The developers answer community questions on the planned rotation of the weekly shows, 2.5 not yet content locked but aimed before Gamescom, and Argo sale and use. They also cover the Caterpillar, Herald and Buccaneer build status, Grim Hex, usable vending machines, and multi-factor authentication.
TL;DRThe OmniGlas output will stay the same as far as he knows, with only the wearable looking different; unequipping the glass is probably possible, but no decision has been made yet.
The OmniGlas, the look of the output, as far as I'm aware, will stay the same. The difference in the OmniGlas is in the physical wearable. So the physical wearable will be visibly different. People will know you have an OmniGlas. When they look at your character, they will see that you have the OmniGlas as opposed to the standard mobiGlas. And of course, there will probably be multiple versions of mobiGlas sold so that you can accessorize your character. But as far as the output, it's kind of like 50 different Android phones, but all running Android Frogenberry or whatever version it is. So the OS will be the same. It'll just be a different delivery system. Will you be able to unequip the mobiGlas altogether? I don't know. That's one of those things I think is great for immersion, but it might not be so good for gameplay. You have to make choices between how much you're willing to let your player hurt their experience by stripping naked and running off into space and stuff like that. So I would think probably, but we're not at the point where we have to make that decision yet.
TL;DRHe doesn't know; a scenario under consideration, not committed, would replace the shows with a new one and rotate studios, so the round-table format might return once more, maybe.
Because we're looking at changing RTV, and actually basically there is a scenario on the table, and we're not committed to this yet. There's a scenario on the table where Around the Verse and Reverse the Verse go away. Around the Verse gets replaced with a new show. It'll be similar format. It'll just be different branding. It's just to kind of break away from the history and let people get started with a new episode number one, so you don't feel like you have to watch 100 episodes to catch up. So the Thursday show will definitely rotate through the studios. We really like that. We've been experimenting with that for three weeks now. We like it. There's some trials and tribulations and things we have to figure out, but we really like that. So that we're committed to. We want to rotate the show from now on as much as we can. There might be a couple exceptions here or there, a week where Germany's just way under the weather and they can't do it. But we're going to try to rotate the show every week. That's Thursday. Friday, one of the things we're thinking of is taking a format very similar to what you're looking at now, which is one of the reasons we're experimenting with this format. And basically, I would be where Tyler is, and in my window, you would see Brian Chambers. Or Tyler would be where Tyler is, and in the big window, you would see Jake Ross or John Erskine or Tony Zurovec. Or Ben would be where Tyler is, and you would see Erin Roberts on the big screen kind of thing. We're looking at the feasibility of that logistically. Technology-wise, we've got it. Technology-wise, one of the reasons we're doing this is to test the technology and see how it works. We're pretty confident we have that aspect technology-wise covered. But now we have to work out the logistics. One of the additional benefits of that is that RTV, or whatever we call the new show, the Star Citizen Town Hall or whatever, would rotate times, because when it's broadcast from Germany or it's broadcast from the UK, it would be on their time schedule. So we also like that it kind of globalizes our broadcasts in that way. So that's what we're thinking. We're still working out the logistics. We're not committed to it 100% yet, but I think that's where we're going. So we had actually planned on doing the big table one back, but when Ben called out sick, we just decided it was another opportunity to test this format. So we might get maybe our last one. Conceivably next Friday might be the last Reverse the Verse as you know it, conceivably. And we'll try to go back to the table for that one. Maybe. We're experimenting.
Not yet. You'll see the updated specs for the Caterpillar when it becomes hangar ready. Basically, we do ship updates at three stages: there's the concept stage, the hangar ready stage, and the flight ready stage. So the hangar ready stage is the next time you're going to see... we're going to reveal the updates for the hangar, simply because until that point, we can still tweak. So you take every opportunity to test and tweak and twerk and all that good stuff. So there's still work.
Not just the Big Benny's machine, but machines in general will be usables. Along with the addition of Subsumption, NPCs will be interacting with the environment, and the team in Austin has been working on a lot of the usables animation: Brian Brewer, David Pang, Vanessa Landaros, and Jay Brushwood. And one of the ones they actually showed me was the Big Benny's machine and the drink equivalent. The name forgets me. Pips. And it's really cool. They set up all the metrics. And it's basically like once you've set it up for one machine, you can have an array of machines. And as long as the metrics match, you can have NPCs or characters, et cetera, be able to walk up and interact with that.
TL;DRNo, 2.5 isn't locked yet, but the plan is known and the team is confident; release timing depends mainly on how quickly systems get integrated and working together.
Yeah, and I've seen some people say that, "Oh, it's not feature locked. That means it's not coming out for a very long time." No, just because it's not an official "this is feature locked" doesn't mean that there's going to be some massive change with the stream. It doesn't mean that the team isn't confident, "OK, this is what we're going to put in it," and it looks like it's in really good shape. It's just there's some loose ends to wrap up.
The speed at which it comes out is more determined on how fast we get things working and working together. That's the thing. There's getting a system working and there's getting a system working with all the other systems, because when they put these things in, it's like, "Yeah, we've got the item port system working great. It's awesome. It's great." And then when we integrate it into a stream with all the other game systems, that's when it's like, "Oh no, this breaks with this and this breaks with this." So that's where bugs come from most times. So how fast the integration takes is usually one of the biggest factors in how long something takes to come out.
Do you mean as physical merchandise? There's no plans for that yet, but that's one of those things. It's not beyond the realm of possibility that if there's a particular shirt in game that's selling very well... you get metrics for everything. So if there's a particular shirt that's like, "Holy, wow, 50% of the entire populace owns the shirt in their inventory," that would be a pretty good indicator of something we might want to sell physically. So no plans, but certainly not something outside the realm of possibility.
Don't have that yet. There's still some talk back and forth about the Argo sale price. We will announce it as soon as we know it, and we will know it at least a week before the sale.
That is an interesting question. It's one of the things that we're discussing internally as well. I don't have an answer for you yet. I think one of the things that I'm most excited about is seeing what you guys do with it that we didn't intend for it. So I'm a big fan of emergent gameplay.
No, quite frankly. That goes back to the same thing with Squadron 42. That is, again, part of the reason we're going to rotate the shows, so we can hear that kind of stuff from the horse's mouth. So that's a Tony Z topic there. I'll be real honest and tell you, I had very little involvement in this week's ATV. So this was the first ATV in a long time that I got to watch as a fan. And I didn't see any of the Tony Z stuff until just before you guys did. So I was sitting there watching it like a fan, learning just the same as you were. So at this point about cargo, I can honestly say I probably know what you know. So unable to expand on that.
That's something that's going to be determined when it comes to the eventual rebuild of the Constellation. To my knowledge at this time, I have not seen any information that suggests that would change.
We are looking to add in more testers towards the end of the summer. It is a pretty smart algorithm when it comes to selecting people. We're not going to go into detail on exactly how they're selected. However, participation on the Issue Council is a big factor. And that doesn't mean putting in reports that are just there to be filler, because it can differentiate them. But ultimately, just participating in stuff, and it'll happen naturally. But yeah, later this summer.
And one of the things that we're going to be doing with the initial rollout is testing it internally for how we get our builds. Developers all over the globe have to get a new build, sometimes several of them a day. And so we will be utilizing the same system internally. And then once we are confident in how it is working, we will roll it out to everybody else. And he has been an absolute badass with that stuff.
TL;DRHe has no adoption numbers for the new multi-factor authentication, but says the company is very pleased with the rollout, and explains how to enable it in account settings with any authenticator app.
On Tuesday, was it Tuesday? I feel like it was Tuesday. We rolled out multi-factor authentication from our friends at Turbulent. Multi-factor authentication has been a long-wanted, long-needed feature for Star Citizen. It's a needed feature in just about every MMO these days, especially popular ones. So that rolled out. I don't have the adoption numbers. I was going to try to get those. I was asked earlier this week. I was on StarCast. I was asked on StarCast, and I said I tried to get the numbers. I did not get the numbers. I know that we're very, very, very pleased with the rollout numbers, though, just from the timbre of the internal emails I've seen about it. So I don't have hard numbers for you, but I know we're very pleased with the rollout, with how many people are adopting it. And if you haven't signed up for multi-factor authentication, you can do so now on the robertsspaceindustries.com website. Just log into your account profile, go to settings, and there'll be a new security section under your settings, and you can enable multi-factor, and you can use just about any mobile authenticator program you want. There's programs on iOS, there's programs on Android, and there's programs on Windows Phone for the three of you who use Windows Phone. So we're not shoehorning you into a specific app. You can use whichever app you want that's compatible. And there's a list of them on the page.
Well, every FPS weapon I play with is non-lethal, because I suck. Possibly. We're actually looking at doing a feature on the weapons in next week's ATV. So no promises at this point, as we're still gathering footage, but look to next week for that, because that kind of stuff's being worked on in Frankfurt.
Yes, Brian Chambers is coming to Gamescom. I just talked to him yesterday morning at one o'clock in the morning because of the time difference, and we were talking about our Gamescom plan. So he is coming to Gamescom.
I would think absolutely. If an Argo can dock in an Idris... but given the size of the Argo, I want to roll back on my... did I say absolutely? Is that what I said? I want to roll back on absolutely, but I don't see why not. Let's put it that way. It's one of those things where until both things are built, it's impossible to be 100%. So until both things are built and we can actually take this and put it in there, it's too early to say, but I would expect so based on everything that I've seen and heard.
I actually think that you may have answered this on a podcast you were on, but it's going back and forth. It's in testing, so there's a lot of internal feedback. So ultimately, it's not finalized. So we'll see soon.
There's more Grim Hex information coming in next week's ATV as well. So Grim Hex is being worked on by the UK, it's being worked on by Germany, it's being worked on in Austin. So Grim Hex questions, let's save those for ATV. That's going to be your place to find those out.
No, we're actually not going to be going to Dragon Con this year. Our European trip is just the higher priority right now, especially with the new video stuff. A part of what we're doing with the European trip is getting those procedures in place and exploring exactly what it is we can do and how to improve stuff. So at this point, it just became more important than showing up at Dragon Con and hanging out. And nobody is more saddened by that than Ben Lesnick. Ben Lesnick loves, loves Dragon Con. So I would expect us to try again next year. But we're not going to be there this year.
I don't know what the question is. If you're asking if we're going to be there, we are not. The only events we have through the rest of the year are Gamescom and CitizenCon.
Branding is ultimately less important than the content. We'll call it something like Star Citizen Weekly and it'll just rotate through the studios. That's not the final name. That's literally something I pulled out of my head right now just to give you an illustration of a different name than Around the Verse. Ultimately, the name's not what's important.
TL;DRHe won't give a percentage: the Herald is shown fully in engine but still needs the rear console and cockpit, and percent built doesn't reflect remaining time because the last part can take disproportionately long.
Well, what you saw was entirely in engine. We did our Ship Shape a couple weeks ago where it was in 3ds Max. What you saw on ATV yesterday was entirely in engine. It still needs some of the main console that's in the rear and the cockpit done, because those parts have more game design elements than the other parts of the ship. So it's one of those things where I could sit there and say it's 80% built, but that doesn't mean we're 80% through the amount of time involved, because one of my favorite game development quotes is the... oh, it's my favorite and I can't remember it. I lost it. It was something about how the last 10% of game development takes 90% of the time.
I was going to piggyback and say the same thing. Let's say that he's 80% done with the Herald, right? And then he runs into something that needs way more attention and detail. And so it takes the same amount of time as from one to 50%. Or he's at 40% finished, but then the last 60 is boom, boom, boom, and then it's out. So it's relative; it really depends on the challenges and hurdles that he comes across while working on the ship.
No "when" questions. You see, when questions are the most impossible ones to estimate and the ones that get us in trouble most often. Things take the amount of time that they take to build from nothing. Are we focusing on Rift or Vive? My understanding is that Chris wants to support as many VR platforms as possible on the PC. So I don't see a reason why we would pick one or the other. That said, it's not a thing we're doing right now. It's a thing that's on the list for later. So the only constant in game development is change.
So there have been discussions about having an Arena Commander-centric patch to just make sure that everything is working great. Potentially additions, who knows? But it's definitely something that we want to be great as well. We want it all to be great. So yes. Will we revisit Arena Commander? Of course.
No. I know that manufacturing has already started, so it's certainly possible. It's just when you're dealing with worldwide logistics, there are a number of challenges. Basically, we're not a merchandise company. We're a video game developer who have some people who dabble in merchandise on the side. We don't have the giant Blizzard store and stuff like that. So it's not a focus of that. So I couldn't tell you.
I've never timed it. I've never thought to sit there and clock it. I don't know the answer to that. It's kind of just one of those things. Throughout the day.
Walk in to get food, check it. Throughout the day, throughout the evening, throughout the night, when mods bring things to your attention. It's just constant. But I've never tried to clock it.
If you look at the Emre portion of this week's ATV, there is an eight-second clip of a camera panning on the exterior of the station, and you can see landing pads on top. Contrary to popular theory, the entrance on the side of the asteroid does not lead to more landing space.
TL;DRThe Buccaneer isn't currently being built because resources are finite and ships aren't built simultaneously; it was scheduled after the Caterpillar, but schedules can shift, and there's no movement to report.
It's not at the moment. It's not currently being built. We don't build all the ships at the same time. We have a finite number of resources. We may have 300 people working on the game worldwide, but that's still a finite number. There's only so many things that somebody can work on at any given time. We're not building every ship out at the same time, which is why when people ask every single week about the Banu Merchantman or the Carrack or, in this case, the Buccaneer, the answer is there has been no movement since you asked last week and the week before and the week before, because they're not in active development right now.
As happens in game development, schedules can change. So priorities can shift. New systems come online. Something else that we're building, we realize, "Okay, we need this now. We thought we wouldn't need it until later," so things get reshuffled. So basically there will come a time on the show where we tell you, "Yes, this is now in development." And that would be the time when questions regarding that stuff would be more appropriate. Just right now, it's not being worked on.
Nope, because the Orion's not being built yet. That's the thing that we decide when we're like, "All right, let's start building the Orion." That's when that decision has to be made.