10 for the Chairman: Episode 52 (2015.02.02)

Transcript — every row opens the video at that moment

1. 00:00:09

   Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode for 10 for the Chairman. For those of you haven't seen this before, this is where I take 10 questions from the subscribers and answer them as best as I can. Subscribers are the subset of our backers of Star Citizen that kick in a little extra money every month to allow us to do enhanced community content. So this show around the verse, the Jump Point magazine that we do every month which is about 50 to 70 pages and then additional sort of community sort of video content like we're doing the Ask the Dev stuff. We'll have some inside CAG pieces. And so thank you very much cuz the subscribers help us to do the level of interaction that we're able to do because of their generous contributions and

2. 00:00:56

   thank you guys very much. So let's get to the 10 questions. I'll be brief this week cuz I've got lots of stuff to do. And I'm actually off to DICE a little later on this week. Give a little bit of a chat about Star Citizen and luckily in DICE it's only a 20 minute chat. So I don't have to have as much stuff as I did for the BAFTA one. But I think they're going to live stream it or whatever. So if you guys want to watch that, I will probably announce it up on the website. That would be cool. But I'm basically going to tell them you know, how great it is building a game that is is connected and integrated with its community as we are. So I sort of feel like we're sort of all building as a big team which is really cool. You know, also you know, we just came

3. 00:01:44

   back from PAX South in San Antonio. We did a sort of Persistent Universe town hall. It was a little rough around the edges, but I thought it was kind of interesting that you know, a lot of the more deep dive stuff could be talked about with everyone there and there was a level of interaction. It was kind of cool to have the panel, so I think we'll we'll do more of that. Maybe uh have it sort of polished and presented slightly differently, but uh this is a big year for us. We got a lot of stuff. Everyone's got their heads down working on the FPS module, uh which uh will um be releasing in March and also the social module, which will be um shortly thereafter and and uh then there's uh Arena Commander uh multi-crew ship stuff and so lots of stuff. Squadron 42. Anyway, let's get to the questions. Uh first question comes from Bear, who says, "You've discussed various ship skins and customizations, but has there

4. 00:02:33

   been any consideration for custom crew uniforms, possibly something that's organization exclusive?" Um so I definitely um yeah, part of our plan will be to have different outfits that you can uh wear or buy and would also allow a certain amount of customization, say to change the color of uh a jacket or a shirt or something like that. And uh we'll probably have the ability to have some limited sort of decal swapping. So like one thing that'd be pretty cool would be you could have sort of a you know, an organization um you know, jumpsuit or an organization jacket or something and that jacket you could specify the color and you can also specify uh you know, what the decal is in the in the decal place. So I think we'll definitely be able to have um organizations will be able to sort of have their own uniforms if they want or people are willing to wear them. So that could be pretty cool. Um

5. 00:03:22

   next question comes from Nostramo 1977. "Would CIG ever consider adding Banu and Xi'an embassies in UEE space? This way we could talk to consulates from the different races on planets such as Prime." We're definitely going to uh ultimately have Banu and Xi'an embassies in the persistent universe and I, you know, I'm not sure whether we'll be able to get exactly 1.0, but I would hope we could. Uh whether or not you could necessarily inter- interact with them at the very beginning is probably not something that would happen in sort of Star Citizen 1.0, but we would definitely ultimately expand to that and also have the ability to go deeper into Banu and Xi'an territory. We're already planning on having some Xi'an and some Banu planets that are sort of on their fringe worlds that you as a human trader can land and interact. So, you'll be

6. 00:04:08

   wandering around and there'll be Xi'an in the streets or Banu in the streets. So, it'll be kind of cool and you'll meet some other races when you're trading. You know, there'll be some Tevarin as well and so I think you know, you'll get a sense of it being not just a a human universe in Star Citizen. All right, Marius asks, will there be missions designed for more than one ship? For instance, the same job offering a cargo delivery mission that also requires an escort ship. Yes, so definitely there very much could be a corp that puts missions out there and says, okay, I need a trader to take 20 tons from this planet to that planet and they would also have missions out there. I need two mercenaries to escort the trader going from point A to point B.

7. 00:04:56

   And that is could be taken by AI or it could be taken by players. So, the answer to that is yes. Next question comes from Dark Myth who says, how will inventories work? Will we have to buy warehouses throughout the verse to store our fuel, weapons, and goods or will there be a console where you can access your inventory anywhere and pull items out of it? And will there be any cap on inventory? So, inventories are going to work like proper like physical inventories. So, you will not be able to have some global hold-all bag that you can just pull anything out of that has no cap and no penalty. So, basically you know, your ship with its cargo hold is you know, that is an inventory. So, they can store so many things in the cargo hold. You as a player wandering around will have your own inventory. Now, that will be sort of amalgamation of the clothes you're wearing. So, if I'm just

8. 00:05:43

   like now I'm wearing a pair of jeans and I've got this sweater on, I've just got two small pockets, so my inventory in that case would be pretty small and would only be able to walk and fit my two pockets. Now, I could get a backpack and then the backpack would be sort of added to my personal inventory and then the backpack I could probably store more stuff. Where I'm wearing a suit of armor, it'll have attachment points uh for weapons or, you know, grenades and stuff and so therefore that sort of armor um, you know, piece of armor has an inventory um, allowance that gets sort of added to to what you're doing. Uh, but you'll be able to um, you know, and the hangars have inventory. So, inventories can store other items in inventory. So, we're actually going to have one of our deep dive design post will be about the cargo system when we go on uh about our container system and uh all the aspects that you're uh, you know, you can put items inside containers,

9. 00:06:31

   containers inside uh you know, your cargo hold and uh then find different planets and you know, you could have your ship with a cargo hold uh with containers inside it inside a hangar. So, that's sort of kind of like if you think about it is a inventory inside inventory inside inventory. Uh, but it'll all be sort of physically based. Um, so, you know, backpacks can uh cargo containers, ships um, what you can hold and it will be all uh physically uh constrained to the dimensions of the items and also the weight. Um, so, there you go and and uh so, you, you know, would have to warehouse stuff if you want to have quick access to stuff uh you know, depending on where you are. So, if you're halfway across the galaxy and you got a whole bunch of stuff at your home hangar, you'd either have to buy new stuff or had stuff out of stuff stashed there or keep it with you locally, say in your ship's hold or

10. 00:07:19

    whatever. So, next question comes from Manic who asked cosmetic purchases for future revenue streams have been discussed before. Are there any plans for a purchasable voice packs for our ships, hangars, etc.? I am sure of Mark Hamill, Nathan Fillion or Gal Gadot's voice pack would sell well. Well, we're definitely planning to do voice uh so, in game in fiction voice packs you can buy like the way you can change out the the voice uh on your GPS. So, you'll be able to have certain uh you know, okay, I can have a uh female uh voice or a male voice uh for my navigation computer or my ship's computer. And uh and will allow you to customize that beyond just the defaults you get with your ships. Uh potentially, if there's a voice for your mobiGlas, same thing. Um whether or not they'll be celebrity

11. 00:08:07

    voices, I I can't really tell you, but uh we're definitely going to have um uh you know, voices that you can purchase sort of in-game as a little like plug-in item uh that sort of determines the voice you would be able to get in your ship's computer or whatever. So, uh there you go. Uh next question comes from Joe Mander, who asks, "In order to give the huge investment of time and effort obtaining that goal, meaning what gameplay do you envision where orgs can utilize their capital assets? For example, can orgs be hired by system or state governments to perform military for long-term contracts, just like present-day private military companies? Can orgs be contacted for both specific targets and more open time-based contracts?" That's a pretty interesting question. I mean, I think um that we would definitely have stuff that would involve orgs.

12. 00:08:54

    Um you know, that's the little sort of higher-end stuff. Um so, you know, potentially, you could have a mission spawn that um you know, a factory wants to get its goods and there's pirates been attacking and it could spawn a mission saying, "Okay, I need an organization that has at least 10 mercenaries in it to protect the space lanes." And therefore, a player uh organization can sign up for it or a AI organization can sign up for it. So, there'll definitely be some higher-end stuff that will involve um missions that will either be generated by the sort of the universe economy simulation or occasionally game master-generated um that will speak specifically to organizations versus a small group of friends sort of playing co-op on a ship versus a solo player. Um all right, next question comes from Kuga who asks, will there be quarantines

13. 00:09:43

    placed on planets and if so, will those take a medic type position be called in to serve cuz smugglers who break quarantines pass plagues onto other planets? Well, that's a pretty cool idea. I mean quarantines and sort of medical disasters or natural disasters are all stuff that we plan for the persistent universe. So, you know, to to create sort of AI and player behavior. So, you know, if there's an outbreak on a planet then you know, there'll be business to bring medical supplies and goods in there and and then there would be sort of a blockade to, you know, prevent people that are unauthorized from landing there. Um I don't know about if smugglers break quarantines and pass plagues onto other planets. Um that certainly I don't think would be currently programmed into sort of the universe simulation. It's a really cool idea. I mean we probably could ad hoc do it on a game master side

14. 00:10:30

    cuz game masters will have the tools to sort of create natural disasters around the universe and see things and so they can adjust and place things based on scenarios they see. but it won't be systematic at least at the beginning. But I do think it's a very very cool idea. So, next question comes from Apocryphon who asks, will there be something to the effect of FPS dungeon/instances? Sometimes like taking a five-man FPS team into a vandal mining station or arms factory and either stealthing or killing everyone that moves on your way to the objective. So, yes. The answer to that is absolutely yes. That's actually a core part of the sort of PvE FPS gameplay we're designing for the persistent universe. So, we're coming up with a a pretty awesome and cool um a mission system. Tony's talked a little

15. 00:11:19

    bit about it but it it'll also it won't be sort of one-off scenarios. They'll be they'll be scenarios that can interlink or drive into other ones. Uh we've got a pretty uh you know, an awesome sort of MPC uh, you know, boss MPC system. So, I mean, if anyone's played Shadow of Mordor and appreciated the Nemesis system, this is like a whole 'nother level beyond that, um, that I think it's going to have a sense of, uh, you know, personal investment in the universe and personal effect based on what you do with actual characters you interact with and affect you. Plus, um, you know, global ones that affect all the players and stuff and they they interact and and actually, you know, some pirate that you end up, you know, becoming your Nemesis, uh, can migrate to become sort of the global pirate lord of that system where

16. 00:12:07

    all players could potentially have to him. So, we've actually got a really awesome, um, design for that, uh, which works into the economy and uh, and the universe simulation. And, you know, part of it is to create sort of encounters, um, where, you know, you would, you know, basically you'd go to a set of ruins and you could get jumped by, um, you know, grave robbers or you could go and, uh, you know, go to a derelict mining station and there is, um, you know, pirates that are attacking you or whatever. And so, uh, there is going to be a whole bunch of that gameplay both on the ground and in space uh, that will be sort of focused so that, you know, as a solo player you can experience as a player playing with other friends it'll be sort of a co-op PvE experience, um, beyond you know, any of the sort of, uh, single player or the PvP stuff that we can do. So, uh, it will, um, we will

17. 00:12:55

    definitely have the ability to sort of do, uh, you know, whatever you want to call it, a dungeon crawl or dungeon roll, uh, you know, uh, raid with, uh, some of your friends and like you're used to in in certain games, but it will be more sort of, I don't know, uh, reactive and integrated and spawned based on how the universe is operating. So, um, we're pretty excited by it. I think it's going to be cool. Um, all right, next question comes from Sam Corwin who asks, "Hi Chris, how are the Tevarin coming along? Can we expect to see them anytime soon?" The answer is at the moment, no, the Tevarin aren't coming along. Uh, we actually, uh you know, did some early concept work on them. I still want to do some more concept work because they they sort of feel a bit too similar to the Xi'an a bit taller and skinnier than the Xi'an, but still I want to kind of something feels a bit different. So, that's really about getting some

18. 00:13:41

    focus on the Tevarin. Since the Tevarin aren't um you know, part of Squadron 42 and some of the early stuff we're doing is why they're not on the the front burner, they're on the back burner so to speak. Uh but that is one thing that once we've got the Vanduul finished up and the Xi'an finished up uh cuz both of those are in Squadron 42 and we will put them obviously in in the persistent universe, then it will be on to uh the Banu and the Tevarin. Um you know, we have sort of early designs for both of them, but I think they sort of need more um um you know, more work I guess would be the way to think about it. Uh okay, next question comes from and the last question comes from Staffa Cartherma who asks, "I was wondering what tools both in and out of game will organization leaders have to manage their members and fleets?" Well, you're definitely going

19. 00:14:29

    to have a suite of tools that will be available from the web platform and also we're planning on making that available to you sort of on a you know, a mobile phone style platform. So, you can sort of manage as a as a sort of organization leader you can manage your members um and sort of give them instructions and you know, dictate how much they have to pay you or how much you're going to pay out. Um so, you'll be able to do that without actually being online in the game, but you'll also be able to do it in the game uh from your mobiGlas interface. Um so, mobiGlas will sort of handle some of that stuff in game. Out of game it will go through the um the web platform that we're using. Um and uh you know, and uh beyond the web platform maybe just a like I said, a local uh smartphone um setup or a tablet setup. Um so, yeah, you should be able to run

20. 00:15:17

    your organization like a business and you'll be sort of treated uh like a business so to speak. So, um, there you are. I hope that answers your question. I mean, I guess I could just say on the tool basis. Probably the tools for the managing first will be on the website, second in the game, third would be on, um, sort of a, you know, a, an iPad or something like that, but that would be after the, um, you know, web platform and then in-game implementations happen. All right. That's another episode of Ten for the Chairman, um, done. I hope the answers were informative to you. I wanted to thank everyone out there for backing Star Citizen. A special thanks to the subscribers for kicking extra money to allow me to do this show and some of the other shows that we do. And, uh, I know this year is going to be a big year. I'm super excited. Um, there's some really cool stuff that we're working on, uh, both longer-term stuff, kind of like

21. 00:16:05

    the whole sort of boss NPC stuff that I was telling you about, uh, but then also some shorter-term stuff for the FPS, uh, and other things. So, um, I think you're going to like it this year and, uh, I'm looking forward to sharing it with you. All right. See you next week. Hey guys. Thanks for watching, um, Ten for the Chairman. Uh, if you guys would like to, uh, see more episodes, go here. If you guys would like to subscribe to our YouTube channel and always keep up to date with all our video content, go here. And, uh, if you guys would like to watch episodes of Around the Verse, go here, please. And I will see you in the verse.