Mining - [VID]
Exploration: - [VID]
Art
Chapter 2: Q2 - [VID]
Q&As
- New in-ring scanning mechanism to work out which asteroids are valuable and what they contain.
- New asteroid looks (eyeballing opportunities?). [PIC] [PIC]
- Sometimes you'll use traditional mining laser and strip the surface.
- Some will have fragile resources on surfaces. New technique used.
- Sometimes just below the surface. New tools and equipment.
- Giant, high risk, asteroid which needs to be cracked open. Structural weakness and fissures. Placing charges on weak points to shatter the big gold rush asteroids (need to figure out how many is right number [?]). Prospector limpet will give you the info to do this. [PIC]
- 'Can support Wings & Multicrew in the process'. Mark likes the idea of a Wing descending with maybe one figuring out charge placements, while one gets the fragile surface stuff pre-explosion, while another prospects for the next rock. [vid timestamp]
- Should be skill based. IE expected threats for most part. Some less expected threats = maybe this one is dusty and will lower visibility, maybe you missed a toxic aspect which will eat your limpets, maybe this one is just really volatile and will blow up almost immediately. A lot of danger, but 'expectable' danger which you can mitigate to some degree. Very risky for first-timers though.
- New poss discoveries (& threats...?) in more unexplored areas.
Exploration: - [VID]
- Spotlighting 'one small element' of the changes. Aiming to add satisfying processes to exploration, and making sure there are some cool things to find.
- Sensor probes will be launched by the Detailed Surface Scanner in Supercruise (additional to existing functions). You fire them around a planet (or rings) and they'll follow a partially-guided orbit (effectively a parabolic arc). They'll go in a straight line but will have Supercruise-assisted flight allowing them to arc towards the body. When close enough to surface will obtain data from large local area. They want you to 'paint' locations. Affected by gravity, the larger the mass of the object the more the probe will arc towards it. (You can do 'trick shots' IE you could hit the opposite side of a planet with skill). There will be 'mechanical rewards' for doing efficiently, plus you'll want to do well to avoid synthesising probes all the time. [PIC]
- Do-able in multicrew, can work as a team. [vid timestamp]
- Multicrew exploration rewards.
- Eliminating need to travel all the way around the planet eyeballing it.
- When you have full surface data for a planet, you'll get locations of interesting POI. (May be a breadcrumb trail. WIP).
- Aim is to give you info about whether to proceed, rather than go fairly randomly to see if 'something' is there.
- Seeding the galaxy with 'discoveries'.
- Geological / biological / 'phenomena' [?]. Space lightning shown!? [Vid]- EDIT: (NB they confirmed this is not atmospherics - it's in 'the vacuum of space' - see Q&A). Discoveries can be both beneficial and baneful.
- Going to split galaxy into regions for codex etc
Art
- Multi suns & scenarios make curating look of the game tricky
- Look at adaptive lighting. (Aiming to look more 'cinematic'. Does look good). [VID]
- colour grade can adapt scenes depending on sun light and local events etc
- Ice shaders look pretty sweet. 'Just one part' of the pass on ice planets. [Vid]
Chapter 2: Q2 - [VID]
- Guardian Larges - shard cannon etc (+ human cannon).
- Installations now have interactions like megaships + there will be damaged megaships in deep space
- New locations (tharg infected human sites etc)
- Challenger is a little bit more manoeuvrable than Chieftain as well as more hitpoints & a bit more armour. [VID]
Q&As
- Will surface scanners find the crashed ships etc? Yes. [Any interesting site]
- /missing/
- How many elites do they have? Mark thinks he might be combat elite, but uses dev account mainly at mo.
- /missing/
- More immersive, same, or less in future? Especially re timers etc? Per case basis. Loaded term. Sometimes it's best to keep things instant. Cargo unload for example. Exploration + mining create a little bit of drama if there's time to breath.
- Tharg attacks on stations. System response is poor, but if you turn up with Scouts they react. When an official in-game thing? -Wait and see.
- More jaggedy [?] shapes in the ice planets. Work on that? Yes. WIP. Not every environment, but we showed that image for a reason.
- New lighting. Impact? Zero impact. [? poss misunderstood this]
- Multi point / star lighting? Currently not on schedule. Have looked at it.
- Comets? Sandy doesn't know. Are looking at it. Concepts and challenges. Nothing to announce for Q4. We keep going.
- Humans on moon first or SRVs on the moon? Couldn't tell you.
- Plans to improve signal sources
- Lightning bolts in an atmosphere? Safe to say it's 'environments'. It's within the vacuums of space. No atmospheres. No gas giants. Cheekies...
- Explorations data affecting expansion depending on faction given to? Looking at tweaks and changes to BGS. Nothing to advance re schedule / Q4.
- /missing/
- Ship specific modules for explorers / miners / traders? Started with passenger / military modules. Fair bet to say there will be role based modules / specific slots.
- When SRV in multicrew? Nothing to announce. Not yet. Sorry.
- GPS for flying to specific co-ords? Have definitely discussed bookmarking system. Can't remember if it's scheduled to make Q4.
- Poss to get triple elite decal? Can't remember when that's falling. Have discussed.
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