Star Citizen Monthly Report: January 2022 Monthly Report

Star Citizen’s monthly reports are one of the main sources of information on the progress of the project. They allow you to find out what has occupied the development teams in the past month. There are therefore both bug fixes from the previous patch, features under development for the next patch, and longer-term work.

Here are the main information we retain from this report for the month of January 2022:

• The developers are working on the possibility for players to call in reinforcements (non-players) from the surface of planets.
• The cargo redesign is scheduled for the second quarter.
• We will soon be able to loot various objects from the bodies of non-player characters.
• The developers are working on refueling, recycling and hacking gameplay.
• The new wiring and piping system for the ships is in development, as is the life support system.
• A new series of puzzle wrecks are in preparation.
• A system is developed to automatically trigger dynamic events.
• The developers are working on the new Starmap.
• The operator station linked to the sensors (radar and scanner) will soon have a use, via a detection bonus. The role of on-board engineer is also under development.

Artificial intelligence (content)

Rough animations were made to test the use of arcade cabinets and vending machines by non-player characters. They allow developers to get a first impression and identify the necessary adjustments before making the final animations.

Distributors will allow hungry or thirsty non-player characters to get the product they need. In the first iteration, they will be able to have a can but other choices will be added later. Once characters can purchase goods from machines, developers will turn to street thieves and to the reactions of the victims, and to the random malfunctions of the devices, which may generate some frustration.

On arcade cabinets, non-player characters will be able to take a few rounds of play before achieving a victory or defeat, which will cause animations to reflect the appropriate emotions.

Both types of machines are being implemented.

Artificial intelligence (technology)

The team tests on concrete use cases the first implementation of planetary navigation. Optimizations are made to this system allowing non-player characters to move on the surface of moons and planets.

The team started implementing thelanding non-player ships anywhere on the surface of the planets. This will allow players to request reinforcements, be picked up or rescued.

Designers are now actively using the editor of Subsumptionwhile the team continues its integration into the game engine.

An action plan has been drawn up to resolve non-player character movement issues. It relies mainly on automated test cards. Particular attention is paid to character collisionsespecially for narrow hallways and doorways.

The team is continuing to work on moving carts for non-player characters. The developers are looking to simplify the way characters move objects out of their way, while keeping some consistency with the character’s intent.

The data structure of Subsumption has been optimized to be able to generate adapted conversations to the non-player characters according to their role and favorite subjects, the place…

Animation

The team is fixing bugs for bartenders, and developing seller behavior starting with the coffee seller.

The animations for theuse of arcade cabinets and ATMs are in development.

More diversity should be observed in facial expressions.

Art (characters)

Concept outfits for the Pyro Xenothreat and Headhunter gangs.

A backpack concept for the recycling (salvage) is over.

Progress has been made on frontier style outfits for Pyro.

Art (vessels)

The Hoverquad is at the finishing stage.

The Hull A and the Vulture are progressing in the final art phase. The Scorpius and the Corsair are not far behind.

The Merchantman has almost completed its whitebox phase.

Of them unannounced vessels progress; one of them entered the whitebox phase.

Motor

The teams in charge of physics are working on the tissue simulation from the attachment points of the objects (itemports).

Measurements anti-rollover have been put in place for vehicles, as well as means of controlling the stiffness of the suspensions.

The transition to Gen12 continues.

Improved atmosphere and cloud code is on the way. integrated into the main branch of development.

Using Volume Clouds for Squadron 42 revealed a bug that could be fixed.

The new Entity Update Scheduler (ECUS) has been implemented and the old version has been removed.

Features (characters and weapons)

Reversed kinematics technology is in the process of being changed from an animation approach to a code approach. This change will reduce the number of joints in character skeletons, which will allowimprove performances.

The team undertook a review of the animations of characters grabbing objects. The objective is toimprove loyalty and quality in different situations while maintaining responsiveness and fluidity.

Features (gameplay)

The team continues to implement the refueling between ships in preparation for the release of the feature.

The generation of objects to pick up (loot) is about to be extended to non-player characters. This new feature will also make it possible to place objects relating to assignments in their inventory.

The developments of engineer gameplay and survival systems (life support) started.

Work has been done on selling items, improving the reputation system, and cargo redesign scheduled for the second quarter.

Features (vehicles)

The team worked on grav-lev, jump pointsrestricted areas, and the overhaul of the transport system.

She also worked on the new network system (cables and pipes) which should improve the management of heat, energy, fuels and other resources.

Premises

The team mainly works on wrecks V2and prepare a new series of wrecks.

Tools

Houdini software has been integrated into the editor, which allows the different teams to create new tools to accelerate their developments.

Robohesse, a tool for obtaining more stable buildshas also been improved.

Narration

The team wrote scripts for new assignmentsand works on a new dynamic event.

Ad sets have been recorded to bring more life to different upcoming locations.

System services and tools

Tools of visualization of the simulation are being developed.

The development of automation and planning of dynamic events has begun.

animation techniques

The transition to the latest version of Maya is complete for the entire team.

Around 41000 animations are being upgraded (automatically).

User interfaces

The screens for refueling have been produced and transmitted to the team in charge of its implementation.

Progress has been made on the new Starmap (concepts, prototypes and core technologies).

The team continues work on the redesign of the new markers of augmented reality.

Of new features have been added to Building Blocksin particular to support the development of hacking gameplay.

Vehicle technologies

The team is working on improvements to radars and scanners, including improve detection from the operator station dedicated to scanners.

Progress has been made on the doors and connected components. The goal is to standardize functionality for all ships and lay the foundation for related gameplay.

Special effects

The team worked on the HoverQuad and more generally on the start of all grav-lev type vehicles.

The effects ofrecycling tool are in preparation.