CIG brought a new edition of the Weekly Star Citizen show Around the Verse. In this Squadron 42 monthly update the main topics are the updated designs of the Vanduul Armor as well as new tech for the Character Animations.
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As tradition dictates, the last episode of Around the Verse for the month was dedicated to the story driven single player experience in Star Citizen, called Squadron 42. This week the main focus landed on updates of the characters various types of animations with the introduction of a new animation behavior automated system and an update on the design of the Vanduul armor.
Actions in and out of combat have been the primary tasks for the teams behind Squadron 42 for this month. Jumping, Vaulting, Climbing are a key part of combat and exploration and CIG has been polishing them to make sure they look natural and flow smoothly as your character performs them.
There are two different types of animations in Star Citizen at the moment – entity driven and animation driven animation. The new tech will allow you to better control the actions your character performs. Examples given on the show were the stop and resume of movement. No more strange-looking leg-movement after you release the movement key.
The “Actor team” has been busy refining the idle system for NPCs. This new system ensures that NPCs will pick the most accurate and appropriate animation while idle, based on the environment and the current state of the character. This new automated system will give designers more freedom as previously all movements had to be specifically requested.
Devs have been working on your ability, as a player, to pull up the item you are holding and take a closer look at it – to inspect it. This is primarily designed with weapons in mind, because in the future you will be able to check out and compare, using the mouse, how different scopes, skins and other fine details would alter the appearance of the weapon you are holding.
The giant Xi’An rocket launcher was the first alien weapon the developers have been working on. It looks and is a heavy item to hold. Looks nothing like a regular human weapon and its appearance has changed quite a bit compared to the original design.
The Xi’An Empire (from the Star Citizen Wiki)
The Xi’an (pronounced: SHEE-ahn) Empire is a hereditary absolute monarchy located along the border of the Eastern Systems. It comprises at least fourteen known systems and is governed by Emperor Kray. The emperor has a High Council of Advisers, each representing a facet of the government. The title of Emperor passes down through the family line. A similar government structure is found on each Xi’an controlled planet, with every planetary council member reporting to their respective counterparts on the Emperor’s Council.
The VFX team has been creating prototypes for procedural soft-bodied deformation to create cool looking destruction assets. These will be available to be used in various environments and situations.
It is no secret that in the vast explored and unknown space there are a lot of abandoned constructions, derelict ships and buildings on the planets surfaces and so on. The various abandoned spaces have received special attention as some nice work has been done on the clutter and scrap that’s built around those spaces all over the verse.
As you can see from the image above and the video attached below, the blending between earth, stone and all other environmental elements.
The update on the Vanduul figure designs and most of all on the weapons they will be using, was (to me at least) the most interesting part of the episode. CIG’s intention to match the appearance of the vanduul species to their weapons, armor and, of course, ships.
The vanduul like to bring in elements from other cultures, but they still keep a very unique look. Their weapons look very differently than what human weapons and behave in a unique way too.
What is Squadron 42
Squadron 42 is a story-based single-player campaign set in the Star Citizen fictional universe described by the developers as a “spiritual successor to Wing Commander”. It was originally announced for release in 2014 during the Kickstarter campaign, but has been repeatedly delayed. It is being developed by the Foundry 42 UK studio under the supervision of Chris Roberts’ brother Erin, who had already worked with him on the “Wing Commander” series and led the production and development of titles like Privateer 2: The Darkening and Starlancer.
The developers state that the interactive storyline centers on an elite military unit and involves the player character enlisting in the United Empire of Earth Navy, taking part in a campaign that starts with a large space battle. The player’s actions will allow them to optionally achieve citizenship in the UEE and affect their status in the Star Citizen persistent universe, but neither of the two games has to be played in order to access the other. The game is planned to be released in multiple chapters, and according to the developers will be offering an estimated of 20 hours of gameplay for SQ42 Episode 1 with about 70 missions worth of game play, “Squadron 42 Episode Two: Behind Enemy Lines” and “Episode 3,” will launch later. The cast for Squadron 42 includes Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, and Andy Serkis amongst others.
Check out the full episode of this week’s around the verse for more details on the ongoing development of Squadron 42.
