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Talk to me about tech preview: why we're doing it and how it's working.

TL;DRTech previews are a newer tool that isolates and de-risks testing, especially server meshing, since bots and internal tests cannot replicate real player behavior.

Benoit BeausejourChief Technology Officer

So, let's start with: we didn't have tech previews in, let's say, April of last year. We started this idea of having tech previews last year. So it's a new kind of tool that we have. And obviously, we used tech previews in the server meshing lead-up to validate key assumptions, to actually isolate the testing. If you remember when we did the major technical previews on the 3.x branch for server meshing, it was taking the actual previous build with server meshing technology. So uninfluenced by new code, uninfluenced by the current patch, something we know is kind of in a stable range that we can use to test the technology alone. It's also a way to de-risk just bringing that in the stream and then going Cortez maneuver: now we're stuck with it, we're moving forward. And so the tech preview has been invaluable for that. And especially for the server meshing project, that's been a super important tool, because we just don't always have the ability to replicate what players are going to do. And to be honest, even with bots and virtual players and whatever, it's never the same. You know, 4,000 players filling ships with hot dogs.

Star Citizen Live›Tech Talk w/ Benoit Beausejour·
Published on this date.11 Sep 2025