Pixelate posted:

PC gaming will be saved in [this year]+1

quote:

It was discussed from the very beginning that limited ships would be sold again when the backer numbers rose to a level to maintain the statistical rarity. When we had 1/2 Million backers they sell 1000, when we have 1 million they sell another another 1000 - the 890J to backer ratio hasn't changed. Also players melt ships all the time, so even though 1000 might have been sold during a sale, there might only be 800 attributed to live accounts 6 months later.

The following are just rough guesses but it illustrates how real world time and space in the game affect our perception of 'rarity'.

The majority of ships you will see in the PU will be NPC operated and CI can give NPC's any ship they like, most likely it will be the smaller ones the majority of the time. That means if you are at a landing zone 9 out of 10 of the ships you see coming and going are not player owned, but even when considering player ships only it only takes a minute or two of thinking about it to realise seeing players will be a bit of a rarity as well.

If there are 3 Million players and about 10% will be online in a day. 300,000 live players sounds like a lot!
I'm not going to guess at how many live players (including those tiny minority with 890J's) will be off playing Squadron 42, or in the game modules and not in the MMO. Owners of 890J's usually have lot's of other ships they can fly, so even IF they are in the MMO there's only a small proportion that will be flying their 890J at any one time.

The players live in different time zones, they won't all be online simultaneously - so of the 300,000 we can divide that into an average 2 hour play session for every 24 hours. 300,000/12 = 25,000

Now divide that by those who are off in space or lost on a planet/moon and you see that it's perfectly reasonable to think that only 10% of those are going to be seen at landing zones - So that's 2,500 potential live players you might encounter. We virtually never see any other players or ships in the current small PU once we have left our landing pad. Lost in space is a thing.

Players don't hang around space stations and space ports generally - so let's say that the average loiter time in populated areas is 5 minutes out of the 2 hour play session. So we divide the possible encounters by 24 (5/120 minutes) = 104 live player encounters possible if they all congregate at one location in the game.. but they won't.
Now we divide the 104 by the number of locations - even now in this small test bed alpha we have literally dozens of spawn points possible, when we have more than one star system we divide the players by location even more. right now we have around 30 potential spawn points, that means in an average two hour session a player will possibly encounter 2 other players . What are the chances that both of those are in the tiny minority of players who have an 890 Jump? Not good.

Rare is the word, because it certainly will be. Even if they sold 10 times more 890J's than they have up to now you would still only see them once in a blue moon unless they give them to literally thousands of NPC's to swan around in. The Alpha Pu we have right now with 50 players in an instance is the most crowded that the game will be from a players perspective, we don't have the Aaron Halo to get lost in. No-one hangs around GrimHex right now because there isn't that much to do there, but there will be. When server meshing and more locations go in players will be spread out both in time and space such that you'll hardly know that there are any unless you arrange to meet up with them. I didn't even calculate what numbers to expect if half of the players are crewing multi-crew ships, and spawning aboard those ships, out in the vastness of space where no-one will encounter them. If I'm crew for another ship all my 32 ships stay in the hangar. If there are 5 other players in my Org of RichBros crewing the same ship as me all their ships stay in the hangars too.

The thing about space is... it's really, really BIG.

quote:

Yes. As the backer numbers go up, they increase the number of 'rare ships' that they can sell to maintain the ratio of those ships to live player numbers. The growth of the community is accelerating since about 1 year ago, and when there is the rumour of a 'Live' release the numbers will explode - again they can sell more more ships to maintain the ratios - and they will.

There are those who insist that Cloud Imperium just sell ships to get as much money as they can, but you only have to look at the numbers during sales to see that can't be true. Ships like the Polaris, the Idris and 890J's sell out in minutes even when the prices are increased - they could sell much more of them than they do if it was truly all about money.

Pixelate posted:

fidelityyy

https://v.redd.it/ehigsyhgshl51/DASH_480.mp4

nurmie posted:

I still can't understand what's the point of all of this - it's like it's clunky and inconvenient and annoying *on purpose*. I get it, they want fidelityyyyyyyyyy, ok, cool, but why do all this fiddly crap selecting actions with the mouse pointer? I can't imagine it being the best solution UX-wise - and I don't remember any other game doing similar stuff quite this way

biglads posted:

I think it's 3.12 when you can get Tactical Space Jorts in your favourite Santaball team colours.

Mirificus posted:

https://twitter.com/Jorunn_SC/status/1302305189303644162

quote:

Man I'm getting pretty tired of this community. Mods feel free to ban me if you think this comment is too much....

Sure there are "white knights" but anyone talking positively about this game is called out for being one regardless of what they are saying. They could be saying "It needs work and attention but I believe it will get there" and some how that is being a white knight. It makes no sense and the term needs to be put to rest.

If you are upset about some money that has been out of your budget for years. Where you have likely spent 5 times or more just on eating out and Starbucks since you backed. I'm sorry, you are loving stupid. You invested in an idea. You knew 100% from the outset you were not purchasing a product. When you invest in anything there is an inherent risk of that investment never coming true or baring fruit or being anything worth while despite whatever promises are made.

The major majority of this community has purchased the basic backer package and nothing more while being the most upset about the current state with posts and comments about being scammed. The average person backing this game is likely to spend the same amount in a month on coffee, booze, pot, fast food, you name it in a months time at least. If you are upset about the amount of money you "threw away" on a playable game regardless of its state you should reconsider your finances instead of blaming your hard feelings on the idea you invested in.

The devs don't owe us anything because we all signed off on understanding we aren't buying a product we are investing in a dream we all want to come true. Feature creep is that dream growing and therefore taking longer to come true... I've spent thousands and sometimes when I read these comments. I want CIG to cancel Star Citizen all together because its "fan base" has mostly become completely full of trolls and entitled children who don't want to hear that they invested instead of purchased a product.

Last thing for you angry folks that are gonna down vote this comment and call me a white knight... Every single time CIG gives us something. The most vocal among us say the next step is impossible that it is too ambitious. They said this after we got port Olisar and could fly a couple ships. When we got space stations and comm arays they said the next thing was too ambitious and was impossible. When we got planets they moved the goal post again to other star systems. Every single time progress is made you cry about there being no progress. Every single time they meet a milestone the goal post is moved further and further away. And every time so far they have proved the whiners wrong. If you really hate how long this is taking, come back when/if the finished product is released. At least then you can cry about the post release additions being impossible while enjoying the fruits of your investment.

Viscous Soda posted:

That's really the mind boggling thing about SC, it's not that all of their gameplay is broken and it's not that is completely un-fun. It's that I have no idea how anyone would think this even could be fun. The eating and drinking "gameplay" is just so obviously tedious and un-fun that it seems almost designed to suck fun out of the game. I can't even figure out what they were going for, it's like they had a meeting and said "What sort of tedious bullshit can we add to make this game worse?"

quote:

All the features "temporarily remove" from the roadmap - September 2020 Update


Here is an exhaustive list of all the features that have been "temporarily remove" from the roadmap since the introduction of "staggered development" in last September and still haven't returned.

No salt or criticism, it's normal that priorities change during development, just a reminder since it's easy to forget certain features who disappeared several months ago.
Hopefully a lot of them may come back in 2021.

Mission Giver: Eddie Parr
Although we will release the bartender functionality with Alpha 3.10, Eddie Parr requires additional functionality as a mission giver and certain higher priority tasks need to be completed before the team can begin addressing those relevant to Eddie Parr. At the same time, we’ll be reviewing mission givers overall and planning out what steps we can take to improve them. Because of this, we’ve removed Eddie Parr from the roadmap for the time being until we are able to determine where he will fall.

Docking
Certain scheduled work took more time than expected on tasks associated with this card, and additional work was identified by the team during the initial Q3 planning which has pushed Docking past the cutoff date for Alpha 3.11. Until we can solidify Docking’s place in a future update, we’ve removed this card from the Roadmap.

Social AI Improvements
 All non-combat AI and behaviors, such as bartenders, shopkeepers, tourists, security, vagrants, and more. 

In-Game Orgs & Reputation Systems
 In real life, if you join a membership club, you might get some benefits attached – think discounts at certain merchants, free or discounted roadside assistance, etc. This feature-set will be tied to elements of the existing reputation system and introduce gameplay and in-game benefits related to  being a part of specific in-game organizations.  More details to come (we’re going to wrangle Tony Z for this one). 

Hull-C
Work on this ship continues, but its release is currently blocked by a few tech pre-requisites including a physics refactor that needs to be submitted to our game-dev stream, as well as additional work from the engine team that will create scaleable & multiple physics grids. We are continuing to work on the Hull-C, but are prioritizing its needs for Squadron 42 – the work we plan to finalize in Q4 is not quite enough for a PU release.

Procedural Asteroids
This card has since become fairly legacy as it contained a lot of general subtasks that have since been duplicated into new tasks. The Graphics team is still looking to make further progress on this in the new year, however that would be subject to planning in Q1. For these reasons, this card has been temporarily removed from the Roadmap while we work out the best way to represent the work that will be completed.

NPC Improvements: Shopkeeper
After re-evaluating priorities, the decision was made to temporarily remove these off of the Roadmap until discussions wrap up and a new target date is decided upon.

Cockpit Experience
After re-evaluating priorities, the decision was made to shift focus onto the previously mentioned camera improvements, which we feel will deliver more impactful improvements. The result is that this card will be temporarily moving off of the Roadmap until discussions wrap up and a new target date is decided upon.

PU – Planetary Weather Effects
Planetary Weather Effects has been added to Alpha 3.8 and has been set to polishing. This card introduces the first iteration of snow, dust, and sand storm effects on planets, as well as a variety of accompanying effects, including impacts to atmospheric flight. Some elements of weather seen at CitizenCon, alongside dynamic weather tech, will be added to the Roadmap separately in the future.

Salvage v1
The Salvage card has been temporarily removed from the Roadmap while discussions continue about where it’s most likely to land. Mining improvements and other tasks related to Alpha 3.8 took priority over recent Salvage work. Additionally, we’ve made the decision to have the team scheduled to work on Salvage shift focus to a number of features that will greatly benefit Squadron 42. We aim to have more information in the new year.

Constellation Taurus
After re-evaluating priorities, the decision was made to temporarily remove these off of the Roadmap until discussions wrap up and a new target date is decided upon.

Drake Vulture
The Vulture has been temporarily removed from the roadmap while the above mentioned Salvage v1 discussions continue. We aim to have more information in the new year.

Crusader Hercules Starlifter
After re-evaluating priorities, the decision was made to temporarily remove this card off of the Roadmap until discussions about its debut wrap up and a new target date is decided upon.

Rest Stop Space Station – Unoccupied
In light of the PU location priorities shifting to focus on ground locations instead of space locations, Rest Stop Space Station – Unoccupied has been removed from the PU roadmap for the time being. Expect this task to return when the team decides on a new target date for these tasks. 

Repair/Refuel/Restock Kiosk
After re-evaluating priorities, the decision was made to temporarily remove this card from the roadmap until a target date is decided on.

Commodity Transfer Timers
Following discussions, the decision was made to temporarily remove this card from the Roadmap until a new target date is decided upon.

Accounting App
Following discussions, the decision was made to temporarily remove this card from the Roadmap until a new target date is decided upon.

Economy Display Terminal
Following discussions, the decision was made to temporarily remove this card from the Roadmap until a new target date is decided upon.

Dynamic Missions System: Economy Generated Missions
Work on this card has been transferred to a different team, resulting in the removal from the roadmap until the team determines where it will best fit in their priorities and a new target date is decided upon.

NPC Improvements: Civilian
Following discussions, the decision was made to temporarily remove this card from the Roadmap until a new target date is decided upon.

Multicrew – Expanded Pilot Role
This task-set (epic) is outdated and does not accurately represent the work the team will need to complete, so we’ve removed it from the roadmap for the time being. You can expect a more accurate version of this card to reappear when the team has completed reevaluating the work needed.

Multicrew – Expanded Turret Gunner Role
This task-set (epic) is outdated and does not accurately represent the work the team will need to complete, so we’ve removed it from the roadmap for the time being. You can expect a more accurate version of this card to reappear when the team has completed reevaluating the work needed.

Door System Improvements
This card has been de-prioritized in favor of other work, resulting in this card being temporarily removed from the roadmap until a new target date is set.

Atmospheric Combat
This card has been de-prioritized in favor of other work, resulting in this card being temporarily removed from the roadmap until a new target date is set.

Zero-G Push & Pull
Following Director discussions, priorities have changed and this card has been removed from the Roadmap temporarily.

NPC Healing
Following Director discussions, priorities have changed and this card has been removed from the Roadmap temporarily.

Flight AI: Improvements and Polishing
Tasks expected to be placed into this card have found their home being better suited in different cards. That means this card is redundant and has been removed from the roadmap.

Bounty Hunter Armor
Bounty Hunter Armor should be released alongside Bounty Hunter Gameplay, with meaningful design choices being incorporated into the armor. Until we find a place for Bounty Hunter Gameplay, we’ve removed this card from the PU Roadmap.

QT linking for AI Ships
Following review, leadership has decided to remove this card from the roadmap because, in its current state, this epic would only bring functionality, not the full player experience we would want.

FPS: Combat Behaviors v2
Other tasks ended up taking priority over the development of combat behaviors slated to release in Alpha 4.0 (realistic firing, grenades). Additionally, the work the team is currently focused on received some internal feedback that will need to be addressed. For these reasons, this card will be temporarily removed from the Roadmap while a new release date is decided upon.

Security System
Due to work on other tasks taking longer than expected, including tasks towards the upcoming Prison System and a handful of tasks surrounding an unannounced event, there was not enough bandwidth able to be allocated to this system for this quarter. We’ve removed this card from the roadmap temporarily until we are able to accurately determine where in our schedule it will fall.

Crusader & Orison Landing Zone
Previously, we’ve communicated that our goal was to release Crusader & Orison in the Alpha 3.12 patch, however we’ve made the decision to hold Orison/Crusader for a two-part release for Q1/Q2 of the new year.

quote:

I've seen a lot of your posts, they seem pretty well designed to cause controversy and often in specific terms of getting people salty about SC. In fact I'd go farther and argue that anyone who takes snapshots or keeps a list of "Previously planned goals" that were heavily built around caveats of change is likely to be doing nothing but salt mining or trolling.

I often liken it to a partner who constantly brings up that thing you did wrong from years back. It's not helpful and can be quite destructive. You're not "reminding" anyone that needs to be reminded. The devs will have all of this information. So who are you trying to remind if not the devs? The backers. Why if not to mine salt or cause controversy? Like what possible reason could there be for reminding people of all the things (re)moved from the roadmap? Or things that we don't have if not to generate salt?

Honestly I'd really like to know. What is the purpose? None of us here can do anything about it other than brood and be salty. All in all I just don't see how these kinds of posts are helpful to anyone.

NMS vs ED vs SC (Fact check my data for an infographic I'm creating) V3 posted:

- What about cities?

- FPS combat?

- FPS in a ships?

- Ground to Space large scale operaions?

- Hand to hand fighting?

- The Story? (!)

- Mark Hamill?

- Agent Scully?

- NPC dialogs?

- The Bartender?

- Story-driven quests from NPC? (!)

- Armor and Clothes quality and quantity?

- Melee Weapons?

- Firearms?

- Flares?

- Dragging system?

- Ship to ship docking?

- The bar?

- the prison?

- Escape from prison?

- Bounty hunting?

- the Graphics?

- Robust control system? Walk - run - sit - crawl - roll - lean - stealth kills - non-lethal takedowns - shoot - stow - lower arms - put arms on weapon racks? And so on...

- Sleeping in the bed?

- Multicrew?

- Turret controls?

- Robust flight system? Thrusters placing can affect the flight. Overheat. Overload. Energy distribution...

- NPC Facial expressions?

- Player facial expressions? (!)

.

.

.

Star Citizen is something more than just a game.

trucutru posted:

Staggering development working as intended!

trucutru posted:

Like what possible reason could there be for reminding people of all the things (re)moved from the roadmap?

Pixelate posted:

fidelityyy

https://v.redd.it/ehigsyhgshl51/DASH_480.mp4

Rabelais D posted:

2) where's the fidelity? Look at the polygons on the rim of the cup. It's almost octagonal. I thought the whole point about this game and why it's taking so long was because they are holding themselves to some insane fidelity standard.

Rabelais D posted:

I have some questions about this, yes, it all looks poo poo, but specifically,

1) what happened to all the mocap, they've been mocapping all this poo poo for years and years and they never mocapped someone drinking from a mug? Or did they hire a contortionist to do the mocap?

Mirificus posted:

The average person backing this game is likely to spend the same amount in a month on coffee, booze, pot, fast food, you name it in a months time at least.

quote:

. That means if you are at a landing zone 9 out of 10 of the ships you see coming and going are not player owned, but even when considering player ships only it only takes a minute or two of thinking about it to realise seeing players will be a bit of a rarity as well.

If there are 3 Million players and about 10% will be online in a day. 300,000 live players sounds like a lot!

Mirificus posted:

Torquemada posted:

Completely neglects (because of wild fantasy divorced from reality so far as to be literal mental illness) that if all those 3 million guys logged in, CI would need 30 million npcs to maintain the ten to one balance.

CI are going to replicate double the population of LA any day now, I’m sure.

Mirificus posted:

https://twitter.com/Jorunn_SC/status/1302305189303644162

Pixelate posted:

fidelityyy

https://v.redd.it/ehigsyhgshl51/DASH_480.mp4

Rabelais D posted:

2) where's the fidelity? Look at the polygons on the rim of the cup. It's almost octagonal. I thought the whole point about this game and why it's taking so long was because they are holding themselves to some insane fidelity standard.

Mirificus posted:

https://twitter.com/Jorunn_SC/status/1302305189303644162

colonelwest posted:

It looks like it's time for another CTO to weigh in and tell us why the roadmap disappearing before our eyes is good and all just part of Agile.

Colostomy Bag posted:

I wonder what would happen if you made the coffee and left the mug. Would another player see it and be able to pick it up?

Bwahahhaa, yeah what does my heart tell me.

Mr Fronts posted:

Who controls the hand that controls the funding tracker?

Pixelate posted:

fidelityyy

https://v.redd.it/ehigsyhgshl51/DASH_480.mp4

tuo posted:

Does each engine have it's own cockpit?