Game Discussions Star Citizen Discussion Thread v12

Darth Ender said:
If you believe nothing then nothing is reliable. I believe steam stats represent more than 2/3 of elite's playerbase. And i believe cig when they say they had 35000 concurrent users and the metrics reported by mmo sites are line up with realistic numbers. I'm not interested in someone saying nothing is reliable when the evidence that does exist doesn't back them up.



Both are that old. Sc isn't attracting so many new players, they're holding onto the ones they've accumulated better. That is a big deal. Because if you compare it's supposed sales, it's got less than half the potential population but more active players. 12+ years on.



You troll poorly. Less i believe you think your post is to be taken in isolation from all of the posts that have preceded it and will follow. No. Context matters in all things. Elite is the context around this thread. Elite has always been a part of discussing other games within the elite forum.
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No, Elite is not the context in this thread. Just like it isn't in the Dinosaur park subforum and the numerous other subforums. Just let go of your obsession. Get over it. If I managed, you can manage too.
And another thing: You employ "believe" quite a lot. I like to "believe" in the good of man still and that implies that that we know or don't know and when we don't know we "think" since "believing" is just the lazy way of not using your brain.
Now I'm no stranger to using that word myself but I absolve myself from that.
 
Darth Ender said:
Except we dont believe steam stats for elite. Remember?
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I'd have to concede on that since all console players played ED via the Frontier launcher, I bought both my copies of ED direct from the Frontier website, never owned a Steam copy... Like all of the folks I played alongside back then, that stems back to playing ED first on Xbox on the GPP release in May of 2015. I bought the PC version of ED a bit later during 2016 again via the Frontier store since FDev offered to transfer my Xbox Cmdr account and all my accrued in game credits (including ship valuations) rather than forcing me to start afresh on PC in LHS 3447 in a Sidewinder as mostly harmless with a whole load of nothing after already having played the game for a year. No rankings or ships were transferred though...not even the unique Xbox GPP ship decal... or the nice Cobra 4 I'd already been given as an incentive for pre-ordering Horizons on Xbox.

We was robbed I tell ya. :whistle:
 
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So the Evo notes are interesting for V5:

[Evo NDA] Star Citizen Alpha Planet Tech V5 Tech-Preview 12829552​

Audience: Evocati (Standard Evo NDA)​

About This Test​

This build is a tech preview of Planet Tech V5, also known as Genesis, our new planetary generation and rendering system. The goal of this test is to gather feedback and performance data on the new terrain, biome, and scattering technology.

This preview is limited to Nyx 1 only. No other planets or moons in the build have been converted to V5.

Important: Vulkan Required​

Planet Tech V5 on Nyx 1 only has full functionality under Vulkan. DX11 is not currently supported and will not render the new terrain correctly so dx11 is removed from this test.

Feature Updates​

Today we're handing you the first build of Nyx I on Genesis (Planet Tech V5).

This is a first-contact test. You're the first players to fly Genesis, and your first impressions matter to us. We want to see how it behaves with a real crowd.

What's in this build​

Genesis is a new planet pipeline. It changes how we build, stream, and shade a planet surface and content. In this build, that means:

  • Physically based Object Placement. Species of plants and geology types are placed on the planet in ways that follow real world patterns and rules.
  • GPU scattering. Trees, rocks, other assets are placed on the GPU, from whole-planet scale down to ground level. On the server, the CPU runs the same placement logic so objects can get physics, using dual compilation logic to compile for both C++ and Shader Language.
  • Terrain shading. Terrain is now considered as layers of materials, including substrate, soil, scree, bedrock, sand and debris. Layers are blended against one another in physical quantities and shader using PBR techniques.
  • Distant representation. From a distance, the terrain absorbs the shading properties of the assets placed upon it, blending between real assets and our distant representation continuously.
  • Virtual Terrain. Terrain is cached into a constantly updating atlas of tiles, allowing for more efficient rendering of complex surfaces.
We have two objectives for this preview.

  • Server: stress tile activation. Put the V5 WorldBuilder under real load.
  • Client: first impressions of performance and visuals. Tell us how the planet looks and runs on your machine, in four specific areas.

Objective 1: stress tile activation on the server​

The V5 WorldBuilder activates and deactivates planet tiles as players move. We want to see how that holds up with many players on the planet at once, in different places and at different altitudes. The more of you that spread out, the better the data.

We monitor server activity throughout the preview. You don't need to report on the server side. Your job is to load it:

  • spread out, keep moving, and change altitude often.

Objective 2: report client performance and visuals​

We want to know how performance and visual fidelity hold up on first contact. Look at these four areas:

  • Distance and density. Watch how vegetation and terrain detail hold up as you move from orbit down to ground level.
  • Report pop-in, visible level of detail (LOD) transitions, and density that looks wrong.
  • Physics collisions with terrain. Land, drive, walk, and crash. Report where the ground doesn't behave like ground.
  • Performance. Watch client frame rate, frame times, and stutter. Fast, low flight puts the most pressure on streaming, so watch that closely.
Report client-side findings in [Spectrum thread or Issue Council project].

Details about this test​

Scope. This test covers Nyx I only. The planet is empty. It has no locations, missions, NPCs, or other content. This is on purpose. This preview is about the planet tech, not gameplay. Don't report missing content.

Rendering. The test runs on Vulkan only. We found issues with DirectX that aren't fixed yet. Please start with a clean user.cfg to avoid any conflicts in setup.

Getting there. [Where you spawn, or the route to Nyx I.] [Which ships and ground vehicles are available.] You need a ground vehicle for the terrain collision tests.

There is ongoing performance and visual polish work, as well as changes to reduce the VRAM usage of V5 coming soon. Even still, this testing is massively valuable to us!

Low flight at high speed from many players is a good way to activate more planet tiles. Get close to the ground and stay there a while. Then fly around and take it in.

Click to expand...

Defintely some server load from these new systems, so server tick will probably still play a role in performance;

Maybe the new tiling systems explain the visits to the core?

Virtual Terrain. Terrain is cached into a constantly updating atlas of tiles, allowing for more efficient rendering of complex surfaces.
Click to expand...

Objective 1: stress tile activation on the server
The V5 WorldBuilder activates and deactivates planet tiles as players move. We want to see how that holds up with many players on the planet at once, in different places and at different altitudes. The more of you that spread out, the better the data.
Click to expand...

[Objective 2: report client performance and visuals]
Physics collisions with terrain. Land, drive, walk, and crash. Report where the ground doesn't behave like ground.
Click to expand...

Scatter sync will be another one to keep an eye on, especially if the scatter drives mineables.

GPU scattering. Trees, rocks, other assets are placed on the GPU, from whole-planet scale down to ground level. On the server, the CPU runs the same placement logic so objects can get physics, using dual compilation logic to compile for both C++ and Shader Language.
Click to expand...

They say 'visual polish is still ongoing', but no mention of major visual systems being offline or anything, as the sub keeps speculating. Seems like the visuals are pretty close to launch standard.
 
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VR Golgot said:
It's just beyond comical that they're rerolling the core tech dice again in year 13.

But hey, maybe this timr they'll get lucky ;)
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I think the real intent with all this core rework stuff is to trigger a time jump back back to the year of the SC Kickstarter so they can do it all over again 🤣
 
Navigare Necesse Est said:
ED may have 400 billion pointless systems. I get it. But they are at least rock solid and you don't fall through the floor. Or have an inventory that works. You know, all these little things that are kinda standard but somehow Star Citisnt fails to deliver even the basics for over a decade?
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Yeah, with 400 billion systems, there is plenty of room for both a lot of samey stuff and also a lot of actually impressive and varied. The sense of relevance of your locality is always there, plus the immersion of being the first one discovering a location no one else has actually seen yet, not even the developers.

Darth Ender said:
Barren cookie cutter planets but now with a tint to the sky on some. Some scattered outposts that look the same everywhere you go
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lol, sure!:

https://mega.nz/folder/oI0wTZRY#pKh2CwHXRssvdPiCC9ZQjg

zyrchlgzaw971.jpg


mapa-mita-kindria-jpg.277167


Along with the samey stuff, the variety and scale of actual interesting locations in ED I am afraid is several orders of magnitude better and larger than in Star Citizen. And the above selection is just a tiny fraction of what you can get in a simulated entire galaxy with billions of star systems. This is hand placed assets working in tandem with procedural generation based on actual astronomic data and astrophysics principles done well. Probably among best in class.

Good luck CIG!
 
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thistle said:
2016: Clearly the most important priority for SC is improving the graphics.
2026: Clearly the most important priority for SC is improving the graphics.
2036 ...
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2016 : The most important priority is selling ships, so improving screenshot backgrounds is required
2026 : The most important priority is selling ships, so improving screenshot backgrounds is required
2036 : ...

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOWZrJKlA0A


(irks me that walking in the water doesn't leave a wake - especially as they shows spaceships leaving water wakes about 3 years ago ...)
 
Not really sure what purpose a swamp serves in my space game, but hey ho.

It does really feel like SC is like browsing the Unity asset store, going ooh and aah at some nice landscape or weather assets, but not having a game to bolt them on to.
 
Viajero said:
Yeah, with 400 billion systems, there is plenty of room for both a lot of samey stuff and also a lot of actually impressive and varied. The sense of relevance of your locality is always there, plus the immersion of being the first one discovering a location no one else has actually seen yet, not even the developers.


lol, sure!:

https://mega.nz/folder/oI0wTZRY#pKh2CwHXRssvdPiCC9ZQjg

zyrchlgzaw971.jpg


mapa-mita-kindria-jpg.277167


Along with the samey stuff, the variety and interest of locations in ED I am afraid is several orders of magnitude better and larger than in Star Citizen. And that is just a tiny fraction of what you can get in a simulated entire galaxy with billions of star systems. This is hand placed assets working in tandem with procedural generation based on actual astronomic data and astrophysics principles done well. Probably among best in class.

Good luck CIG!
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Most places I visited in ED were quite bland. Nothing to write home about. Many were annoying to navigate, but there is this blue mountain that featured a ramp almost to the top. Perfect race track. And at the top I had a view down on the plains with the terminator line. Quite the experience.
And then we got Starfield. Could have been a more condensed exploration experience giving more of those unique moments but it was mostly just a tile of procgen vs a circumnavigable shot at x in 400 billion that you finnnnds a jackpot. I didnt agree with the MP design of ED - but without - would we have had the community input of people exploring like that?
 
Looks like Xenon hasn't been kicked from Evo yet - and now there are buildings:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4rajIlhlRQ


  • I liked that they have grass inside the buildings - reminds me of ED having boulders showing up and blocking panel access :)
  • Weird paused on opening doors? Might be the recording - but it happens a lot 🤷‍♀️
  • The building look less finished than earlier hand-crafted SC. More like the ED interiors. Wonder if ppl will notice / care. Or if I'm imagining it ;)
 
Factabulous said:
Looks like Xenon hasn't been kicked from Evo yet - and now there are buildings:

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4rajIlhlRQ


  • I liked that they have grass inside the buildings - reminds me of ED having boulders showing up and blocking panel access :)
  • Weird paused on opening doors? Might be the recording - but it happens a lot 🤷‍♀️
  • The building look less finished than earlier hand-crafted SC. More like the ED interiors. Wonder if ppl will notice / care. Or if I'm imagining it ;)
Click to expand...
X3non isn't in Evo.
 
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