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Star Citizen Pre-Alpha: Hangar Module

B

Blizzard

Banned
Faith said:
Yeah, I have around 30-40fps in the hangar. It runs like Crysis 3 on Ultra with 4xMSAA but looks far worse.
Click to expand...
I'll second these sorts of comments. I also run stuff like PCARS with a 3570k (4.5 GHz overclocked) and GTX 770, and the Star Citizen hanger module seemed to have super rough performance, while also eating videocard usage like crazy.

I know there may be a variety of factors (maybe all models have a million polys or something) and it may be fixed, but considering that ultimately you are inside a building, that's like the one situation where performance would tend to be the BEST in any first-person game, with no long sight lines.

And that's a single ship case.
 
P

phoenixyz

Member
fresquito said:
For reference I run pCARS, Ultra settings, except envmap and reflections (at high), vsync on, DS2X+FXAA High at a rock solid 60fps. If I disable vsync, it goes up to 70-80fps. And you know, that's an alpha too.
Click to expand...

Yea, you know, pCars comes out this fall. Star Citizen in two years.
 
O

Onemic

Member
Downloaded the Hanger Module just to see how it would run on my PC as it is now before my parts for upgrading come in which should be sometime next week. At low settings @1080p I average around 14 - 17fps

I have to say even at low settings the game looks pretty damn good.
 
E

epmode

Member
The original idea was to get some playable code out to backers as soon as possible, unpolished or not, and we'd watch as it came together. The hangar is a direct result of that and it makes sense that it isn't optimized at all.

Since the release of the hangar, CIG apparently changed their mind on this development model and stopped supporting the hangar. Now they're about polishing the hell out of public-facing code. That's why the dogfighting module is so goddamned elaborate for what was supposed to be a quick and dirty implementation.

While I'd rather they were more interested in releasing honest-to-god alpha code, the hangar module probably caused more problems that it was worth. CIG spent all this time working on "final" ship models that

1. Weren't built with that PBR technology so everything had to be redone
2. Couldn't even fly since the thruster placement was done well before they had a fully simulated flight model. So the models had to be fixed again.
 
P

pottuvoi

Banned
Danthrax said:
Yeah, there's no LOD in the hangar. Over the last couple of months, they've worked on implemented LODs for the four ships that will be in Arena Commander (Hornet, 300i, Aurora and Scythe) and I think that's the first LOD work they've done so far.
Click to expand...
Really hope that they do not have to do all the work by hand..
It's a lot of work and at least some of it can be automated.
 
M

MrBig

Member
pottuvoi said:
Really hope that they do not have to do all the work by hand..
It's a lot of work and at least some of it can be automated.
Click to expand...

LODing is really easy now, even with manual editing of them UVs can be preserved. I believe the reason they never put LODs into the hangar was that it was just unnecessary, with them having to re-do it all when they implemented damage states in addition to reworking things for PBR.
 
D

Danthrax

Batteries the CRISIS!
epmode said:
The original idea was to get some playable code out to backers as soon as possible, unpolished or not, and we'd watch as it came together. The hangar is a direct result of that and it makes sense that it isn't optimized at all.

Since the release of the hangar, CIG apparently changed their mind on this development model and stopped supporting the hangar. Now they're about polishing the hell out of public-facing code. That's why the dogfighting module is so goddamned elaborate for what was supposed to be a quick and dirty implementation.

While I'd rather they were more interested in releasing honest-to-god alpha code, the hangar module probably caused more problems that it was worth. CIG spent all this time working on "final" ship models that

1. Weren't built with that PBR technology so everything had to be redone
2. Couldn't even fly since the thruster placement was done well before they had a fully simulated flight model. So the models had to be fixed again.
Click to expand...

You're right ... the roughly eight months they spent working on the hangar and its ships were mostly wasted. I mean, they kinda got a feel for their engine, got their feet wet with animations and interactivity, and saw what did and didn't work with letting users load out the ships. And I'm sure the hangar module brought in more money than they would have without it. But if they'd never promised the hangar to begin with, they probably could have gotten to work on the flight model and whatnot sooner and put off modelling ships until PBR came around.

You kinda get the feeling that this project has been more of a mess than it's appeared on the surface.
 
Z

Zabojnik

Member
Danthrax said:
You kinda get the feeling that this project has been more of a mess than it's appeared on the surface.
Click to expand...

Kinda unavoidable, really, since they started from zero and watched the project grow exponentially. Looks like they have things pretty much under control now.
 
kutthoat5150

kutthoat5150

Member
It seems this sort of development is harder to handle than if the money is paid upfront before full production actually starts. CIG seems to have had to budget themselves conservatively at the start and now has to update all assets to cope with the increased funding which takes longer. Does the traditional publisher model have to deal with this or do they start out development knowing their full budget before hand?
 
M

MrBig

Member
kutthoat5150 said:
It seems this sort of development is harder to handle than if the money is paid upfront before full production actually starts. CIG seems to have had to budget themselves conservatively at the start and now has to update all assets to cope with the increased funding which takes longer. Does the traditional publisher model have to deal with this or do they start out development knowing their full budget before hand?
Click to expand...

Any project can be just as or much more tumultuous, Star Citizen being such a public project is exposing more people to this. All sorts of things can change during the 2+ years of a game development, and as new concepts are implemented, old things must be changed if they're inconsistent with the new par. For example, you can't just drop a 100k poly photoscanned character into an environment with assets designed around the constraints of just a few years ago. Here's another look at how things change in development - so many people touch so many things, and someone has to coordinate all of this and figure out what works and what doesn't, and then actually realize that and move forward with it across every little detail.

Publishers affect things greatly, especially in divergent ideas of what something should be, as seen with Prey 2, Doom 4, etc. Having less people needed to do things make everything a lot easier.
 
Z

Zabojnik

Member
Well, looks like we're getting a 'helicopter' style gunship. Sort of a safe design choice, which I think is especially noticable on Shard's ship (cough * Hind *cough*), but I'm not complaining too much. I think 4H deserve to win this and I think they will, by a landslide even.

As for the 3rd place ... tough choice to be sure. I like IXM's ship the best from an engineering point of view, but I'm not too crazy about the blocky exterior & texture work. Love the look of Talon's ship, it's just too bad the guy didn't have someone to help him translate it into CryEngine. Maybe next season. :p Fuck it, think I'll go with Shimapan. Ugly duckling ftw.

Honestly though, at least four or five ships could easily make it into the game with some additional love and help from CIG.
 
Z

Zabojnik

Member
sholvaco said:
Vote right, vote Shimapan for 3rd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEExeBzEGMM
Click to expand...

Actually, I now wish Shimapan's ship made it to the final instead of Shard's. The interior modeling is miles above. Ship looks great as well, love the top view.

shipaman.png
 
K

kase23

Member
Threw my vote behind the Drake by shimmapan, out of the runners up contenders Its the ship I could most see myself flying in-game thanks to the thruster profile relative to the rest of the ship layout, I'd expect it to be very agile and be able make quick yaw turns,something i'd exploit every chance I got with the de-coupled mode.
 
P

plagiarize

Banned
Glad to see rift support slowly improving. Motion tracking lag is a bit poor, and there's a lot of stereo rendering issues (certain detail layers only seem to render in one eye) but it's a huge step forwards from that awful first go at implementing support.
 
I

Iced_Eagle

Member
Daily bug update out: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/...ena-Commander-V8-Daily-Bug-Update-May-30-2014

The news today is positive! We’re pleased to report that we believe tonight’s internal Release Candidate resolves all of the bugs (pending testing) you read about last night, including the two critical “show stopper” issues. Arena Commander V.8 is looking more stable than before, and hopefully additional testing on this new build will not uncover more blocking issues.

What happens next? The Arena Commander team will be working through the weekend to test this build, and fix any issues as they are found. Next week, we will have another “go/no-go” meeting with the worldwide development teams. Our next update will be on Monday and we will continue to update you on any issues and their impact to the schedule then.

Even if tonight’s build is the one you end up playing, it needs to be put through its paces by QA to ensure that we haven’t introduced any new issues. We have team members from around the company scheduled to playtest this weekend in order to verify the integrity of the build.

Meanwhile, we’ve seen posts from some backers wondering why they’ve only seen images of the Hornet in Arena Commander. To put that to rest, Zane has captured images of all three ships in action! These are unaltered screenshots, taken within the game itself (from a camera in back of the character head.) We’re very proud of how this game is looking!

The team has also put together a short teaser showing some of what you’ll be playing soon. This, again, is 100% in-game footage. You’re looking at Arena Commander’s AI battling each other in real time! Check it out below.
Click to expand...

300i cockpit in-game:
XLee4ur.jpg
Click to expand...

Aurora cockpit in-game:
h1Ug0Kk.jpg
Click to expand...

They also made an 18 second sizzle trailer. It's short, but awesome! This time next week we all hopefully be flying!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7Nzbjo8uxU
 
B

Blizzard

Banned
Zabojnik said:
Dat IQ. My 570GTX is weeping already.
Click to expand...
If I were to nitpick, I do not think the IQ is particularly good (at least in the last shot) full-sized. :p

There are jaggy lines on the cockpit borders, low-resolution textures on the seat, glitchy shadows on the top, and a blurryish asteroid in the front right.

The clouds down below look nice.
 
Z

Zabojnik

Member
Blizzard said:
If I were to nitpick, I do not think the IQ is particularly good (at least in the last shot) full-sized. :p

There are jaggy lines on the cockpit borders, low-resolution textures on the seat, glitchy shadows on the top, and a blurryish asteroid in the front right.

The clouds down below look nice.
Click to expand...

moyeseyesx9cmx.gif


<3
 
Shrike Alvaron

Shrike Alvaron

Member
I don't think those pictures are from in-game as nice as they look, they do call them "beauty shots" in Jump Point so they may have taken some liberties to make it look better :p Still, it's a nice design though fortunately doesn't scream "Why didn't I buy one when I had the chance!" to me. My 350r will suffice!

Vee_One said:
noob question - if I buy the Aurora MR + do I get to play straight away?
Click to expand...

Not quite yet. You can walk around the hangar and stare at it longingly, but the dogfighting module was delayed and won't be out until next week (and for that you need to buy the Arena Commander pass as well). Possibly Monday at the earliest, but I anticipate Tuesday.
 
L

licktheenvelope

Member
Shrike Alvaron said:
Not quite yet. You can walk around the hangar and stare at it longingly, but the dogfighting module was delayed and won't be out until next week (and for that you need to buy the Arena Commander pass as well). Possibly Monday at the earliest, but I anticipate Tuesday.
Click to expand...

Wo thanks for the heads up I totally didn't have an Arena Pass.
 
I

Interficium

Banned
epmode said:
The original idea was to get some playable code out to backers as soon as possible, unpolished or not, and we'd watch as it came together. The hangar is a direct result of that and it makes sense that it isn't optimized at all.

Since the release of the hangar, CIG apparently changed their mind on this development model and stopped supporting the hangar. Now they're about polishing the hell out of public-facing code. That's why the dogfighting module is so goddamned elaborate for what was supposed to be a quick and dirty implementation.

While I'd rather they were more interested in releasing honest-to-god alpha code, the hangar module probably caused more problems that it was worth. CIG spent all this time working on "final" ship models that

1. Weren't built with that PBR technology so everything had to be redone
2. Couldn't even fly since the thruster placement was done well before they had a fully simulated flight model. So the models had to be fixed again.
Click to expand...

This is what happens when a huge part of your business model is pre-selling ship bundles.
 
L

Log4Girlz

Member
mercenar1e said:
M50 Interceptor (WIP) and it looks amazing.. Stefano Tsai is the freelance artist that created this ship.

1-gouetkn27u3o.jpg

3-dbdvmmxl6uq7.jpg
Click to expand...

HOLY SHIT JESUS CHRIST MOTHER OF GODDAMN

One of the best ship designs I've ever seen.

Does anyone kinda want a hollywood movie out of this license? Star Citizen. It just sounds cool. Its oozing art style. FUCK.
 
K

Keasar

Member
Tommyhawk said:
I'm glad that I have an M50, it looks stellar!

The other work from the artist is also very impressive:

http://stefanotsai.idv.tw/images/2013/MilitatyScoutRobot/StefanoTsai_Militaty_Scout_Robot_Final_Composit_WIP_02.jpg[IMG]

(this isn't a photo)

[url]http://stefanotsai.idv.tw/[/url][/QUOTE]

I want this guy to make the planned exo suit for the FPS combat.
Click to expand...
 
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