FPS combat

Max hasn't worked out an optimal route; the level design offers varied cover and engagement ranges for different playstyles, with hand-placed AI inside the instance, praised as the team's good work.

Older locations had less level design resource and PvE-focused ones will stay linear, but the larger, still-growing level design team is building PvP locations with multiple entrances, sight lines and cover.

8x scopes on rifles don't fit the intended FPS direction (though one was approved for the LMG), pistols only take size 1 optics, the P8-AR recoil delay is a deliberate feel choice, and railgun sights may come later.

Surrender behavior has been worked on for Squadron 42 but needs more polish, and it isn't fully in Star Citizen yet, partly because AI there have infinite ammo and missions would need rebalancing.

The hologram NPCs react because they were set up as regular characters instead of with a special no-reaction master graph; a fix may not have reached the live build, and designers want to define what counts as threatening, possibly by jurisdiction.

Interrupting a reload should be possible and is a planned example of the Action Matrix work, which aims to make actions cancel into each other fluidly, though it's hard to implement and will keep being tuned.

Persistent entity streaming won't fix combat logging, since game rules decide that; the idea on the table is a proper logout timer, and logging back in where you left off isn't planned for this version.

They have discussed a fireman carry for long-distance moves and for hiding bodies in stealth, as a complement to the short-range body drag, and say they definitely want to do it in the future.

Squadron 42 is described as basically a giant mission inside Star Citizen, where the same features can be proven more simply because the path is less sandbox, while Star Citizen still lacks mid-to-long-range combat and planetary AI.

Reliable shooting range is about 1.5 kilometers, sometimes up to two depending on what's loaded in, and the scope can zero to a maximum of two kilometers.

Ground AI is fairly simplistic and hurt by desyncs and server issues; they are adding ammo replenishing and surrender, but flanking, intercepting and grenade use still need work, and design work is just beginning.

The bartender currently only complains; fist fights could come once melee behaviors are worked on, but not every bartender should fight, and calling security may often be the better response.

Yes, in the future: staggers and stumble locomotion, which could push you into bracing or seating, are planned for upcoming patches, while the current release only has twitches, knockdowns and leaning.

They like the idea of boxing or capture missions and melee is coming, but they will build missions around it only after it has been played and tested, not based on half-finished systems.

Arena Commander is described as the testing ground for core ship gameplay and Star Marine as the one for core character and FPS gameplay, both being simulations within the universe.

FPS scanning is planned to work like ship scanning, with passive audio detection and active pings for EM and IR, but it is not coming in the next release and is a future design goal.

Ship interiors make easy but poor FPS maps because they were designed for ship operation, not balanced combat, so Sean Tracy prefers crafted scenarios such as boarding a disabled ship.

Much of the work can't be discussed yet, but they are focusing on ground-based combat AI, tightening it to feel more urgent, reactive and like real enemy combatants rather than gamey.

Distortion and EMP-style weapons already exist for ships and are wanted for the FPS side, while tasers and tranquilizers are not specifically planned but are not ruled out given future bounty hunting.

Props will get damage states, first tried in Star Marine and being looked at for 3.0, but not everything has them yet, and destruction R&D with the Item 2.0 system is ongoing before the whole library is done.

Animation is a unified first/third-person system; current work includes feel of the shouldered weapon, stamina and oxygen visuals, usables like sitting and drinking, and player and AI object interaction.

Bender describes melee animations like punches and butt strikes plus stealth kills, built around four approach directions (rear, left, right, front), and demonstrates a few.

Hand-to-hand counters are probably coming, since the sync tech behind stealth takedowns would also enable them, but melee won't be at Dishonored or For Honor depth, and more melee work is scheduled later.

Chris Roberts says first-person weapons will include ballistic, several energy types and rail guns, generally scaled-down versions of ship weapons, with hull-breach risk from penetrating projectiles.