Weekly Development Update

Greetings Citizens,
Star Citizen Alpha 2.0. development update. Week Four… let’s go!

Well it’s been a fun week working on the game. As much as it can be stressful at times, it’s easy to forget what an amazing project we’re all working on thanks to you guys with your incredible support. Everything else aside, we are all really happy to be part of the team building the dreams in to a reality! The First-Person Universe will be something that has not been done before in the history of video games so any project this ambitious is always going to be a challenge – and who doesn’t love a challenge! Nothing worthwhile comes easy.

Star Citizen is a game we’re building to be enjoyed for many, many years to come and we’re now reaching at a turning point on a very special journey together with the 2.0 release. We hope we don’t leave you waiting much longer for this first real taste of what Star Citizen can become. It was a tough decision to make in putting our efforts behind this one huge release because it always had the potential for added risk for delays in production but we know it was the right decision to make for good of the project because it will give us the right foundations to build upon for the long term. A Publisher might not have been so brave because they don’t have the BDCE (Best Damn Community Ever!).

Get out your lucky pants and three-leaf clovers out because Murphy’s Law was in full force this week! No, it’s not a new game feature – we suffered some unfortunate news in our Lead FPS Programmer falling off his bicycle and breaking his wrist! This certainly wasn’t in the schedule so with him out of action for a few weeks we’ve had to pool some resources from other areas to help pitch in with getting 2.0 out of the door. It’s certainly not what we needed at such a critical time in the project but these things do happen.

In better news, we’re very nearly finished with our Excludibir process, with just one more QA report thus far of missing assets from the Release build with the Gladius causing a black screen hang on the Tutorial of the game. So that’s been addressed and should hopefully be the end of it for 2.0.

The new ship UI screens we posted footage were very warmly received last week which is exactly the kind of feedback that really gets a buzz around the office and makes our community such a great group of people to work for. We are never totally sure on how something will be received until it’s out there so that was certainly a good way to dip our toe in the water with this one to check the temperature with you guys. We have now finished up the last of the gameplay code hooks so that is in full test now to make sure that clicking all of those buttons will actually do something! Please note that the sections that are labelled as “System Offline” in the video will not be functional in this release but will be coming in subsequent patches as we iterate on it.

The item component for EMP is being hooked up and in put in to full test this week so we’re eagerly anticipating the results of that and Design have been busily reviewing the new IFCS Flight Modes – SCM (Space Combat Maneuvering), Precision and Cruise. These are coming all along nicely but it’s always weird to begin with when first testing out a new control system. It often takes time to get familiar with them and we want to ensure that you guys get a solid base so that we it feels comfortable and fun and can then iterate from there.

The worst bug of all bugs that’s been a thorn in our side over the past week has been server degradation. It took the whole QA two days to track this very nasty issue down but one of our programmers has just at the time of writing this report committed a fix which we hope will be verified as fixed in the next QA build. The issue was gradually preventing players getting in to a game server after an extended play period so we came to suspect a leak and had to go about back-tracking the sequence of events leading to the issue to look for what might have caused it. It was an awkward one to repro because it needed a large amount of players testing for hours on end. We eventually managed to trace it back to an issue with the ship selector and the player accounts so we really hope that this fix will alleviate a number of related issues that we were experiencing on the server-side. It’s been a perfect example of how one small discrepancy in the build can have huge knock-ons!

Speaking of knock-ons, we’ve also unearthed some new Blockers on our Release builds with the as listed below in the bullets but fortunately we have workarounds for them all in our Profile Builds so have been able to continue our work – however, this sadly means that the build is not ready for public consumption yet!

Production, QA and Dev are doing some serious triage work on the remaining unresolved issues and looking for any creative problem solving to get a solid release candidate together. We’re making some tough decisions to agree upon what is classed as a “must-fix” for Release. The triage will help us minimize the chance of any further unnecessary knock-ons and get you something to play sooner rather than later!

Below we have a list of high level items that you might like to scan over to see what the various teams have been focused on this past week…

Gameplay and Engineering
Fixed a major issue where the server performance would degrade over time

Fixing memory leaks in the new zone system when destroying vehicles

Working on fixes for Quantum Travel

Working on a fix where multiple ships going to the same destination don’t end up inside each other Working on a fix for being teleported back to the start point when emerging from Quantum Travel



Implementation and balancing of a new fuel type – Quantum Fuel This depletes in Quantum Travel and requires players to refuel or risk being stranded in deep space



Network optimizations

Performance optimizations

General bug fixing

UI
Bug fixing and polish

Removed the tool tip to heal other players when you are near an injured player, since we have temporarily removed the ability to do so until we fix the animation for the medpen.

Art
Bug fixing and polish

Animation

Bug fixing and polish. ADS is much improved, and I’m looking forward to doing more FPS combat playtests around the stations outside of the Armistice zone.

Audio

Mastering and implementation of recorded dialogue

Designed custom convolution reverbs, mainly for interior spaces

Polishing of audio across the whole of the crusader map

Working on improving the sound design for EVA

Continued improvements for ship fly-bys

General bug fixing

Blocking Issues
Server degradation preventing causing spawning issues (fix committed)

Quantum Travel causing a crash on Release

Player not able to pick up a weapon for FPS at Security Post Kareah on Release – BREAKING: This is fixed!

Climbing in to small and medium ships causing the player to spawn at point origin (0,0,0) on Release

Low repro cases of Quantum Travel failing to deliver the player to the intended mark on Release

Refueling is broken at CryAstro

Grüße Bürger,
Star Citizen Alpha 2.0. Entwicklungs-Update. Woche Vier.... los geht's!

Nun, es war eine lustige Woche, an dem Spiel zu arbeiten. So sehr es auch manchmal stressig sein kann, es ist leicht zu vergessen, an welchem erstaunlichen Projekt wir alle arbeiten, dank euch Jungs mit eurer unglaublichen Unterstützung. Abgesehen von allem anderen sind wir alle sehr glücklich, Teil des Teams zu sein, das die Träume in die Realität umsetzt! Das First-Person Universe wird etwas sein, das in der Geschichte der Videospiele noch nie zuvor gemacht wurde, so dass jedes Projekt, das so ambitioniert ist, immer eine Herausforderung sein wird - und wer eine Herausforderung nicht liebt! Nichts Lohnenswertes ist einfach.

Star Citizen ist ein Spiel, das wir bauen, um es viele, viele Jahre lang zu genießen, und wir erreichen nun einen Wendepunkt auf einer ganz besonderen Reise zusammen mit dem Release 2.0. Wir hoffen, dass wir Sie nicht viel länger auf diesen ersten echten Vorgeschmack darauf warten lassen, was aus Star Citizen werden kann. Es war eine schwierige Entscheidung, unsere Anstrengungen für dieses eine riesige Release zu unternehmen, denn es hatte immer das Potenzial für ein zusätzliches Risiko für Produktionsverzögerungen, aber wir wissen, dass es die richtige Entscheidung war, das Projekt zu unterstützen, denn es wird uns die richtigen Grundlagen geben, um langfristig darauf aufzubauen. Ein Publisher war vielleicht nicht so mutig, weil er nicht die BDCE (Best Damn Community Ever!) hat.

Zieh deine Glückssträuße und dreiblättrigen Kleeblätter aus, denn Murphy's Law war diese Woche in voller Kraft! Nein, es ist kein neues Spielfeature - wir haben einige unglückliche Nachrichten in unserem Lead FPS Programmer erhalten, die vom Fahrrad gefallen sind und ihm das Handgelenk gebrochen haben! Das war sicherlich nicht im Zeitplan, also mussten wir mit ihm, der seit ein paar Wochen außer Gefecht ist, einige Ressourcen aus anderen Bereichen bündeln, um zu helfen, 2.0 aus der Tür zu bekommen. Es ist sicherlich nicht das, was wir in einer so kritischen Zeit im Projekt gebraucht haben, aber diese Dinge passieren.

In besseren Nachrichten sind wir mit unserem Excludibir-Prozess fast fertig, mit nur noch einem weiteren QA-Bericht, in dem bisher fehlende Assets aus dem Release Build mit dem Gladius fehlen, was einen schwarzen Bildschirm im Tutorial des Spiels verursacht. Das ist also angesprochen worden und sollte hoffentlich das Ende für 2.0 sein.

Die neuen Schiffs-Oberflächenbildschirme, die wir gepostet haben, wurden letzte Woche sehr herzlich empfangen, was genau die Art von Feedback ist, die wirklich Begeisterung im Büro hervorruft und unsere Community zu einer so großartigen Gruppe von Menschen macht, für die man arbeiten kann. Wir sind uns nie ganz sicher, wie etwas ankommen wird, bis es draußen ist, also war das sicherlich eine gute Möglichkeit, unseren Zeh mit diesem ins Wasser zu tauchen, um die Temperatur mit euch zu überprüfen. Wir haben nun den letzten der Gameplay-Code Hooks fertiggestellt, also ist das jetzt im vollen Test, um sicherzustellen, dass das Anklicken aller dieser Buttons tatsächlich etwas bewirkt! Bitte beachten Sie, dass die Abschnitte, die im Video als "System Offline" gekennzeichnet sind, in dieser Version nicht funktionsfähig sein werden, sondern in späteren Patches kommen werden, wenn wir darauf iterieren.

Die Artikelkomponente für EMP wird diese Woche angeschlossen und eingehend getestet, so dass wir gespannt auf die Ergebnisse sind und das Design die neuen IFCS-Flugmodi - SCM (Space Combat Maneuvering), Precision und Cruise - fleißig überprüft hat. Diese kommen die ganze Zeit gut an, aber es ist immer seltsam, mit dem ersten Test eines neuen Steuerungssystems zu beginnen. Es braucht oft Zeit, um sich mit ihnen vertraut zu machen, und wir wollen sicherstellen, dass ihr eine solide Basis bekommt, damit wir uns wohlfühlen und Spaß haben und dann von dort aus iterieren können.

Der schlimmste Fehler aller Bugs, der uns in der letzten Woche ein Dorn im Auge war, war die Serverdegradation. Es dauerte zwei Tage, bis die gesamte QA dieses sehr böse Problem aufspürte, aber einer unserer Programmierer hat gerade zum Zeitpunkt der Erstellung dieses Berichts einen Fix festgelegt, der hoffentlich im nächsten QA-Build als behoben verifiziert wird. Das Problem war, dass die Spieler nach einer längeren Spielzeit allmählich daran gehindert wurden, auf einen Spielserver zuzugreifen, so dass wir den Verdacht auf ein Leck hatten und die Reihenfolge der Ereignisse, die zu dem Problem führten, zurückverfolgen mussten, um nach dem zu suchen, was es verursacht haben könnte. Es war unangenehm zu reproduzieren, weil es eine große Anzahl von Spielern brauchte, die stundenlang testen. Wir haben es schließlich geschafft, es auf ein Problem mit dem Schiffsauswahldienst und den Spielerkonten zurückzuführen, so dass wir wirklich hoffen, dass dieser Fix eine Reihe von verwandten Problemen, die wir auf der Serverseite hatten, beheben wird. Es war ein perfektes Beispiel dafür, wie eine kleine Diskrepanz im Build enorme Auswirkungen haben kann!

Apropos Knock-On, wir haben auch einige neue Blocker auf unseren Release-Builds mit den unten aufgeführten in den Bullets entdeckt, aber glücklicherweise haben wir Workarounds für sie alle in unseren Profile Builds, so dass wir unsere Arbeit fortsetzen konnten - aber das bedeutet leider, dass der Build noch nicht bereit für den öffentlichen Konsum ist!

Produktion, QA und Dev leisten ernsthafte Triage-Arbeiten zu den verbleibenden offenen Fragen und suchen nach kreativen Problemlösungen, um einen soliden Release-Kandidaten zusammenzubringen. Wir treffen einige schwierige Entscheidungen, um uns auf das zu einigen, was als "Muss-Fix" für die Veröffentlichung gilt. Die Triage wird uns helfen, die Chance auf weitere unnötige Knock-Ons zu minimieren und dir eher früher als später etwas zum Spielen zu besorgen!

Nachfolgend haben wir eine Liste von hochrangigen Themen, die Sie vielleicht durchsuchen möchten, um zu sehen, worauf sich die verschiedenen Teams in der letzten Woche konzentriert haben.....

Gameplay und Technik
Behebung eines großen Problems, bei dem die Serverleistung im Laufe der Zeit abnehmen würde Die Behebung von Speicherlecks im neuen Zonensystem bei der Zerstörung von Fahrzeugen Die Behebung von Speicherlecks für Quantenreisen Die Behebung einer Behebung, bei der mehrere Schiffe, die zum gleichen Zielort fahren, nicht ineinander übergehen Die Behebung einer Behebung, bei der sie zum Ausgangspunkt zurückteleportiert werden, wenn sie aus der Quantum Travel-Implementierung hervorgehen, und das Balancieren eines neuen Kraftstofftyps - Quantenkraftstoff Dies verbraucht in Quantum Travel und erfordert, dass die Spieler auftanken oder Gefahr laufen, in der Tiefsee gestrandet zu werden Netzwerkoptimierungen Leistungsoptimierung Allgemeine Fehlerbehebung UI
Fehlerbehebung und Politur Entfernt die Werkzeugspitze, um andere Spieler zu heilen, wenn du in der Nähe eines verletzten Spielers bist, da wir die Möglichkeit dazu vorübergehend entfernt haben, bis wir die Animation für den Medpen repariert haben. Kunst
Fehlerbehebung und Verbesserung der Animation

Fehlerbehebung und Politur. ADS ist viel besser, und ich freue mich darauf, weitere FPS-Kampfspieltests auf den Stationen außerhalb der Waffenstillstandszone durchzuführen. Audio

Mastering und Implementierung von aufgezeichneten Dialogen Entworfene benutzerdefinierte Faltungshallen, hauptsächlich für den Innenbereich Polieren von Audio über die gesamte Kreuzfahrerkarte Arbeiten an der Verbesserung des Sounddesigns für EVA Kontinuierliche Verbesserungen für Schiffsfliegen Allgemeine Fehlerbehebung Blockierungsprobleme
Server-Degradation verhindert das Auftreten von Spawning-Problemen (Fix committed) Quantum Travel verursacht einen Absturz bei Release Player nicht in der Lage, eine Waffe für FPS bei Security Post Kareah bei Release - BREAKING: Dies ist behoben! Klettern in kleine und mittlere Schiffe, was den Spieler veranlasst, am Punktursprung (0,0,0,0) zu laichen, wenn Quantenreisen den Spieler nicht zur vorgesehenen Markierung bringen, wenn die Betankung bei CryAstro unterbrochen wird.

Greetings Citizens,
Star Citizen Alpha 2.0. development update. Week Four… let’s go!

Well it’s been a fun week working on the game. As much as it can be stressful at times, it’s easy to forget what an amazing project we’re all working on thanks to you guys with your incredible support. Everything else aside, we are all really happy to be part of the team building the dreams in to a reality! The First-Person Universe will be something that has not been done before in the history of video games so any project this ambitious is always going to be a challenge – and who doesn’t love a challenge! Nothing worthwhile comes easy.

Star Citizen is a game we’re building to be enjoyed for many, many years to come and we’re now reaching at a turning point on a very special journey together with the 2.0 release. We hope we don’t leave you waiting much longer for this first real taste of what Star Citizen can become. It was a tough decision to make in putting our efforts behind this one huge release because it always had the potential for added risk for delays in production but we know it was the right decision to make for good of the project because it will give us the right foundations to build upon for the long term. A Publisher might not have been so brave because they don’t have the BDCE (Best Damn Community Ever!).

Get out your lucky pants and three-leaf clovers out because Murphy’s Law was in full force this week! No, it’s not a new game feature – we suffered some unfortunate news in our Lead FPS Programmer falling off his bicycle and breaking his wrist! This certainly wasn’t in the schedule so with him out of action for a few weeks we’ve had to pool some resources from other areas to help pitch in with getting 2.0 out of the door. It’s certainly not what we needed at such a critical time in the project but these things do happen.

In better news, we’re very nearly finished with our Excludibir process, with just one more QA report thus far of missing assets from the Release build with the Gladius causing a black screen hang on the Tutorial of the game. So that’s been addressed and should hopefully be the end of it for 2.0.

The new ship UI screens we posted footage were very warmly received last week which is exactly the kind of feedback that really gets a buzz around the office and makes our community such a great group of people to work for. We are never totally sure on how something will be received until it’s out there so that was certainly a good way to dip our toe in the water with this one to check the temperature with you guys. We have now finished up the last of the gameplay code hooks so that is in full test now to make sure that clicking all of those buttons will actually do something! Please note that the sections that are labelled as “System Offline” in the video will not be functional in this release but will be coming in subsequent patches as we iterate on it.

The item component for EMP is being hooked up and in put in to full test this week so we’re eagerly anticipating the results of that and Design have been busily reviewing the new IFCS Flight Modes – SCM (Space Combat Maneuvering), Precision and Cruise. These are coming all along nicely but it’s always weird to begin with when first testing out a new control system. It often takes time to get familiar with them and we want to ensure that you guys get a solid base so that we it feels comfortable and fun and can then iterate from there.

The worst bug of all bugs that’s been a thorn in our side over the past week has been server degradation. It took the whole QA two days to track this very nasty issue down but one of our programmers has just at the time of writing this report committed a fix which we hope will be verified as fixed in the next QA build. The issue was gradually preventing players getting in to a game server after an extended play period so we came to suspect a leak and had to go about back-tracking the sequence of events leading to the issue to look for what might have caused it. It was an awkward one to repro because it needed a large amount of players testing for hours on end. We eventually managed to trace it back to an issue with the ship selector and the player accounts so we really hope that this fix will alleviate a number of related issues that we were experiencing on the server-side. It’s been a perfect example of how one small discrepancy in the build can have huge knock-ons!

Speaking of knock-ons, we’ve also unearthed some new Blockers on our Release builds with the as listed below in the bullets but fortunately we have workarounds for them all in our Profile Builds so have been able to continue our work – however, this sadly means that the build is not ready for public consumption yet!

Production, QA and Dev are doing some serious triage work on the remaining unresolved issues and looking for any creative problem solving to get a solid release candidate together. We’re making some tough decisions to agree upon what is classed as a “must-fix” for Release. The triage will help us minimize the chance of any further unnecessary knock-ons and get you something to play sooner rather than later!

Below we have a list of high level items that you might like to scan over to see what the various teams have been focused on this past week…

Gameplay and Engineering
Fixed a major issue where the server performance would degrade over time

Fixing memory leaks in the new zone system when destroying vehicles

Working on fixes for Quantum Travel

Working on a fix where multiple ships going to the same destination don’t end up inside each other Working on a fix for being teleported back to the start point when emerging from Quantum Travel



Implementation and balancing of a new fuel type – Quantum Fuel This depletes in Quantum Travel and requires players to refuel or risk being stranded in deep space



Network optimizations

Performance optimizations

General bug fixing

UI
Bug fixing and polish

Removed the tool tip to heal other players when you are near an injured player, since we have temporarily removed the ability to do so until we fix the animation for the medpen.

Art
Bug fixing and polish

Animation

Bug fixing and polish. ADS is much improved, and I’m looking forward to doing more FPS combat playtests around the stations outside of the Armistice zone.

Audio

Mastering and implementation of recorded dialogue

Designed custom convolution reverbs, mainly for interior spaces

Polishing of audio across the whole of the crusader map

Working on improving the sound design for EVA

Continued improvements for ship fly-bys

General bug fixing

Blocking Issues
Server degradation preventing causing spawning issues (fix committed)

Quantum Travel causing a crash on Release

Player not able to pick up a weapon for FPS at Security Post Kareah on Release – BREAKING: This is fixed!

Climbing in to small and medium ships causing the player to spawn at point origin (0,0,0) on Release

Low repro cases of Quantum Travel failing to deliver the player to the intended mark on Release

Refueling is broken at CryAstro