" A wild week brings us a lot of interesting developments in Star Citizen. 3.21 has entered the open PTU as a harbinger for big backend changes, the jump point has shown up as an unmarked location as well, and major changes to data mining present complications for item services like Erkul, and all gameplay for players going forward. Join me and the-space-coder to discuss the major changes in Star Citizen currently happening."
In this episode of the podcast, the hosts discuss the recent developments in Star Citizen, particularly the surprising leap from 3.20 to 3.21 in PTU, the inclusion of jump points in the game, and the potential danger the changes pose to services like Urkel and The Space Coder’s own Armory. The new patch brings about significant changes in data storage, potentially affecting players’ in-game experiences. The Space Coder shares that while the changes on 3.20 may have significant implications, they foresee an exciting future for the game, and together with the host, discuss the fun aspect of talking about Star Citizen.
A major part of the discussion is the implementation of the Hull-C cargo ship’s cargo system in Star Citizen and how it differs from the regular loading method of other ships. The Hull-C utilizes external gravity-driven plates for cargo storage. According to both hosts, while this loading process is new and different, it is undeniably also tedious and complicated. The Space Coder raises a point about this conventional cargo system being much simpler and more accessible to handle.
The hosts also delve into other aspects of the 3.20 patch such as the Arena Commander, Master modes, and improved wheeled vehicles handling. They agree that although there have been a few bumps and hiccups in the latest releases, there has been a definite improvement in stability and performance. There seems to be a pattern of robust tech additions which may initially destabilize patches but eventually lead to more stable ones, as seen with 3.18, 3.19, and now 3.20.
The sudden transition to 3.21 in the PTU is a fascinating topic in itself. The Space Coder theorizes it’s because developers wanted to test the replication layer and maintain a separation from the larger patches, especially as it pertains to server and network performance. It’s a significant software development step and could indicate nearing readiness for static and dynamic server meshing.
The final part of the episode goes into potential strategies for dealing with the change 3.20 brought with data being stored server-side in real-time. This change, driven by the balance and progress of the game, creates implications for third-party applications and tools that relied on specific data feeds. The hosts suggest that players could begin crowdsourcing their data, but it would be time-consuming and still imperfect. The Silver-lining here is the opportunity for in-game data running to form and for players to potentially start forming their history databases, which could be of value in the future game updates.