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3.0.0 OVERVIEW

The following lists and charts show our progress towards releasing 3.0.0, with all remaining major tasks listed. 3.0.0 marks the next major step forward in realizing the vision of the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. As you’ll see from the sections below, there’s a lot of new content and underlying tech being worked on for this release which will enhance the experience of our players.

Tasks are either feature complete, or have an ETA for completion. It’s important to remember that some tasks may require further QA, bug-fixing and iteration. Tasks that delay beyond our target dates might cause the release of 3.0.0 to be delayed, or might be excluded from 3.0.0 if appropriate to maintain the release date target. 3.0.0 work is separated into Subsections: Persistent Universe Content, FPS / Space Gameplay, Engineering, UI, AI, Graphics, Backend, Network, and Ships & Weapons.

The 3.0.0 Procedural Planet update marks a major advance in the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. As you’ll see below, the new content and underlying tech in this release which will greatly enhance player experience.

We’ve made the decision to move our previously stated dates for Evocati, PTU, and Live back by a week. This is due to the complexity and volume of features we are working on for 3.0.0, and we would rather take a little extra time to bring everything up to the level we would want it to release in than trying to rush to complete at the expense of quality.

PLANETARY UPDATE

YELA

Yela is the most frigid of the Crusader moons. Those bold (or careless) enough to step outside without a spacesuit will be killed instantly by its freezing temperatures. If the cold doesn’t kill you, than any of the treacherous crevasses that crisscross the planet might. Cyrovolcanos have been known to erupt unexpectedly from such crevasses, so be wary when flying at low altitudes. Despite all its danger, there is much beauty to be found on Yela, like the underwater caves hidden beneath the moon’s crust.

CELLIN

Burning with volcanic activity, Cellin is the counter to her icy sister. Although the volcanoes have been dormant for hundreds of years, the surface is dotted with thermal geysers that erupt without notice. The largest of such geysers can destroy heavy vehicles. Highly corrosive clouds of gas are regularly released from the moon’s surface, creating low visibility and damaging anything caught outside.

DAYMAR

Daymar’s surface is like a harmonic blend of Yela and Cellin. It’s mountainous surface is reminiscent of Cellin’s volcanoes, while its craters share a warm likeness to Yela’s frozen crevessases. Known for its dense atmosphere, thick fog and a loose dirt surface makes travel difficult. Lightning storms can help illuminate the fog, just don’t get struck by their flash.

REMAINING AIMS FOR 3.0.0 RELEASE

PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT

MOONS

We are adding 3 new moons to the Crusader system; Yela, Cellin, and Daymar

Feature Complete

SURFACE OUTPOSTS

The new moons will also have outposts on their surface for you to explore

ETA is 2nd June

MISSION GIVERS

We’re introducing Miles Eckhart (first seen in the Gamescom video) and Ruto to provide missions to players.

Sliding this back to take in account for new requirements for additional desired behaviors

ETA is 2nd June (was 12th May)

DERELICT SHIPS

Derelict ships will be added to the system for extra points of interest and exploration

Derelict ships will be added to the system for extra points of interest and exploration.

ETA is 26th May

Art for the derelict ships is now complete, however audio will require more time to complete their work

ETA is 9th June (was 26th May)

DEBRIS FIELDS

To accompany the derelict ships, there will also be debris fields within the system

ETA is 26th May

DELAMAR / LEVSKI (STRETCH GOAL)

We are adding the planet Delamar and the landing zone, Levski

Following meetings on what we could aim to achieve for 3.0.0, we have moved our date out to accommodate this goal.

ETA is 30th June (was 1st June)

ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:

Modular Room System for procedural generation of planetary outposts

Official Outpost Spawning System ready for mission designers

Integrated Outpost distribution to PlanetEd

Single outpost Object Preset

Cluster of Outposts

Crash site mission

Interface to hand place modules and save to Layer

Interface to teleport the camera to the closest outpost

Area boxes created by artists (all room sizes are now usable in the outpost procedural system)

Entrance Room system working (stairs and ramps are now available as initial rooms)

Rooftop Prop system working for Solar panel

Wall prop system working for additional prop variations

Material Wear/Dirt on props using Layer Blend done and actually working

Developed Outpost “feet” system

Set random rotation and offset caps on planet editor

Start documenting 3 possible map layouts looping system (using 2 or 4 meters metrics * system; using connection additional corridor pieces; using spline skinned corridors)

Support Aircon/solar panel system on outposts

Added color tinting to Outposts

Added color tinting interface to Planet Ed

Created material distinction for interior / exteriors

Group elements offset in Planet Object Preset to be able to offset landing pads

New Assets:

Heavy Marine Armor

Explorer Suit Armor

Cloth and Clothing simulation on various assets old and new

Updated helmet interiors and exterior for updated art, FOV tech and standardization

Armor converted to work within modular customization structure

Finalized delivery of ALL facial assets from 3lateral.

Ships:

New Skinning and Rigging tools for landing gear on ships.

Constellation Cargo Bay/Elevator extensions

Light Group entity optimization

GAMEPLAY

PLAYER MANNED TURRETS

ETA is 8th June

PICK UP & CARRY

As we’re introducing cargo with 3.0.0, players will be able to manually interact with their cargo to load and unload it properly on their ships.

ETA is 25th May

We have decided to make further improvements to this system that will have better gameplay implications, such as interacting with cargo that is in a ZeroG environment.

ETA is 12th June (was 25th May)

ITEM 2.0 SHIP CONVERSION – PART 1

We are beginning the process of converting our available ships over to the item 2.0 system. This will allow for greater player control of the ship and also allow for expanded gameplay.

ETA is 1st June

ITEM 2.0 SHIP CONVERSION – PART 2

With Part 1 of this feature (the Engineering side) drawing to a close, and appearing to come in as estimated. We have been properly able to schedule out the Tech Design side of this.

ETA is 23rd June

ITEM 2.0

Operator Seats.

ETA is 24th May

Operator seats replace existing vehicle seats as the new controllers of Item 2.0 based ships.

Feature Complete

Radar System

Feature Complete

Light Control System.

Feature Complete

Fuel / Refuel.

Feature Complete

Power Supply / Pipes.

Feature Complete

Quantum Drive.

Feature Complete

INSURANCE

This will be an alpha version of the insurance system where if your current ship becomes damaged beyond repair, you will be able to request a replacement ship (with basic loadout) from the insurance provider.

Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team

ETA is 2nd June (was 26th May)

STAMINA

We are introducing the concept of stamina in to 3.0.0, this will mean that actions will have consequences. For instance, continuing to sprint will drain the stamina of your character, causing loss of breath and difficulty in aiming a weapon.

ETA is 31st May

DOORS & AIRLOCKS

We are starting to update the doors and airlocks within the game to be more intelligent. In time, this would mean that the door would ‘know’ if a room beyond them is depressurised and would stay shut for safety

ETA is 31st May

CARGO

Commodities bought using the kiosk will be transportable in the cargo holds of vehicles, to be sold in another location.

ETA is 2nd June

COMMODITIES

Implementing items to represent units of tradeable cargo.

Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team

ETA is 2nd June (was 19th May)

KIOSK SUPPORT

Support UI on kiosks for buying and selling of cargo.

ETA is 1st June

ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY SUPPORT

Feature Complete

PERSISTENT DAMAGE, AMMO AND MISSILES

Persistence ensures that your vehicle state is saved between sessions.

ETA is 26th May

Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team.

ETA is 2nd June (was 26th May)

REPAIR

Work on this began early while waiting on needed tasks for other features to be completed

Feature Complete

INVENTORY SYSTEM SUPPORT

The inventory will offer a way to manage the cargo and commodities that are being carried by the ships a player owns.

ETA is 1st June

ROVER AND DRAGONFLY IN SHIPS

Players will be able to transport the Ursa Rover and the Dragonfly inside ships that are big enough to hold them

Work on this is delayed due to needing ship physics to be altered to allow for vehicles to be placed inside

ETA is 2nd June (was 31st May)

IFCS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS – NEW ADDITION

Changing the IFCS system to work in batch updates for performance improvements

ETA is 2nd June

ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:

Crusader Converted to Object Container Setup

With the transition to Object Containers, the Crusader map was completely re-designed. Each Point of Interest is now an object container laid out via the Solar System Editor. This is in preparation for Object Container streaming and seamless transitions from different POI’s and between Star Systems. Mission Flowgraphs are converted over to use Subsumption and the new Mission System.

Mega Map for Persistent Universe

Mega Map tech (also used in Crusader for seamless loading between different gamemodes) is now possible in the new PU map, which is setup in the Solar System Editor. This allows the utilization of Mega Map technology.

Revamp of Power Plants / Shield Generators / Coolers and the Heat & Power System for improved gameplay and conversion to Item 2.0

CORE TECH

PLANETARY TECH

The Physics Grid for planets and the modular space stations.

ETA is 31st May

SOLAR SYSTEM TOOL

ETA is 31st May

ENTITY UPDATE COMPONENT SCHEDULER

Will allow lower priority entities (i.e. those further away from players) to be updated less frequently, which should improve the overall framerate and allow us to add more content to the universe.

ETA is 31st May

ENTITY OWNER MANAGER

The Entity Owner Manager will track entities that are moved around the universe, making sure we spawn and unspawn them at the correct time

Feature on hold temporarily due to network system persistence dependencies.

ETA is 12th June (was 31st May)

ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:

New Radar Databank

Subsumption Base Functionality

This is the initial release of the foundation technology that drives all of the AI, mission, dynamic content, and conversation logic. The mission content previously created with FlowGraph has been replaced and the implementation time to achieve a desired effect has been cut dramatically.

Various Performance improvements

Planetary Physics Grid to support orbiting and rotating planets

Multi-Function Display implementation for Item 2.0 Components on ships

IFCS improvements to support AI & Takeoff System

Unified Visor for seamless Ship 2.0 / FPS transition

HUD/Visor integration for new Radar Databank

Object Distribution

Terrain / Object blending for soft natural transition of objects intersecting with the ground

Video codec updated to Bink2, providing higher fidelity at lower bitrate

Vehicles no longer use Lua

This is a huge step forward on the code side.

Skeleton Extension support for Item Port Offset overrides per item

Numerous types of physics simulation for all Item 2.0 attachments including hair, weapons, grenades and more.

Destructible component for items, props and environment assets

Nested Physics Grids support for vehicle transportation inside large ships, i.e. DragonFly & Rover

Physics simulation gravity vector now respects planetary gravity

Modular loadouts rule sets and support for up to five loadouts

Animation driven facial audio implemented

Updated Sandbox Editor Python integration.

Zone culling on all character assets and layers, system complete and mesh markup complete supplemented with tools to easily support new assets.

Solar System Editor

A tool that will layout entire solar system with their astral objects (sun, planets moons) as well as space stations, etc.

New Light Controller for runtime light switches

New network message queue (current in QATR) to reduce network bandwidth and network thread time.

Light Entity Render node merging.

Dynamic Physics Grid to support sparse space areas vs. dense areas like space stations.

Highly optimized vertex and position format for all geometry

Texture memory usage reduced across the project

Unified material libraries for use across all departments

Comparing and finding all duplicated normal maps and albedo maps in the LayerBlend texture library

Clean up LayerBlend Material Libraries, Resolution Adjustments, Renames to Lower Case

Follow-ups on list of unused textures and materials

Massively improved LOD computation and average face sizes for ships

Shared hair assets (instead of bespoke asset per head) for character creation

Automated facial asset LODs, skinning algorithm per LOD updated.

Reworked mesh setup of facial assets for optimal performance and reduced drawcalls.

Unified helmet and character mesh into singular render proxy for better performance and visuals.

Various portal and culling improvements.

Improved Animation Data Base collection and build process for optimized animation data streaming also added external tools to manage this.

Deprecated thousands of legacy and test assets including animations, geometry, libraries and more for reduced build size.

Automatic Asset Error collection and tracking.

Reworked itemport layout for characters and character items

Updated all assets using HumanSkin to highly optimized HumanSkinv2 shader. This saves upwards of a 100 megs of texture memory per face.

Vastly improved memory allocator which allowed massive reduction in runtime allocation count

Several significant optimizations to entity update code

As you will see, the UI schedule has undergone some significant changes to accommodate some new features designed to enhance the player experience. The following schedule and dates will be used as the new baseline for the UI schedule, the previous completion dates have been included to indicate the change.

KIOSK UI

Kiosk shopping will allow players to buy and sell various commodities.

Kiosk shopping will allow players to buy and sell commodities.

Work for this feature is temporarily on hold until the Game Code is at a place for UI work to continue.

Some Kiosk tasks are taking longer than expected, and there have also been some blocking issues that were prioritized.

ETA is 25th May (was 10th May)

ETA is 7th June (was 30th May)

ITEM 2.0 MULTI FUNCTION DISPLAYS

MFDs are being converted to work in the new item 2.0 system to give pilots even more control of their ships.

ETA is 5th June (was 26th May)

FIELD OF VIEW SLIDER

This will allow players to narrow or widen the field of view to their liking.

Feature Complete

ETA is 24th May (was 5th May)

CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION

*Players will now be able to customize their characters’ heads, hair, eye color, and skin color.

ETA is 22nd June (was 31st May)

PERSONAL MANAGER APP

This App will allow players to review their inventory and customize various aspects of their suit and weapons.

ETA is 8th June (was 23rd May)

MISSION MANAGER APP

This is a redesign of the Mission App that is currently available within mobiGlas and is the next step to allow players more control over their mission tracking.

Revised date based on updated completion date of the Kiosk UI. This work will be started after the Kiosk UI is complete.

ETA is 2nd June (was 19th May)

CARGO MANIFEST APP

After buying items at a Kiosk, players will be able to head to their ship and check their cargo manifest This incorporates the work that was previously accounted for in the “Cargo UI” task

ETA is 6th June (was 1st June)

VEHICLE CUSTOMIZER APP

This app will allow players to customize their ship via the ship customization screen, so edits can be done without locating the exact port on the ship.

ETA is 28th June

SHIP SELECTOR APP & INSURANCE CLAIM

This app would exist alongside the Ship Selection Terminals in the Persistent Universe, allowing players more freedom to spawn ships at designated locations.

We are incorporating the Insurance Claim process, so we have one app that will serve two functions.

ETA is 12th June

HEAVY ARMOR FOR STAR MARINE

Heavy armor will be enabled for selection within the Star Marine loadout customization menu.

ETA is 9th June

INVENTORY SYSTEM

Very closely linked to the cargo manifest App. This will be the place to look for you personal inventory.

ETA is 6th June (was 2nd June)

MISSION BOARD APP

The mission board allows players to see the service beacons that have been set up around the universe by other players calling for assistance.

ETA is 1st June

STARMAP APP

The StarMap will be introduced to allow players to view the PU at large and select planets to QT to.

There are a few remaining issues that need to be worked through in order call this feature complete

The StarMap is now functional and in game. However, we have decided to make some further changes to the feature to make the App look more visually pleasing and also be a more intuitive experience for the player. This work is still being fully scoped out, but we will aim to have a new ETA next week

ETA is 24th May (was 19th May)

ETA is TBD (was 24th May)

UI OWNER COMPONENT

Feature Complete

MOBIGLAS OVERHAUL

The UI team doing an overhaul of the mobiGlas system so that it better reads what the gamecode is doing. This change will make the mobiGlas system easier to maintain for the UI team and has become a necessity as 3.0.0 work has progressed further.

ETA is 2nd June (was 6th June)

MISSION SYSTEM

The overall system that will be used to create mission flows when we start building missions like Patrol, Assassination, Smuggling, etc.

ETA is 31st May

AI TURRETS

We are adding the ability for AI to operate turrets in Crusader, so we are working to make sure that they track and fire upon the correct targets.

ETA is 8th May

GRAPHICS

RENDER TO TEXTURE

This will have many uses going forwards, but our focus for now is to improve UI rendering and to introduce live rendering of video communications. We’re aiming to improve rendering performance by rendering as much of the UI ahead of a frame. For video communications, this will mean that we don’t have to pre-render the comms and store those files on the hard drive, as is the case with most games, allowing us to maintain fidelity and save hard drive space.

ETA is 15th June (was 24th May)

ENVIRONMENT PROBE

This allows for bounced lighting and reflections to be updated dynamically and will result in better lighting visuals.

ETA is 2nd June

ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY

Feature Complete

VOLUMETRIC FOG

The completion date has moved back due to unexpected issues with implementing the Volumetric fog awy from Lumberyard to work correctly with our systems.

ETA is 26th May (was 18th May)

GPU PARTICLES

Feature Complete

ENGINE TRAILS & CONTRAILS

Build issues have stopped the VFX team from being able to work on the contrails, so they have moved to other tasks in the meantime

Build issues and developer illness have had quite an impact on the delivery date for this work.

ETA is 26th May (was 28th April)

ETA is 23rd June (was 26th May)

ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:

RenderTarget refactor

This saves over 50% of the video memory previously used for dynamic textures.

Physically-based area lights

Shadow map caching system

This allows for many more shadow casting lights at once and avoids the need for baking shadows.

Revamped decal rendering system which renders fully deferred, instanced decals with aggressive overdraw optimizations

BACKEND

DIFFUSION SUBSET FOR 3.0.0

Diffusion is our second-generation cloud-oriented back-end service architecture. It dramatically simplifies the effort required to implement, maintain, and interact with services, while simultaneously providing major enhancements in the areas of scalability and redundancy.

ETA is 16th June

SOLAR SYSTEM SHOP SERVICE

Feature Complete

SOLAR SYSTEM MISSION SERVICE V1 “MISSION BROKER”

The Solar System Mission Service dictates what missions are being offered at various locations and at what price. It is also responsible for specifying when and where dynamic content should be instantiated and how it should be customized. That way, the reality that the player sees matches what is in that area, based upon hints provided by the back end simulation/rule set. This service will split into two for 3.1, with the latter functionality becoming the responsibility of a dedicated Dynamic Content Service.

Currently working through the remaining blocking issues for this initial implementation.

We are making making further improvements to the Mission Broker and how it ties in to the Mission System to further aid the player experience and make the missions flow better for the player. These new additions are still being fully scoped out and we aim to have a new ETA next week

ETA is 25th May (was 12th May)

ETA is TBD (was 25th May)

NETWORK

NEW MESSAGE QUEUE

Now that all our message are strictly ordered we’ve been able to really streamline the processing, allowing us to send and recieve messages with less overhead. The new message queue also has a few extra features to better handle packet loss and jitter, helping reduce average bandwidth and latency.

Now that all our messages are strictly ordered we’ve been able to streamline the processing, allowing us to send and receive messages with less overhead. The new message queue also has a few extra features to better handle packet loss and jitter, helping reduce average bandwidth and latency.

ETA is 22nd May

The Network team have been working through bugs that have arisen with this work that has caused the completion date to slip out

ETA is 31st May (was 22nd May)

PHYSICS SERIALIZATION

This will fix a few long standing threading issues between then network and physics code. Improves separation of physics and netcode for better maintainability.

This will fix a few long standing threading issues between the network and physics code which will improve separation of physics and netcode for better maintainability.

Delayed due to Network needing to fix bugs that were blocking other departments from continuing their feature work

Delayed due to Network needing to fix bugs that were blocking other departments from continuing their feature work.

ETA is 26th May (was 18th May)

ETA is 2nd June (was 26th May)

PERSISTENT DATA REFACTOR

The expanding capabilities of persistent data to support gameplay features in 3.0.0 has required the Network team to work on this refactor

ETA is 19th June

NETWORK BIND/UNBIND (STRETCH GOAL)

This feature has been moved out of 3.0.0 in order to make way for the Persistent Data Refactor

SHIPS & WEAPONS

DRAKE DRAGONFLY

Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain

DRAKE CUTLASS BLACK

Rework of the legacy ship

ETA is 26th May

Delayed due to Art requiring more time, and also some of our internal software being updated causing some down time. This has had an impact for the disciplines further down the pipeline.

ETA is 16th June (was 26th May)

RSI CONSTELLATION AQUILA

Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain

RSI URSA ROVER

Ground exploration vehicle.

Ground exploration vehichle.

ETA is 26th May

Delayed due to waiting on code support.

ETA is 2nd June (was 26th May)

MISC PROSPECTOR

Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain.

BEHRING P8-SC

An SMG for mid-range fighting that provides a high rate of fire.

A few remaining bugs with this weapon have delayed final sign off

ETA is 4th May (was 27th April)

APOCALYPSE ARMS SCOURGE RAIL GUN

A shoulder mounted railgun capable of providing high levels of damage at a long range.

Completion on UI tech has slightly pushed the completion date for this weapon.

ETA is 9th June (was 8th June)

KLAUS AND WERNER GALLANT RIFLE

Rework of the legacy weapon.

Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back

ETA is 1st June (was 24th May)

ARROWHEAD SNIPER RIFLE

Rework of the legacy weapon.

Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back

ETA is 9th June (was 8th June)

KSAR DEVASTATOR-12 SHOTGUN

Rework of the legacy weapon.

Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back

ETA is 9th June (was 8th June)

BEYOND 3.0.0 - OVERVIEW

Click Here to Download.

3.1.0 Goals

PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT

New Additions:

Modular Space Station – Truckstop

Arc Corp / Area 18

FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY

New Additions:

Female Player Locomotion

AI Locomotion

Shouldered Weapons

Throwable Weapons

Armed (FPS Weapon Equipped)

Fists

Knife

Take down (Front, Sides, Rear)

Knockdown and Knockbacks

CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS

New Additions:

Fuel (Item 2.0)

Criminality System

Room System v2 (Physical Depressurization)

Item 2.0 Elevators v2

Item 2.0 Airlocks v2

Diffusion Refactor

Item Degradation/Failure/Luck

Service Beacon v1

Parties and Orgs(Group Entity Component)

Game persistence

Spectrum Integration in game

Repair and Restock System

Elevators v2

Bind / Unbinding

Object Container Streaming Core Engine Support

SHIPS:

MISC Razor

RSI Aurora (Update)

ANVIL Terrapin

MISC Hull C

DRAKE Cutlass Red

DRAKE Cutlass Blue

AEGIS Vanguard Harbinger (Variant)

3.2.0 Goals

PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT

New Additions:

Crusader

Hurston

MicroTech (Stretch Goal)

FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY

New Additions:

New Ammo Types

Gadgets (drones / shields)

Bumps

Coperative Avoidance

Downed

Drowning

Item Inspection

Looting IK / Permissions

CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS

New Additions:

NPC Generation (Archetype)

Interaction System – Useables

Radar System (Item 2.0)

Cargo v2

Service Beacon v2

StarMap v2

Gas Giant Tech

Ship to Ship Refuel System

Breaching

Security / Access Control

Object Container Streaming

SHIPS:

RSI Constellation Pheonix

RSI Constellation Taurus

MISC Freelancer MAX

AEGIS Vanguard Sentinel (Variant)

MISC Freelancer DUR

Saved diffs

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3.0.0 OVERVIEW

The following lists and charts show our progress towards releasing 3.0.0, with all remaining major tasks listed. 3.0.0 marks the next major step forward in realizing the vision of the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. As you’ll see from the sections below, there’s a lot of new content and underlying tech being worked on for this release which will enhance the experience of our players.

Tasks are either feature complete, or have an ETA for completion. It’s important to remember that some tasks may require further QA, bug-fixing and iteration. Tasks that delay beyond our target dates might cause the release of 3.0.0 to be delayed, or might be excluded from 3.0.0 if appropriate to maintain the release date target. 3.0.0 work is separated into Subsections: Persistent Universe Content, FPS / Space Gameplay, Engineering, UI, AI, Graphics, Backend, Network, and Ships & Weapons.

The 3.0.0 Procedural Planet update marks a major advance in the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. As you’ll see below, the new content and underlying tech in this release which will greatly enhance player experience.

We’ve made the decision to move our previously stated dates for Evocati, PTU, and Live back by a week. This is due to the complexity and volume of features we are working on for 3.0.0, and we would rather take a little extra time to bring everything up to the level we would want it to release in than trying to rush to complete at the expense of quality.

PLANETARY UPDATE
YELA

Yela is the most frigid of the Crusader moons. Those bold (or careless) enough to step outside without a spacesuit will be killed instantly by its freezing temperatures. If the cold doesn’t kill you, than any of the treacherous crevasses that crisscross the planet might. Cyrovolcanos have been known to erupt unexpectedly from such crevasses, so be wary when flying at low altitudes. Despite all its danger, there is much beauty to be found on Yela, like the underwater caves hidden beneath the moon’s crust.

CELLIN



Burning with volcanic activity, Cellin is the counter to her icy sister. Although the volcanoes have been dormant for hundreds of years, the surface is dotted with thermal geysers that erupt without notice. The largest of such geysers can destroy heavy vehicles. Highly corrosive clouds of gas are regularly released from the moon’s surface, creating low visibility and damaging anything caught outside.


DAYMAR

Daymar’s surface is like a harmonic blend of Yela and Cellin. It’s mountainous surface is reminiscent of Cellin’s volcanoes, while its craters share a warm likeness to Yela’s frozen crevessases. Known for its dense atmosphere, thick fog and a loose dirt surface makes travel difficult. Lightning storms can help illuminate the fog, just don’t get struck by their flash.



REMAINING AIMS FOR 3.0.0 RELEASE

PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT

MOONS
We are adding 3 new moons to the Crusader system; Yela, Cellin, and Daymar
Feature Complete
SURFACE OUTPOSTS
The new moons will also have outposts on their surface for you to explore
ETA is 2nd June
MISSION GIVERS
We’re introducing Miles Eckhart (first seen in the Gamescom video) and Ruto to provide missions to players.
Sliding this back to take in account for new requirements for additional desired behaviors
ETA is 2nd June (was 12th May)
DERELICT SHIPS
Derelict ships will be added to the system for extra points of interest and exploration
ETA is 26th May
DEBRIS FIELDS
To accompany the derelict ships, there will also be debris fields within the system
ETA is 26th May
DELAMAR / LEVSKI (STRETCH GOAL)
We are adding the planet Delamar and the landing zone, Levski
Following meetings on what we could aim to achieve for 3.0.0, we have moved our date out to accommodate this goal.
ETA is 30th June (was 1st June)
ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:
Modular Room System for procedural generation of planetary outposts
Official Outpost Spawning System ready for mission designers
Integrated Outpost distribution to PlanetEd
Single outpost Object Preset
Cluster of Outposts
Crash site mission
Interface to hand place modules and save to Layer
Interface to teleport the camera to the closest outpost
Area boxes created by artists (all room sizes are now usable in the outpost procedural system)
Entrance Room system working (stairs and ramps are now available as initial rooms)
Rooftop Prop system working for Solar panel
Wall prop system working for additional prop variations
Material Wear/Dirt on props using Layer Blend done and actually working
Developed Outpost “feet” system
Set random rotation and offset caps on planet editor
Start documenting 3 possible map layouts looping system (using 2 or 4 meters metrics * system; using connection additional corridor pieces; using spline skinned corridors)
Support Aircon/solar panel system on outposts
Added color tinting to Outposts
Added color tinting interface to Planet Ed
Created material distinction for interior / exteriors
Group elements offset in Planet Object Preset to be able to offset landing pads
New Assets:
Heavy Marine Armor
Explorer Suit Armor
Cloth and Clothing simulation on various assets old and new
Updated helmet interiors and exterior for updated art, FOV tech and standardization
Armor converted to work within modular customization structure
Finalized delivery of ALL facial assets from 3lateral.
Ships:
New Skinning and Rigging tools for landing gear on ships.
Constellation Cargo Bay/Elevator extensions
Light Group entity optimization
GAMEPLAY

PLAYER MANNED TURRETS
ETA is 8th June
PICK UP & CARRY
As we’re introducing cargo with 3.0.0, players will be able to manually interact with their cargo to load and unload it properly on their ships.
ETA is 25th May
ITEM 2.0 SHIP CONVERSION – PART 1
We are beginning the process of converting our available ships over to the item 2.0 system. This will allow for greater player control of the ship and also allow for expanded gameplay.
ETA is 1st June
ITEM 2.0
Operator Seats.
ETA is 24th May
Radar System
Feature Complete
Light Control System.
Feature Complete
Fuel / Refuel.
Feature Complete
Power Supply / Pipes.
Feature Complete
Quantum Drive.
Feature Complete
INSURANCE
This will be an alpha version of the insurance system where if your current ship becomes damaged beyond repair, you will be able to request a replacement ship (with basic loadout) from the insurance provider.
Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team
ETA is 2nd June (was 26th May)
STAMINA
We are introducing the concept of stamina in to 3.0.0, this will mean that actions will have consequences. For instance, continuing to sprint will drain the stamina of your character, causing loss of breath and difficulty in aiming a weapon.
ETA is 31st May
DOORS & AIRLOCKS
We are starting to update the doors and airlocks within the game to be more intelligent. In time, this would mean that the door would ‘know’ if a room beyond them is depressurised and would stay shut for safety
ETA is 31st May
CARGO
Commodities bought using the kiosk will be transportable in the cargo holds of vehicles, to be sold in another location.
ETA is 2nd June
COMMODITIES
Implementing items to represent units of tradeable cargo.
Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team
ETA is 2nd June (was 19th May)
KIOSK SUPPORT
Support UI on kiosks for buying and selling of cargo.
ETA is 1st June
ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY SUPPORT
Feature Complete
PERSISTENT DAMAGE, AMMO AND MISSILES
Persistence ensures that your vehicle state is saved between sessions.
ETA is 26th May
REPAIR
Work on this began early while waiting on needed tasks for other features to be completed
Feature Complete
INVENTORY SYSTEM SUPPORT
The inventory will offer a way to manage the cargo and commodities that are being carried by the ships a player owns.
ETA is 1st June
ROVER AND DRAGONFLY IN SHIPS
Players will be able to transport the Ursa Rover and the Dragonfly inside ships that are big enough to hold them
Work on this is delayed due to needing ship physics to be altered to allow for vehicles to be placed inside
ETA is 2nd June (was 31st May)
IFCS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS – NEW ADDITION
Changing the IFCS system to work in batch updates for performance improvements
ETA is 2nd June
ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:
Crusader Converted to Object Container Setup
With the transition to Object Containers, the Crusader map was completely re-designed. Each Point of Interest is now an object container laid out via the Solar System Editor. This is in preparation for Object Container streaming and seamless transitions from different POI’s and between Star Systems. Mission Flowgraphs are converted over to use Subsumption and the new Mission System.
Mega Map for Persistent Universe
Mega Map tech (also used in Crusader for seamless loading between different gamemodes) is now possible in the new PU map, which is setup in the Solar System Editor. This allows the utilization of Mega Map technology.
Revamp of Power Plants / Shield Generators / Coolers and the Heat & Power System for improved gameplay and conversion to Item 2.0
CORE TECH

PLANETARY TECH
The Physics Grid for planets and the modular space stations.
ETA is 31st May
SOLAR SYSTEM TOOL
ETA is 31st May
ENTITY UPDATE COMPONENT SCHEDULER
Will allow lower priority entities (i.e. those further away from players) to be updated less frequently, which should improve the overall framerate and allow us to add more content to the universe.
ETA is 31st May
ENTITY OWNER MANAGER
The Entity Owner Manager will track entities that are moved around the universe, making sure we spawn and unspawn them at the correct time
Feature on hold temporarily due to network system persistence dependencies.
ETA is 12th June (was 31st May)
ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:
New Radar Databank
Subsumption Base Functionality
This is the initial release of the foundation technology that drives all of the AI, mission, dynamic content, and conversation logic. The mission content previously created with FlowGraph has been replaced and the implementation time to achieve a desired effect has been cut dramatically.
Various Performance improvements
Planetary Physics Grid to support orbiting and rotating planets
Multi-Function Display implementation for Item 2.0 Components on ships
IFCS improvements to support AI & Takeoff System
Unified Visor for seamless Ship 2.0 / FPS transition
HUD/Visor integration for new Radar Databank
Object Distribution
Terrain / Object blending for soft natural transition of objects intersecting with the ground
Video codec updated to Bink2, providing higher fidelity at lower bitrate
Vehicles no longer use Lua
This is a huge step forward on the code side.
Skeleton Extension support for Item Port Offset overrides per item
Numerous types of physics simulation for all Item 2.0 attachments including hair, weapons, grenades and more.
Destructible component for items, props and environment assets
Nested Physics Grids support for vehicle transportation inside large ships, i.e. DragonFly & Rover
Physics simulation gravity vector now respects planetary gravity
Modular loadouts rule sets and support for up to five loadouts
Animation driven facial audio implemented
Updated Sandbox Editor Python integration.
Zone culling on all character assets and layers, system complete and mesh markup complete supplemented with tools to easily support new assets.
Solar System Editor
A tool that will layout entire solar system with their astral objects (sun, planets moons) as well as space stations, etc.
New Light Controller for runtime light switches
New network message queue (current in QATR) to reduce network bandwidth and network thread time.
Light Entity Render node merging.
Dynamic Physics Grid to support sparse space areas vs. dense areas like space stations.
Highly optimized vertex and position format for all geometry
Texture memory usage reduced across the project
Unified material libraries for use across all departments
Comparing and finding all duplicated normal maps and albedo maps in the LayerBlend texture library
Clean up LayerBlend Material Libraries, Resolution Adjustments, Renames to Lower Case
Follow-ups on list of unused textures and materials
Massively improved LOD computation and average face sizes for ships
Shared hair assets (instead of bespoke asset per head) for character creation
Automated facial asset LODs, skinning algorithm per LOD updated.
Reworked mesh setup of facial assets for optimal performance and reduced drawcalls.
Unified helmet and character mesh into singular render proxy for better performance and visuals.
Various portal and culling improvements.
Improved Animation Data Base collection and build process for optimized animation data streaming also added external tools to manage this.
Deprecated thousands of legacy and test assets including animations, geometry, libraries and more for reduced build size.
Automatic Asset Error collection and tracking.
Reworked itemport layout for characters and character items
Updated all assets using HumanSkin to highly optimized HumanSkinv2 shader. This saves upwards of a 100 megs of texture memory per face.
Vastly improved memory allocator which allowed massive reduction in runtime allocation count
Several significant optimizations to entity update code
UI

As you will see, the UI schedule has undergone some significant changes to accommodate some new features designed to enhance the player experience. The following schedule and dates will be used as the new baseline for the UI schedule, the previous completion dates have been included to indicate the change.


KIOSK UI
Kiosk shopping will allow players to buy and sell various commodities.
Work for this feature is temporarily on hold until the Game Code is at a place for UI work to continue.
ETA is 25th May (was 10th May)
ITEM 2.0 MULTI FUNCTION DISPLAYS
MFDs are being converted to work in the new item 2.0 system to give pilots even more control of their ships.
ETA is 5th June (was 26th May)
FIELD OF VIEW SLIDER
This will allow players to narrow or widen the field of view to their liking.
ETA is 24th May (was 5th May)
CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION
*Players will now be able to customize their characters’ heads, hair, eye color, and skin color.
ETA is 22nd June (was 31st May)

PERSONAL MANAGER APP
This App will allow players to review their inventory and customize various aspects of their suit and weapons.
ETA is 8th June (was 23rd May)
MISSION MANAGER APP
This is a redesign of the Mission App that is currently available within mobiGlas and is the next step to allow players more control over their mission tracking.
Revised date based on updated completion date of the Kiosk UI. This work will be started after the Kiosk UI is complete.
ETA is 2nd June (was 19th May)
CARGO MANIFEST APP
After buying items at a Kiosk, players will be able to head to their ship and check their cargo manifest This incorporates the work that was previously accounted for in the “Cargo UI” task
ETA is 6th June (was 1st June)
VEHICLE CUSTOMIZER APP
This app will allow players to customize their ship via the ship customization screen, so edits can be done without locating the exact port on the ship.
ETA is 28th June
SHIP SELECTOR APP & INSURANCE CLAIM
This app would exist alongside the Ship Selection Terminals in the Persistent Universe, allowing players more freedom to spawn ships at designated locations.
We are incorporating the Insurance Claim process, so we have one app that will serve two functions.
ETA is 12th June
HEAVY ARMOR FOR STAR MARINE
Heavy armor will be enabled for selection within the Star Marine loadout customization menu.
ETA is 9th June
INVENTORY SYSTEM
Very closely linked to the cargo manifest App. This will be the place to look for you personal inventory.
ETA is 6th June (was 2nd June)
MISSION BOARD APP
The mission board allows players to see the service beacons that have been set up around the universe by other players calling for assistance.
ETA is 1st June
STARMAP APP
The StarMap will be introduced to allow players to view the PU at large and select planets to QT to.
There are a few remaining issues that need to be worked through in order call this feature complete
ETA is 24th May (was 19th May)
UI OWNER COMPONENT
Feature Complete
MOBIGLAS OVERHAUL
The UI team doing an overhaul of the mobiGlas system so that it better reads what the gamecode is doing. This change will make the mobiGlas system easier to maintain for the UI team and has become a necessity as 3.0.0 work has progressed further.
ETA is 2nd June (was 6th June)
AI

MISSION SYSTEM
The overall system that will be used to create mission flows when we start building missions like Patrol, Assassination, Smuggling, etc.
ETA is 31st May
AI TURRETS
We are adding the ability for AI to operate turrets in Crusader, so we are working to make sure that they track and fire upon the correct targets.
ETA is 8th May
GRAPHICS

RENDER TO TEXTURE
This will have many uses going forwards, but our focus for now is to improve UI rendering and to introduce live rendering of video communications. We’re aiming to improve rendering performance by rendering as much of the UI ahead of a frame. For video communications, this will mean that we don’t have to pre-render the comms and store those files on the hard drive, as is the case with most games, allowing us to maintain fidelity and save hard drive space.
ETA is 15th June (was 24th May)
ENVIRONMENT PROBE
This allows for bounced lighting and reflections to be updated dynamically and will result in better lighting visuals.
ETA is 2nd June
ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY
Feature Complete
VOLUMETRIC FOG
The completion date has moved back due to unexpected issues with implementing the Volumetric fog awy from Lumberyard to work correctly with our systems.
ETA is 26th May (was 18th May)
GPU PARTICLES
Feature Complete
ENGINE TRAILS & CONTRAILS
Build issues have stopped the VFX team from being able to work on the contrails, so they have moved to other tasks in the meantime
ETA is 26th May (was 28th April)
ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:
RenderTarget refactor
This saves over 50% of the video memory previously used for dynamic textures.
Physically-based area lights
Shadow map caching system
This allows for many more shadow casting lights at once and avoids the need for baking shadows.
Revamped decal rendering system which renders fully deferred, instanced decals with aggressive overdraw optimizations
BACKEND

DIFFUSION SUBSET FOR 3.0.0
Diffusion is our second-generation cloud-oriented back-end service architecture. It dramatically simplifies the effort required to implement, maintain, and interact with services, while simultaneously providing major enhancements in the areas of scalability and redundancy.
ETA is 16th June
SOLAR SYSTEM SHOP SERVICE
Feature Complete
SOLAR SYSTEM MISSION SERVICE V1 “MISSION BROKER”
The Solar System Mission Service dictates what missions are being offered at various locations and at what price. It is also responsible for specifying when and where dynamic content should be instantiated and how it should be customized. That way, the reality that the player sees matches what is in that area, based upon hints provided by the back end simulation/rule set. This service will split into two for 3.1, with the latter functionality becoming the responsibility of a dedicated Dynamic Content Service.
Currently working through the remaining blocking issues for this initial implementation.
ETA is 25th May (was 12th May)
NETWORK

NEW MESSAGE QUEUE
Now that all our message are strictly ordered we’ve been able to really streamline the processing, allowing us to send and recieve messages with less overhead. The new message queue also has a few extra features to better handle packet loss and jitter, helping reduce average bandwidth and latency.
ETA is 22nd May
PHYSICS SERIALIZATION
This will fix a few long standing threading issues between then network and physics code. Improves separation of physics and netcode for better maintainability.
Delayed due to Network needing to fix bugs that were blocking other departments from continuing their feature work
ETA is 26th May (was 18th May)
PERSISTENT DATA REFACTOR
The expanding capabilities of persistent data to support gameplay features in 3.0.0 has required the Network team to work on this refactor
ETA is 19th June
NETWORK BIND/UNBIND (STRETCH GOAL)
This feature has been moved out of 3.0.0 in order to make way for the Persistent Data Refactor
SHIPS & WEAPONS

DRAKE DRAGONFLY
Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain
DRAKE CUTLASS BLACK
Rework of the legacy ship
ETA is 26th May
RSI CONSTELLATION AQUILA
Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain
RSI URSA ROVER
Ground exploration vehicle.
ETA is 26th May
MISC PROSPECTOR
Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain.
BEHRING P8-SC
An SMG for mid-range fighting that provides a high rate of fire.
A few remaining bugs with this weapon have delayed final sign off
ETA is 4th May (was 27th April)
APOCALYPSE ARMS SCOURGE RAIL GUN
A shoulder mounted railgun capable of providing high levels of damage at a long range.
Completion on UI tech has slightly pushed the completion date for this weapon.
ETA is 9th June (was 8th June)
KLAUS AND WERNER GALLANT RIFLE
Rework of the legacy weapon.
Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back
ETA is 1st June (was 24th May)
ARROWHEAD SNIPER RIFLE
Rework of the legacy weapon.
Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back
ETA is 9th June (was 8th June)
KSAR DEVASTATOR-12 SHOTGUN
Rework of the legacy weapon.
Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back
ETA is 9th June (was 8th June)
BEYOND 3.0.0 - OVERVIEW

Click Here to Download.

3.1.0 Goals


PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT
New Additions:

Modular Space Station – Truckstop
Arc Corp / Area 18
FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY
New Additions:

Female Player Locomotion
AI Locomotion
Shouldered Weapons
Throwable Weapons
Armed (FPS Weapon Equipped)
Fists
Knife
Take down (Front, Sides, Rear)
Knockdown and Knockbacks
CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS
New Additions:

Fuel (Item 2.0)
Criminality System
Room System v2 (Physical Depressurization)
Item 2.0 Elevators v2
Item 2.0 Airlocks v2
Diffusion Refactor
Item Degradation/Failure/Luck
Service Beacon v1
Parties and Orgs(Group Entity Component)
Game persistence
Spectrum Integration in game
Repair and Restock System
Elevators v2
Bind / Unbinding
Object Container Streaming Core Engine Support
SHIPS:
MISC Razor
RSI Aurora (Update)
ANVIL Terrapin
MISC Hull C
DRAKE Cutlass Red
DRAKE Cutlass Blue
AEGIS Vanguard Harbinger (Variant)
3.2.0 Goals


PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT
New Additions:

Crusader
Hurston
MicroTech (Stretch Goal)
FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY
New Additions:

New Ammo Types
Gadgets (drones / shields)
Bumps
Coperative Avoidance
Downed
Drowning
Item Inspection
Looting IK / Permissions
CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS
New Additions:

NPC Generation (Archetype)
Interaction System – Useables
Radar System (Item 2.0)
Cargo v2
Service Beacon v2
StarMap v2
Gas Giant Tech
Ship to Ship Refuel System
Breaching
Security / Access Control
Object Container Streaming
SHIPS:
RSI Constellation Pheonix
RSI Constellation Taurus
MISC Freelancer MAX
AEGIS Vanguard Sentinel (Variant)
MISC Freelancer DUR

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3.0.0 OVERVIEW

The following lists and charts show our progress towards releasing 3.0.0, with all remaining major tasks listed. 3.0.0 marks the next major step forward in realizing the vision of the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. As you’ll see from the sections below, there’s a lot of new content and underlying tech being worked on for this release which will enhance the experience of our players.

Tasks are either feature complete, or have an ETA for completion. It’s important to remember that some tasks may require further QA, bug-fixing and iteration. Tasks that delay beyond our target dates might cause the release of 3.0.0 to be delayed, or might be excluded from 3.0.0 if appropriate to maintain the release date target. 3.0.0 work is separated into Subsections: Persistent Universe Content, FPS / Space Gameplay, Engineering, UI, AI, Graphics, Backend, Network, and Ships & Weapons.

The 3.0.0 Procedural Planet update marks a major advance in the Star Citizen Persistent Universe. As you’ll see below, the new content and underlying tech in this release which will greatly enhance player experience.

PLANETARY UPDATE
YELA

Yela is the most frigid of the Crusader moons. Those bold (or careless) enough to step outside without a spacesuit will be killed instantly by its freezing temperatures. If the cold doesn’t kill you, than any of the treacherous crevasses that crisscross the planet might. Cyrovolcanos have been known to erupt unexpectedly from such crevasses, so be wary when flying at low altitudes. Despite all its danger, there is much beauty to be found on Yela, like the underwater caves hidden beneath the moon’s crust.

CELLIN



Burning with volcanic activity, Cellin is the counter to her icy sister. Although the volcanoes have been dormant for hundreds of years, the surface is dotted with thermal geysers that erupt without notice. The largest of such geysers can destroy heavy vehicles. Highly corrosive clouds of gas are regularly released from the moon’s surface, creating low visibility and damaging anything caught outside.


DAYMAR

Daymar’s surface is like a harmonic blend of Yela and Cellin. It’s mountainous surface is reminiscent of Cellin’s volcanoes, while its craters share a warm likeness to Yela’s frozen crevessases. Known for its dense atmosphere, thick fog and a loose dirt surface makes travel difficult. Lightning storms can help illuminate the fog, just don’t get struck by their flash.



REMAINING AIMS FOR 3.0.0 RELEASE

PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT

MOONS
We are adding 3 new moons to the Crusader system; Yela, Cellin, and Daymar
Feature Complete
SURFACE OUTPOSTS
The new moons will also have outposts on their surface for you to explore
ETA is 2nd June
MISSION GIVERS
We’re introducing Miles Eckhart (first seen in the Gamescom video) and Ruto to provide missions to players.
Sliding this back to take in account for new requirements for additional desired behaviors
ETA is 2nd June (was 12th May)
DERELICT SHIPS
Derelict ships will be added to the system for extra points of interest and exploration.
Art for the derelict ships is now complete, however audio will require more time to complete their work
ETA is 9th June (was 26th May)
DEBRIS FIELDS
To accompany the derelict ships, there will also be debris fields within the system
ETA is 26th May
DELAMAR / LEVSKI (STRETCH GOAL)
We are adding the planet Delamar and the landing zone, Levski
Following meetings on what we could aim to achieve for 3.0.0, we have moved our date out to accommodate this goal.
ETA is 30th June (was 1st June)
ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:
Modular Room System for procedural generation of planetary outposts
Official Outpost Spawning System ready for mission designers
Integrated Outpost distribution to PlanetEd
Single outpost Object Preset
Cluster of Outposts
Crash site mission
Interface to hand place modules and save to Layer
Interface to teleport the camera to the closest outpost
Area boxes created by artists (all room sizes are now usable in the outpost procedural system)
Entrance Room system working (stairs and ramps are now available as initial rooms)
Rooftop Prop system working for Solar panel
Wall prop system working for additional prop variations
Material Wear/Dirt on props using Layer Blend done and actually working
Developed Outpost “feet” system
Set random rotation and offset caps on planet editor
Start documenting 3 possible map layouts looping system (using 2 or 4 meters metrics * system; using connection additional corridor pieces; using spline skinned corridors)
Support Aircon/solar panel system on outposts
Added color tinting to Outposts
Added color tinting interface to Planet Ed
Created material distinction for interior / exteriors
Group elements offset in Planet Object Preset to be able to offset landing pads
New Assets:
Heavy Marine Armor
Explorer Suit Armor
Cloth and Clothing simulation on various assets old and new
Updated helmet interiors and exterior for updated art, FOV tech and standardization
Armor converted to work within modular customization structure
Finalized delivery of ALL facial assets from 3lateral.
Ships:
New Skinning and Rigging tools for landing gear on ships.
Constellation Cargo Bay/Elevator extensions
Light Group entity optimization
GAMEPLAY

PLAYER MANNED TURRETS
ETA is 8th June
PICK UP & CARRY
As we’re introducing cargo with 3.0.0, players will be able to manually interact with their cargo to load and unload it properly on their ships.
We have decided to make further improvements to this system that will have better gameplay implications, such as interacting with cargo that is in a ZeroG environment.
ETA is 12th June (was 25th May)
ITEM 2.0 SHIP CONVERSION – PART 1
We are beginning the process of converting our available ships over to the item 2.0 system. This will allow for greater player control of the ship and also allow for expanded gameplay.
ETA is 1st June
ITEM 2.0 SHIP CONVERSION – PART 2
With Part 1 of this feature (the Engineering side) drawing to a close, and appearing to come in as estimated. We have been properly able to schedule out the Tech Design side of this.
ETA is 23rd June
ITEM 2.0
Operator Seats.
Operator seats replace existing vehicle seats as the new controllers of Item 2.0 based ships.
Feature Complete
Radar System
Feature Complete
Light Control System.
Feature Complete
Fuel / Refuel.
Feature Complete
Power Supply / Pipes.
Feature Complete
Quantum Drive.
Feature Complete
INSURANCE
This will be an alpha version of the insurance system where if your current ship becomes damaged beyond repair, you will be able to request a replacement ship (with basic loadout) from the insurance provider.
Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team
ETA is 2nd June (was 26th May)
STAMINA
We are introducing the concept of stamina in to 3.0.0, this will mean that actions will have consequences. For instance, continuing to sprint will drain the stamina of your character, causing loss of breath and difficulty in aiming a weapon.
ETA is 31st May
DOORS & AIRLOCKS
We are starting to update the doors and airlocks within the game to be more intelligent. In time, this would mean that the door would ‘know’ if a room beyond them is depressurised and would stay shut for safety
ETA is 31st May
CARGO
Commodities bought using the kiosk will be transportable in the cargo holds of vehicles, to be sold in another location.
ETA is 2nd June
COMMODITIES
Implementing items to represent units of tradeable cargo.
Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team
ETA is 2nd June (was 19th May)
KIOSK SUPPORT
Support UI on kiosks for buying and selling of cargo.
ETA is 1st June
ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY SUPPORT
Feature Complete
PERSISTENT DAMAGE, AMMO AND MISSILES
Persistence ensures that your vehicle state is saved between sessions.
Work on this is delayed due to waiting on a needed task from the Network Engineering team.
ETA is 2nd June (was 26th May)
REPAIR
Work on this began early while waiting on needed tasks for other features to be completed
Feature Complete
INVENTORY SYSTEM SUPPORT
The inventory will offer a way to manage the cargo and commodities that are being carried by the ships a player owns.
ETA is 1st June
ROVER AND DRAGONFLY IN SHIPS
Players will be able to transport the Ursa Rover and the Dragonfly inside ships that are big enough to hold them
Work on this is delayed due to needing ship physics to be altered to allow for vehicles to be placed inside
ETA is 2nd June (was 31st May)
IFCS PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENTS – NEW ADDITION
Changing the IFCS system to work in batch updates for performance improvements
ETA is 2nd June
ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:
Crusader Converted to Object Container Setup
With the transition to Object Containers, the Crusader map was completely re-designed. Each Point of Interest is now an object container laid out via the Solar System Editor. This is in preparation for Object Container streaming and seamless transitions from different POI’s and between Star Systems. Mission Flowgraphs are converted over to use Subsumption and the new Mission System.
Mega Map for Persistent Universe
Mega Map tech (also used in Crusader for seamless loading between different gamemodes) is now possible in the new PU map, which is setup in the Solar System Editor. This allows the utilization of Mega Map technology.
Revamp of Power Plants / Shield Generators / Coolers and the Heat & Power System for improved gameplay and conversion to Item 2.0
CORE TECH

PLANETARY TECH
The Physics Grid for planets and the modular space stations.
ETA is 31st May
SOLAR SYSTEM TOOL
ETA is 31st May
ENTITY UPDATE COMPONENT SCHEDULER
Will allow lower priority entities (i.e. those further away from players) to be updated less frequently, which should improve the overall framerate and allow us to add more content to the universe.
ETA is 31st May
ENTITY OWNER MANAGER
The Entity Owner Manager will track entities that are moved around the universe, making sure we spawn and unspawn them at the correct time
Feature on hold temporarily due to network system persistence dependencies.
ETA is 12th June (was 31st May)
ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:
New Radar Databank
Subsumption Base Functionality
This is the initial release of the foundation technology that drives all of the AI, mission, dynamic content, and conversation logic. The mission content previously created with FlowGraph has been replaced and the implementation time to achieve a desired effect has been cut dramatically.
Various Performance improvements
Planetary Physics Grid to support orbiting and rotating planets
Multi-Function Display implementation for Item 2.0 Components on ships
IFCS improvements to support AI & Takeoff System
Unified Visor for seamless Ship 2.0 / FPS transition
HUD/Visor integration for new Radar Databank
Object Distribution
Terrain / Object blending for soft natural transition of objects intersecting with the ground
Video codec updated to Bink2, providing higher fidelity at lower bitrate
Vehicles no longer use Lua
This is a huge step forward on the code side.
Skeleton Extension support for Item Port Offset overrides per item
Numerous types of physics simulation for all Item 2.0 attachments including hair, weapons, grenades and more.
Destructible component for items, props and environment assets
Nested Physics Grids support for vehicle transportation inside large ships, i.e. DragonFly & Rover
Physics simulation gravity vector now respects planetary gravity
Modular loadouts rule sets and support for up to five loadouts
Animation driven facial audio implemented
Updated Sandbox Editor Python integration.
Zone culling on all character assets and layers, system complete and mesh markup complete supplemented with tools to easily support new assets.
Solar System Editor
A tool that will layout entire solar system with their astral objects (sun, planets moons) as well as space stations, etc.
New Light Controller for runtime light switches
New network message queue (current in QATR) to reduce network bandwidth and network thread time.
Light Entity Render node merging.
Dynamic Physics Grid to support sparse space areas vs. dense areas like space stations.
Highly optimized vertex and position format for all geometry
Texture memory usage reduced across the project
Unified material libraries for use across all departments
Comparing and finding all duplicated normal maps and albedo maps in the LayerBlend texture library
Clean up LayerBlend Material Libraries, Resolution Adjustments, Renames to Lower Case
Follow-ups on list of unused textures and materials
Massively improved LOD computation and average face sizes for ships
Shared hair assets (instead of bespoke asset per head) for character creation
Automated facial asset LODs, skinning algorithm per LOD updated.
Reworked mesh setup of facial assets for optimal performance and reduced drawcalls.
Unified helmet and character mesh into singular render proxy for better performance and visuals.
Various portal and culling improvements.
Improved Animation Data Base collection and build process for optimized animation data streaming also added external tools to manage this.
Deprecated thousands of legacy and test assets including animations, geometry, libraries and more for reduced build size.
Automatic Asset Error collection and tracking.
Reworked itemport layout for characters and character items
Updated all assets using HumanSkin to highly optimized HumanSkinv2 shader. This saves upwards of a 100 megs of texture memory per face.
Vastly improved memory allocator which allowed massive reduction in runtime allocation count
Several significant optimizations to entity update code
UI

As you will see, the UI schedule has undergone some significant changes to accommodate some new features designed to enhance the player experience. The following schedule and dates will be used as the new baseline for the UI schedule, the previous completion dates have been included to indicate the change.


KIOSK UI
Kiosk shopping will allow players to buy and sell commodities.
Some Kiosk tasks are taking longer than expected, and there have also been some blocking issues that were prioritized.
ETA is 7th June (was 30th May)
ITEM 2.0 MULTI FUNCTION DISPLAYS
MFDs are being converted to work in the new item 2.0 system to give pilots even more control of their ships.
ETA is 5th June (was 26th May)
FIELD OF VIEW SLIDER
Feature Complete
CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION
*Players will now be able to customize their characters’ heads, hair, eye color, and skin color.
ETA is 22nd June (was 31st May)

PERSONAL MANAGER APP
This App will allow players to review their inventory and customize various aspects of their suit and weapons.
ETA is 8th June (was 23rd May)
MISSION MANAGER APP
This is a redesign of the Mission App that is currently available within mobiGlas and is the next step to allow players more control over their mission tracking.
Revised date based on updated completion date of the Kiosk UI. This work will be started after the Kiosk UI is complete.
ETA is 2nd June (was 19th May)
CARGO MANIFEST APP
After buying items at a Kiosk, players will be able to head to their ship and check their cargo manifest This incorporates the work that was previously accounted for in the “Cargo UI” task
ETA is 6th June (was 1st June)
VEHICLE CUSTOMIZER APP
This app will allow players to customize their ship via the ship customization screen, so edits can be done without locating the exact port on the ship.
ETA is 28th June
SHIP SELECTOR APP & INSURANCE CLAIM
This app would exist alongside the Ship Selection Terminals in the Persistent Universe, allowing players more freedom to spawn ships at designated locations.
We are incorporating the Insurance Claim process, so we have one app that will serve two functions.
ETA is 12th June
HEAVY ARMOR FOR STAR MARINE
Heavy armor will be enabled for selection within the Star Marine loadout customization menu.
ETA is 9th June
INVENTORY SYSTEM
Very closely linked to the cargo manifest App. This will be the place to look for you personal inventory.
ETA is 6th June (was 2nd June)
MISSION BOARD APP
The mission board allows players to see the service beacons that have been set up around the universe by other players calling for assistance.
ETA is 1st June
STARMAP APP
The StarMap will be introduced to allow players to view the PU at large and select planets to QT to.
The StarMap is now functional and in game. However, we have decided to make some further changes to the feature to make the App look more visually pleasing and also be a more intuitive experience for the player. This work is still being fully scoped out, but we will aim to have a new ETA next week
ETA is TBD (was 24th May)
UI OWNER COMPONENT
Feature Complete
MOBIGLAS OVERHAUL
The UI team doing an overhaul of the mobiGlas system so that it better reads what the gamecode is doing. This change will make the mobiGlas system easier to maintain for the UI team and has become a necessity as 3.0.0 work has progressed further.
ETA is 2nd June (was 6th June)
AI

MISSION SYSTEM
The overall system that will be used to create mission flows when we start building missions like Patrol, Assassination, Smuggling, etc.
ETA is 31st May
AI TURRETS
We are adding the ability for AI to operate turrets in Crusader, so we are working to make sure that they track and fire upon the correct targets.
ETA is 8th May
GRAPHICS

RENDER TO TEXTURE
This will have many uses going forwards, but our focus for now is to improve UI rendering and to introduce live rendering of video communications. We’re aiming to improve rendering performance by rendering as much of the UI ahead of a frame. For video communications, this will mean that we don’t have to pre-render the comms and store those files on the hard drive, as is the case with most games, allowing us to maintain fidelity and save hard drive space.
ETA is 15th June (was 24th May)
ENVIRONMENT PROBE
This allows for bounced lighting and reflections to be updated dynamically and will result in better lighting visuals.
ETA is 2nd June
ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY
Feature Complete
VOLUMETRIC FOG
The completion date has moved back due to unexpected issues with implementing the Volumetric fog awy from Lumberyard to work correctly with our systems.
ETA is 26th May (was 18th May)
GPU PARTICLES
Feature Complete
ENGINE TRAILS & CONTRAILS
Build issues and developer illness have had quite an impact on the delivery date for this work.
ETA is 23rd June (was 26th May)
ALREADY COMPLETE IN THE 3.0.0 BRANCH:
RenderTarget refactor
This saves over 50% of the video memory previously used for dynamic textures.
Physically-based area lights
Shadow map caching system
This allows for many more shadow casting lights at once and avoids the need for baking shadows.
Revamped decal rendering system which renders fully deferred, instanced decals with aggressive overdraw optimizations
BACKEND

DIFFUSION SUBSET FOR 3.0.0
Diffusion is our second-generation cloud-oriented back-end service architecture. It dramatically simplifies the effort required to implement, maintain, and interact with services, while simultaneously providing major enhancements in the areas of scalability and redundancy.
ETA is 16th June
SOLAR SYSTEM SHOP SERVICE
Feature Complete
SOLAR SYSTEM MISSION SERVICE V1 “MISSION BROKER”
The Solar System Mission Service dictates what missions are being offered at various locations and at what price. It is also responsible for specifying when and where dynamic content should be instantiated and how it should be customized. That way, the reality that the player sees matches what is in that area, based upon hints provided by the back end simulation/rule set. This service will split into two for 3.1, with the latter functionality becoming the responsibility of a dedicated Dynamic Content Service.
We are making making further improvements to the Mission Broker and how it ties in to the Mission System to further aid the player experience and make the missions flow better for the player. These new additions are still being fully scoped out and we aim to have a new ETA next week
ETA is TBD (was 25th May)
NETWORK

NEW MESSAGE QUEUE
Now that all our messages are strictly ordered we’ve been able to streamline the processing, allowing us to send and receive messages with less overhead. The new message queue also has a few extra features to better handle packet loss and jitter, helping reduce average bandwidth and latency.
The Network team have been working through bugs that have arisen with this work that has caused the completion date to slip out
ETA is 31st May (was 22nd May)
PHYSICS SERIALIZATION
This will fix a few long standing threading issues between the network and physics code which will improve separation of physics and netcode for better maintainability.
Delayed due to Network needing to fix bugs that were blocking other departments from continuing their feature work.
ETA is 2nd June (was 26th May)
PERSISTENT DATA REFACTOR
The expanding capabilities of persistent data to support gameplay features in 3.0.0 has required the Network team to work on this refactor
ETA is 19th June
SHIPS & WEAPONS

DRAKE DRAGONFLY
Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain
DRAKE CUTLASS BLACK
Rework of the legacy ship
Delayed due to Art requiring more time, and also some of our internal software being updated causing some down time. This has had an impact for the disciplines further down the pipeline.
ETA is 16th June (was 26th May)
RSI CONSTELLATION AQUILA
Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain
RSI URSA ROVER
Ground exploration vehichle.
Delayed due to waiting on code support.
ETA is 2nd June (was 26th May)
MISC PROSPECTOR
Feature Complete. Some code bugs remain.
BEHRING P8-SC
An SMG for mid-range fighting that provides a high rate of fire.
A few remaining bugs with this weapon have delayed final sign off
ETA is 4th May (was 27th April)
APOCALYPSE ARMS SCOURGE RAIL GUN
A shoulder mounted railgun capable of providing high levels of damage at a long range.
Completion on UI tech has slightly pushed the completion date for this weapon.
ETA is 9th June (was 8th June)
KLAUS AND WERNER GALLANT RIFLE
Rework of the legacy weapon.
Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back
ETA is 1st June (was 24th May)
ARROWHEAD SNIPER RIFLE
Rework of the legacy weapon.
Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back
ETA is 9th June (was 8th June)
KSAR DEVASTATOR-12 SHOTGUN
Rework of the legacy weapon.
Complex VFX for the Railgun has pushed the completion of this back
ETA is 9th June (was 8th June)
BEYOND 3.0.0 - OVERVIEW

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3.1.0 Goals


PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT
New Additions:

Modular Space Station – Truckstop
Arc Corp / Area 18
FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY
New Additions:

Female Player Locomotion
AI Locomotion
Shouldered Weapons
Throwable Weapons
Armed (FPS Weapon Equipped)
Fists
Knife
Take down (Front, Sides, Rear)
Knockdown and Knockbacks
CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS
New Additions:

Fuel (Item 2.0)
Criminality System
Room System v2 (Physical Depressurization)
Item 2.0 Elevators v2
Item 2.0 Airlocks v2
Diffusion Refactor
Item Degradation/Failure/Luck
Service Beacon v1
Parties and Orgs(Group Entity Component)
Game persistence
Spectrum Integration in game
Repair and Restock System
Elevators v2
Bind / Unbinding
Object Container Streaming Core Engine Support
SHIPS:
MISC Razor
RSI Aurora (Update)
ANVIL Terrapin
MISC Hull C
DRAKE Cutlass Red
DRAKE Cutlass Blue
AEGIS Vanguard Harbinger (Variant)
3.2.0 Goals


PERSISTENT UNIVERSE CONTENT
New Additions:

Crusader
Hurston
MicroTech (Stretch Goal)
FPS / SPACE GAMEPLAY
New Additions:

New Ammo Types
Gadgets (drones / shields)
Bumps
Coperative Avoidance
Downed
Drowning
Item Inspection
Looting IK / Permissions
CORE DEV TECH AND SYSTEMS
New Additions:

NPC Generation (Archetype)
Interaction System – Useables
Radar System (Item 2.0)
Cargo v2
Service Beacon v2
StarMap v2
Gas Giant Tech
Ship to Ship Refuel System
Breaching
Security / Access Control
Object Container Streaming
SHIPS:
RSI Constellation Pheonix
RSI Constellation Taurus
MISC Freelancer MAX
AEGIS Vanguard Sentinel (Variant)
MISC Freelancer DUR