StarMade Active Development Timeline

[Criss]

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If you guys don't mind, I would like to ask a few questions about some things that seem to be overlooked;

1. It is mentioned in the timeline that there will eventually be heat shielding so that we may get closer to stars. Is this because there will also be resources that are very valuable in them, so that we may destroy them, so we can admire them, or for any other reason?

2. I've seen a few places marked for citizens/citizen updates. Is this referencing the ability to "become a citizen" of a civilization, the possibility of jobs, or implementation of the registry/forum data into the game?

3. Very sparsely, I've noticed some story points to be added. I'm not asking for any major spoilers, but, will the story follow a single person, a group of people, several groups, or will it be a "general history of the universe?"

4. And finally, I'm not sure if it's at the end of Alpha or later Beta, but I noticed that a new game mode was planned. Any hints as to what it'll be like?

1: For now it is solely for the purpose of protecting ships. There are no current plans to incorporate stars into any mechanics.

2: Citizens is a term we are using for both players and NPC characters. Updates to player citizens will involve tracking their progress in the game. It will also play a part in how they connect with other players online etc.

3: For now, there is no story that you will play through. There will be lore, and we have the basics of it laid out. You will come across information in the game, but it is yet to be seen if there will be any sort of major storyline to go through.

4: The only other game mode I can think of is the battle mode. It will likely be refined in the future. Aside from that I have no knowledge of any additional game modes.

 

[Bench]

Updated from latest release :

[ now in-game ][ Fleets ] FLEET MECHANICS

Optimize fleet mechanics and finalize additional mechanics for NPC usage
(this will continue to be revised over the next few weeks for player fleets)​

[ now in-game ][ Factions ] BASIC NPC FACTION GENERATION

Basic implementation of NPC faction generation to help populate servers with new assets from fleet contest winners. Also improvements to the clustering of factions.
​

[ now in-game ][ Factions ] TRADING GUILD

Implementation of the Trading Guild with new assets​

[ now in-game ][ Mechanics ] UNIVERSE TICK

Tweaking the fixed cycle process clock to support supply & demand calculations and preparation for future utilization.​

 

[Pacific_Jim]

The timeline says the fleet contest assets are in, but from the looks of it only the 3 major factions are spawning. Are the procedural fleets coming soon?

 

[Criss]

The timeline says the fleet contest assets are in, but from the looks of it only the 3 major factions are spawning. Are the procedural fleets coming soon?

They require a good look-at before we put them into the game. Also, there would be no stations and barely enough ships to keep those factions functioning. We might need to expand on them quite a bit before they make it into the game or open up another round of submissions from the builders.

 

[Pacific_Jim]

Is there the possibility of them using the existing derelicts and pirate stations? I'm aware that both of those are in for some heavy refitting, and won't necessarily fit the contest fleets as is, but it should be better then nothing for the fleets that won't have their own stations etc.

 

[Valiant70]

Bench is this up-to-date?

 

[Neon_42]

So much of this is blocked out I might as well be reading a report on alien crash landings at area 51.

 

[DukeofRealms]

So much of this is blocked out I might as well be reading a report on alien crash landings at area 51.

The reason why most of it is blocked out is because those are the areas that are subject to change. Since posting this, nearly all the blocked out parts have been trashed and replaced. This is merely just a public version of our development map.

(The above is incorrect, this is not solely based off the internal map)

This document is not really intended for future plans or what we are currently working on. What's more useful is our up to date Trello roadmap, which shows what we're currently working on and what is confirmed to happen: Trello

Within the next week our public goals document will be published as well, which will replace the need for our direction document.

 

[Ithirahad]

The reason why most of it is blocked out is because those are the areas that are subject to change. Since posting this, nearly all the blocked out parts have been trashed and replaced.

!?!

Why do Schine's plans (if they can even be called that, rather than 'ideas') change so much? Honestly, it seems that every two months or so I hear that you guys had to change direction or rewrite this or reorder that or scrap and replace this-that-and-the-other-thing. Do you guys not know the requirements and prerequisites for your own intended features? Does Schema randomly realize that he can't do something after it having been planned for years? :\

I really like what StarMade is, and I'm intrigued by what StarMade could be, but sometimes I hear things and even I have to wonder...

 

[Criss]

!?!

Why do Schine's plans (if they can even be called that, rather than 'ideas') change so much? Honestly, it seems that every two months or so I hear that you guys had to change direction or rewrite this or reorder that or scrap and replace this-that-and-the-other-thing. Do you guys not know the requirements and prerequisites for your own intended features? Does Schema randomly realize that he can't do something after it having been planned for years? :\

I really like what StarMade is, and I'm intrigued by what StarMade could be, but sometimes I hear things and even I have to wonder...

Well because we did not plan out every detail for every system from the beginning. Duke probably shouldn't have said that everything blocked out wasn't a plan for the game anymore. Instead, the those features are being tweaked. It's all still something we want, but we might not have asked all the questions we need to. We would like to avoid breaking things on the first pass. With that, we don't want to promise something without actually ensuring it will work with other mechanics or features.

 

[jstenholt]

I'm a the point where I basically just want you guys to make progress, any progress. When you do make progress, no matter how small or how much I disagree, I'm still just excited that things are happening.

 

[DukeofRealms]

I made a mistake, this is not based on the document I thought it was. I've crossed out the parts that are incorrect. Criss is correct.

My point still stands, that this document can not really be that helpful for the direction of the game. It's really here to show the scale of what we're attempting to achieve and for ETAs.

Why do Schine's plans (if they can even be called that, rather than 'ideas') change so much?

Plans, if we're talking about the feature or the core concept behind them, rarely change. The details of these plans, implementation, potential balance, connectivity, do often change. This is to be expected.

Does Schema randomly realize that he can't do something after it having been planned for years? :\

Sure, that happens with any project. There are some things that we've planned and we then realise they are not realistic, or don't really fit.

Honestly, it seems that every two months or so I hear that you guys had to change direction or rewrite this or reorder that or scrap and replace this-that-and-the-other-thing. Do you guys not know the requirements and prerequisites for your own intended features?

I've not seen any creative project where they manage to get all the initial planning correct the first time, and if I had, I would put it down to luck. We don't change directions, we're always heading in the direction set forth in our internal goals document. This is a creative process, which requires that we're not afraid to throw out material. Requirements/pre-requisites might not change (they can, not often) but how they are implemented and how they work, often do change in the planning phase.

Most games, tv shows, books, and other creative mediums won't mention all the content (ideas, plans, features) they've thrown out. But this is a very normal part of the process (I don't have experience with books, but I assume they would as well). I don't think it's very healthy to lay out an extensive plan for something like a game, and not adjust or remove/add significant parts of it, once you've covered ground. You're not going to know how things are really going to turn out or be received, so, you need to be willing to realise that some of the things you do, are not perfect, and must be adjusted. Of course, there is a balance with such a thing, and you do need to be careful. I think we have a good balance, the closer we get to the implementation of a feature/concept, the more planning that goes into it. Often, when we scrap something (ideas), there was very little to begin with.

When we say we're scrapping or replacing something, often, we mean we're scrapping the existing plans for implementation. I can't think of a case where we've trashed a concept or core feature completely. I can think of plenty of cases where the long-term planning we've done, has needed significant adjustments for it to fit, or be realistic.

 

[Ithirahad]

I can see details changing and things being swapped around sometimes as development progresses. I understand that that's part of the creative process, but it seems to me (largely by inference) that it has been happening a lot, and on a really large scale. I was just wondering.

 

[Lone_Puppy]

There tends to be a high expectation when using the word "Planned".

Perhaps for features that are something wanted, but unsure about actually achieving could be placed in a "Schine Wish List" or "Wanted by Schine List". Setting the expectation that Schine would like to see this feature in the game, but it may not make it due to unforeseen circumstances.

Then when it is identified that the feature is indeed possible, move it to the Planned list. If it's ID'd as not possible due to the way the game works, move it to a list with a fitting name like "Not Planned" or something the like.

 

[JumpSuit]

Bench! Please continue updating the Dev Timeline!

 

[serge1944]

2021, any news?