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How will FPS scanning work?

TL;DRFPS scanning will use the same signature system as ships, with passive audio detection, active pings for EM and IR, helmet-HUD scanning of characters' gear and status, and radar and scanning overhauls that can't be discussed yet.

Chris ParrySystems Designer

So to start off with, it's good to mention that it's going to be the same system we have now for ships. We have what we call a signature system that's driving radar and scanning. So the fundamentals are the same across both. And the idea there is that they absolutely cross-pollinate. So ships should be able to pick up actors, characters will be able to pick up ships, that kind of thing. It is somewhat different in terms of passive detection and what we describe as active detection. So if you're in a ship, you pick things up just passively by flying around: IR, EM. With the FPS side of things, it's going to be passive audio. So if people are firing weapons, you hear footsteps, that kind of thing gets picked up. But you're going to have to actively choose to ping to detect EM and IR. I think that's going to give quite a different cadence and feel to it. For actual scanning, though, for getting information on things, the idea is you can absolutely scan ships. So when you're scanning from a ship onto something else or another ship, you'll get a similar experience in the FPS, and that's going to be on the helmet. So you won't have a dedicated device or whatnot. It's going to be primarily based on the helmet and seeing that in your HUD. In terms of what you can actually see on, say, characters, the idea is similar to ships. You can see what weapons, what items and stuff are attached to it. Same with characters, you'll be able to see the weapons, grenades, ammo, et cetera, that are attached. If you've got a burrito in their pocket, you should be able to find that out as well. And obviously, actor status and whatnot, we want to provide information. So if someone's down or bleeding, you can maybe find it out from range. There's lots of cool things coming from it. We've got some quite big changes to radar and scanning in general as well that's going to be rolling out with FPS that we can't really talk about just yet, but that's all going to be using the same underlying system with the signatures. But the interface to it is getting a bit of an overhaul, and that's for both FPS and ships. So hopefully more of that soon, but not yet, unfortunately.

Star Citizen Live›Actor Feature Team Q&A·
Published on this date.8 Apr 2022