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Star Citizen Alpha 2.0 | The 'Verse Awakens

Zalusithix

Member
Patch notes got leaked again. I think it's behind the actual current patch (pretty sure Evocati are on 2.4e), but still pretty cool.

2.4c

2.4b

2.4a

2.4
Wow, they have the Gemini finished? Must have missed that tidbit in my more casual following of SC news. Either that or it's been hidden behind the NDA. Guess I'll need to go through an exhaustive screenshot romp through the regular Starfarer while I still have access to it.

Edit: Quick Googling reveals it was announced in an ep of AtV. So I just missed it then... Not particularly surprising considering my current lazy following of SC happenings. Things go by faster when you're not paying so much attention to them. ;)
 

KOCMOHABT

Member
What's the status of HDR support in Star Citizen / Cryengine?

what do you mean? The rendering itself is done in HDR since CE2, but I don't think there are any AAA games/engines that don't use HDR since 2010.

You can manually display the HDR texture to the screen with console commands (dyn_tex_array or something along those lines and then select HDR there), but obviously the image will look wrong since the values are mapped from very very dark to over over bright. Then you would have to manually expose the image to your liking with some tools like Photoshop, or write a custom solution that does that on runtime.

You can also use sampling/performance tools like Intel GPA to get the unprocessed HDR file and save it in full quality locally.
 

Zalusithix

Member
Noob here.

So, I have some interest in this game. Are there options for PVE only servers, or are they all PVP? I love co-op, and hate versus.

Last I heard they plan on having a slider of sorts to bias you towards PvE or PvP, but no PvE only servers. Even with PvP in the mix, the ratio of humans to NPCs is supposed to be on the order of 10:1, so you shouldn't be running into hostile players left and right. Beyond that there will be safer areas of space policed by the UEE where shenanigans won't fly.

Then there's the Organization aspect. Joining a large Org with alliances will create a certain level of safety as it'd be reckless to randomly attack a member and face the retaliation. Of course that wont stop everything, and also brews the possibility of Org vs Org conflicts, but at least with those you wont feel like a helpless nobody getting ganked for no good reason with nothing you can do about it.

Mind you, none of this is in game right now. Alpha, future plans subject to change, and all that jazz.
 
Noob here.

So, I have some interest in this game. Are there options for PVE only servers, or are they all PVP? I love co-op, and hate versus.

While there will be no way to disable PVP completely, that doesn't make it game where you HAVE to PVP. They've said you will be able to limit it in some way but not completely avoid it; sticking to NPC-patrolled systems will mean players are less likely to attack you, for example. There will be things to 'stop' (as in punish) players just going around attacking everyone they find, at least in some areas.

If you want PVE or co-op stuff, there will definitely be opportunities for that and you aren't going to be forced to PVP all the time, although you won't be able to entirely remove any chance of PVP (although you could just try to run away if it happens).
 

Zabojnik

Member
what do you mean? The rendering itself is done in HDR since CE2, but I don't think there are any AAA games/engines that don't use HDR since 2010.

You can manually display the HDR texture to the screen with console commands (dyn_tex_array or something along those lines and then select HDR there), but obviously the image will look wrong since the values are mapped from very very dark to over over bright. Then you would have to manually expose the image to your liking with some tools like Photoshop, or write a custom solution that does that on runtime.

You can also use sampling/performance tools like Intel GPA to get the unprocessed HDR file and save it in full quality locally.

That's ... thanks. What I actually want to know is if I can expect SC to run properly on upcoming HDR monitors or if it's something that'll need to be addressed (by the devs).
 

Zalusithix

Member
Well, so much for getting VorpX and SC to play nice. SC just crashes every time. I have zero interest in actually playing the game using it, but it would have been nice to appreciate the scale of the Starfarer.

Edit: Seeing as how that failed, I took a bunch of screencaps from the rear of the Starfarer, stitched them together into a 360 degree photo, and loaded that up into Virtual Desktop for a quick and dirty feel for how big the sucker is... Suffice to say, you feel rather small standing in between those gigantic tanks with the catwalk towering above you.
 

tuxfool

Banned
Well, so much for getting VorpX and SC to play nice. SC just crashes every time. I have zero interest in actually playing the game using it, but it would have been nice to appreciate the scale of the Starfarer.

Yeah. I heard it doesn't work, full stop, using any method.
 
they changed some of the controls.

Change camera - F4
Free look - Z
Ascend - Spacebar
Descend - CTRL
Jump - B, engage is now F instead of the middle mouse button
Headlamp - T



just got on 2.4 live on the ptu... will share screenshots. ill take some more later with higher resolutions.

4K downsampled shots of the stores on the Port

starcitizen2016-05-201ts2n.png


starcitizen2016-05-20y4s3d.png

the starfarer is flight ready. i am piloting a monster.

4K down sampled to 1080P
starcitizen2016-05-20oox23.png


starcitizen2016-05-20whzvl.png


starcitizen2016-05-203lyqt.png


Starfarer Gemini

starcitizen2016-05-209gxk5.png
 

KOCMOHABT

Member
That's ... thanks. What I actually want to know is if I can expect SC to run properly on upcoming HDR monitors or if it's something that'll need to be addressed (by the devs).

I figured you meant something else, but I wasn't sure.

I consider myself a techy guy, but I've not heard of these HDR monitors beforehand.

The thing which makes them special seems to be 10bits per color channel instead of 8bit (40bits per pixel per RenderTarget instead of 32bits).

This is not a standard RenderTarget format, but AMD announced support for it with the newest cards and I couldn't find any comment from nVidia.
(rendertargets are textures which are computed on the GPU)

I can't see this not flop in the gaming world, but who knows.

The thing is, these types of renderTargets are not just available for anyone to use, the types are restricted by Directx/OpenGl and GPUs have to support the standards.

For games this would mean to change all relevant parts in the code to support the bigger format and possibly adjust some things that were not accurate enough for 10 bit computation.

Sounds possible in terms of actual work, but I don't think many will even consider doing that when the market is so small and your code gets more convoluted with different new branches.

If I had to guess it's not a high priority for CI / Crytek right now.
 

Zabojnik

Member
Bless you, mercenar1e.

Thanks, KOCMOHABT. I don't know about HDR flopping. It kinda looks like that's what the next 'big' monitor (and TV) thing is going to be after 4K / ultrawide, unless they somehow manage to make OLED work for monitors first, which doesn't seem very likely atm.

Then again, maybe not. From everything I've heard about it, it seems to me that a game like Star Citizen could be the ideal showcase for the tech.

"Star fields come alive."
 

Zalusithix

Member
I'm guessing the Gemini is a WiP because it's just a pure cosmetic change from what I've seen of other people's videos. It's supposed to have ~25% less storage than the original Starfarer in exchange for better defensive and offensive capabilities, but everything from the tanks to the cargo room looks the same size wise. As it stands, it's a complete superset of the original.

Edit: Also, I'll say from a design perspective, I prefer the original. From a functional standpoint though, I'll take the Gemini. The better shielding and darker color scheme that blends in better with space will be invaluable when flying around a giant explosive pig.
 
they changed some of the controls.

Change camera - F4
Free look - Z
Ascend - Spacebar
Descend - CTRL
Jump - B, engage is now F instead of the middle mouse button
Headlamp - T



just got on 2.4 live on the ptu... will share screenshots. ill take some more later with higher resolutions.

4K downsampled shots of the stores on the Port



the starfarer is flight ready. i am piloting a monster.

4K down sampled to 1080P
Thx for the wicked awesome screens. Looking fantastic. Also, SSR seems to be fixed from what I have seen of footage and your screens as well.

My download is being so strange though under my new connection and place of living. It basically starts and stops constantly
Perhaps I should just redownload everything at this point since it has been bugged like this for a while. Hopeuflly the PTU download is done by this evening then.
 
Starfarer incredibly vulnerable if you're not with an organization manning every turret but it can take a punch. I'm not sure how anyone plans to climb aboard and jack peoples shit.. you cant manually target the engines without destroying the whole ship.

The clothing options are limited to blazers, buttoned shirts, trousers, hats and sneakers.. all of the armor for sale are from the previous builds but the space suit is the newest, its one style in different colors. Id like to see cargo pants and bomber jackets.

They added several new rooms in the security outpost to explore.. maybe ill add some pics of that.


The music in the security outpost is giving me some Mass Effect vibes. I like it.
 

Eolz

Member
they changed some of the controls.

Change camera - F4
Free look - Z
Ascend - Spacebar
Descend - CTRL
Jump - B, engage is now F instead of the middle mouse button
Headlamp - T



just got on 2.4 live on the ptu... will share screenshots. ill take some more later with higher resolutions.

4K downsampled shots of the stores on the Port



the starfarer is flight ready. i am piloting a monster.

4K down sampled to 1080P

Really cool pics!
 

Zalusithix

Member

Was wondering why I got a PTU invite for the first time ever. Was a perfect excuse to try out my new bandwidth. Suffice to say, CIG's servers can saturate the 200mbit connection as easily as my old 30. If anything getting the damn client to not use the whole damn thing is an annoying task. Just doesn't want to listen to me lol.
 

Zalusithix

Member
Does anyone know anything about this? Since when do books have directors?

QMT06Nq.png

It's DS. Don't question him! Only he gets to question others. /s

I'm not sure what I find more disgusting about this though: His writing a book (presumably for sale) to make money from his antics, or the fact that he actually has enough time to write a book when his own "game" is in a worse state than SC could ever be.
 

Zalusithix

Member
I love the new flexible hangar system. To be able to go from a single huge ship:
to two large ships:
to a large ship and three small ones:
to a mix of smalls: (Not sure why the ones on the right aren't considered standard small. Seems like medium size should slot into them, but mediums like the Vanguard slot into the large target areas...)
to a full 6 bay of smalls:

Not sure how we'll be able to open more bays, but this in combination with the killing off of the holo-table is a huge step forward to having a functional hangar.
 
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