The Inside Star Citizen episode Let Them Fight - Winter 2021 was published on 4. February 2021 on the CIG YouTube channel.
Topics and timestamps[]
Topic | Timestamp |
---|---|
Capital ship combat | |
SDF Shield tech |
Video[]
Transcript[]

1 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:10,000 bringing capital ships into the
2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:11,200 universe we knew that they would be a
3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,240 focal point for
4 00:00:11,200 --> 00:00:15,120 combat we didn't want a solo player to
5 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:16,720 be able to take
6 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:19,359 these ships on by themselves you want it
7 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,880 to be a coordinated group effort
8 00:00:19,359 --> 00:00:22,400 get all these weapons coming together
9 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,119 all these new turrets behavior coming
10 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:26,640 together
11 00:00:23,119 --> 00:00:26,640 and it all works as one unit
12 00:00:26,740 --> 00:00:30,800 [Music]
13 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:31,679 we visit set out to create an event that
14 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,120 felt
15 00:00:31,679 --> 00:00:34,719 like it came with the gravity of having
16 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,719 the capital ships in the scene
17 00:00:34,719 --> 00:00:40,239 and also create a strategy around these
18 00:00:36,719 --> 00:00:42,480 ships to kind of take them down as well
19 00:00:40,239 --> 00:00:44,399 to achieve that goal of combat we took
20 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:46,000 the high level and then we had to
21 00:00:44,399 --> 00:00:48,800 work on all the small pieces that add
22 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:51,760 together there was no one thing that
23 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,600 made fighting capital ships be possible
24 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:55,440 it was a collaborative effort of
25 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:56,719 lots of little pieces the main thing i
26 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:59,120 wanted to do when we were
27 00:00:56,719 --> 00:01:00,480 bringing in uh capital ships was ensure
28 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:02,000 that we didn't make the common mistake
29 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:04,080 that a lot of games do
30 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:08,000 and that's when you bring in something
31 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:10,159 big and new that you make it overpowered
32 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:12,000 it's about creating the balance of all
33 00:01:10,159 --> 00:01:14,159 these things coming together where
34 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,520 there was several different aspects the
35 00:01:14,159 --> 00:01:17,200 battle scene itself
36 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:18,720 things like improving the turret
37 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:20,320 behaviors so
38 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,159 not only did they attack fighters but
39 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,560 they attacked incoming missiles which
40 00:01:22,159 --> 00:01:26,880 are
41 00:01:22,560 --> 00:01:29,040 a huge threat to capital ships
42 00:01:26,880 --> 00:01:30,320 turrets on a capital ship will try and
43 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:32,320 pick bombers
44 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:33,600 as their targets over dinky little
45 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,200 fighters because
46 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,360 the fighters aren't going to be nearly
47 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:39,119 as much of a threat we worked on
48 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,479 counter measures to make them more
49 00:01:39,119 --> 00:01:43,759 reliable and also
50 00:01:40,479 --> 00:01:45,520 more engaging from both the defenders
51 00:01:43,759 --> 00:01:47,280 point of view of launching them
52 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:48,880 and from the aggressor's point of
53 00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,960 dealing with them
54 00:01:48,880 --> 00:01:52,720 we put a lot of effort into making sure
55 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,200 that we balance the weight count and
56 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:54,880 measured
57 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,240 worked they wouldn't spam them all the
58 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,399 time you now have to
59 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:00,399 fire enough off to generate enough noise
60 00:01:58,399 --> 00:02:02,000 to hide your ship
61 00:02:00,399 --> 00:02:03,600 we needed all the components to work to
62 00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:05,759 kind of bring um
63 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:07,119 xenophobia alive which was the big
64 00:02:05,759 --> 00:02:08,879 capital ships we had the idris we have
65 00:02:07,119 --> 00:02:11,200 the javelin the idris has
66 00:02:08,879 --> 00:02:12,000 the big railgun underneath that needed
67 00:02:11,200 --> 00:02:14,480 to
68 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,760 have its behavior adjusted so that it
69 00:02:14,480 --> 00:02:19,120 always tried to be
70 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,760 nose on to larger targets and not just
71 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,319 to try and
72 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,280 use this railgun on a mustang it would
73 00:02:22,319 --> 00:02:26,319 only pick it for
74 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:29,200 the larger ships the
75 00:02:26,319 --> 00:02:31,680 javelin is different it wants to get
76 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:33,440 within the turret range of its target
77 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:34,959 whilst the idris is trying to get its
78 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,160 nose onto the target the javelin is
79 00:02:34,959 --> 00:02:38,000 always trying to
80 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,640 keep its side against the larger targets
81 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:40,640 to deal with them
82 00:02:41,519 --> 00:02:44,239 once we had that scene together it was
83 00:02:42,959 --> 00:02:44,800 okay so how would we make this sound
84 00:02:44,239 --> 00:02:46,720 good how
85 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:48,239 do we make this look good you know and
86 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:49,920 how do we kind of match those
87 00:02:48,239 --> 00:02:51,360 expectations that players have with the
88 00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:53,120 balance that we implemented
89 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:54,879 and it ended up looking really nice we
90 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:57,760 have these big capital ships just taking
91 00:02:54,879 --> 00:02:57,760 chunks off each other
92 00:02:58,879 --> 00:03:02,400 the big thing that changes with this is
93 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:03,760 how many players
94 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:05,200 are in the scene at the time it could
95 00:03:03,760 --> 00:03:06,720 play drastically different if there's
96 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,840 only five of you or ten of you trying to
97 00:03:06,720 --> 00:03:09,519 take the [ __ ] down
98 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:11,760 but then if some group decides to bring
99 00:03:09,519 --> 00:03:14,159 in 30 players in their team
100 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:16,000 it will play drastically different it
101 00:03:14,159 --> 00:03:17,440 sort of worked how we expected
102 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:20,000 we knew players would be trying to
103 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,400 hijack the things and was amazed by how
104 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:22,720 they
105 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:24,000 had did it we'd put a few precautions in
106 00:03:22,720 --> 00:03:26,239 there to try and prevent that but
107 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,760 guys always managed to to find a way
108 00:03:26,239 --> 00:03:29,360 hearing the players go oh you know i use
109 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:30,640 this weapon or i came in at this time i
110 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:31,680 used this ship
111 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:33,360 at this time and that's how we brought
112 00:03:31,680 --> 00:03:34,159 it down and that's just really exciting
113 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:37,440 listening to those
114 00:03:34,159 --> 00:03:38,879 streams so you know we are watching
115 00:03:37,440 --> 00:03:40,720 there's definitely areas that we want to
116 00:03:38,879 --> 00:03:43,040 improve on the ai is still
117 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:45,120 not where we want it to be in terms of
118 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:46,879 target selection it does a very good job
119 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,159 to a point but it can still get
120 00:03:46,879 --> 00:03:49,120 overwhelmed at times
121 00:03:48,159 --> 00:03:50,720 you know there's times where i was
122 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:51,200 watching people play and they would do
123 00:03:50,720 --> 00:03:53,519 and
124 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:55,519 basically it was impossible to shoot the
125 00:03:53,519 --> 00:03:56,720 dress down and i was like no
126 00:03:55,519 --> 00:03:58,319 then and then it was good to figure out
127 00:03:56,720 --> 00:04:00,319 why it didn't make some changes and then
128 00:03:58,319 --> 00:04:02,159 sometimes it swing the other way where
129 00:04:00,319 --> 00:04:03,680 the thick people in the scene you know
130 00:04:02,159 --> 00:04:07,519 trying to bring the ship down and it'd
131 00:04:03,680 --> 00:04:07,519 destroy itself in 30 seconds
132 00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,480 and this is what's really good about
133 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,560 having a live environment at star
134 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,439 citizen is we get to do it as we go so
135 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:15,840 we get to
136 00:04:13,439 --> 00:04:16,959 have the players involved and it
137 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:18,479 massively helps us as
138 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:20,320 developers we can put this out there on
139 00:04:18,479 --> 00:04:21,440 a saturday evening we get the players
140 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,199 playing this
141 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,040 and we'll get the feedback in and then
142 00:04:23,199 --> 00:04:27,120 we can look in the morning you know
143 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:28,479 and go right now so what happened you
144 00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:31,520 know let's have a review of this
145 00:04:28,479 --> 00:04:33,840 watching you know the turrets shoot down
146 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:36,320 torpedoes watching the torpedoes
147 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:37,199 just smash into the side of these huge
148 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,520 ships and
149 00:04:37,199 --> 00:04:42,320 they just just take it watching it all
150 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,639 play out it's been fantastic we want to
151 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:44,720 take
152 00:04:42,639 --> 00:04:45,919 capital ship fights further in the
153 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,840 future there's some
154 00:04:45,919 --> 00:04:48,960 weapon systems that those ships aren't
155 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:51,040 using yet
156 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:52,240 which is their their own missile and
157 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:55,520 torpedo systems
158 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:57,040 we want to provide further expanded
159 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:58,479 combat opportunities for these ships
160 00:04:57,040 --> 00:04:59,120 both in terms of the players doing it
161 00:04:58,479 --> 00:05:02,080 and their
162 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:02,080 threats back to you
163 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:11,199 capital ship combat may have brought
164 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,560 many different game systems into
165 00:05:11,199 --> 00:05:14,720 development focus
166 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:16,800 but one long discussed technology was
167 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:19,120 essential to ensuring these
168 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,000 massive behemoths wouldn't be taken down
169 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,400 by players
170 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,360 mere moments after they arrived so let's
171 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:26,000 take a look at how
172 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,880 sdf shields came to be for the idris and
173 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,479 the javelin
174 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:32,160 before they're rolled out to all
175 00:05:28,479 --> 00:05:33,680 spacecraft in the coming months
176 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:35,199 there's a lot of work that actually went
177 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,720 into getting us to the point where we
178 00:05:35,199 --> 00:05:38,880 are now in terms of having
179 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:40,639 impact effects that are defined by the
180 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:42,880 science distance field
181 00:05:40,639 --> 00:05:44,720 sdf shields were a huge part of the
182 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,360 whole suite needed to bring capital ship
183 00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,320 combat
184 00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:49,759 to fruition the mesh shaping tech is
185 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,960 something that i haven't seen
186 00:05:49,759 --> 00:05:54,800 in any other game before
187 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,400 our previous shield technology is
188 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,360 getting quite old now and it had some
189 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,000 limitations
190 00:05:57,360 --> 00:06:01,440 primarily on the setup side you had to
191 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:02,880 have duplicated data
192 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,199 to detect the hits and then that
193 00:06:02,880 --> 00:06:06,880 displayed to a completely independent
194 00:06:05,199 --> 00:06:08,479 bubble mesh which had no actual
195 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,600 relevance to gameplay just purely there
196 00:06:08,479 --> 00:06:11,680 for visuals
197 00:06:09,600 --> 00:06:12,960 they're really limited in in terms of if
198 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,280 their wing breaks off
199 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:17,120 the mesh can't adapt to that with sdfs
200 00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:19,120 they can
201 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,800 a big reason why we needed ustf shields
202 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:21,840 as well was because we needed to support
203 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:23,199 the new visual effects
204 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:24,960 on the shields so we could really
205 00:06:23,199 --> 00:06:27,840 communicate to the player
206 00:06:24,960 --> 00:06:29,600 the firepower and the impact that their
207 00:06:27,840 --> 00:06:31,600 firepower had on the ships
208 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:32,720 because we changed the weapon balance a
209 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:34,800 lot of the weapons now
210 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,400 especially the size now sophia's offer
211 00:06:34,800 --> 00:06:38,000 so much more firepower than they've ever
212 00:06:36,400 --> 00:06:39,520 had in starters and that massively
213 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,840 changed the demands of the shields and
214 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:43,680 what it takes to take them down
215 00:06:41,840 --> 00:06:44,960 so if you're shooting the ship with a
216 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:48,000 size one weapon
217 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:49,759 you may only see a small little energy
218 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:51,039 flare on the surface of the shield but
219 00:06:49,759 --> 00:06:54,319 if you shoot it with a
220 00:06:51,039 --> 00:06:54,960 size 10 cannon the impact may wrap
221 00:06:54,319 --> 00:06:58,639 around
222 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:59,919 half of the ship in the old system it
223 00:06:58,639 --> 00:07:01,520 would just it would glow blue
224 00:06:59,919 --> 00:07:03,039 it would go blue and then it would go
225 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:03,919 when the shield was down you had no idea
226 00:07:03,039 --> 00:07:06,240 whether you were
227 00:07:03,919 --> 00:07:08,080 99 of the shield face or you had one
228 00:07:06,240 --> 00:07:10,319 whereas with sdf shields
229 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,919 we've got a lot more flexibility now in
230 00:07:10,319 --> 00:07:13,280 providing reads on that and you will see
231 00:07:11,919 --> 00:07:15,199 they transition through the colors as it
232 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:16,080 gets closer to coming down that gives a
233 00:07:15,199 --> 00:07:19,520 huge gameplay
234 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:22,960 impact we have several
235 00:07:19,520 --> 00:07:24,800 techniques how to displace and and sort
236 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,440 of have the sdf control individual
237 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,680 particles
238 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,479 he started to look at using mesh based
239 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,400 particles
240 00:07:28,479 --> 00:07:32,240 being able to actually splat the mesh
241 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,919 particles into the shape of the ship
242 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,919 and then on that mesh we can play
243 00:07:33,919 --> 00:07:37,440 animated textures we had
244 00:07:35,919 --> 00:07:40,400 what we call glue so there was like a
245 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:42,560 glue option to to essentially make the
246 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,400 that make that projection we could kind
247 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,520 of control where that actually is offset
248 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:47,759 from the ship and
249 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:50,240 we settled on the name glue and then we
250 00:07:47,759 --> 00:07:52,720 also have a volumetric component
251 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:54,479 where it renders a volumetric shape
252 00:07:52,720 --> 00:07:57,520 which ties all of these elements
253 00:07:54,479 --> 00:07:59,039 together for the final effect knew
254 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,039 quite early on that we were also going
255 00:07:59,039 --> 00:08:02,879 to be able to use scientific skills for
256 00:08:01,039 --> 00:08:06,080 other types of effects so
257 00:08:02,879 --> 00:08:07,360 we needed a safer type of effect and i
258 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,120 thought that atmospheric entry was a
259 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,879 more safe effect
260 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,800 it was the first bit of tech to use the
261 00:08:10,879 --> 00:08:16,000 sdf the effects
262 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:17,759 are colliding with the sdf and it allows
263 00:08:16,000 --> 00:08:20,960 the fire and flames
264 00:08:17,759 --> 00:08:21,919 to hug the surface of the ship more
265 00:08:20,960 --> 00:08:24,400 realistically
266 00:08:21,919 --> 00:08:25,680 and much tighter there's quite a few
267 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:26,800 things that we haven't done yet that we
268 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:27,840 know we want to do
269 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,840 all we've got at the moment is the
270 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:30,879 actual impact effects what we actually
271 00:08:29,840 --> 00:08:32,399 need to do
272 00:08:30,879 --> 00:08:34,159 in the future is actually have the
273 00:08:32,399 --> 00:08:34,959 powering on and powering off states as
274 00:08:34,159 --> 00:08:36,479 well
275 00:08:34,959 --> 00:08:38,479 the initial release of sdf shields is
276 00:08:36,479 --> 00:08:41,839 just for the idris and javelin and it's
277 00:08:38,479 --> 00:08:43,360 only really for their detection of hits
278 00:08:41,839 --> 00:08:45,360 and the displaying of hits
279 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:47,600 going forward we plan to roll this
280 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:50,240 shield tech out to the rest of the ships
281 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,959 and when we have most of the ships in a
282 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,040 pretty good
283 00:08:50,959 --> 00:08:54,720 position we are going to start looking
284 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:57,600 at fleshing out
285 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:58,000 the various types of shields the style
286 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,760 the
287 00:08:58,000 --> 00:09:02,399 manufacturer and the race so vanduul may
288 00:09:01,760 --> 00:09:04,640 have a
289 00:09:02,399 --> 00:09:05,760 completely different looking shield than
290 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,600 the human shield
291 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:10,240 a lot of the work that we've done for
292 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,440 the shield stfx will just help us with
293 00:09:10,240 --> 00:09:12,800 our effects in general
294 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,640 there's loads of other ways we can use
295 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,360 sdfs there's loads of other ways that we
296 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,519 can use
297 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,440 lots of the individual elements that
298 00:09:17,519 --> 00:09:21,040 came together to make the shield effects
299 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,640 we could just use them generically for
300 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:24,320 vfx in our game in general and that's
301 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:27,760 going to just give us that next level of
302 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,760 quality and flexibility
303 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:34,480 so what we learned this week well we
304 00:09:32,800 --> 00:09:36,399 learned how the most recent big step in
305 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:38,160 space combat came to be with the arrival
306 00:09:36,399 --> 00:09:39,680 of capital ships like the idris and
307 00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:41,440 alpha 3.12
308 00:09:39,680 --> 00:09:42,800 that the javelin benefits from many of
309 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,279 those same technologies
310 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:47,440 during the brand new xenothread event
311 00:09:45,279 --> 00:09:48,959 and that while sdf shields were a huge
312 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,360 part in making both of those things
313 00:09:48,959 --> 00:09:52,000 possible the next big step forward for
314 00:09:51,360 --> 00:09:53,760 combat
315 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:56,480 is when they come online for every other
316 00:09:53,760 --> 00:09:57,360 spacecraft for inside star citizen i'm
317 00:09:56,480 --> 00:10:05,839 jared huckaby
318 00:09:57,360 --> 00:10:05,839 we'll see you all next week
319 00:10:12,560 --> 00:10:15,660 [Music]
320 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:20,720 you