Overview: This episode is a Q&A session for Invictus Launch Week, where Jared Huckaby hosts the vehicle and weapons team to discuss updates on vehicles and spaceships. The team addresses questions from the community about ship development, design decisions, and upcoming features.

Key Points with Timecodes:

[00:00] – Introduction to Invictus All Vehicles Q&A

• Jared Huckaby opens the episode by introducing the team responsible for ship and vehicle development at Cloud Imperium Games (CIG). The session focuses on vehicles in Star Citizen and Squadron 42, with updates on design processes and upcoming features.

[02:00] – Team Introductions

• Ben Curtis (Vehicle and Weapons Art Director), Mark Gibson (Lead Vehicle Content Designer), Cory Bamford (Senior Lead Vehicle Artist), and John Crewe (Vehicle Director) introduce themselves and explain their roles in the design, implementation, and artistic aspects of ship development.

[05:00] – How Ships Are Made

• The team outlines the process of ship creation, starting with a design brief from the content designers, followed by concept art, 3D modeling, and collaboration with the VFX, audio, and lighting teams.
• They explain how different teams, such as the feature development teams, work with the ship designers to integrate gameplay systems like mining, salvage, and refueling into ship designs.

[10:00] – Role of Upstream and Downstream Teams

• John Crewe explains how ship development relies on multiple departments, with upstream teams like feature developers and downstream teams like QA ensuring ships are functional and well-balanced when released.
• Corey Bamford highlights the importance of keeping artists and designers engaged by rotating them between different ship manufacturers and styles to prevent burnout.

[20:00] – Variants and Modular Ships

• The team discusses the development of new variants of existing ships, such as the Saber Firebird and the RSI Ursa Medivac. These variants allow for quick iteration by using existing ship models as a base.
• They also address the long-awaited feature of modularity, explaining that ships like the RSI Polaris will have modules that can be swapped for different gameplay purposes (e.g., torpedoes, cargo).

[30:00] – Ground Vehicles and Physics Issues

• The team acknowledges the current issues with ground vehicle physics, such as bouncing suspension. They are working with networking and physics teams to address these problems.
• Mark Gibson mentions plans to introduce more customization options for ground vehicles, including upgrades for engines, gearboxes, and wheels, similar to space vehicles.

[40:00] – Resource Network and Gold Standard Updates

• The discussion shifts to the upcoming Resource Network system, which will allow for more intricate power and resource management on ships. The team explains how they are retrofitting existing ships to integrate this system, starting with the most popular multi-crew ships.
• The RSI Zeus and Polaris are also being updated to the new gold standard.

[50:00] – Medbed Changes and Death of a Spaceman

• Jared discusses the recent changes to medbed respawn mechanics. The new system introduces different medbed tiers, and Death of a Spaceman mechanics will eventually add more consequences to dying and respawning.
• The team reassures players that they are working on balancing the medbed system based on player feedback.

[55:00] – Status Updates on Ships in Development

• The team reveals that the RSI Polaris is currently being worked on and is expected to be flight-ready by IAE (Intergalactic Aerospace Expo) later this year.
• The RSI Zeus ES and CL variants are also in development, with one variant scheduled for release in Alpha 4.0.

Host:

• Jared Huckaby (Senior Community Manager for Star Citizen)

Guests:

• Ben Curtis (Vehicle and Weapons Art Director)
• Mark Gibson (Lead Vehicle Content Designer)
• Cory Bamford (Senior Lead Vehicle Artist)
• John Crewe (Vehicle Director)