team begann damit, das Nahkampfsystem zu erweitern, um die Definition von Kombo-Angriffen zu verbessern. Das Ziel war es, explizite Mannequin-\u00dcberg\u00e4nge zwischen den Zust\u00e4nden zu vermeiden, um die Komplexit\u00e4t im Setup zu reduzieren, da sie den genauen Ablauf kennen, der zwischen Nahkampfangriffen erlaubt ist. Um dies zu erreichen, f\u00fchrten sie einen automatischen Weg ein, um das Mannequin-Tag des \u00fcbergehenden Angriffs zu berechnen, so dass der Aufbau \u00fcbersichtlicher wird. Dies macht es auch einfacher, Verkettungsanimationen zu testen, um sicherzustellen, dass die Posen perfekt \u00fcbereinstimmen und das Timing leicht angepasst werden kann.\nF\u00fcr Patrouillentech wurde 'hot reload' implementiert. Das bedeutet, dass die mit einem Pfad verbundenen \u00c4nderungen der Subsumptionslogik automatisch im Editor neu geladen werden, was den Designern sofortiges Feedback auf dem Bildschirm gibt, mit dem sie schnell iterieren k\u00f6nnen. Die Logik wird auch validiert, wenn sich Daten \u00e4ndern, ohne dass der Editor l\u00e4uft. Beim Laden des Levels versuchen die gespeicherten Daten auch mit der aktuell aktualisierten Logik \u00fcbereinzustimmen.\nDas Team hat auch Zeit damit verbracht, den nutzbaren Code zu refaktorisieren, um besser nutzbare Mannequin-Tags zu berechnen, die mit Gegenst\u00e4nden verbunden sind, die sie manipulieren wollen. Der Code ist nun aufgeteilt, um die Tags, die mit dem Usable- und dem Use-Channel verbunden sind, zu propagieren, einschlie\u00dflich desjenigen, der vom Tool kommt. Sobald sie berechnet sind, werden sie zusammengef\u00fchrt und an die Animationsanforderung \u00fcbergeben, um die passende Animation auszuw\u00e4hlen.\nDie Vereinheitlichung des Usables und des Operator Seats Flow wurde fortgesetzt, der nun nur noch zwei Bl\u00f6cke im Bewegungsplan f\u00fcr die Usable Komponente verwendet. Die Actor State Machine kommuniziert die verschiedenen Zust\u00e4nde mit der Komponente, wie z.B. das Betreten eines Sitzes oder das Starten des Leerlaufs, was dann propagiert und ausgewertet wird, um zu verstehen, wann der Erfolg f\u00fcr das Betreten und Verlassen des Usables zu ber\u00fccksichtigen ist.\nF\u00fcr das Kommunikationssystem hat AI Content die automatische Erstellung von Gruppenkan\u00e4len basierend auf dem Ziel des Dialogs festgelegt. Dies erlaubt ihnen zu kontrollieren, wer mit einem bestimmten Ziel sprechen darf, um \u00dcberschneidungen zu vermeiden, wenn der Kanaltyp 'Gruppe' angegeben ist. Au\u00dferdem wurde das System so verbessert, dass der Kommunikationskontext die Stille auf einem bestimmten Kanal au\u00dfer Kraft setzen kann. Dies gibt den Designern eine feinere Kontrolle \u00fcber das Tempo der Sprachzeilen, die von der KI verwendet werden, um die Lesbarkeit ihrer Aktionen zu kommunizieren.\nAnimation\nIm M\u00e4rz hat das Animationsteam Sets f\u00fcr Touristen und Tourguides erstellt und Pl\u00e4ne f\u00fcr Kreaturen gemacht. Auf der Gesichtsseite wurde ein Mo-Cap Shooting f\u00fcr ein bevorstehendes Event durchgef\u00fchrt und die Pipeline f\u00fcr das Mo-Cap Select Tool verbessert.\nArt (Charaktere)\nDas Character Art Team machte Fortschritte mit Raffinerie-Decks, Assets f\u00fcr Orison und NPC-Outfits f\u00fcr die Krankenh\u00e4user der Alpha 3.14. Ein neues Bergbau-Themenset f\u00fcr einen kommenden Patch steht kurz vor der Fertigstellung, w\u00e4hrend die R\u00fcstungen f\u00fcr Alpha 3.15 in der Pipeline sind. Die Forschung und Entwicklung von R\u00fcstungsrequisiten und Innenausstattungen zur Unterst\u00fctzung des physischen Inventars hat ebenfalls begonnen. Dies beinhaltet die \u00dcberarbeitung alter R\u00fcstungssets, um Innenausstattungen hinzuzuf\u00fcgen und die Entwicklung der Technologie, die es erm\u00f6glicht, dass R\u00fcstungssets als eigenst\u00e4ndige Objekte existieren, die vom Spieler getragen werden k\u00f6nnen.\nKunst (Umgebung)\nNeben der Unterst\u00fctzung der Alpha 3.13 hat das Modular Team die kolonialen Au\u00dfenposten von Whitebox auf Greybox umgestellt, wobei Gameplay-\u00dcberlegungen und Funktionalit\u00e4t zu den verschiedenen Modulen hinzugef\u00fcgt wurden. Die neuen Andockarme und Lobbys wurden ebenfalls fertiggestellt und werden in einem kommenden Event live gehen.\nDas Landing Zone Team machte Fortschritte mit Orison, wobei die neue Wolkentechnologie atemberaubende Ausblicke \u00fcber die Gaswolke der Crusader erm\u00f6glicht. Die Arbeiten an den Plattformen stehen kurz vor der Fertigstellung, der letzte Schliff wird gerade vorgenommen. Die letzte Iteration der Ausstellungshallen wurde ebenfalls fertiggestellt.\n\nDas Organics Team finalisierte die neuen H\u00f6hleneing\u00e4nge, produzierte neue Flora f\u00fcr die Orison Wohnplattformen und unterst\u00fctzte die Gaswolkentechnologie, die f\u00fcr Crusader ben\u00f6tigt wird.\nKunst (Schiffe)\nIn Gro\u00dfbritannien hat das Schiffsteam den Gro\u00dfteil der Crusader Hercules fertiggestellt, nur der Bombenausl\u00f6semechanismus der A2 ben\u00f6tigt noch etwas Aufmerksamkeit. Ein noch unangek\u00fcndigtes Schiff durchlief die finale Art-Phase, wobei nur noch ein Innenbereich und ein Au\u00dfenbereich poliert und besch\u00e4digt werden m\u00fcssen. Im M\u00e4rz durchlief die Aegis Redeemer die finale Art-Phase, wobei sowohl das \u00c4u\u00dfere als auch die bemannten Gesch\u00fctzt\u00fcrme kurz vor der Fertigstellung standen. Die Greybox-Phase wurde auch f\u00fcr die ferngesteuerten Gesch\u00fctzt\u00fcrme und das Fahrwerk abgeschlossen.\nWeitere Schiffe wurden auf den Hard-Surface-Shader umgestellt, um sie 'paint ready' zu machen, und die Abnutzung wurde betrachtet, um sie \u00fcber die gesamte Schiffslinie hinweg konsistent zu machen. Der \"Gold-Standard\"-Pass wurde f\u00fcr die Gladius fertiggestellt, und das Team ging zur Sabre \u00fcber.\nDas in den USA ans\u00e4ssige Team konzentrierte sich weiterhin auf die Tumbril Nova, insbesondere auf die Fertigstellung der Kunst an der Seite von Design, das an der Bewegung, den Trittfl\u00e4chen und dem Gesamterlebnis arbeitete. Sie arbeiteten auch mit Vehicle Tech, Vehicle Experience und QA zusammen, um sicherzustellen, dass der Panzer vor der Ver\u00f6ffentlichung dem Standard entspricht. Es wurden Fortschritte beim Constellation Taurus gemacht und Bugs f\u00fcr die Fahrzeuge, die in Alpha 3.13 kommen, ausgemerzt.\nKunst (Waffen)\nIm M\u00e4rz machte das Waffenteam Fortschritte bei der S7 Behring ballistischen Gatlingkanone, bevor es die Abschlussarbeiten und den Feinschliff f\u00fcr das montierte Gesch\u00fctz abschloss. Der MultiTool-Bergungsaufsatz und die Standalone-Werkzeuge durchliefen den ersten Blockout-Durchgang und wurden zu einem Entwicklungs-Build f\u00fcr fr\u00fche Tests hinzugef\u00fcgt. Die UltiFlex Novia wurde iteriert, wobei das Team das Rigging-Setup verbesserte und sicherstellte, dass es wie vorgesehen f\u00fcr die Animation funktioniert.\nVerschiedene andere Aufgaben wurden abgeschlossen, darunter die Unterst\u00fctzung f\u00fcr die S5-Kanone der Nova, Fehlerbehebung f\u00fcr Alpha 3.13 und Updates f\u00fcr den MedPen und andere Ger\u00e4te f\u00fcr das kommende medizinische Gameplay.\nAudio\nDen ganzen M\u00e4rz \u00fcber arbeitete das Audio Team an Inhalten und Features f\u00fcr Alpha 3.13 und unterst\u00fctzte einige kommende Trailer.\nAuf der Schiffsseite konzentrierten sie sich auf das UI und praktische SFX f\u00fcr das Andocken von Schiff zu Schiff und Schiff zu Station. Sie haben sich auch mit der Verbesserung des Ambientedesigns f\u00fcr alle verlassenen Schiffe besch\u00e4ftigt, nachdem sie an der neuen verlassenen Freelancer-Variante gearbeitet haben.\nDas Actor Features Team erstellte das Audio f\u00fcr die Push\/Pull-Mechanik des Trolleys und erstellte Foley und SFX f\u00fcr das Gameplay des montierten Gesch\u00fctzturms.\n\"Wir haben uns sehr darauf gefreut, am Nova-Panzer zu arbeiten und SFX f\u00fcr Fahrzeugbewegungen, bewegliche Teile, Gesch\u00fctzt\u00fcrme und seine bemerkenswerte Kanone zu entwerfen und zu implementieren!\" -Das Audio Team\nCommunity\nDas Community-Team begann den Monat mit der Ank\u00fcndigung der Schiffsbenennung und teilte den Artikel Schiffsbenennungsanleitung in der Wissensdatenbank, um sicherzustellen, dass die Spieler alle Informationen haben, die sie brauchen.\nF\u00fcr den Internationalen Frauentag am 8. M\u00e4rz wurden Mitarbeiter-Spotlights auf den sozialen Kan\u00e4len von Star Citizen und YouTube geteilt und Stella Fortuna mit dem Temp Fate Video Contest gefeiert. Ein Q&A wurde f\u00fcr den j\u00fcngsten Tumbril Cyclone MT ver\u00f6ffentlicht, ebenso wie ein Postmortem \u00fcber das erste dynamische Event der PU, XenoThreat.\n\nDas Team ver\u00f6ffentlichte au\u00dferdem eine Zusammenfassung des AMAs mit dem Character Tech Team und informierte \u00fcber bevorstehende Updates des Charakteranpassers und der Med Pens-Funktionalit\u00e4t sowie \u00fcber die neuen FPS-H\u00f6hlenmissionen. Neben einer Vielzahl an verschiedenen Aufgaben hat das Team auch die Arbeiten an der Konzeption des aktualisierten Community Hubs koordiniert, auf den sie sehr gespannt sind.\nEngine\nIm M\u00e4rz hat die Engine die Physikunterst\u00fctzung f\u00fcr mehrere Sonnensysteme hinzugef\u00fcgt. Ein neuer Gittertyp (GT_SOLARSYSTEM), der die Konfiguration des aktuellen Root-Gitters repliziert, wurde hinzugef\u00fcgt, zusammen mit der M\u00f6glichkeit, die Inside\/Outside Checks zu \u00fcberspringen, um es mehreren Instanzen solcher Gitter zu erm\u00f6glichen, sich zu \u00fcberlappen, ohne dass die Entit\u00e4ten zuf\u00e4llig zwischen ihnen wechseln. Um die Fehlersuche zu vereinfachen (was ohne eine visuelle Darstellung dessen, was in der physischen Welt passiert, schwierig sein kann), wurde ein einfaches Debug-Raytracing-Framework hinzugef\u00fcgt, um die Ergebnisse von Ray-World-Intersection (RWI)-Checks zu visualisieren. Dies war bereits sehr n\u00fctzlich und erm\u00f6glichte es dem Team, verschiedene Bugs schnell zu beheben. Das Team wird dies auch nutzen, um RWI im Allgemeinen zu optimieren, da es genau die Performance-Probleme aufdeckt, die sonst in den RWI-Abfragen des Spiels versteckt sind.\nIm M\u00e4rz wurden au\u00dferdem verschiedene Code-Optimierungen vorgenommen, darunter die Physikalisierung von Planeten, ray-bound Intersections und die Verwendung von Octrees f\u00fcr das Ray-Occlusion-Tracing. Des Weiteren wurde das Geschwindigkeitslimit f\u00fcr Explosionen und Schockwellen entfernt, Innenraumgitter k\u00f6nnen nun als CGFs gespeichert werden, um eine korrekte Instanzierung zu erm\u00f6glichen, und Unterst\u00fctzung f\u00fcr kinematische Teile (animierte Teile, die korrekte Geschwindigkeitssch\u00e4tzungen erhalten) wurde hinzugef\u00fcgt. Das Physics Team hat auch Zeit damit verbracht, Fehler zu beheben und Alpha 3.13 zu unterst\u00fctzen.\nDie Arbeit am G12 Renderer wurde fortgesetzt, wobei die interne Aufl\u00f6sungsskalierung und das Rendering mit nativer Aufl\u00f6sung \u00fcberarbeitet wurden. Der Rendergraph, der das Scheduling von Renderp\u00e4ssen und das damit verbundene Ressourcenmanagement steuert, wurde in den Hauptentwicklungszweig \u00fcberf\u00fchrt. Parallel dazu wurden weitere bestehende Features auf Gen12 portiert, wie z.B. emissive Lichter und Objektbewegungsunsch\u00e4rfe, und der Shader-Parser wurde in Teilen refaktorisiert, um eine schnellere Verarbeitung zu erm\u00f6glichen (insbesondere f\u00fcr die Verfolgung von Code-Abh\u00e4ngigkeiten).\nDas Engineering hat im letzten Monat gro\u00dfe Fortschritte bei den volumetrischen Wolken gemacht, wobei die Unterst\u00fctzung f\u00fcr Tint hinzugef\u00fcgt wurde, um mehr Flexibilit\u00e4t auf der Art-Seite beim Einf\u00e4rben von Wolken f\u00fcr exotische Planeten zu erm\u00f6glichen. Die Multi-Scatter-L\u00f6sung erhielt auch verschiedene subtile Verbesserungen, darunter die Ber\u00fccksichtigung der optischen Tiefe einer Atmosph\u00e4re entlang der Schattenstrahlen. Die Wolkenformung wurde weiter verbessert, um ein besseres Gef\u00fchl f\u00fcr das lokale Volumen zu vermitteln, w\u00e4hrend die Unterst\u00fctzung f\u00fcr die Schattenverfeinerung hinzugef\u00fcgt wurde, um weiter zu den Details der Wolken beizutragen. Neben diesen visuellen Verbesserungen wurden erste Optimierungen implementiert, um den Raymarching-Prozess zu beschleunigen, und die Implementierung eines effizienten Leerraum-Skipping-Schemas hat begonnen.\nAuf der Seite der Core-Engine wurde mehr Arbeit an der Performance-Analyse und Regression geleistet. Der In-Engine-Profiler erhielt verschiedene Verbesserungen, darunter die M\u00f6glichkeit, die erfassten Samples nach ihrer jeweiligen Funktion zu gruppieren. Das Team hat auch damit begonnen, die aktuelle UI-L\u00f6sung f\u00fcr die Postmortem-Performance-Analyse basierend auf den erfassten Performance-Telemetriedaten zu ersetzen. Es wurden Python-Skripte geschrieben, um Leistungstests auszuf\u00fchren und entsprechende Berichte zu erstellen. Zus\u00e4tzlich wurde die Threading-Logik \u00fcberarbeitet, um die Leistung weiter zu verbessern und das Jobsystem nutzt nun spezielle APIs, die mit Windows 8.1 und Windows 10 eingef\u00fchrt wurden (Windows 7 funktioniert noch, profitiert aber nicht davon), um ein deutlich verbessertes Aufwachen der Jobs zu erm\u00f6glichen und um Konflikte im Thread des Fasersystems zu vermeiden. Dies macht sich besonders auf CPUs mit einer signifikanten Anzahl von Kernen bemerkbar und wird in Alpha 3.13 ausgerollt werden. Der Entity Component Update Scheduler erhielt einen Profiler und GUI sowie verschiedene Optimierungen.\nZu guter Letzt wurde die Sprachunterst\u00fctzung f\u00fcr C++17 aktiviert und ein Performanceproblem bei der Codegenerierung in MSVC in Bezug auf das Verhalten bei der Initialisierung des lokalen Speichers von Threads behoben.\nFeatures (Charaktere & Waffen)\nDas Charakter-Features-Team hat die Aktualisierungsh\u00e4ufigkeit bestimmter Charakterkomponenten basierend auf ihrer Entfernung zu den Spielern reduziert. Dies wurde durch die \u00c4nderungen m\u00f6glich, die das Engine-Team Anfang des Jahres an der zugrunde liegenden Aktualisierungslogik vorgenommen hat. Eine Komponente kann nun angewiesen werden, jedes zweite Bild (oder jedes n-te Bild) zu aktualisieren, und wenn sie dies tut, wird sie dar\u00fcber informiert, wie viel Zeit seit der letzten Aktualisierung verstrichen ist. Fr\u00fche Prototypen deuten darauf hin, dass die Verwendung der verstrichenen Zeit anstelle der Frame-Zeit eine \u00fcberraschend fr\u00fche Reduzierung der Aktualisierungsh\u00e4ufigkeit der Zustandslogik des Charakters erm\u00f6glicht (solange die visuellen Updates des Charakters bei einer Frequenz pro Frame bleiben). Wie bei jeder Optimierung, wird dies derzeit vor der Implementierung getestet.\nEin wichtiges Feature, das im M\u00e4rz entwickelt wurde, war die Push-and-Pull-Mechanik des Trolleys, bei der die Spieler bewegliche Requisiten greifen und sie herumschieben oder ziehen k\u00f6nnen. Die Actor- und Physics-Teams haben eng zusammengearbeitet, um die Steuerung und das Gef\u00fchl beim Bewegen dieser gr\u00f6\u00dferen Requisiten zu verbessern, wobei das Gewicht der Requisite, das Gewicht der darauf geladenen Ladung und die Oberfl\u00e4che, auf der sie sich befinden, das Handling und Verhalten beeinflussen. Die Eingaben des Spielers erzeugen Beschleunigungsanforderungen an die Requisite und der Spielercharakter versucht mit der Requisite Schritt zu halten, w\u00e4hrend sie sich bewegt. Wenn der Input gr\u00f6\u00dfer ist als die tats\u00e4chliche Bewegung, lehnt sich der Spielercharakter in die St\u00fctze, um die zus\u00e4tzliche Anstrengung zu zeigen. Die R\u00e4der werden physisch als eine gebundene Kugel simuliert, wobei ein modelliertes Rad sich mit der Bewegung der Kugel synchronisiert, um Nachlauf und Reifen prozedural zu drehen.\n\n\nFeatures (Gameplay)\nDas Gameplay Features Team verbrachte den M\u00e4rz damit, Features f\u00fcr die Alpha 3.13 vorzubereiten, kritische Bugs zu beheben und zuk\u00fcnftige Initiativen zu planen.\nDas in den USA ans\u00e4ssige Team arbeitete weiter an zwei neuen mobiGlas-Features: der Reputation System App und dem Asset Manager. Die Ingenieure finalisierten den TDD f\u00fcr den Asset Manager und begannen mit der Erstellung des \"Providers\", der einen Gro\u00dfteil der Anwendungslogik verwalten wird. In der Zwischenzeit beendete das Design den Feinschliff und die Fehlerbehebung f\u00fcr die Reputationssystem-App, die nun als Delphi bekannt ist und mit Alpha 3.13 auf den Markt kommen wird.\nIn den USA hat das Team weiter an der Planung f\u00fcr den bevorstehenden Refactor der Fracht gearbeitet, mit dem Ziel, die im Grid enthaltene Fracht zu physisieren. Dieser Refactor ist ziemlich umfangreich, da das Fracht- und Warensystem mit mehreren anderen Bereichen verwoben ist. Das Team wird auch den Warenkiosk von Flash zu Building Blocks konvertieren und ihn mit dem Asset Manager verbinden. Fortschritte wurden auch beim n\u00e4chsten dynamischen Event gemacht, das sich nun in der Endphase der Implementierung befindet. Die Ingenieure haben die letzten Bugs behoben, w\u00e4hrend sich die Designer auf die Audiointegration und den Feinschliff konzentriert haben.\nFeatures (Mission & Live-Inhalte)\nNeben den Inhalten f\u00fcr die kommenden Events arbeitete das Features-Team an einem neuen Sicherheitssystem, das es erm\u00f6glicht zu erkennen, wenn ein Spieler einen Ort betritt, f\u00fcr den er keine Erlaubnis hat. Dies erm\u00f6glicht es der KI, entsprechend zu handeln, ohne dem Spieler eine CrimeStat geben zu m\u00fcssen.\nSie begannen auch mit der Arbeit an Features f\u00fcr Q2 und dar\u00fcber hinaus, einschlie\u00dflich der neuen Starfarer und Caterpillar Wracks, die in den zeitlich begrenzten Liefermissionen der Alpha 3.13 verwendet werden, und implementierten FPS-H\u00f6hlenmissionen und neue Harvestables. Au\u00dferdem wurden die Orte f\u00fcr Weltraumkampfmissionen rund um Crusader vervierfacht und der Fortschritt am Pyro-System fortgesetzt.\nFeatures (Fahrzeuge)\nIm M\u00e4rz hat das Vehicle Features Team Fortschritte beim Andocken gemacht. Das Andocken von Merlin an die Konstellation ist gr\u00f6\u00dftenteils abgeschlossen, wobei sich das Team mit Bugs und dem Feedback der Evocati-Tests besch\u00e4ftigt. Der letzte Schritt beinhaltete die Fertigstellung der Physik, wie sich die Schiffe verbinden.\nDas Team hat das Luftverkehrskontrollsystem stark \u00fcberarbeitet und teilweise neu geschrieben, um die Andockarme zu ber\u00fccksichtigen, die beim Andocken von Schiff zu Station verwendet werden. Die Andockarme sind nun vollst\u00e4ndig in die Stationskontrolle integriert und profitieren von allen Funktionen der Luftverkehrskontrolle, wie z.B. das Herumlungern in der N\u00e4he von Stationen, das Spawnen und Despawnen von Schiffen und das Rufen zum Andocken \u00fcber das Comms-Men\u00fc.\nEs wurden auch \u00c4nderungen vorgenommen, um die Andockarme mit den prozeduralen Universumswerkzeugen abzustimmen, die zum Erstellen von Basen und Raumstationen verwendet werden. Es wurde auch daran gearbeitet, das Andocken mit anderen Gameplay-Systemen zu integrieren, wie z.B. Personal Inner Thought, so dass Spieler das Andocken mit dem Interaktionsrad initiieren k\u00f6nnen. Zuletzt wurden f\u00fcr das Andocken eine gro\u00dfe Anzahl von Edge Cases bearbeitet, um sicherzustellen, dass es so poliert wie m\u00f6glich ist. Zum Beispiel verursachte der Constellation-Quant, der sich bewegte, w\u00e4hrend der Merlin andockte, dass der Merlin stecken blieb, und Spieler, die den Merlin verlie\u00dfen, w\u00e4hrend er an eine sich bewegende Constellation angedockt war, verursachten, dass der Spieler ins All fiel.\nDie Entwicklung der Thruster-Boden-VFX, die im Bericht des letzten Monats erw\u00e4hnt wurde, wurde fortgesetzt. Dies wurde seitdem verbessert und erweitert, wobei das Team an aerodynamischen Wirbelschleppeneffekten arbeitete, die Staub aufwirbeln, wenn Schiffe mit hoher Geschwindigkeit in Bodenn\u00e4he geflogen werden. Der Fokus lag auf dem 3D-Rendering innerhalb der MFD-Bildschirme, um dem Team mehr M\u00f6glichkeiten zu geben, die MFDs zu bauen, die sie wollen.\nSchlie\u00dflich machte der Refactor der Raketenf\u00fchrung und -steuerung gro\u00dfe Fortschritte, wobei die Raketen in den letzten Playtests viel vorhersehbarer flogen.\nGrafik & VFX Programmierung\nDas Grafikteam hat Anfang M\u00e4rz damit verbracht, Bugs zu beheben. Zum Beispiel hatte das Render To Texture (RTT) System kein festes Speicherbudget und war davon abh\u00e4ngig, wie es vom Spiel genutzt wurde. Dies konnte jedoch manchmal zu Out-of-Memory-Problemen f\u00fchren, vor allem wenn man mit h\u00f6heren Aufl\u00f6sungen spielte. Jetzt ist die Speicherreserve f\u00fcr das RTT-System an die Bildschirmaufl\u00f6sung gekoppelt, da h\u00f6her aufgel\u00f6ste Ausgaben h\u00f6her aufgel\u00f6ste Zwischentexturen ben\u00f6tigen. Wenn das feste Budget \u00fcberschritten wird, werden die RTTs nun dynamisch heruntergerechnet, bis sie passen, was die Stabilit\u00e4t in extremen Szenarien gew\u00e4hrleistet.\nSie begannen auch mit der Planung f\u00fcr den \u00dcbergang zum Gen12 Renderer, um besser zu verstehen, wann jeder Meilenstein geliefert wird, um die Balance der Mitarbeiter zu bestimmen, die an dem \u00dcbergang, den Features und den Bugs arbeiten.\nDas VFX Programming Team teilte die Zeit zwischen Bugs, Feuer, SDF Schilden und Partikelbeleuchtung auf. Das Feuer-Feature ist eine langfristige Aufgabe, wobei der aktuelle Fokus auf der Ausbreitung des Feuers zwischen R\u00e4umen, dem Licht-Spawning und der Reparatur liegt. Die erste Iteration der SDF-Schilde wurde f\u00fcr die Ver\u00f6ffentlichung vorbereitet. Das kommende Update verbessert den Gl\u00fcheffekt und die Funktionsweise der 'Shaping'-Technologie, die daf\u00fcr verantwortlich ist, die Aufpralleffekte um die Kr\u00fcmmung des Rumpfes zu wickeln. Die Partikelbeleuchtung ist ein neues Modell, das eine h\u00f6here Qualit\u00e4t und konsistentere und physikalisch plausible Ergebnisse liefert.\nBeleuchtung\nIm letzten Monat unterst\u00fctzte das Lighting Team das kommende Docking Feature und sorgte f\u00fcr einzigartige Stimmungen f\u00fcr die R&R Raumstationen und die eher milit\u00e4risch gepr\u00e4gten Sicherheitsdocks. Die Arbeit am Andockarm wurde fortgesetzt, einschlie\u00dflich Prototyp-Animationen f\u00fcr die Lichter, wenn der Arm aus- und einf\u00e4hrt.\n\n\n\n\nSie unterst\u00fctzten auch die Alpha 3.13 mit Bugfixing, Optimierungen an den nicht-kommerziellen Raumstations-Overlays und neuen H\u00f6hleneing\u00e4ngen. Unterst\u00fctzung erhielt das UI-Team auch f\u00fcr das neue Ruf-Interface auf dem mobiGlas.\nDie Arbeit an den Krankenh\u00e4usern f\u00fcr Orison und New Babbage wurde ebenfalls fortgesetzt, wobei das Team eng mit Environment Art und Design an den Lobbys, dem Apothekenladen, den einzelnen Etagen und den Aufwachr\u00e4umen zusammenarbeitete.\n\n\n\n\n\nNarrative\nNarrative's March begann mit einem kleinen Motion-Capture-Dreh, dem ersten seit dem Beginn der Pandemie, um einige Charaktere f\u00fcr die kommenden Ereignisse aufzunehmen. Mitglieder des in LA ans\u00e4ssigen Teams arbeiteten aus der Ferne, um Anweisungen zu geben und mit den Animatoren, Capture-Spezialisten, dem Audio-Team und den Schauspielern zusammenzuarbeiten, die sich am Set in Manchester, Gro\u00dfbritannien, befanden.\nSie leisteten allgemeinen Support f\u00fcr die Alpha 3.13, indem sie sich um Missionskorrekturen k\u00fcmmerten und Namen und Beschreibungen f\u00fcr die verschiedenen neuen Gegenst\u00e4nde hinzuf\u00fcgten. Au\u00dferdem arbeiteten sie mit den Missionsteams an kommenden Inhalten, einschlie\u00dflich zuk\u00fcnftiger Events, allgemeiner Missionen und einer Voice-over-Session f\u00fcr zuk\u00fcnftige Orte.\nEs gab auch mehrere Lore-Ver\u00f6ffentlichungen auf der Webseite, darunter die Wiederver\u00f6ffentlichung des Portfolios f\u00fcr den R\u00fcstungshersteller Caldera, die letzte Folge von Sid & Cyrus, eine weitere Folge von OP.Net, neue Galactapedia-Eintr\u00e4ge und die 100. Ausgabe von Jump Point. Mitglieder des Narrative Teams traten auch bei Star Citizen Live f\u00fcr eine Lore Builders Episode auf, in der sie eine der Outlaw Fraktionen in Pyro mit Hilfe der Community aufbauten.\nSpieler Beziehungen\nIm M\u00e4rz stellte das Player Relations Team zus\u00e4tzliche Mitarbeiter ein, um die wachsenden Bed\u00fcrfnisse des Service und der Backer-Basis zu unterst\u00fctzen. Sie arbeiteten au\u00dferdem an der Namensgebung f\u00fcr Schiffe und f\u00fchrten jede Nacht Evocati PTU-Tests f\u00fcr Alpha 3.13 durch.\nRequisiten\nIm M\u00e4rz unterst\u00fctzten die Requisiten mehrere Standorte, einschlie\u00dflich Kolonialismus-Au\u00dfenposten, wobei einige Assets in die Greybox gingen. Der Greybox-Pass begann auch f\u00fcr Krankenh\u00e4user, einschlie\u00dflich des Bettes und der Trage, die einen gro\u00dfen Teil des Gameplay-Erlebnisses ausmachen werden.\nAu\u00dferdem arbeiteten sie eng mit AI Content und AI Features zusammen, um die Template-Geometrie f\u00fcr neue Feature-Usables, wie den Ladenbesitzer und den Touristen, zu erstellen und eine gro\u00dfe Anzahl von Bugs zu beheben.\nQA\nDas Hauptaugenmerk des britischen Teams lag auf der Vorbereitung der Alpha 3.13 f\u00fcr die Ver\u00f6ffentlichung, was die Ver\u00f6ffentlichung mehrerer Builds f\u00fcr Evocati-Tests und die Sicherstellung, dass alle von Spielern gemeldeten Probleme ordnungsgem\u00e4\u00df in JIRA dokumentiert wurden, beinhaltete. Au\u00dferdem wurden die Tests f\u00fcr einige kommende Features und Events fortgesetzt.\nIn Frankfurt unterst\u00fctzte die QA weiterhin die Feature-Teams. F\u00fcr die KI f\u00fchrten sie weiterhin Sanity Checks f\u00fcr die PU durch und testeten neue Orte. Die Anfragen von Entwicklern nahmen zu, da das Team Probleme reproduzierte und untersuchte und gleichzeitig Feedback \u00fcber den allgemeinen Zustand der KI gab.\nDer Fokus der Entwickler verlagerte sich auf Server-Stresstests und Tests mit minimalen PC-Spezifikationen, um die allgemeine Stabilit\u00e4t des Spiels zu verbessern. Die QA arbeitete zusammen mit dem Tools-Team an den fortlaufenden Tests von DataForge, StarWords, ExcelCore und dem Sandbox-Editor. Au\u00dferdem wurde mit der Arbeit an einem neuen Tool begonnen, das der QA eine proaktivere Herangehensweise an das Testen erm\u00f6glichen wird.\nSystemische Dienste & Tools\nDas Systemic Services and Tools Team hat verschiedene Ressourcen f\u00fcr die \u00f6ffentliche Pr\u00e4sentation von Quantum weiterentwickelt. Im Bereich der Dienste wurde der letzte Schliff am AI Info Service vorgenommen, der direkt mit Quantum und verschiedenen anderen Diensten verkn\u00fcpft ist. Die Entwicklung neuer Dienste wurde ernsthaft vorangetrieben, insbesondere die Entwicklung neuer NPC-Spawning- und ATC-Service-Systeme. Es wurden auch allgemeine Upgrades an verschiedenen Tools und Systemen vorgenommen, um den Entwicklern einen einfacheren Arbeitsablauf zu erm\u00f6glichen.\nTechnische Animation\nDer Gro\u00dfteil des Tech Animation Teams hat den letzten Monat damit verbracht, die hauseigene Gesichts-Pipeline zu \u00fcberarbeiten. Das Ziel ist eine schnellere und intuitivere Herangehensweise an das FACS Mimik-Authoring f\u00fcr die komplizierten Gesichtssysteme, wobei ein Teil davon die Smooth Skinning Decomposition Technologie aus der F&E des letzten Monats beinhalten wird.\nSie pflegten und triagierten Assets aus mehreren anderen Abteilungen, um sicherzustellen, dass die Projektstruktur, Builds und Animationssysteme in einem stabilen Zustand gehalten werden, und halfen beim Authoring und der Verfeinerung einiger Kopf- und K\u00f6rper-Assets, damit die Animationsteams direkt in Maya arbeiten k\u00f6nnen. Schlie\u00dflich wurden Assets fertiggestellt, die als Grundlage f\u00fcr die Entwicklung verschiedener Kreaturen dienen werden.\nTurbulent\nTurbulent Game Services hat weiter am Server Meshing gearbeitet und dabei weitere Teammitglieder an Bord geholt. Sie lieferten auch die erste Demo eines Flottenmanagementsystems, das derzeit auf internen Entwicklungsumgebungen eingesetzt wird. Der Konfigurationsdienst, der f\u00fcr die Verteilung der Clientkonfigurationen an die Spielclients verantwortlich ist, wurde ebenfalls fertiggestellt.\nDas Team unterst\u00fctzte die bevorstehende Ver\u00f6ffentlichung der Alpha 3.13 und f\u00fcgte insbesondere dem Rufdienst neue Funktionen hinzu, wie z.B. die M\u00f6glichkeit, Spieler zu benachrichtigen, wenn sich ihr Ruf \u00e4ndert, sowie den Ruf anzusehen, zu sperren und zu entsperren und den Rufverlauf einzusehen. Au\u00dferdem wurden die Dienste getestet, um sie f\u00fcr die kommende Version zu validieren.\nIn diesem Monat hat das Live Tools Team die Arbeit an der Pipeline zur Behandlung von Abst\u00fcrzen fortgesetzt, mit Korrekturen an Sentry und der Jira-Verkn\u00fcpfung, und einen Monitor erstellt, der den 'elasticsearch'-Stream auf Fehler \u00fcberwacht und diese in Sentry einspeist. Sie erstellten auch Software zur Unterst\u00fctzung der Tools, die vom Location Team in Montreal entwickelt wurden und erstellten Code, damit das Hex-Gateway mit den Diffusion Game Services sprechen kann.\nUI\nDas UI Tech Team unterst\u00fctzte die Arbeit anderer Teams an der Benutzeroberfl\u00e4che der Reputations-App, indem sie neue Funktionen hinzuf\u00fcgten und Fehler behoben, wie es n\u00f6tig war. Sie arbeiteten an mehreren kleinen, aber wichtigen Features, wie Textformatierung und Tooltips, die in der zuk\u00fcnftigen UI verwendet werden. Sie entwickelten auch die zugrundeliegende Technologie f\u00fcr die neuen Kartensysteme weiter und portierten einige \u00e4ltere UI auf Building Blocks, um die Zukunftssicherheit und Performance zu verbessern.\nDie K\u00fcnstler traten in die Vorproduktionsphase f\u00fcr die kommende medizinische UI ein, mit visuellen Zielkonzepten, die abgesegnet wurden und funktionalen Prototypen, die im April in die volle Produktion gehen. Die UI wurde auch f\u00fcr das Radar- und Scan-Gameplay (sowohl in Fahrzeugen als auch zu Fu\u00df) poliert.\nFahrzeugtechnik\nDen ganzen M\u00e4rz \u00fcber hat das Vehicle Technical Team das Update des Radar-Scansystems vorangetrieben und sich dabei auf den \"Ping\" konzentriert, um das Auffinden von entfernten Objekten zu einem befriedigenderen Erlebnis zu machen. UI- und VFX-Elemente werden derzeit implementiert. Die Fortbewegung und die Lauffl\u00e4chenbewegung des Tumbril Nova wurden \u00fcberarbeitet, um sicherzustellen, dass er sich auf allen Planeten angemessen \"tanky\" anf\u00fchlt.\nEin Projekt, das sicherstellt, dass das Schiffsfahrwerk in allen Bereichen des Spiels richtig funktioniert, steht kurz vor dem Abschluss. Dies beinhaltete die korrekte Synchronisation der Fahrwerke mit dem Server, um sicherzustellen, dass sie in allen Nicht-Flug-Szenarien richtig funktionieren. Au\u00dferdem wurden mehrere Aufgaben f\u00fcr die Alpha 3.13 abgeschlossen, um den Start so reibungslos und fesselnd wie m\u00f6glich zu gestalten.\nVFX\nIm M\u00e4rz hat VFX die SDF Schildaufprall-Effekte vor ihrer Ver\u00f6ffentlichung verfeinert und optimiert.\n\"Dies war eine echte Teamleistung, bei der VFX-Programmierer, K\u00fcnstler und QA alle zusammenarbeiteten, um dieses wichtige Feature fertigzustellen.\" -The VFX Team\nEs wurden Effekte f\u00fcr die Tumbril Nova erstellt, einschlie\u00dflich ihrer Hauptwaffe. Dazu geh\u00f6rte das Prototyping eines subtilen Schockwelleneffekts, der lose Oberfl\u00e4chenmaterie auf dem Boden und auf dem Fahrzeug selbst verdr\u00e4ngt. Dieser Prototyp wird es zwar nicht rechtzeitig zur Ver\u00f6ffentlichung des Panzers schaffen, aber die Vorarbeit wird sich als n\u00fctzlich f\u00fcr eine Vielzahl anderer Effekte erweisen, die physikalische Schockwellen nutzen. Die Effekte des Crusader Hercule wurden ebenfalls im M\u00e4rz fertiggestellt.\nAu\u00dferdem wurde an einem Prototyp f\u00fcr Triebwerkswindvolumeneffekte gearbeitet, die es den Fahrzeugtriebwerken erlauben, besser mit loser Oberfl\u00e4chenmaterie auf Planeten und anderen Orten zu interagieren, um den Triebwerken ein st\u00e4rkeres Gef\u00fchl zu geben, wenn sie an Orten mit Schwerkraft schweben.\nWIR SEHEN UNS N\u00c4CHSTEN MONAT...","zh_CN":"With Alpha 3.13 on the horizon, this month\u2019s report naturally deals with the final steps and polishing tasks completed just before the patch releases. However, work continued in earnest on content coming next quarter and beyond, so read on to for all the details on everything done throughout March.\n\nAI (Content)\nMarch\u2019s report starts with the AI Content Team, who spent part of the month working on the engineer behavior, including improving the usable split of the Mannequin tags coming from the use channel and the objects it interacts with.\nOn-foot security, tourist, and tour guide activities were further developed too. The bed bunks behavior progressed, with the team working towards a better abstraction of bed shutter usage and investigating how to support bed sheets when characters are sleeping. Kick-offs to define the medic, illegal goods dealer, deck crew, and janitor behaviors were done too.\nSpecifically for the PU, AI Content completed the first pass on the hawker behavior and began modifying the kiosk setup to replace the old activities.\n\u201cOur goal is to quickly push through some of the content we can already exploit in Star Citizen based on the existing scenario and allow the players to experience a more interactive environment.\u201d -The AI Content Team\nAI (Features)\nMarch saw AI Features complete the first pass on subcomponent targeting. This is now integrated into the main game-dev branch and will initially improve the behavior used when smaller vessels attack capital ships, allowing for more effective element targeting, complex attack patterns, and tactics.\nThe pilot security behavior was also restructured and extended. This is used, among other things, when security spaceships validate illegal content inside ships. Alongside creating a better structured and more scalable activity, it allows the security pilot to request the target surrender and handle different player behaviors. The pilot will also continue to request that the player surrenders during combat, allowing players to end the conflict and be arrested. They also worked to allow AI pilots to correctly dock at any supported location. This functionality is similar to landing, as it allows ships to navigate close to the collar and then perform a docking maneuver.\n\nThe eat and drink behavior was further developed, particularly \u2018chowline\u2019 usage. In addition to cleaning up the chowline, eating, and drinking animations, the team improved the drinking behavior to make taking a cup a separate action. Plus, the exit animations are now split between taking the tray and exiting the tables so that multiple actions can be performed from specific bounce poses.\nThe surrender and cowering behaviors used by both trained and untrained agents progressed. This is used in hostile scenarios when NPCs are unable to fight back, are overwhelmed, or don\u2019t have the tools for combat and prioritize preserving their lives.\nOn the Subsumption-logic side, several new tasks were introduced, including: HasAnyTagInTagSelection: Evaluates whether an object has tags under specific parent tags\n\nBroadcastInMyActionAreas: Propagates an event in the action areas the agent is contained\n\nMergeMannequinTags: Takes two Mannequin tags variables and merges them into one\n\n\nThey also supported Alpha 3.13 with bug fixes and optimization, including issues causing slow NPC reactions and pilot security to complete flight activity too early.\n\n\nAI (Tech)\nThroughout March, AI Tech progressed with EVA, creating tech to allow characters to calculate 3D paths and systemically transition out of ships into space.\nLast year, code was introduced to give a hierarchical structure to the Subsumption mastergraph, which allows the team to create a state machine that describes the mental state of an NPC and preserves it across multiple activities. For example, surviving in a zero-g environment requires an NPC to have specific knowledge and handle requests differently from when on foot or piloting a ship. The team are utilizing this functionality to allow a better structure for the mastergraph and handle all states with fewer transitions. This groundwork will ultimately provide a better systemic transition into and out of zero-g environments.\nImprovements were also made to the navigation links that describe the external linking of navigation mesh triangles (essentially, two disconnected triangles connect and become traversable using animation, explicit locomotion linkage, etc.). In doing so, the NavigationLink component was simplified to allow the explicit instantiation of extensions that can use different types of data to create external links. They currently have support for the following scenarios: Explicit offsets that can be used to customize enter\/exit locations for doors\n\nAnimation-driven traversal, such as an animation used to vault over an object or jump up and down\n\n\nThe AI Team began extending the melee system to improve the definition of combo attacks. The goal was to avoid using explicit Mannequin transitions between states to reduce complexity in the setup, since they know the exact flow allowed between melee attacks. To achieve this, they introduced an automatic way to calculate the Mannequin tag of the transitioning attack so that the structure is more straightforward. This also makes it easier to test chaining animations, ensuring poses perfectly match and that timing is easily adjusted.\nFor patrol tech, \u2018hot reload\u2019 was implemented. This means the Subsumption logic edits associated with a path are automatically reloaded in the editor, giving the designers immediate feedback on-screen that they can quickly iterate on. The logic will also be validated if data changes without the editor running. During level loading, the saved data attempts to match with the current updated logic too.\nThe team also spent time refactoring the usable code to better calculate usable-attached Mannequin tags related to items they want to manipulate. The code is now split to propagate the tags associated with the usable and the use channel, including the one coming from the tool. Once calculated, they\u2019re merged and passed into the animation request to select the appropriate animation.\nThe unification of the usables and operator seats flow continued, which now only uses two blocks in the movement plan for the usable component. The actor state machine communicates the different states with the component, such as entering a seat or starting idle, which is then propagated and evaluated to understand when to consider the success for entering and exiting the usable.\nFor the communication system, AI Content fixed the automatic creation of group channels based on the target of dialogue. This allows them to control who is allowed to talk to a specific target to avoid overlapping when the \u2018Group\u2019 channel type is specified. They also improved the system allowing communication context to override silence on a specific channel. This gives designers more granular control over the pacing of voice lines used by AI to communicate readability of their actions.\n\nAnimation\nMarch saw the Animation Team create sets for tourists and tour guides and make plans for creatures. On the facial side, a mo-cap shoot was done for an upcoming event and the pipeline was improved for the mo-cap select tool.\nArt (Characters)\nThe Character Art Team progressed with refinery decks, assets for Orison, and NPC outfits for Alpha 3.14\u2019s hospitals. A new mining-themed set for an upcoming patch is nearing completion, while armor for Alpha 3.15 moved through the pipeline. Research and development also began for armor props and interiors in support of the physicalized inventory. This involves refactoring old armor sets to add interiors and setting up the tech to allow armor sets to exist as standalone objects that can be carried by the player.\nArt (Environment)\nAlongside support for Alpha 3.13, the Modular Team moved the colonial outposts from whitebox to greybox, with gameplay considerations and functionality being added to the various modules. The new docking arms and lobbies were also finalized and will be live in an upcoming event.\nThe Landing Zone Team progressed with Orison, with the new cloud tech enabling stunning vistas above the Crusader gas cloud. Work on the platforms is nearing completion, with final polish currently being completed. The latest iteration of the exhibition halls was finished too.\n\nThe Organics Team finalized the new cave entrances, produced new flora for the Orison habitation platforms, and supported the gas cloud tech needed for Crusader.\nArt (Ships)\nIn the UK, the Ship Team wrapped up the majority of the Crusader Hercules, with only the A2\u2019s bomb release mechanism requiring further attention. An as-yet-unannounced ship continued through the final art phase, with only one interior area and an exterior polish and damage pass to go. March saw the Aegis Redeemer progress through the final art phase, with the exterior and manned turrets both nearing completion. The greybox phase was finished for the remote turrets and landing gear too.\nMore ships were converted to the hard-surface shader to make them \u2018paint ready,\u2019 and wear and tear was looked at to make it consistent across the ship line-up. The \u2018gold-standard\u2019 pass was completed for the Gladius, with the team moving onto the Sabre.\nThe US-based team continued to focus on the Tumbril Nova, specifically finishing the art alongside Design who worked on movement, treads, and the overall experience. They also worked alongside Vehicle Tech, Vehicle Experience, and QA to ensure the tank is up to standard before release. Progress was made on the Constellation Taurus and bugs were squashed for the vehicles coming in Alpha 3.13.\nArt (Weapons)\nMarch saw the Weapons Team progress with the S7 Behring ballistic Gatling gun before completing close-out work and polishing for the mounted-gun asset. The MultiTool salvage attachment and standalone tools went through the first-pass block out and were added to a development build for early testing. The UltiFlex Novia was iterated on, with the team improving the rigging setup and making sure it was working as intended for Animation.\nSeveral other tasks were completed, including support for the Nova\u2019s S5 cannon, bug fixing for Alpha 3.13, and updates to the MedPen and other devices for the upcoming medical gameplay.\nAudio\nThroughout March, the Audio Team worked on content and features for Alpha 3.13 alongside supporting some upcoming trailers.\nOn the ship side, they focused on the UI and practical SFX for ship-to-ship and ship-to-station docking. They also looked into improving ambience design across all derelict ships following work on the new derelict Freelancer variant.\nThe Actor Features Team created audio for the trolley push\/pull mechanic and crafted Foley and SFX for the mounted turret gameplay.\n\u201cWe have been very excited to be working on the Nova tank, designing and implementing SFX for vehicle movement, moving parts, turrets, and it\u2019s notable cannon!\u201d -The Audio Team\nCommunity\nThe Community Team started the month with the Ship Naming Announcement, sharing the Ship Naming Guide article on the Knowledge Base to ensure players had all the information they needed.\nFor International Women\u2019s Day on March 8, they shared employee spotlights on Star Citizen\u2019s social channels and YouTube, and celebrated Stella Fortuna with the Temp Fate Video Contest. A Q&A was published for the recent Tumbril Cyclone MT, as was a Postmortem on the PU\u2019s first dynamic event, XenoThreat.\n\nThe team also published a recap of the AMA with the Character Tech Team and detailed upcoming updates to the character customizer and Med Pens functionality and the new FPS Cave Missions. Alongside a variety of miscellaneous tasks, the team has been coordinating efforts on concepting the updated Community Hub which they are very excited about.\nEngine\nIn March, Engineering added physics support for multiple solar systems. A new grid type (GT_SOLARSYSTEM) that replicates the configuration of the current root grid was added along with the ability to skip the inside\/outside checks to allow multiple instances of such grids to overlap without entities randomly transitioning between them. To ease debugging (which can be difficult without a visual representation of what\u2019s going on in the physical world), a simple debug raytracing framework was added to visualize the results of ray world intersection (RWI) checks. This has been hugely useful already and allowed the team to fix various bugs quickly. The team will also be using this to optimize RWI in general as it accurately uncovers performance issues otherwise hidden in the game\u2019s RWI queries.\nMarch also saw various code optimizations, including the physicalization of planets, ray-bound intersections, and using octrees for ray-occlusion tracing. Furthermore, the velocity limit for explosions and shockwaves was removed, interior grids can now be saved as CGFs to allow proper instancing, and support for kinematic parts (animated parts that get proper velocity estimates) was added. The Physics Team also spent time bug fixing and supporting Alpha 3.13.\nWork on the G12 renderer continued, with internal resolution scaling and native resolution rendering being reworked. The render graph that controls the scheduling of render passes and associated resource management was merged into the main development branch. Alongside this, more existing features were ported to Gen12, such as emissive lights and object motion blur, and the shader parser was refactored in parts to allow for faster processing (especially for code dependency tracking).\nEngineering made great progress with volumetric clouds last month, with tint support being added to allow more flexibility on the art side when coloring clouds for exotic planets. The multi-scatter solution also received various subtle improvements, including taking an atmosphere\u2019s optical depth along shadow rays into account. Cloud shaping was further improved to provide a better sense of local volume, while support for shadow refinement was added to further contribute to cloud detail. Alongside these visual improvements, initial optimizations were implemented to speed up the raymarching process, and the implementation of an efficient empty space skipping scheme has begun.\nOn the core-engine side, more work was done on performance analysis and regression. The in-engine profiler received various improvements, including the ability to group samples captured by their respective function. The team also started to look into replacing their current UI solution for postmortem performance analysis based on captured performance telemetry data. Python scripts were written to run performance tests and write corresponding reports. Additionally, the threading logic was refactored to further improve performance and the job system now utilizes specific APIs introduced with Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 (Windows 7 still works but won\u2019t benefit) to allow for much-improved waking of jobs and preventing contention in the fiber system thread. This is particularly noticeable on CPUs with a significant number of cores and will be rolled out in Alpha 3.13. The entity component update scheduler received a profiler and GUI as well as various optimizations.\nFinally, C++17 language support was enabled and a performance issue with code generation in MSVC with regards to thread local storage initialization behavior was addressed.\nFeatures (Characters & Weapons)\nThe Character Features Team reduced the update frequency of certain character components based on their distance from players. This was possible due to the changes made to the underlying update logic by the Engine Team earlier this year. A component can now be told to update every other frame (or every nth frame) and, when it does, it\u2019s informed of how much time has elapsed since the last update. Early prototypes suggest using elapsed rather than frame time allows for a surprisingly early reduction in update frequency of the character state logic (as long as the character visual updates remain at a per-frame frequency). As with any optimization, this is currently being tested before implementation.\nOne key feature developed in March was the trolley push and pull mechanic, where players can grab movable props and push or pull them around. The Actor and Physics teams worked closely to iterate on the controls and feel of moving these larger props where the weight of the prop, weight of the cargo loaded onto it, and the surface they\u2019re on affects handling and behavior. The input of the player generates acceleration requests on the prop and the player character attempts to keep up with the prop as it moves. If the input is greater than the actual resulting movement, the player character leans into the prop to show the extra effort required. The wheels are physically simulated as a constrained sphere, with a modeled wheel synchronizing with its sphere\u2019s movement to procedurally rotate caster and tire.\n\n\nFeatures (Gameplay)\nThe Gameplay Features Team spent March preparing features for Alpha 3.13, fixing critical bugs, and planning for future initiatives.\nThe US-based team continued to work on two new mobiGlas features: the reputation system app and asset manager. The engineers finalized the TDD for the asset manager and began to create the \u2018provider\u2019 that will manage a majority of the application logic. Meanwhile, Design completed polishing tasks and bug fixing for the reputation system app, now known as Delphi, which will be launching with Alpha 3.13.\nIn the US, the team continued to plan for the upcoming cargo refactor, with the goal of physicalizing cargo contained within the grid. This refactor is quite extensive as the cargo and commodity system is intertwined with several other areas. The team will also convert the commodity kiosk from Flash to Building Blocks and tie it into the asset manager. Progress was also made on the next dynamic event, which is now in the final stages of implementation. The engineers fixed any remaining bugs while the designers focused on audio integration and polishing tasks.\nFeatures (Mission & Live Content)\nAlongside content for upcoming events, the Features Team progressed with a new security system that allows them to identify when a player enters a location they don\u2019t have permission to. This allows the AI to act accordingly without the need to give the player a CrimeStat.\nThey also began working on features for Q2 and beyond, including the new Starfarer and Caterpillar derelict used in Alpha 3.13\u2019s timed delivery missions, and implemented FPS cave missions and new harvestables. Space combat mission locations were also quadrupled around Crusader and progress continued on the Pyro system.\nFeatures (Vehicles)\nMarch saw the Vehicle Features Team progress with docking. Merlin-to-Constellation docking is largely complete, with the team dealing with bugs and feedback from Evocati testing. The last step involved finalizing the physics of how the ships connect.\nThe team heavily refactored and partially rewrote the air traffic control system to account for the docking arms used in ship-to-station docking. Now, docking arms are fully integrated with station control and benefit from all the features of air traffic control, such as loitering around stations, spawning and despawning ships, and hailing for docking through the comms menu.\nChanges were also made to align docking arms with the procedural universe tools, which are used to create bases and space stations. Work was also done to integrate docking with other gameplay systems, such as Personal Inner Thought, so players can initiate docking with the interaction wheel. Lastly for docking, a large number of edge cases were worked through to ensure it\u2019s as polished as possible. For example, the Constellation quantum traveling while the Merlin was docking caused the Merlin to get stuck, and players exiting the Merlin while docked to a moving Constellation caused the player to fall into space.\nDevelopment of the thruster ground VFX mentioned in last month\u2019s report continued. This has been improved and expanded on since then, with the team working on aerodynamic wake effects that cause dust to be kicked up when ships are flown close to the ground at high speed. Focus was on 3D rendering inside MFD screens to give the team more options in building the MFDs they want.\nFinally, the missile guidance and control refactor made great progress, with missiles flying much more predictably in recent playtests.\nGraphics & VFX Programming\nThe Graphics Team spent early March fixing bugs. For example, the Render To Texture (RTT) system didn\u2019t have a fixed memory budget and was dependent on how it was used by the game. However, this could sometimes lead to out-of-memory issues, particularly when running at higher resolutions. Now, the memory reserve for the RTT system is linked to the screen resolution, because higher-resolution outputs require higher resolution intermediate textures. If the fixed budget is exceeded, they now dynamically down-res the RTTs until they fit, which ensures stability in extreme scenarios.\nThey also began planning for the transition to the Gen12 renderer to better understand when each milestone will be delivered to help determine the balance of staff working on the transition, features, and bugs.\nThe VFX Programming Team split time between bugs, fire, SDF shields, and particle lighting. The fire feature is a long-term task, with the current focus on fire spreading between rooms, light spawning, and repair. The first iteration of SDF shields was prepared for release. The upcoming update improves the glow effect and how the \u2018shaping\u2019 tech works, which is responsible for wrapping the impact effects around the curvature of the hull. Particle lighting is a new model that gives higher quality and more consistent and physically plausible results.\nLighting\nLast month, the Lighting Team supported the upcoming docking feature, providing unique moods for the R&R space stations and more military-minded security docks. Work on the docking arm continued, including prototype animations for the lights as the arm extends and retracts.\n\n\n\n\nThey also supported Alpha 3.13 with bug fixing, optimizations to the non-commercial space station overlays, and new cave entrances. Support was also given to the UI Team for the new reputation interface on the mobiGlas.\nWork also continued on hospitals for Orison and New Babbage, with the team working closely with Environment Art and Design on the lobbies, pharmacy shop, individual floors, and recovery rooms.\n\n\n\n\n\nNarrative\nNarrative\u2019s March kicked off with a small motion-capture shoot, the first since the start of the pandemic, to pick up some characters for upcoming events. Members of the LA-based team worked remotely to provide direction and work with the animators, capture specialists, audio team, and actors who were on set in Manchester, UK.\nThey provided general support for Alpha 3.13, tackling mission fixes and adding names and descriptions for the various new items. They also worked with the mission teams on upcoming content, including future events, general missions, and a voice-over session for future locations too.\nThere were also several lore releases on the website, including the re-release of the Portfolio for armor manufacturer Caldera, the final installment of Sid & Cyrus, another installment of OP.Net, new Galactapedia entries, and the 100th issue of Jump Point. Members of the Narrative Team also appeared on Star Citizen Live for a Lore Builders episode where they built one of the outlaw factions in Pyro with help from the community.\nPlayer Relations\nMarch saw Player Relations hire additional staff to support the growing needs of the service and backer base. They also worked on ship naming and ran Evocati PTU tests each night for Alpha 3.13.\nProps\nMarch saw Props support several locations, including colonialism outposts, with some assets going to greybox. The greybox pass also began for hospitals, including the bed and gurney, which will be a big part of the gameplay experience.\nThey also worked closely with AI Content and AI Features to produce template geometry for new feature usables, such as the shop keeper and tourist, and fixed a large number of bugs.\nQA\nThe UK team\u2019s main focus was preparing Alpha 3.13 for release, which involved publishing several builds for Evocati testing and ensuring all player-reported issues were properly documented in JIRA. Testing continued for several upcoming features and events too.\nIn Frankfurt, QA continued to support the feature teams. For AI, they continued to perform sanity checks on the PU and test new locations. Dev requests increased as the team reproduced and investigated issues while providing feedback on the general state of AI.\nEngineering focus shifted to server stress-testing and minimum PC spec testing to help improve the overall stability of the game. QA worked alongside the Tools Team in their continued testing of DataForge, StarWords, ExcelCore, and the sandbox editor. Work also began on a new tool that will allow QA to take a more proactive approach to testing.\nSystemic Services & Tools\nThe Systemic Services and Tools Team pushed forward with various resources for their public presentation of Quantum. Service-wise, they put the finishing touches on the AI Info Service that ties directly into Quantum and various other services. Development into new services began in earnest, specifically on new NPC spawning and ATC service systems. General upgrades were also made to various tools and systems to allow for easier workflow for developers.\nTech Animation\nMost of the Tech Animation Team spent last month iterating on the in-house facial pipeline. They\u2019re aiming for a faster and more intuitive approach to FACS expression authoring for the complicated facial systems, part of which will incorporate the smooth skinning decomposition technology from last month\u2019s R&D.\nThey maintained and triaged assets from several other departments to ensure the project structure, builds, and animation systems are kept in a stable state, and helped author and refine some head and body assets to enable the animation teams to work directly in Maya. Finally, assets that will be used as the basis in the development of various creatures were completed.\nTurbulent\nTurbulent Game Services continued working on server meshing, onboarding more team members along the way. They also delivered the first demo of a fleet management system currently deployed on internal development environments. The configuration service, responsible for distributing client configurations to game clients, was also finalized.\nThe team supported the upcoming Alpha 3.13 release, specifically adding new features to the reputation service, such as the ability to notify players when their reputation changes as well as view, lock, and unlock reputation and view reputation history. Test passes were also performed on services to validate them for the upcoming release.\nThis month, the Live Tools Team continued work on the crash handling pipeline, with fixes to Sentry and Jira linking, and created a monitor to watch the \u2018elasticsearch\u2019 stream for errors and them into Sentry. They also created software in support of tools developed by the Montreal-based Location Team and created code to allow the Hex gateway to talk to the diffusion game services.\nUI\nThe UI Tech Team supported other teams\u2019 user interface work on the reputation app, adding new functionality and fixing bugs as needed, and progressed with several small-but-vital features, including text formatting and tooltips, that will be used throughout future UI. They also further developed the underlying tech for the new map systems and ported some older UI to Building Blocks to help with futureproofing and performance.\nThe artists entered the pre-production phase for the upcoming medical UI, with visual target concepts signed off and functional prototypes ready for full production in April. The UI was also polished for radar and scanning gameplay (both in vehicles and on foot).\nVehicle Tech\nThroughout March, the Vehicle Technical Team progressed with the update to the radar scanning system, focusing on \u2018ping\u2019 to make finding distant objects a more satisfying experience. UI and VFX elements are currently being implemented. Locomotion and tread movement for the Tumbril Nova was iterated on to ensure it feels appropriately \u201ctanky\u201d across all planetary bodies.\nA project to ensure ship landing gear functions properly in all areas of the game is nearing completion. This involved properly syncing landing gear with the server to make sure they function properly in all non-flight scenarios. They also closed out several tasks for Alpha 3.13 to make the launch as smooth and engaging as possible.\nVFX\nDuring March, VFX finetuned and optimized the SDF shield impact effects before their release.\n\u201cThis was a real team effort, with VFX programmers, artists, and QA all working together to bring this important feature work to fruition.\u201d -The VFX Team\nEffects were created for the Tumbril Nova, including its main weapon. This included prototyping a subtle shockwave effect that displaces loose surface matter on the ground and on the vehicle itself. While this prototype isn\u2019t guaranteed to make it in time for the tank\u2019s initial release, the groundwork will prove useful for a variety of other effects that utilize physicalized shockwaves. The Crusader Hercule\u2019s effects were completed in March too.\nA prototype for thruster wind volume effects was also worked on, which will allow vehicle thrusters to better interact with loose surface matter on planets and other locations to give thrusters a more powerful feel as they hover in locations with gravity.\nWE\u2019LL SEE YOU NEXT MONTH\u2026"},"links_count":15,"comment_count":44,"created_at":"2021-04-08T00:00:00+00:00","created_at_human":"5 years ago"},"meta":{"processed_at":"2026-05-07 20:14:02","valid_relations":["images","links"],"prev_id":18075,"next_id":18077}}