Neues Jahr, neues 10 for the Chairman. Wie immer stellt sich Chris Roberts 10 Fragen aus der Community. Worum sich die Fragen dieses Mal drehen und ob er sie ausreichend beantwortet erfahrt ihr weiter unten.

Um den Bildungsauftrag zu erfüllen, haben wir euch statt der übersetzten Version mal das Transkript dieser Folge rausgesucht. Besonderes Augenmerk wollen wir auf Frage 4 richten, denn das FPS Modul soll ja auch dieses Jahr erscheinen und ein Shooter der Täuschung durch Hologramme enthält klingt sehr interessant.

1: Will ships like the Javelin remain in space after all players have logged off? Will they require protection or an NPC-crew to prevent the ship from damage or theft?

*There will be safe areas in orbit where you can dock for the Javelin.
*If you leave it in an unsafe area that might change things.
*If you sleep in your bed to log off, your ship should be disappear as long as there aren’t any other players around.
*We will protect it as long as it’s within certain areas when you log off.

2: Will we be able to buy items with UEC or REC and configure ships for the BPU soon?

*Absolutely. It’s one of the things to come early in 2016.
*We want you to be able to buy clothes and weapons and equip them.
*Ultimately this is the direction of the game with persistence where the Voyage Direct site goes away and you buy things in the game.

3: Will there be a way to buy and sell used ships like in a dealership?

*Long term yes.
*Shorter term you’ll be able to sell them at a discount at a dealership and upgrade for the difference.
*Dedicated used ship dealerships are further down the road.
*Trading with other players will certainly happen but there will be rules to prevent abuse and a title transfer fee, etc.

4: Will there be an option for stealth gameplay for the FPS part of the game?

*Absolutely. Part of the core design is to have the FPS part of the game more tactical, since it’s more lethal.
*We don’t want run and gun gameplay.
*There are tactical diversion tools like the hologram, and we’ll have things for hiding heat signature.
*There will be vents that you can sneak around in.

5: Will players be able to play as privateers on the grey-but-barely-legal side of the law with letters of marque like Sir Francis Drake?

*The UEC won’t be okay with you shooting ships from Terra but not from Earth. As a freelancer you can do missions for different powers or organizations.
*There will be a grey area, and maybe the UEE and other factions turn a blind eye to it.

6: How will we be able to land on an unexplored or uninhabited planet?

*The plan isn’t to have you land on autopilot anymore.
*If you’re landing in a landing zone, it will be controlled, so we’ll have a virtual tunnel you fly down. If you deviate from it, the security flight control system will take over it for you. (I suggested this last year!)
*In unpopulated areas if it’s all procedurally generated and with random points of interest you can land wherever you want.
*We want to have a planet with Crysis levels of fidelity so you can collect minerals or hunting aliens fauna for their hides.

7: In the future are there plans to reward subscribers in more ways?

*Yes. We’re trying to figure out what to do there. Perhaps with REC, or having something pass into the game itself like with the ICC Stellar Surveyors.
*Stay tuned and look for word from Ben.

8: As additional features come online, the need for an updated manual becomes more important. Will we see an update?

*Yes. We’re working on the manual right now for the BPU. The current experience isn’t great for a new player. We have people working on different features in several locations, and some of the choices turn into just choosing a key that isn’t in use.
*With the release of 2.0 it’s important to improve the player experience. It should help you fly your ship, but it doesn’t yet.
*As you get into bigger more complicated ships, the controls will get more complicated. A basic Aurora won’t likely have the same level of complexity.
One of the big changes to come with each increase in the size of ship will be more complexity. You can run it on basic but you could turn on the advanced mode. You could also buy an upgraded IFCS for your Aurora to dive into the experience of tweaking an intricate system.
*Look for it in the early part of this year.

9: Will procedurally generated environments be the same for everyone or will the system generate new terrain every time we visit?

*It will be the same for everyone. The generation is deterministic. You start with a seed, and those numbers drive all the formulas which control the generation of all the trees, mountains, etc. And since everyone will have the same seed, they will see the same thing. It’s an incredibly powerful compression algorithm that can generate an entire world with perhaps five numbers. The generation is just how it was created and player or NPC enacted changes, which apply a delta to the world, will always be the shared and therefore always seen the same.

10: Will the Starfarer’s refueling mechanic come online when the ship is flyable or is this planned for further down the line?

*That is one of the things we want to be working when the ship is first flyable. We talked about different game mechanics that we’ve added, and right now you have Cry Astra where we just give you things, but when we get Alpha UEC we want you to be able to buy fuel and sell it to other people, collect fuel. We’re actively working on these features and just like with the Warlock, it will come online with the ship.
*This month the Starfarer will enter the hangar (WOOT!!), but because it is so big we’re still working on the flight mechanics.