Updates on the Cutlass, what vision is there?
TL;DRCutlass changes come from back-and-forth between the ship artist, a designer and Chris, with fan feedback valued; proportions now look more like the concept, though everything remains subject to change.
When they're doing changes, Josh normally gets assigned a designer, then he and the designer (with Chris at the top) will kick back and forth ideas. It's why they like things with the Reddit thread, they can look to it to help with ideas. If the ideas deviate from the original plan; the other day they had a list of features, some which would simplify the pipeline for the Cutlass and the variants, and some were 'we really want to do this', and they run those by CR, and he's either thumbs up or down. The last one he was okay on everything. So the proportions on the Cutlass look more like the concept now.
The interaction with the fans really recharges the team. Barcitizens, events, everything… seeing what the fans think and how they react is great for all the team. It's what Josh likes as well. Fans give lots of good feedback, and answering fans questions is great. The game industry is normally so secretive, CIG is awesome because the devs are allowed to talk to people. It's why Tyler says 'everything is subject to change', because Josh says they want to have less wood trim, but it's all just 'where their heads are at', things change over time. It's what Bryan said back in the day early in Wingman's Hangar. People who aren't in the game industry; this is a great look at what goes on behind the scenes. When you start a game, there's a lot you want to do that over the course of the years change. Scope changes, you figure out what you can and can't do, and that's what CIG are doing now. Somethings work, some don't, etc…
It's one of the great things. They go back and forth not only internally, but with the backers as well. One of the things they've started doing is blocking out time for developers to go into the forums and interact with people. Check the forums, they've been pretty active lately. Communicating with the public is just as important for CIG as communicating in-house. Fans help steer things in cool directions. They try to be mindful of what it is people are asking about ships. Though they know they can't please everyone. No ship can have everything. You want specialised rolls for ships. Tons of good ideas. A C130 pilot posted some pictures in the Reddit thread, pointing out what this stuff does, and it was great info to help Josh in his design stuff.