“Hello Citizens!
Today I’m going to talk about combat and how CIG use it to scale difficulty. Enjoy!”
The video discusses the prevalence of combat in missions in Star Citizen, highlighting how many missions now involve combat encounters, even when it’s unexpected. This trend was observed when new delivery and retrieval missions were added to the game, leading players to derelict outposts with hostile NPCs. The addition of distribution centers at Citizen Con further emphasized combat mechanics, with raid mechanics offering high rewards. However, the focus on combat overshadowed the non-combat uses of these locations, such as exploration and trading possibilities.
The video also touches on the upcoming distribution centers planned for release in version 3.23, which are intended to provide both combat and non-combat content. While combat encounters seem to have increased in certain missions, the overall frequency of random combat encounters has decreased. The mission system’s current issues, like NPCs lingering after a combat mission and spawning bounties, contribute to unintended combat scenarios for players.
The need for the mission manager to be separated into its own service is highlighted, as it would allow for better deconfliction of mission areas and integration with the dynamic economy and probability volumes. This separation would prevent incompatible missions from spawning in the same location, improving mission variety and player experience. The video also discusses how combat is used as the primary method to introduce risk and reward in missions, but the reliance on combat as the sole risk factor may limit the diversity of gameplay experiences.
While combat missions are currently dominant due to their profitability and accessibility compared to other high-earning activities like mining or salvage, the video suggests that combat content is being used to test new combat features and balance changes. This approach aims to scale the difficulty and risk of actions in the game, even though it may give the impression that combat is overly prevalent. The video concludes by mentioning potential future hazards like weather effects and environmental dangers that could introduce new challenges and diversify gameplay experiences in Star Citizen.