[Official] Star Citizen / Squadron 42

Pyre

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https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/2071853/#Comment_2071853

You just saw a PART of the damage system in the video. There are other layers like laser marks / burns, bullet / armor hits (achieved with decals + height maps) .

Something that people may not have picked up is that while we have discrete states of damage for every part each state has multiple pieces (panels etc) that can break off. At the beginning of the state all those pieces are attached to the base damage geometry and then are broken off if there is a laser / projectile hit in their vicinity. So between the projectile hit decals, bits of the geometry breaking off near the impact point it will definitely look like the ship is responding to exactly where you are hitting.

Transitions between states - which is flexible in number of states per part as it really depends on the size of the part and how much fidelity you need so the progression looks right (and available artist time) - is more absolute (i.e. when you go from damage 25% to damage 50% the same thing happens although the impulses of the detached geometry is random), so the wing will break in two or sheer off when you hit 50% damage (although if enough damage is done it will skip a state, which will have the effect of feeling / looking different).

We're also accurately tracing all projectile hits so if a bullet breaks through the shield and armor it's path will be traced inside and if that projectile collides with an internal component it will inflict damage.

Every ship system has a physical location and collision geometry even if it doesn't have render geometry (which is the case with an internal system). If that system is damages or destroyed it affects the ship on a fully systematic way. The obvious answer is the power plant - that gets damages (and doesn't blow up) its power output will decrease or stop. Every system has a power input and if its no longer receiving power will cease to function or in the case of reduced power either function at less power or not at all (depending on the device). Of course if you have some batteries / capacitors then the systems hooked up to the batteries will have some reserve power before running into trouble. A less obvious illustration is the ships main computer which provides CPU cycles for the ship's avionics (you can think of this computational power instead of energy power). If ship's computer is destroyed or damaged the targeting computer wont be able to resolve targets / function (as a targeting computer needs power, CPU cycles and a working radar). All ship systems either produce / supply some form of consumable (power, CPU cycles, heat, fuel) or use it. Heat is the negative consumable (you want to dispose of it not store it) - most weapons and some systems generate heat and if you don't efficiently deal with it (or your cooling vents get damaged) you'll risk damaging your ship & systems and at the very least increase your heat signature which makes you a much easier target for another ship's radar / targeting computer.

This is all built in ships with a plug and play system so we just create item "ports" on a ship and plug weapons, radar, power plants, engines, thrusters, fuel tanks, batteries, CPU (more cores means more cycles), targeting system, navigation computer, jump drive, cooling vents / radiators etc in and they hook up the various "pipes" that carry power, CPU cycles, fuel or heat.

Each of these items have their OWN damage states (for the ones that you can see)

So you can see there's a level of fidelity in what we are doing that I haven't seen before in a game and the video today just showed a window into part of the things we are doing to graphically show damage...

On Snowdrop - its a really pretty looking engine and I showed it to the team the moment it was demoed at E3 as I was very impressed. Having said that its not really do much more or different than CryEngine already does - the "procedural" damage that is demonstrated in the video has been something you have been able to do in CryEngine for years (bullet hit decals, breaking a plane of glass, puncturing tires and the car drops onto the rims). Its very well done (beautiful art & lighting) but I didn't see anything that we don't have the tech for in SC and that we are not planning to do (well I guess you cant shoot tires out on a ship but you could on a buggy!) Its been my experience that the very high end engines - CryEngine, Unreal 4, Frostbite all are pretty much equivalent on feature sets and capabilities - its more about how good you artists are and your programmers are in finding cool ways to show of the features of the engine.

Last note (in my wall of text) -

I've known about the BeamNG folks for a long time and talked to them as early as Dec 2012 about working on Star Citizen. I even have a prototype test they did with a Hornet flying in space using their system, crashing into asteroids! The problem with their approach (and soft body physics in general) is that it is really computationally / simulation heavy - its great for demo videos or something like a car game (there's a reason why Forza or Gran Turismo cars always look so good its because they're usually simulating less stuff than you would in a FPS like Crysis 3). Between the network bandwidth issues and client rendering / simulation issues (simulating softbody physics on 50 ships and having a frame rate that is above the single digits) a full softbody system isn't practical for SC just yet even on the high end PCs we're hoping everyone will have!

That doesn't mean that I am against trying to do a streamlined version for damage modeling - I was hoping to get the BeamNG guys to do some R&D on a stripped down system that just focused on the damage modeling / deformation (not so much the full physical simulation of every hinge etc) for SC but at the time we talked they had other commitments (like finishing university) and wanting to work on their car game so we never ended up working out a deal - which doesn't mean that I wouldn't revisit this as they are super talented but right now it looks like they are doing well and living their dream of building their own game (and who am I to stop them?)

This doesn't mean that we don't have procedural damage modeling via deformation in our R&D task list for the SC Graphics Engineering team (which is 4 programmers internally at the moment). We need this solution for capital ships as you want to see large hulls indent or buckle from hits / collisions and if we do something that we're happy with (and meets our performance criteria) we'll probably also apply back to the smaller ships adding just another level of detail!

So I guess the TL;DNR version is be patient grasshoppers!
 

Pyre

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https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/2071853/#Comment_2071853

You just saw a PART of the damage system in the video. There are other layers like laser marks / burns, bullet / armor hits (achieved with decals + height maps) .

Something that people may not have picked up is that while we have discrete states of damage for every part each state has multiple pieces (panels etc) that can break off. At the beginning of the state all those pieces are attached to the base damage geometry and then are broken off if there is a laser / projectile hit in their vicinity. So between the projectile hit decals, bits of the geometry breaking off near the impact point it will definitely look like the ship is responding to exactly where you are hitting.

Transitions between states - which is flexible in number of states per part as it really depends on the size of the part and how much fidelity you need so the progression looks right (and available artist time) - is more absolute (i.e. when you go from damage 25% to damage 50% the same thing happens although the impulses of the detached geometry is random), so the wing will break in two or sheer off when you hit 50% damage (although if enough damage is done it will skip a state, which will have the effect of feeling / looking different).

We're also accurately tracing all projectile hits so if a bullet breaks through the shield and armor it's path will be traced inside and if that projectile collides with an internal component it will inflict damage.

Every ship system has a physical location and collision geometry even if it doesn't have render geometry (which is the case with an internal system). If that system is damages or destroyed it affects the ship on a fully systematic way. The obvious answer is the power plant - that gets damages (and doesn't blow up) its power output will decrease or stop. Every system has a power input and if its no longer receiving power will cease to function or in the case of reduced power either function at less power or not at all (depending on the device). Of course if you have some batteries / capacitors then the systems hooked up to the batteries will have some reserve power before running into trouble. A less obvious illustration is the ships main computer which provides CPU cycles for the ship's avionics (you can think of this computational power instead of energy power). If ship's computer is destroyed or damaged the targeting computer wont be able to resolve targets / function (as a targeting computer needs power, CPU cycles and a working radar). All ship systems either produce / supply some form of consumable (power, CPU cycles, heat, fuel) or use it. Heat is the negative consumable (you want to dispose of it not store it) - most weapons and some systems generate heat and if you don't efficiently deal with it (or your cooling vents get damaged) you'll risk damaging your ship & systems and at the very least increase your heat signature which makes you a much easier target for another ship's radar / targeting computer.

This is all built in ships with a plug and play system so we just create item "ports" on a ship and plug weapons, radar, power plants, engines, thrusters, fuel tanks, batteries, CPU (more cores means more cycles), targeting system, navigation computer, jump drive, cooling vents / radiators etc in and they hook up the various "pipes" that carry power, CPU cycles, fuel or heat.

Each of these items have their OWN damage states (for the ones that you can see)

So you can see there's a level of fidelity in what we are doing that I haven't seen before in a game and the video today just showed a window into part of the things we are doing to graphically show damage...

On Snowdrop - its a really pretty looking engine and I showed it to the team the moment it was demoed at E3 as I was very impressed. Having said that its not really do much more or different than CryEngine already does - the "procedural" damage that is demonstrated in the video has been something you have been able to do in CryEngine for years (bullet hit decals, breaking a plane of glass, puncturing tires and the car drops onto the rims). Its very well done (beautiful art & lighting) but I didn't see anything that we don't have the tech for in SC and that we are not planning to do (well I guess you cant shoot tires out on a ship but you could on a buggy!) Its been my experience that the very high end engines - CryEngine, Unreal 4, Frostbite all are pretty much equivalent on feature sets and capabilities - its more about how good you artists are and your programmers are in finding cool ways to show of the features of the engine.

Last note (in my wall of text) -

I've known about the BeamNG folks for a long time and talked to them as early as Dec 2012 about working on Star Citizen. I even have a prototype test they did with a Hornet flying in space using their system, crashing into asteroids! The problem with their approach (and soft body physics in general) is that it is really computationally / simulation heavy - its great for demo videos or something like a car game (there's a reason why Forza or Gran Turismo cars always look so good its because they're usually simulating less stuff than you would in a FPS like Crysis 3). Between the network bandwidth issues and client rendering / simulation issues (simulating softbody physics on 50 ships and having a frame rate that is above the single digits) a full softbody system isn't practical for SC just yet even on the high end PCs we're hoping everyone will have!

That doesn't mean that I am against trying to do a streamlined version for damage modeling - I was hoping to get the BeamNG guys to do some R&D on a stripped down system that just focused on the damage modeling / deformation (not so much the full physical simulation of every hinge etc) for SC but at the time we talked they had other commitments (like finishing university) and wanting to work on their car game so we never ended up working out a deal - which doesn't mean that I wouldn't revisit this as they are super talented but right now it looks like they are doing well and living their dream of building their own game (and who am I to stop them?)

This doesn't mean that we don't have procedural damage modeling via deformation in our R&D task list for the SC Graphics Engineering team (which is 4 programmers internally at the moment). We need this solution for capital ships as you want to see large hulls indent or buckle from hits / collisions and if we do something that we're happy with (and meets our performance criteria) we'll probably also apply back to the smaller ships adding just another level of detail!

So I guess the TL;DNR version is be patient grasshoppers!
 

Pyre

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The Next Great Starship Episode 1.6
The Next Great Starship, the modding competition that gives fans a chance to create a space ship for Chris Roberts' upcoming epic space sim game, Star Citizen™, is about to get real for 16 teams!

 

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The Next Great Starship Episode 1.6
The Next Great Starship, the modding competition that gives fans a chance to create a space ship for Chris Roberts' upcoming epic space sim game, Star Citizen™, is about to get real for 16 teams!

 

Pyre

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Y9RD2w4.png


ZUKRMdU.png
 

Pyre

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YDSsZhw.png

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13626-Letter-From-The-Chairman-40-Million

At $40 million, you unlocked the last of the backer-voted star systems. Since the results of the last poll were so close, we decided to include both of the top two options:

Kabal System ? The discovery of a new system is always an exciting time. Even the most jaded NavJumpers can?t help entertaining the possibilities for scientific understanding or new species or even a new home that could await them on the other side of a new jump point. The discovery of Kabal was certainly something new. By all outward appearances, the system seemed empty. It was only during when a UEE Surveying team began to assess Kabal III, did they find something disturbing; old uninhabited Tevarin cities. How could an entire Tevarin system escape detection all these years? Did the Tevarin that were assimilated into the UEE know about it? How was it kept a secret? The questions multiplied when a detachment of Marines, sent to secure the planet ended up discovering a cache of old Tevarin war machines. Among the rows and rows of weapons, they made an even more disturbing discovery; some of the technology was made in the last ten years?
Oretani System ? Oretani was just one of many systems that were being discovered during the rapid Expansion era of the 25th century. The surveyors noticed nothing in the system?s six worlds of immediate importance. Only one planet seemed to be a viable candidate for terraforming. The terraforming Corp that won the bid sent a mid-level team (and their families) into the system to start processing when the only jump point into the system collapsed. Scientists scrambled to figure out a solution, but it was the first time an incident like this had occurred. As years stretched into decades, people studied the area around the former jump point, hoping for a sign that it had reopened, but after time they gave up. After all this time, Oretani is only ever debated among select number of historians. Most believe that without support, the initial terraformers probably died out, but no one really knows what to expect on the other side if that jump point ever reopens.

$42 million stretch goal:
Updated Observist Guide ? Additional funding from the $42 million level will go to expanding the website area of the Galactapedia: expect to see holographic ships, items and navigation interface in 3D! Imagine admiring your ships or planning your loadouts right here at the RSI website.

Mobiglas_temp03.jpg

Explorer-class mobiGlas Rig ? Every player who backs before we hit $42 million will start the game with their own, visually distinctive mobiGlas ?ExoGlas? rig which can be used to access the Observist at any time. I?ve charged the mobiGlas team with a very difficult task: creating a realistic interface that will help keep your affairs in order in an expansive galaxy that we hope players will expand in unknown directions. It?s almost like building our own in fiction operating system for an imagined future, and it?s very different task than building spaceships. This backer-exclusive mobiGlas kit will come pre-loaded with additional galactic information that new players would ordinarily need to explore or barter to fill out; it?s our way of honoring the information you?ve collected about the Star Citizen universe through the RSI site and community over the past year!

Gladius ? The Squadron 42 team will develop an additional fighter for the game, the Aegis Dynamics Gladius-class light fighter. The Gladius will be the first fighter built entirely from concept to CryEngine in the UK! Here?s the official description: The Aegis Gladius is the UEE?s reigning light short-range patrol fighter. A single-seat ship with no room for expansion, the Gladius is fast, maneuverable and capable of punching far above its weight. The main advantage to the design is simplicity: cheap to produce, easy to repair and outfit and quick to train new pilots on. The Gladius is an aging design nearing the end of its life-cycle, although iterative updates have kept it the most nimble fighter in the active fleet.

Towel ? And of course, everyone who backs before we hit $42 million will also receive a towel for their hangar. Don?t explore the galaxy without it!

For the next set of stretch goals, we?re going to give you in-game rewards? and we?re letting you pick what you want. Please vote in the poll below to pick the $43 million unlock reward. The winner will be described in the next Chairman post and the option with the lowest votes will be eliminated from contention!

10 for the Chairman - Episode 11 . March 10th, 2014
 
Last edited:

Pyre

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YDSsZhw.png

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13626-Letter-From-The-Chairman-40-Million

At $40 million, you unlocked the last of the backer-voted star systems. Since the results of the last poll were so close, we decided to include both of the top two options:

Kabal System ? The discovery of a new system is always an exciting time. Even the most jaded NavJumpers can?t help entertaining the possibilities for scientific understanding or new species or even a new home that could await them on the other side of a new jump point. The discovery of Kabal was certainly something new. By all outward appearances, the system seemed empty. It was only during when a UEE Surveying team began to assess Kabal III, did they find something disturbing; old uninhabited Tevarin cities. How could an entire Tevarin system escape detection all these years? Did the Tevarin that were assimilated into the UEE know about it? How was it kept a secret? The questions multiplied when a detachment of Marines, sent to secure the planet ended up discovering a cache of old Tevarin war machines. Among the rows and rows of weapons, they made an even more disturbing discovery; some of the technology was made in the last ten years?
Oretani System ? Oretani was just one of many systems that were being discovered during the rapid Expansion era of the 25th century. The surveyors noticed nothing in the system?s six worlds of immediate importance. Only one planet seemed to be a viable candidate for terraforming. The terraforming Corp that won the bid sent a mid-level team (and their families) into the system to start processing when the only jump point into the system collapsed. Scientists scrambled to figure out a solution, but it was the first time an incident like this had occurred. As years stretched into decades, people studied the area around the former jump point, hoping for a sign that it had reopened, but after time they gave up. After all this time, Oretani is only ever debated among select number of historians. Most believe that without support, the initial terraformers probably died out, but no one really knows what to expect on the other side if that jump point ever reopens.

$42 million stretch goal:
Updated Observist Guide ? Additional funding from the $42 million level will go to expanding the website area of the Galactapedia: expect to see holographic ships, items and navigation interface in 3D! Imagine admiring your ships or planning your loadouts right here at the RSI website.

Mobiglas_temp03.jpg

Explorer-class mobiGlas Rig ? Every player who backs before we hit $42 million will start the game with their own, visually distinctive mobiGlas ?ExoGlas? rig which can be used to access the Observist at any time. I?ve charged the mobiGlas team with a very difficult task: creating a realistic interface that will help keep your affairs in order in an expansive galaxy that we hope players will expand in unknown directions. It?s almost like building our own in fiction operating system for an imagined future, and it?s very different task than building spaceships. This backer-exclusive mobiGlas kit will come pre-loaded with additional galactic information that new players would ordinarily need to explore or barter to fill out; it?s our way of honoring the information you?ve collected about the Star Citizen universe through the RSI site and community over the past year!

Gladius ? The Squadron 42 team will develop an additional fighter for the game, the Aegis Dynamics Gladius-class light fighter. The Gladius will be the first fighter built entirely from concept to CryEngine in the UK! Here?s the official description: The Aegis Gladius is the UEE?s reigning light short-range patrol fighter. A single-seat ship with no room for expansion, the Gladius is fast, maneuverable and capable of punching far above its weight. The main advantage to the design is simplicity: cheap to produce, easy to repair and outfit and quick to train new pilots on. The Gladius is an aging design nearing the end of its life-cycle, although iterative updates have kept it the most nimble fighter in the active fleet.

Towel ? And of course, everyone who backs before we hit $42 million will also receive a towel for their hangar. Don?t explore the galaxy without it!

For the next set of stretch goals, we?re going to give you in-game rewards? and we?re letting you pick what you want. Please vote in the poll below to pick the $43 million unlock reward. The winner will be described in the next Chairman post and the option with the lowest votes will be eliminated from contention!

10 for the Chairman - Episode 11 . March 10th, 2014
 

Pyre

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The Next Great Starship Episode 1.7


TNGS Poll: Vote for the Save!
Make sure you catch tonight’s episode of The Next Great Starship! Over the last three weeks, the Next Great Starship judges have eliminated four teams. But all is not lost: Star Citizen’s backers can vote this weekend to save them. The two most popular teams will be allowed to stay in the race! The teams in jeopardy are Eris Heavy Manufacturing, Tallon Corp, Visioncut and 3Dingo. You can review their submissions here and then pick your favorite below. Who do you think should make the cut?

Hurry, the polls close Sunday at midnight, EST!

JumpPoint-01-13-Avenger-WIP-For-Ben_Page_01.jpg


JumpPoint-01-13-Avenger-WIP-For-Ben_Page_15.jpg


JumpPoint-01-13-Avenger-WIP-For-Ben_Page_21.jpg

more @ https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13632-WIP-Avenger

Cara Hoshji is a smart person. She scored so well on her Equivalency that she received a hefty scholarship from Terra University. Graduating with a degree in AstroEngineering, Cara transformed a summer apprenticeship with the Support & Supply Agency, a lesser-known department of the UEE responsible for procuring and transporting resources and supplies to sate the Empire’s massive infrastructure needs, into a full-time position shortly after graduation.

“You’ve probably seen those long snake-like hauling ships pulling trails of massive cargo containers. Those were my life,” Cara said, sitting in her small apartment in Odyssa. From the stacks of packing crates, it would seem that she just moved in, but she’s already been here for three months.

Cara looks over the cramped space wearily. She claims she keeps planning to finally unpack, but she’s either working or too exhausted to try and tackle it.

Her first full-time job with the SSA was in their maintenance department, working with the pit crews to keep the ships flying. Cara had other aspirations though.
more @ https://robertsspaceindustries.com/...patch/13627-Terra-Gazette-An-Uncertain-Future
 

Pyre

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
22,610
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The Next Great Starship Episode 1.7


TNGS Poll: Vote for the Save!
Make sure you catch tonight’s episode of The Next Great Starship! Over the last three weeks, the Next Great Starship judges have eliminated four teams. But all is not lost: Star Citizen’s backers can vote this weekend to save them. The two most popular teams will be allowed to stay in the race! The teams in jeopardy are Eris Heavy Manufacturing, Tallon Corp, Visioncut and 3Dingo. You can review their submissions here and then pick your favorite below. Who do you think should make the cut?

Hurry, the polls close Sunday at midnight, EST!

JumpPoint-01-13-Avenger-WIP-For-Ben_Page_01.jpg


JumpPoint-01-13-Avenger-WIP-For-Ben_Page_15.jpg


JumpPoint-01-13-Avenger-WIP-For-Ben_Page_21.jpg

more @ https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13632-WIP-Avenger

Cara Hoshji is a smart person. She scored so well on her Equivalency that she received a hefty scholarship from Terra University. Graduating with a degree in AstroEngineering, Cara transformed a summer apprenticeship with the Support & Supply Agency, a lesser-known department of the UEE responsible for procuring and transporting resources and supplies to sate the Empire’s massive infrastructure needs, into a full-time position shortly after graduation.

“You’ve probably seen those long snake-like hauling ships pulling trails of massive cargo containers. Those were my life,” Cara said, sitting in her small apartment in Odyssa. From the stacks of packing crates, it would seem that she just moved in, but she’s already been here for three months.

Cara looks over the cramped space wearily. She claims she keeps planning to finally unpack, but she’s either working or too exhausted to try and tackle it.

Her first full-time job with the SSA was in their maintenance department, working with the pit crews to keep the ships flying. Cara had other aspirations though.
more @ https://robertsspaceindustries.com/...patch/13627-Terra-Gazette-An-Uncertain-Future
 

Pyre

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https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/2145055/#Comment_2145055
What are the current planned specs for running the DFM v1? If I wanted to plan on making sure I could run it on "high" (but not ultra) settings with no less than 40fps, what sort of rig would be recommended?

New Haswell i7 arround the 4770k
16GB RAM @1600MHZ
GTX 680 or better
SSD hard drive
thanks to eminus for the above

Wingman's Hangar ep061 . March 19, 2014

Eric "Wingman" Peterson bounds through another Hangar.

• A first look at Full Performance Capture
• Forum Feedback -- with your questions
• An interview with lead animator, Bryan Brewer
 

Pyre

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https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/2145055/#Comment_2145055
What are the current planned specs for running the DFM v1? If I wanted to plan on making sure I could run it on "high" (but not ultra) settings with no less than 40fps, what sort of rig would be recommended?

New Haswell i7 arround the 4770k
16GB RAM @1600MHZ
GTX 680 or better
SSD hard drive
thanks to eminus for the above

Wingman's Hangar ep061 . March 19, 2014

Eric "Wingman" Peterson bounds through another Hangar.

• A first look at Full Performance Capture
• Forum Feedback -- with your questions
• An interview with lead animator, Bryan Brewer
 

Pyre

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Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
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Reaction score
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10 for the Chairman - Episode 13 . March 24th, 2014
 

Pyre

Arch-Supremacy Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2000
Messages
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Reaction score
239
10 for the Chairman - Episode 13 . March 24th, 2014
 
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