Dr Kay Ross talking about Odyssey Planetary Tech livestream - Quick Summary Notes

[Alec Turner]

Additional info from Frontier ..

From the information contained in Kay Ross's talk on last night's Discovery Scanner livestream many people will already have twigged that the terrain features on all the landable planets that we're currently familiar with from Horizons are going to change with the launch of Odyssey.

To be clear what I mean by this is that notable planetary features like canyons, mountains, ridges, valleys, craters, etc that we're currently familiar with will almost certainly no longer exist in Odyssey in their current form. Don't get me wrong, these kinds of features will all still exist, but they'll be in completely different locations and arrangements.

Since one of the consequences of this is that all pre-existing "race tracks" (by which I mean interesting planetary locations that have been scouted, mapped and bookmarked by the racing community as good places to hold SRV or canyon based ship racing events) will cease to exist in their current form, Frontier were kind enough to reach out to me on Wednesday asking if I could spread the word on this subject. For the avoidance of chinese whispers I think it's best if I simply quote that message directly.

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I have some news which will affect future Buckyball (and other organised) races in Elite that I want to share with you.​

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It’s no secret that planets will change a lot when Odyssey lands. Given the way the Stellar Forge produces landscapes on each planet, the update will mean a regeneration of all land formations (canyons, ridges, valleys etc.) on planets which have them. To a large degree, the regeneration will be random (working within certain criteria for each planet such as being an ice world). Unfortunately, this means existing race courses are very likely to change.​

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While it’s possible some planets will remain great for racing, we imagine this will mean groups like the Buckyball Racers will want to find new places to determine courses. We’d like to offer our support here in particular. If any of the racing groups choose to hold a racetrack discovery competition or similar, we’re more than happy to sponsor them with prizes and promotion to help re-establish this key part of the racing community.​

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So, when Odyssey launches, things like the existing Buckyball "Pomeche Ridge Challenge" and "Cortes Drag Strip Challenge" will come to an end, their scoreboards will be frozen and we'll begin a search to find new venues for these challenges with fresh new leaderboards.

Although I will be sad to see these much loved locations go I totally appreciate the need for this (it's kind of a consequence of a very complex procedural generation algorithm, there's a butterfly effect, so if you change the algorithm even slightly, let alone with the large changes no doubt required for Odyssey, you're going to get completely different results coming out of the other end). Personally I'm very excited by this prospect and can't wait to see what this new world looks like!

So, what existing planetary features will you be most sad to lose and what new features are you must loooking forward to finding?

 

[Retropolitan]

I have been a little worried about bio/geo locations changing and moving due to the new topography, because I catalogued so many of them.

 

[Scoob101]

Will atmospheric worlds will we see weather effects, dust patterns? The first ones, coming in Odyssey, we'll see dust effects visible on the surface.

This one made me chuckle when Arthur jumped on it and said "That's a yes then". - Rather forgetting that given its just a graphical effect, it won't affect flight dynamics - so its a no.

 

[Factabulous]

This one made me chuckle when Arthur jumped on it and said "That's a yes then". - Rather forgetting that given its just a graphical effect, it won't affect flight dynamics - so its a no.

Yeah, I think it's probably like space dust - so you can orient yourself. Others are already predicting sand dunes ....

 

[Rubbernuke]

 

[dannysquid]

Can't wait to see it all properly in action and the effect it has on some of the existing worlds. My main complaint with the current worlds is how unnatural a lot of the colour looks, so using proper pbr materials should hopefully fix that. I think it's particularly unpleasant colour-wise on the big ridges of ice worlds (which I hope will also look a bit more physically natural). Exciting times!

Curious what the new graphical "weather" effects will amount to. She was cut off before she could say more.

I was a little disappointed they seemed to avoid the question ("I can't remember") of whether rings/moons will cast shadows, and further to that, whether multiple stars can cast shadows. I'm assuming ignoring this stuff makes everything render loads and loads faster, but I've always felt that these were just necessary things for a space game to try to do even if the places where it would actually be noticeable are maybe quite limited. But I suspect you'd have to fudge it and there's maybe no pleasant way of doing that.

But apart from that grumpiness I can't wait!

I have been a little worried about bio/geo locations changing and moving due to the new topography, because I catalogued so many of them.

I think that's probably inevitable as the way it calculates everything is a lot more sophisticated.

 

[Retropolitan]

I think that's probably inevitable as the way it calculates everything is a lot more sophisticated.

Well, yes: hence my worry.

 

[Scoob101]

My main complaint with the current worlds is how unnatural a lot of the colour looks, so using proper pbr materials should hopefully fix that.

One thing that hasnt been cleared up is that whilst we've had confirmation that the new tech applies to all landable planets, but nothing much has been stated about the appearance of non-landable planets will change.

I cant imagine for a moment that we wont see some changes, but it would be nice to have it confirmed that the lighting and other engine changes will mean that all planets look suitably pretty from orbit.

 

[Scoob101]

The other thing I was thinking was that given the overhaul the engine is having to create worlds with complex terrain, and also given we now have confirmation that many of those generated features will be visible from orbit - how will the CPU`s on the consoles hold up.

I think they are going to struggle badly.

 

[Arioch]

I think they are going to struggle badly.

I thought I heard Dr Kay saying the new method was more efficient than the Horizons code, which would allow them to get better visuals for the same oomph. It’s been said several times previously that current hardware will be able to run Odyssey - I suppose we’ll have to wait and see.

 

[Ydiss]

The other thing I was thinking was that given the overhaul the engine is having to create worlds with complex terrain, and also given we now have confirmation that many of those generated features will be visible from orbit - how will the CPU`s on the consoles hold up.

I think they are going to struggle badly.

No evidence of this yet. Fdev have claimed otherwise.

 

[Scoob101]

No evidence of this yet. Fdev have claimed otherwise.

They have suggested everything is fine, and we shouldn't worry our pretty little heads....

 

[Patrick_68000]

One thing that hasnt been cleared up is that whilst we've had confirmation that the new tech applies to all landable planets, but nothing much has been stated about the appearance of non-landable planets will change.

I cant imagine for a moment that we wont see some changes, but it would be nice to have it confirmed that the lighting and other engine changes will mean that all planets look suitably pretty from orbit.

I think Frontier wouldn't want the visuals between the two categories of planets to look like day and night.

 

[Scoob101]

I think Frontier wouldn't want the visuals between the two categories of planets to look like day and night.

Totally agree, would d be nice to get some insights tho..

 

[TheSisko]

The other thing I was thinking was that given the overhaul the engine is having to create worlds with complex terrain, and also given we now have confirmation that many of those generated features will be visible from orbit - how will the CPU`s on the consoles hold up.

I think they are going to struggle badly.

Depends on how scalable the Cobra Engine is. I can't see current gen consoles (Xbox Series S|X and PS5) having too many issues, and as for last-gen consoles, I'm sure Frontier don't want another Cyperpunk on their hands. Besides, they have several months until the console release to do optimization work, and that's easier when you're working against fixed hardware like consoles.

 

[Eleuth]

Dr K .Ross, impressive knowledge, in some way she reminds me of the lady in the Adams family
And that is certainly not ment to be rude or negative, on the contrary!

 

[Alec Turner]

Dr K .Ross, impressive knowledge, in some way she reminds me of the lady in the Adams family
And that is certainly not ment to be rude or negative, on the contrary!

Morticia as played by the stunningly beautiful Angelica Huston ... yup, I can see that.

 

["Red" the Pirate]

Will atmospheric worlds will we see weather effects, dust patterns? The first ones, coming in Odyssey, we'll see dust effects visible on the surface.

Just quoting this for later.

 

[CMDR Yates]

I have been a little worried about bio/geo locations changing and moving due to the new topography, because I catalogued so many of them.

It seems like the fumaroles (and probably also the biologicals, reading between the lines) are now gonna be placed by the new scatter rock system in appropriate regions.

Which makes me wonder if they're moving away from the whole idea of bio/geo sites characterised by distinct, delineated, densely-packed "fields" of vents, fungus, etc., and instead having these features spread and clustered in a more natural way across areas of geological or biological activity. Scattered over many miles, perhaps.

If you look at geysers in Yellowstone or gas vents on Teide, you don't find all the features clustered in tight squares but scattered widely over whole geological features like mountains and basins, with minor clusters and outliers here and there.

It's certainly something they're gonna have to work on sooner or later if complex geological worlds and planets with pervasive life are to potentially come in future.

 

[Rat Catcher]

They have suggested everything is fine, and we shouldn't worry our pretty little heads....

Exactly - they actually aren't CD Projekt Red, despite how that memory gnaws at the back of your mind...
Maybe they will just come out straight and say - "not supported any longer" to put all the previous generation console owners out of their misery (Of which I am one, incidentally, but am not worrying my pretty little head about)