“Todd Papy, Brian Chambers, and Chad McKinney join us this week on Star Citizen Live to answer your questions about SSOCS, development and the Public Roadmap.”
In this episode of Star Citizen Live, the hosts Jared Huckaby, Todd Papy, Brian Chambers, and Chad McKinney answer questions about the development of Star Citizen. They discuss the new staggered development initiative, changes to the roadmap, and various aspects of game development. They explain that the shift to staggered development aims to improve the quality of features before release and ensure that all future work is done properly. This allows for a gate of quality and provides more time for bug fixing and polishing.
The hosts also address the question of whether the focus should be more on ships or profession mechanics and gameplay. They mention that while ships are still in development, the priority is currently on features needed for Squadron 42. However, there are teams solely focused on developing professions like mining, salvaging, trading, piracy, security, and more.
They also discuss the issue of long-standing bugs and explain that bug fixing has been incorporated into the development pipeline to ensure that quality of life issues are addressed throughout each quarter. They prioritize fixes based on the impact of the bug on gameplay and player experience. They acknowledge that some bugs may take longer to fix due to various factors, but they are committed to constantly improving the game.
Chad McKinney joins the discussion to provide updates on server-side Object Container Streaming (OCS) and server meshing. He explains that server-side OCS is currently in progress and they have made significant changes to object containers and implemented the star hash service. He mentions that they are testing an in-memory persistence cache for server-side streaming but they are still working on the backend for full persistence. Server meshing is also being worked on but it is dependent on server-side OCS.
They address the question of whether detailed design documents will be released publicly. They explain that the format of design communication has changed, and while they will still provide information and updates, longer design documents are not as necessary or effective as they used to be. They emphasize the importance of constant iteration and feedback with the community.
Lastly, they discuss the status of ship combat tuning. They have created a balanced team dedicated to tuning and polishing ship combat. The team will address several issues, including gimbal assist, turret behaviors, missiles, and combat dynamics. They aim to improve the feel and intimacy of ship combat in the game.