With Space Legs coming in Odyssey, and the three year full team dedicated to making it happen, I really thought there was going to be a revamp of the core code of the game. Specifically the way the game handles vehicle code and instancing.
Currently when a player is flying a ship the player IS the ship and the player instance if fixed around said ship. That's why the SLF can't fly more than 30K away from the ship, it's tethered to it because at 30K you are approaching the instance boundary and while in the SLF the instance is still fixed to the ship. Mainly because of multi-crew, if other players are in the ship or flying the SLF then they all share the instance surrounding the ship, the SLF does not get its own instance.
The SRV is different. When a player deploys the SRV the instance switches from the ship to the SRV and it becomes the focus point. This is why the SRV can go anywhere on a planet, but it's also why the ship will auto take off if you drive too far away, because the instance boundary stays centered on the SRV and the ship essentially becomes an NPC. This is also why multi-crew doesn't work with the SRV, because the instance moves independent of the ship so players can't stay on it.
Legs complicates this. Would the player avatar use the SLF model or the SRV model for instancing? Can multiple players mount SRV's in Odyssey? Could multiple players walk around ship interiors? Are starports fixed instances where you can't walk too far away from them? Are multiplayer leg combat zones fixed instances too around the "social hubs", or can a squad walk all the way around a moon together?
THIS is why I was hoping for a core rewrite of the game's instance & network code. By making the player avatar be the focus of the player instance, and turning all ships, SLF's, SRV's, etc into "vehicles", suddenly multi-crew would become possible everywhere and in any fashion. Both SRV's and SLF's could deploy from multi-crewed ships. Ship and station interiors could have multiple people in them. Players could set foot onto a small moon and walk in different directions and eventually meet on the other side of the planet, without instance boundaries stopping them.
Looking at what they've shown from Odyssey so far, and the Polygon interview, AND the lack of ship interiors, my hunch is Odyssey will essentially use the same instancing code we have in game today. Meaning a player on foot will work like an SRV does. When you disembark your ship it becomes an NPC asset, so other players can't stay on your ship while you walk around outside. If you walk too far away from your ship it will auto take off. Multi-crew would never work with EVA's like this, and teams using SRV's with SLF's, ships, and people on foot would not be possible.
I thought this core rewrite was why it was taking the whole team three years to make this expansion.
I think I was wrong.
Currently when a player is flying a ship the player IS the ship and the player instance if fixed around said ship. That's why the SLF can't fly more than 30K away from the ship, it's tethered to it because at 30K you are approaching the instance boundary and while in the SLF the instance is still fixed to the ship. Mainly because of multi-crew, if other players are in the ship or flying the SLF then they all share the instance surrounding the ship, the SLF does not get its own instance.
The SRV is different. When a player deploys the SRV the instance switches from the ship to the SRV and it becomes the focus point. This is why the SRV can go anywhere on a planet, but it's also why the ship will auto take off if you drive too far away, because the instance boundary stays centered on the SRV and the ship essentially becomes an NPC. This is also why multi-crew doesn't work with the SRV, because the instance moves independent of the ship so players can't stay on it.
Legs complicates this. Would the player avatar use the SLF model or the SRV model for instancing? Can multiple players mount SRV's in Odyssey? Could multiple players walk around ship interiors? Are starports fixed instances where you can't walk too far away from them? Are multiplayer leg combat zones fixed instances too around the "social hubs", or can a squad walk all the way around a moon together?
THIS is why I was hoping for a core rewrite of the game's instance & network code. By making the player avatar be the focus of the player instance, and turning all ships, SLF's, SRV's, etc into "vehicles", suddenly multi-crew would become possible everywhere and in any fashion. Both SRV's and SLF's could deploy from multi-crewed ships. Ship and station interiors could have multiple people in them. Players could set foot onto a small moon and walk in different directions and eventually meet on the other side of the planet, without instance boundaries stopping them.
Looking at what they've shown from Odyssey so far, and the Polygon interview, AND the lack of ship interiors, my hunch is Odyssey will essentially use the same instancing code we have in game today. Meaning a player on foot will work like an SRV does. When you disembark your ship it becomes an NPC asset, so other players can't stay on your ship while you walk around outside. If you walk too far away from your ship it will auto take off. Multi-crew would never work with EVA's like this, and teams using SRV's with SLF's, ships, and people on foot would not be possible.
I thought this core rewrite was why it was taking the whole team three years to make this expansion.
I think I was wrong.
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