Cult Citizen

[icycalm]

Star Citizen: Wingmen | Xenothreat Event | Epic 4K Gameplay Cinematic
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAGHkLE ... XdPpMT44TR



An incredible movie-like SC video that sort-of showcases the XenoThreat Dynamic Event. I say sort-of because most of the video shows getting to the event, and returning from it. The actual event is given little time, and even then it only shows the space battle, not the FPS portion (I've never played the event, but it is my understanding that part of it is on foot, or at least in EVA).

I placed this #16 in my Ultimate Trailer Ranking, though note that I keep rejigging the list, so it could end up higher or lower eventually. It definitely belongs in the top 20 of trailers, at this moment.

I recommend watching it to get hype for the coming week, because XenoThreat is running, and we're playing it. I am just waiting to nail down this week's Ruins of Azlant session, and then I'll schedule this, so watch out for the announcement, and see if you can get some training in during the week. I'll certainly be playing a bit. The game works smoothly now, reportedly, and there's so much new content for us to engage, and stuff to buy.

[icycalm]

The reason we're salty is because we know it's on the cusp of being really good.
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... now_its_on

The video game of Sisyphus.

Although at this point I feel more like Prometheus. Getting my organs eaten out everyday just to heal again.

Despite all the problems, delays, and issues I have with the game and development process, there's not a single game that is currently playable that matches what Star Citizen can do even now. Even missing so many features, having the bugs that it has, it is a unique game on the market.

So, in spite of my frustration with the development pace, I continue to be patient because I'd rather have a good game later than a crappy game now.

And honestly, it's really easy to forget what limitations we had so long ago. Starting off with nothing, then we got the hangar module, able to put a ship or two into a hangar (not even all of your ships if you had a lot), then the hangar was upgraded to expand, then we got Arena Commander and actually got to fly our ships!

A while later we got Crusader. I still remember the first time I loaded into Crusader and stepped out onto the platform of Port Olisar and saw the massive gas giant in front of me. We had only a few missions we could do but we could finally play with a few other people. It then expanded to have the moons of Crusader and then soon the rest of Stanton. Mining, bounty-hunting, trading and scavenging were all dreams during those times.

Yeah I wish there was more progress just like everyone else. But, looking back to where we were when we started, I love seeing where we have come.

When Star Citizen Alpha 4.0 releases next year (which'll be GOTY btw) with the addition of jump points and the Pyro PVP system, plus apartments and base-building go in, there almost won't be any reason to ever play another game again (apart from mine, of course). Threads like the above will disappear and everyone will be busy working three jobs during the day to be able to afford to live in luxury in the game at night.

Welcome to the metaverse.

[icycalm]

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... on_42_much

Reading the emails from Chris gives me deja vu in that they're always talking about mundane stuff like 'serving drinks' as getting 'really close now', and so it goes year after year after year.

I am not convinced in the first place that we need our make believe bartenders and janitors to have elaborate daily schedules with secret hopes, dreams, fears and alimony payments, but that's the direction it's going.

Do we need our AI entities to be competent baristas, mop and bucket men, fire extinguisher jockeys and short order chefs all in one who are also capable of showering themselves and others? Maybe not, but that's what's being made according to the emails.

I'm sure it's all top quality, seamless, and with no undesired interactions with other systems.

While I somewhat agree, a big repeated talking point for AAA titles like CP2077 is how empty the world feels due to how shallow their AI is, despite them talking about how alive and vibrant the city feels, while games like RDR receive a lot of praise for how detailed and believable their AI behaviours are.

If they're going for 'if you want to, you can stand and watch/follow an AI and see them go about their daily routine' then what they're saying makes sense. Nothing about what CIG has said tells me they're aiming for a simple yet fun game, I think we learned that a long time ago.

Yeah I'm not saying everybody finds believable AI to be an important factor to a singleplayer game, just that it is a very hotly discussed and repeated topic for these types of games. I'd say a lot of people find it an important factor in believing in a game world.

Now this is a guess, but I imagine it is much easier to have crazy-good AI in SQ42 because their performance isn't reliant on sending their actions to a multiplayer server and 100s of players at the same time.

Either SC and SQ42 will have the exact same AI and they somehow solve the networking problem for SC, or SC's AI will be much reduced in detail compared to SQ42 just to reduce the number of requests going to their servers.

Think about if you start SQ42 on a capital ship, they are going to put a ton of effort into the behaviour of just a few AI (maybe a crewmate in a mess hall) that nearly every player is going to see, they may go so far as to give that AI unique behaviours just because it's someone we all see regularly through the campaign. That level of detail isn't needed in SC, so instead I guess the SC AI will have a routine based on their profession and what the economy is doing. A mining AI might go back and forth from a refinery, to their prospector, to an asteroid field, and all other mining AI probably behave similarly. A cool routine, but not insane levels of detail that you expect in a singleplayer - like RDR2 how you have literal rail-workers hand-hammering every individual nail into a track in real time.

This is a short term sight.

It may seem trivial to have bartenders having a daily routine, but, as explained many times, when one NPC is able to follow that routine, it means it's ready for all other NPCs, you just have to specify the requisites for each profession.

They chose bartender because it was funnier than a runway boy, as it has to interact with different objects and the player, amongst other things.

I will absolutely believe it is a good thing when I see it in action and working. Past attempts by gaming companies to deliver comprehensive AI agent NPCs have been a mixed bag at best:

• Edit: Deus Ex Invisible War developers talked about making an AI so perceptive that it would be able to infer causality and react accordingly. The example they gave was if a player knocked over a flammable object that hit a cat, that cat might in turn run away in terror past an NPC who could vocalize "OMG who set that cat on fire" and then go looking for you. It didn't work, the AI was braindead.
  
  
• Oblivion NPCs at one point had 'needs' modeled, but it ended up always devolving in to them stealing food because they were hungry, ending up in jail, or getting killed by the guards. They had to scale it waaaaay back to avoid serious problems and get the game out on time.
  
  
• Cyberpunk said that every NPC would have a schedule and motivations. That went nowhere fast to the point where at launch NPCs would disappear when you turned around or would be in the same spot 24/7.

If CIG achieves their ambition it will be a monumental achievement. Based on what I'm seeing on the PU in year 11 of development, I'm not holding my breath.

Watch dogs legion is probably the closest game there is to achieve that goal

All NPCs have a personal schedule basically, they would despawn, but not if you are following one

Chow hall lines! Bed sheet linens! Barristas! You know, the important things.

edit: mop and buckets people!!

[icycalm]

Cast of characters every time the game goes through a rough patch
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... _game_goes



Putting it here instead of the lol thread because it's not a joke, it is a demographic study. If you understand all the references, congrats, you're no longer a casual player (you must read Reddit for some months to understand them all on top of playing the game).

[Discord BOT]

CULT|shubn
I have I think 2.3M in my personal account, I'm gonna farm some more now and tomorrow and send more to the bank.

CULT|icycalm
Let's not use the word "farm" with SC again (unless you're really farming with the upcoming farming mechanics Chris Roberts says they are working on). It gives the impression that the game is a boring MMORPG. For the same reason, no use of "grind" either. Instead, say you're earning money, or whatever.

CULT|shubn
Roger. I don't like these words either to be honest.

CULT|icycalm
For other games they are useful.

[icycalm]

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... st_citizen



They are catching on.

[icycalm]

Star Citizen Alpha 3.19 - Call to Adventure
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtOogpjeehk



What a game.

I love these trailers. While they might not really matter, the effort put into them is evident.

Whoever does those videos is a genius

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... _adventure

The cinematics team is getting better and better every year

Was thinking exactly the same, the transitions in this video are amazing!

Remember to clear your user and shader folders I think it is. Detailed instructions can be found pinned in our Discord.

Although there was no wipe, plenty of people are reporting missing vehicles, and CIG has confirmed there's nothing they can do about them. So check your stuff and if you're missing anything, report it in the Fleet thread. I pray for the Retaliator.

[icycalm]

Just a comparison between my expectations in 2020 and today
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... ns_in_2020

I would say some of the red should be green or may be an orange for partial.

Zero G racing we have at GrimHex.

Ship Neutralization is in with soft death.

Selling stolen goods is in.

Ore refining is in.

Manual repair is partially in with hull repair.

Other than that it's spot on.

Yep, and under "Healing" we have Dynamic Missions (rescue beacons) or you could put it under "getting paid to heal"

We also have:

Prices depending on supply and demand

Zero-G moving

There was an inside and a post that speak about that. The only two comodities that are dynamic are fuel and repair materials. You can search it online.

Their increasing focus on 'settlements' has me very excited. The lack of interesting settlements is the main reason I never got into ED or NMS, tho I appreciate their stature in their specific niches.

[icycalm]

Star Citizen | STANTON (Final Trailer) 4K
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ouBKm7 ... XdPpMT44TR