10 For the Chairman Episode 31. July 28th, 2014

Chris Roberts: Hello everyone, I'm just doing
a little bit of my homework for the upcoming

GamesCom. Anyway, I'd like to invite you
all to 10 for the Chairman, this for those

of you who haven't seen the show before is
where I take 10 questions from our subscribers

and answer them to the best of my ability,
which I hope is fairly decent. And for those

of you who don't know, subscribers are the
subset of our community who kick in a little

extra money every month to enable us to do an
additional amount of community interaction

and feedback. So things like 10 for the Chairman,
which I'm doing now, Around the Verse, the

Jump Point magazine which is about 50-70
pages of more indepth, behinds the scenes

material and some fiction. And some other
stuff that we do, the Inside CIG reports.

A lot of this stuff allows us to really bring
you close to our production process,

which is pretty big and all across the world.
So thank you all to subscribers for allowing

us to be able to do this because there's
loads of people behind the cameras here,

and a lot of other stuff. It actually does
cost time, effort, and money to do, but I

definitely think it's worth it to make sure that
everybody is as connected as possible

to our development effort. So there you go,
alright, getting to the questions.

The first question comes from MuddyGrimes who asks:

My crew and I want to know if it'll be possible
to capture a Vanduul individual to use for our

"initiation process", which is having the
initiate(s) fight this captured Vanduul to

the death in melee combat.

That sounds like that crazy DayZ stuff
that I saw where they would get people

on a bus and put them into the equivalent
of thunderdome. I don't really think right now

we're supporting capturing a Vanduul to
put in a fighting pit for initiation.

It's a cool idea, I'm just trying to think
if any of the game systems would allow it.

Right now we don't really have the concept
of capturing people and keeping them for a

long time. We have the concept of capturing
people if you're a bounty hunter and someone's

got a price on their head, you've got to bring
them back, but at some point they just

become an item that you're taking verses
a living, breathing, NPC. So right now, the

way the system works, I don't think it would
be able to do that, but it is a cool idea,

so you never know what happens
down the road.

Ok, next question comes
from PreachMan who asks:

The plan is to roll out modules to both share
WIP and to pre-pre-alpha test pieces of the game.

(CR: That's even one more pre than we use)
Have you considered an "Economy Module"; maybe

"SC - It's the Economy, Stupid: The Board Game"
as part of the testing plan?

That would probably be a better question
for Tony who, the economy's actually his--

something he's very keen on, and he's working
hard on it. We are definitely building an

economy module to be separate, so we actually
have an economy simulation that happens, and

there's gonna be the brains that will run most
of the Persistent Universe, and simulate where

the NPCs are moving around, trading, what
the players are doing, all the rest of the stuff.

We, on our side, we will definitely have it
where we'll have the economy simulation

and we can zoom in to different planets
or systems and see what's happening.

Then long term, once the game's up and
fully running, the Persistent Universe,

and everyone's playing in it, we'll probably
have some control room that we'll sit there

and they'll have monitors of the different
states of the systems. And we'll be able to

see what's happening in the universe. What
the NPCs are doing, what the players are

doing, and then occasionally tweak things
if we need to tweak things. Whether or not

we'll release that as a module for people
to play with, my guess is probably not,

but we definitely are building that as a module
because we need it as an internal system.

So I don't know, maybe I'd have to talk
to Tony, but I don't see a really good way

to release that to individual backers,
'cause it's really a more server side thing,

it plugs into a lot of our backend server
sub-systems, and it's not something you can

just release as a client-side module.
But we are building it.

Alright, next question comes from Emulator who asks:

Can you stay in the UEE Military for some time?
Be able to achieve Constellation command or

Higher as the rank structure?
(CR: I dont' think we have Constellation

command because it's not really a military
ship, but I get the idea, like maybe command

of an Idris frigate or something like that.)
Getting promotions and awards and

having ceremonies for them? Will the UEE
require military contractors? Possibly even

having a retirement for those
that stay in for a period?

The way the structure of Squadron 42 to
Star Citizen works is that you play the game

and at the end of it you have to muster out
into the civilian population. We are planning

on having stories that, think of it like a
mission pack in the old Wing Commander

days where we'll have a story that we will
build and make available to backers for,

whatever you want to call it, DLC or something,
that would have the sophistication of the

Squadron 42 storyline that will come back
online down the road occasionally.

People can participate in that if they desire,
and some of those will be military based.

You reenlisting back into the military for
a campaign. We're also thinking about

having certain things that you could do as
a player where maybe the military needs

some contractors to help it secure a star
system from Vanduul incursions or help

flesh out an attack on Vanduul space, and
those will be PU missions, so there'll be

a little bit of that. There's not really
a game set-up where you stay in the military

and work your way through ranks. It is
a cool idea, longer term I think that would

be some of the professional stuff that we
would expand once the game's up an running

and we're adding new content. 'Cause I think
that's definitely a career path that a lot of

people would like to choose, but until then,
the way you would get back in the military

would be joining up in a sort of story
campaign, along the lines of Squadron 42,

or taking some sort of adhoc
work for the UEE military.

Ok, next question comes from Acebravo who asks:

My guild mates and I were wondering if the
shield on the ships is a physical barrier

or could you possibly, as an example, fly
a small fighter inside a larger ship's

shields to put direct fire onto its hull,
effectively bypassing the shields?

That's a good question. The way the shields
work on all our ships is the shields are

actually separate collision geometry that
is further out from the actual collision

geometry that defines when you would hit
the hull of the ship, and the concept is

the shields are really meant to absorb energy.
So if I'm firing an energy bolt it'll take that

and dissipate it around the shields, and
ballistic weapons actually penetrate through

shields, but they do have some of their
energy sapped away, so if you've got really

strong shields, you can reduce the kinetic
energy through hitting the shield.

But they're not really built to prevent,
save you, from hitting an asteroid or a

head to head collision with another ship,
because the idea is that shields will only

stop things at a certain kinetic velocity,
or energy, or whatever. So there definitely

would be a case I would think that you should
be able to fly a ship through, assuming

the AA guns of the ship aren't firing at
you, through a bigger ship's shields and

maybe be on the inside of it and shoot.
Once you're inside that shield proxy, obviously

your bullets won't get stopped by the shield
proxy, they'll only get stopped by the hull proxy.

So yes, it is possible to do, as long as
the shields have enough room between them

and the hull, to do what is
suggested by Acebravo.

Next question comes from Jeremiah Irons who asks:

I was curious as to how Star Citizen will
tackle digital families of NPCs as well as

children in general. It seems that in most
games, children NPCs are simply absent,

but going down to a planet and only seeing
men and women about their daily lives

could take away from immersion.

That is a good question, we don't really have
a child character pipeline at the moment,

so we may very well be guilty of what most
other MMOs are. I would say if there were

some children, it would only be background
NPC stuff, just to add some variety to an

environment, but we're really only planning
on players being able to pick whether they

want to be a male or a female, an adult male
or an adult female, and then customize

and dress up your character. So NPC wise
would be the only way you would see a little

bit of children, and that really comes down
to variety. It certainly won't be something

that we'd be doing at the very beginning
because we've got our work cut out for us

just doing the various characters and costume
combinations and all the rest of the stuff.

But it is a good point, so thanks Jeremiah.

Next question comes from Dag who asks:

Will players be able to rent out their
ships to other players, and if so,

how would that work? Used ship lot?

I'm not sure about renting out ships.
I mean we discussed it, so that's definitely

something that we're gonna investigate.
You definitely will be able to hire other

players to fly your own ships, and so I would
think that there probably would be a case

where you could rent out ships, and we're
thinking about some other options like

being able to finance a new ship you want
to buy inside the universe just like you can

in the real world. But I would think if you're
renting out ships, basically the way it

would work would be not so much a used ship
lot, although that would be the way, if I'm

a player and have lost my ship and I don't
have the money to buy a new one, I could go

to an NPC lot and say "I want to rent this"
and they say "you've got to give us so many

credits per month" and you could do a deal
like that. But for a player, I would think

that it would be brokered on our, what we call
the mission board, because that's where you

put out requests for people to fly missions
for you or to do things for you, and you can

also offer services. So that's what you'll do.
It'll be kind of like the Craig's List of space.

Which is "Have Hornet, good condition, willing
to rent for so many credits per game time."

We haven't implemented that into the
Persistent Universe yet obviously, but that

would be kind of how I think it would work.
So there you go.

Nobyn asks:

Currently the player's interaction with the
world is through a large use icon appearing

for vague activation zones and non-detailed
input panels. What is the plan for the

fidelity by which the player interacts and
manipulates the world? Will the player be

able to press individual buttons on a
dashboard or door lock numeric keypad

with a more refined and precise method?

Yeah, the current implementation's the
generic CryEngine "use" implementation.

We've definitely talked about the need to
have it more sophisticated, higher fidelity.

Because we are planning on having it, if
you want to turn on your engines or turn

them off, or turn on your HUD. You have
to hit the switches on your dashboard to

turn the stuff on. You need a little better
idea than just "use" when you're in the

general area. So we're thinking about
things where maybe the object gets slightly

brighter or has a shine on it or the default
would have an outline around it, so you

know which one it's telling you you can use
and go from there. But that's still in

development in terms of how that would
work or what we'd do with that, but that's

definitely part our plan, to be able to do
that. Because we want you to be able to

interact with the world and use and turn things on
and not have it be as imprecise as it currently is.

Ok, next question comes from Bear who asks:

We've been told SC will go for the Hollywood
version of space simulation where sound

travels through the void. Have you considered
having a switch in the game options

where external sounds can be turned off?

Yeah, I've actually talked about this a few
times. It definitely isn't that difficult to

have a version where when you're outside,
the listener and the sound system are outside,

you don't hear any sounds. That is definitely
something we would consider, we have

considered it, and probably would put it in.
But that's sort of a plus item, let me put

it that way. It's not something that I would
hold up other work for, but it would be

something that, down the road, would be
fairly simple and we probably would want

to do just for the people who want to feel
like their sound in space is realistic.

Ok, next question comes from Circus who asks:

As spying and hacking will be part of the game,
I would like to know if for example a spy

(with a blown cover) or a citizen who
made a huge mistake will be able to

get a new identity? I could imagine that
this means he/she needs to visit an

identity-renewal institution,
new face, hair, etc.

Yes, absolutely we're gonna allow it.
There's actually a whole set up where you

can go get plastic surgery and change your
appearance. It's actually a device that we

use at the beginning of Squadron 42 to be
in fiction but allow the player to determine

what they look like. So the concept is that
you're involved in an opening battle and

you heroically save the day, but you're really
badly scared and injured so you wake up in

the hospital and you have to give input on
how you want to have your face reconstructed.

So we're definitely gonna allow that, we'll
definitely have parts where you'll

be able to, it will be expensive, but there
will be places you can do that, and some

definitely be "off the grid" so to speak,
so you can do it and not be tracked.

If you wanted to change your identity, and
do all the rest on the outlaw planets, you

could do that, and it would definitely not be a
cheap thing to do. But I think it'd be very cool.

Ok, last question comes from Algared who asks:

How/when do you envisage implementing the
beta testing? Will beta testing be implemented

by module while alpha is testing other
modules, or will beta be a final test of

whole whole package prior to release?

I know I read this on the forums where everyone
argues about what pre-alpha or alpha or

beta testing is, so to just give you my concept.
The reason why we call Arena Commander

pre-alpha is because my definition of alpha,
which is kind of a more standard one, is

alpha is not content complete, but generally
functionally complete, that you start testing.

Then beta is content and functionality
complete, but you're trying to fix bugs.

So you're still honing and tweaking and
adding stuff in alpha. You've got pretty

much all your features in, but you don't have
all your content in. But in beta, you have

content and the features in, but you're
just making sure it's debuged.

Therefore with Arena Commander, we're not
even on Arena Commander v1.0, so you could

say right now we're pre-alpha, when it's
Arena Commander v1.0, it will be alpha,

and then it will roll to beta, but really
the alpha and beta descriptions we originally

had at the start of the project were alpha
and beta for the over all game. Which means

Star Citizen, the Persistent Universe,
Squadron 42, all that stuff rolled together.

So one of the reasons we say pre-alpha on
each one of the modules is because we're

rolling out sections of that bigger overall
game individually to beat on them, test

on them, get feed back, make them better.
That's sort of all the elements are pre-alpha

in all these sections, and they will all
roll into an alpha that will be Star Citizen

that will roll into a beta. That's kind of
why we say pre-alpha verses alpha,

verses beta. And that's what the process is.
The process I can see us doing is each

of the modules gets released in a pretty
rough state, much rougher than I would

ever release anything to the public normally,
and much rougher than a lot of times we

would release on a wide beta test just to
get the tests, stress tests, get feedback

on whether things work or don't work, and
see where the problems lie. We hone those,

and then on the modules themselves, we go
along and it's not just "that's the final module."

No, it's this is a set of the full feature set,
and then we're adding more features

and functionality as we go along, which
is again why I said pre-alpha, 'cause it

doesn't have all the functionality, and by
the time we get to all the functionality

being there, it should be joining the other
modules that have also been doing the

same process into a place where we've
pretty much got the alpha of Star Citizen

together, but we're missing some of the
content, some of the planets, locations,

some of the ships. But all the functionality's
there, and then at that point you go

from the alpha to the beta once all the
content's in there, then you finish and test

that, then the game is released or live.
Done is a bad word because as far as I'm

concerned, as long as you guys are having
a great time and we can keep a viable

business going, paying people to work on
the game, then we will continually work

on Star Citizen to make it cooler and bigger
and add more and more of the features

that just would make this the best damn
space sim ever. There's a long way to go

there, so I don't want anyone out there to
think that I'm saying that's where we are

now, that's just our goal and ambition.
That's what we're working towards, but

we recognize that there is a huge way to
get there. But we're very committed to

always making the game bigger, better, all
the time. That's the beauty of being online,

you can constantly be sharing it, like we're
sharing it right now. I know people are

always worried about things like feature
creep and stuff, but look, people have code,

they can sit and play, and interact with,
and as we get more of it, we keep adding

to it and we keep making it better. It's
just an ongoing process, and I'm kind of,

I hope we'll be around long enough, but it
would be really interesting in 10 years

time to see what the universe looks and
feels like and what's happened in it compared

to what we all talked about now. 'Cause I
definitely think it's gonna just get cooler

and bigger and better and also take some
unexpected turns. I mean you can certainly

even see the process as we go along. You
see what the Hornet looked like in the original

prototype in 2012, then we did an upgrade when
it first went into the hangars, then now there's

another upgrade that went in when we went
on to dogfighting. You can see the constant

iteration and improvement that we're doing
and you guys are all in for the ride, which is

pretty damn cool, and that's one of the
things I think's pretty exciting about the

process we're taking. I mean it does take
people to understand that this is early,

it's gonna get better and you're sort of
seeing the sausage get made, but it's gonna

be damn good sausage at the end.

Anyway, there you go, that's the end of this
10 For the Chairman, thank you all for

tuning in and listening. Thank you to all
the subscribers out there who generously

provide a little extra money every month
to allow us to do this kind of stuff.

Thank you to everyone who's backed the game
who's allowing us to make this game at the

scope and level and ambition that we're
doing on a worldwide basis. There are people

all around the world who are working on this
game. There's a huge amount of people

who have now got gainful employment working
on the video game of their dreams thanks

to all you, so thank you very much, and
I'll talk to you next week. Bye.