You’ve been asking to see some in game footage, even if rough, so I thought I would share a little video that shows off some of the preliminary AI work that’s been done. Some of this was functioning in the Game Developers Online reveal and some of this has been done since in between the craziness of the crowd funding campaign.
This video isn’t as polished as I would normally put out so please be nice as we’re 24 months away from anything that would be called final, and even 12 months away from just a multiplayer alpha dogfighting build. The laser effects, explosions are all placeholders and there will be significant work done here, as well as some very cool shield effects I have cooking up in the background. My goal with the visual effects is to use a lot the techniques and looks used in film work, which are now possible with DX11 and modern day PCs.
But the point of the video isn’t to show the VFX or damage systems, which still have a ways to go but to demo some of the early AI work that’s been happening in the background.
The Squadron 42 / Star Citizen pilot AI will be the most sophisticated AI that I’ve attempted on any of my games. My goal is to take the ideas that I pioneered with Wing Commander and later games; distinct personalities, dynamic learning, signature moves to next level with the power of modern CPUs.
We’re a long way off from the final article, but as you can see from the video AI can already fly in formation, respond to commands and engage in combat. All the dogfighting you see in this video is AI driven!
On a technical side this footage was captured with FRAPS via a debug camera on a PC with an AMD Phenom 1090T processor, 8GB and an NVIDIA GTX470.
As things progress we’ll have much nicer implementation of third a person chase and orbit cameras to show of the action better. In an ordinary game’s development cycle, this would be something we would share internally or with the publisher… but we’re showing our backers instead, since you’re the ones making Star Citizen happen!
Expect similar videos in the coming months.
New video…
)))
Woooo!!! Thanks guys!!
Awesome!
Wow ….. Look very promising o_O Good job Chris !!
Time for my next fix
I love how Chris is true to his word on constant dev updates. I am LOVING IT!
Pretty damn cool!
Nice early work
Looking good
Realease it on youtube, pretty please.
That was quick
I love you guys, awesome video, I hope that NPCs will be able to assist us in the Persistent Universe.
Wow pretty awesome to see how the ships fly
Im Going to do a barrel roll!
Im Going to do a barrel roll!
Im Going to do a barrel roll!
WE GET TO DO BARREL ROLLS!
So awesome to have an in depth view of developement.
Thanks for sharing those small yet great updates!
I’ve just felt like back in the 90′s… Awesome!
BEAUTIFUL and this is not even a alpha demo . OMG cant wait for this game.
Ohoho..i´m lovin it!
Wow – space never looked so inviting. What really gets me though is just how much the ships look like they’re really weighty and actually have real mass to them. Bloody excited.
Very appreciated.
I get more and more excited about this game, keep going!
Very awesome to see the ki fly
That already looks fantastic!
like the new video
hope the ai command also work on voice command save’s alot of scrolling down options menu’s
I’m gonna say probably not. Even Siri has a 25% failure rate, and they don’t have Apple’s resources. But in the next two years, who knows?
Yeah – never picks up when I add f***!!! Always says flock. Must be my accent or Siri has a thing for sheep.
Dude check out VAC (Voice Activated Commands) its clunky and an unpolished gem, but I’ve had a good experience with this for over four years. Please lets not mention SIRI again m’kay.
Actually the task siri has to accomplish is way more complicated than recognizing commands. Since siri has to understand every combination of words possible, a speech recognition system for fleet commands would be much easyer since the system would just decide which of say 100 possible commands was stated. That renders the problem much more tractable. However also siri is not a software that works on the iPhone alone. The iPhone sent’s the voice input to a supercomputer, where speech-recognition is performed and the resulting text is sent back to the iphone. So a system that just has to recognize some commands might still be computationally demanding. As far as i know the most cutting edge approach to voice recognition is by microsoft usage of deep neuronal networks. Have a look at this if you are interested: http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2012/11/08/microsoft-demos-amazing-english-to-mandarin-translation-allowing-for-real-time-audible-translations/?fromcat=all
keep in mind that SIRI has a MUCH bigger set of commands and words it has to respond to. Our commands would be much more limited, and I’m sure you could end up training the commands to perform custom actions pretty easily.
I don’t worry about that. If it works, that’s great, if not..I’m sure I can assign them to a hotkey I like. (like every game should be able to)
You kno there are lots of Voice recog programs that just use keystrokes, i use one for X3 Albion Prelude. Very efficient and effective. I’ll probably just use that for star citizen when it comes out.
PS Awsome video, looks promising
Thank you!
Beautiful!
Awesome for this stage of the process!
That is the most polished “rough” footage I have ever seen. It is fantastic seeing what you are trying out with the game. Thank you very much on taking the risk and showing this to the community.
I was thinking that myself. “These explosions are ‘merely placeholders’?! They’re better looking than many of the finished games I’ve seen!”
He’s being so modest about the polish – the game already looks gorgeous. That’s how long we’ve gone without a space sim!
Chris, I’ve been playing WC1 over the past week and loving it all over again. I remember the dynamic AI even back then, and especially how the aces did in fact feel different from the standard enemy pilots (beyond just having tougher ships). It’s great to see that kind of distinction coming back.
Also, always wished I had a special taunt for the Drakhai – “Wow, kitty, your ship’s really durable.”
OOOhhh my.. This I wasn’t expecting…Trows more money.. Come on guys. Spread the word.
very good ! perfect music. But I would add – maybe the whole time – a watermark in a below box hinting that this is “only” alpha or whatever. otherwise it might send the wrong signals
Good pont. At least it’s Pre-Alpha
But big publisher have ruined “Alpha” as they use it to get sure not to be punshed if they change something later… :-/
Watched it the first time thought the video was a little grainy. Forgot to hit the HD option now it look amazing
Those are slooowww lasers! Placeholders?
lasers seen in slow motion, so you can admire the beauty of the energy beam
Yeah they are placeholders; “The laser effects, … are all placeholders and there will be significant work done here…”
I hope they change it and dont do it like the X2 or X3 DEVs.
Like Bobba fett`s Ship.. Thats bursting lasers!
thanks Chris that was cool. Thank you for showing us
for a game that will be released in 2 years,this is truly good! congrats and thank you!
Youtube-Mirror:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuynSgAvleo
Damn you Chris, Now I need to buy another 4 hornets!
Damn you time machine – Y U NO WORK?!?!?!
thinking of freezing myself Eric Cartmam style
Honestly if that’s the computer setup you guys used then this is going to be something truly special. I’m glad I pledged.
I really like how all the boosters articulate when a ship moves. The most attention to detail I may have seen from a space sim. I just hope that the game plays in all first person though. Do not like that you can move out into third person.
I’m partially with you in that I’ll be playing in-cockpit 95% of the time. That being said, if you don’t want to play in third person, don’t.
Lots of people like playing from the outside of the ship, and even if you don’t, the ability to “hop outside” lets you look at your ship from a variety of angles. So when you buy and install that new scramjet for your fighter, you go out and look at it in action
Good but not smooth…
taken from a gtx 470,in 2014 that will be a quite bad video card
And it’s a prototype, really, you can’t expect it to work flawlessly 24 months away from the release.
I’m outraged as well, how dare they release footage to us without it being perfect.
Sidenote: I demand more footage!
Because optimisation is definitely something they concentrate on pre-alpha…
It’s not even in alpha-stage, this is just behind the scenes test work and shown due to popular demand. End product will be much smoother and pretty.
@tonester: HA, nice.
Thanks Chris, really enjoyed that.
Fantastic! Thanks for keeping us in the loop!
Amazing music! I really hope the story lives up to it too
@InfoWarrior: Please read the article: (quote) ” [...] The laser effects, explosions are all placeholders and there will be significant work done here, [...]
@Chris
If this is just the beginning, then I can’t wait to see a whole AI fleet in action. So epic =)
I don’t really get why you mention placeholder it even looks awesome now…
Amazing!
Reminds me of Starlancer formations! I can’t wait to see how it handles multiple ship types in formation.
Tnx a lot for sharing.. All six thumbs up
Great, really amazing
Two thumbs up RSI!
Looks awsome already. Thanx for sharing!
OMG!! Can’t wait for the Alpha!!
hell yeah!
First prototype video, very nice. Now we know that we can fly in formations. I wonder how this will be done with 4 friends, they will probably press OK on the screen after the command to fall into formation and their ships will auto-adjust the location relatively to the command ship?
I hope people back off and take it easy. I don’t really wanna see some nerd rage on forums now. Its a very first video of the game in pre-pre-alpha stage so everyone needs to relax and chill and ENJOY the most important
.
You know….the music track reminds me of that Mission in Ace Combat 5 (the one from November City I think….when you start making a ceremonial flight….)
Did you guys notice the planet? It is there. You can fly there. You can notice the ships approaching the planet as the video progresses. Like Freelancer but even at this early stage a lot better looking.
Nice to see new videos.
Look s very good, keeo going
Big Thanks to the team!
Keep those vids coming
Looks solid, nice to see AI that can down another AI regularly.
Thinking now that AI wingmen won’t be useless.
This looks fantastic! Thank you for bring this to us?
Also,great music here! is it licensed as in the first trailer or is it one made just for this game?
Impressive.
I hope the formations are programmable.
I wish I had more arms, so I could give this 4 thumbs up!
I love watching the maneuvering thrusters at work in this video. Those contribute a lot to the “space-feeling” in it. I think it’s because of that, that the video is so captivating. I somehow had to think of my first time playing Privateer. Please keep them coming!
I’m curious as to what state those thrusters are in… I do remember people having concerns as to the thruster firing mechanics. Were the ones in this video the same, the previous ‘every single detail thrust that was spammy’, or a bit a little further down the line… And what those concerned think of how they’re turning out.
Gah! I just want to fly already!
Great vid guys! Thanks for posting & all the hard work you guys are doing!
Thanks! Learning about the development at this early stage means a lot!
Even this early in the Dev, that looked awesome!
As a little child. Batschi batschi.. Will have will have.. Oh my why do we have to wait till 2014. That is torture x10.
at 1:58pm EST monday Nov 19, 2014 the PC-designed artificial intelligence system called RSI will become self-aware and turn against its creators
Very nice!!
….WOW…when the one Hornet pirouettes over the followed ship I was like…WOW…stuck for words :0) bring it on CR!
I wonder how the game will look on a NVIDIA GTX880 when the game is released =)
Very nice! I love it! I got a question though, how will the kind of planet-to-planet traveling system you talked about earlyer work with exploration?
Looks similar to HOMEWORLD gameplay lol!
Not that i don’t like that – i like!
Thanx for sharing, Chris! May the Force be with you!
Also – explosions is really great!
AWESOME!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuynSgAvleo
Direct URL for all those who want to watch it.
sweet!
(damn, just saw that someone beat me to it
)
Aaaaaaaaaa! *screams like a little girl*
New video! *runs around like a dog chasing his tail*
Mr. Roberts, Sir, seriously?
If this is what you call “explosions are all placeholders” I’m scared to think what the final result will be!
And these nebulas in the bacgkround! The planet! The way the ship flies, the feeling of all the distant things (like the nebula) and a vastness of space… My God, once again I feel like the first moment I sat in a Starfly and saw Freelancer universe…
Again, if this is “early” you, Sir, are my god!
Looks amazing for this stage, really…..
my god, those stars.
Paladin: “Claw formation aye, laddie.”
Iceman: “Sphere, copy.”
Spirit: “Entering parade formation, domo.”
:
Hunter: “Mother Hen, why d’ya reckon our wing commander ordered ten formation changes in the last minute?”
Paladin: “‘Cause it looks cool, laddie. He just can’t get over how cool it looks every time we switch.”
(repost from the forum – I said the exact same thing there, but then, why not say it here?)
I know it’s been ten years, but we’re way beyond Prophecy at least, where they changed the collision mechanics to be super-forgiving because the AI kept playing bumper cars with itself (and these were your wingmen). Part of the challenge here is that the AI also has to use the fly-by-wire system – the AI wants to do something but it doesn’t have direct control of the maneuvering resources – the ship will respond as best it can, but it’s not always the same.
Although all AI programming almost inherently involves both forward-planning and feedback loops, that doesn’t mean it’s easy and you can totally fly off the deep end with obfuscating complexity. There’s stupid simplicity and then there’s elegant simplicity.
I do, however, have to say that paying any kind of critical attention to the AI implementation was difficult while watching that Hornet do that low-velocity wingover. I just sorta stared and drooled.
This is sweeet!!!!!!!!!
with all my pledged ships
Now I can finally fly my own squadron of AI fighters
Looking mighty sharp! Keep up the fine work.
Amazing ! And this is early ? The AI wont be useless at this rate
Wonderful. Many thanks for sharing!
Looks slick! Good to see the AI’s already smarter than missiles. (Anybody remember the X-Wing and TIE Fighter games’ AI?)
Yeah – although I got the distinct impression that the AI in TIE fighter was explicitly programmed not to attack you (or at least not realize you specifically as an alpha threat, since the Imperials outnumbered the Rebels so badly).
Perhaps it had to be that way. I remember taking so much fire in X-Wing, but almost not ever getting shot at in TIE fighter (and of course, since basic eyeballs are unshielded, that would have been necessary to keep the game from being impossible).
Looks beautiful!
Is it just me or what Chris considers pre-pre-Alpha is considered releasable game by oder developers/publishers?
The man has high standards! Lets get on the rocket!
Here here, I concur. All aboard the Roberts Express!
Wohoooo! Great Video…
Dynamic learning!!! Oh noes!!!! SKYNET!!!!!!
Chris,
This is simply amazing. You definitely have some fantastic programmers working on this game. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us. Thank you for coming back to the gaming world, we need you!
Thank you.
Ooooohh sexy :9
That looks pretty nice. Seeing this kind of development movies is making me proud to be a donator. I hope we can see more movies soon.
I TOUCH MYSELF
That was friggin cool.
But I see why the explosions are placeholders; it’s not the fireball, it’s the wreckage. All square and blocky. Plus we haven’t seen a close-up explosion either, could be problems there.
The fireball looks like it could have come from Particle Illusion (particle emitter software for animation) but better.
Looks awesome!
Awesome that AI is a priority and looking already better than Freelancer which was good but had sticking points. I know online and PVP won’t be all the time and it’s good to see that our dogfighting skills won’t atrophy if the AI can keep the pace. And please please please make it so the physics engine does not make all PVP dogfights into a battle of circles that make me nauseous. This looks good but the real test will come when other playes start dogfighting. Also massive thumbs up on the backgrounds I’m glad the nebulas gas clouds and such will still be a familiar sight.
It brought tears to my eyes – Thank you
Do I sense a Silesian backer here?
thanks. it is genius
Awesome!
Just reading the text mad my almost cry a tear out of happiness! I so want the AI to be more than just bots. Getting them a personality will be so much appreciated by me!
I’m in love…
Neat if only my friends were that cooperative…
GReat job loving the music, the look of space and foc the flying at this early a stage cant wait for more!!!
well that was cool,but I hope its not in place of the ship drafts/spects we were waiting for
pre-alpha and already looking good…. wow love it!!!!
Love the explosions too, BOOM!
Not that it showed much of how the AI behaved, but I still loved it.
Absolutely amazing!
Thank you Mr. Roberts (and Team) for bringing this dream to life.
Well…That’s… Amazing ! I want to play the game ._.
My eyes are bleeding, Have a nice development! Give us the chance to play soon Alpha & Beta!
It doers look excellent and makes me want to play it! Awesome job and thank you for showing us. Love the music too!
I just wanted to say I love how often you guys are updating the community. That short video brought me right back to WC1, only now you can actually do all those things you wanted to that wasn’t possible back then!
Very interesting!
Simply beautiful!
I love the music from this video and the trailer videos too.
Is the music in-house or licensed? And will it be on the soundtrack delivered for some of the pledge tiers?
Thanks!
Most excellent!
Thanks for sharing this with us. Keep up the excellent work!
looking good
will play it now! *cry*
I think i must install Freelancer now. It looks so good as I said i want to jump into the game when i see it 
Yay!
Really impressive stuff, especially from a feeling standpoint. The space feels just right regarding distances and scale, although a bit slow.
Thank you for sharing this
.
I WANT TO PLAY RIGHT MEOW !!!
HAWT SAUCE!!
Thank you for the video. Keep this stuff coming
, it looks GREAT !!
Great work guys ! 24 months away and it already got that distinct feeling
Very nice video, thank you Chris & Team!
I might be late, but is it me or the Hornet seems to have variable geometry wing (look at the last moment where the Hornets speeds up)? O_o
I’ve seen several different pictures of the hornet with the wings in different positions, from swept back to straight out.
NIce. Please implement blast rings and delayed explosion sounds on the effects side when you get to that! (ala BF3) I simply luved the blast rings and camera shake in WC.
Mr. Roberts,
I have never even HEARD of a major game developer working on a major title like this one being willing to show an internal test video this early in the process.
Thank you so much for keeping us feeling involved with the development. It’s a fascinating view into the mechanics of major game design.
Remember that a large number of people will heckle the work if you show it in a rough form… you’ll need a thick skin to just ignore it. You are blazing new trails everywhere it’s going to take the average gamer a little bit to adapt to your style also.
Keep up the great work!
PS. Where did you even find the time to get this done with the crowdfunding going on?!? And to take time to make a video for eveyone? Amazing.
Its a Ring world! Space looks fantastic!
It is far from finish, and still it looks WAAAAAAY better than anything i have seen today
These constant, daily updates are amazing. Seriously, this level of communication with your fanbase is just outstanding.
Well said!
Awesome stuff! Even better than the “AI in Action” is that we can see those ships flying! Really im pressiv how all those little thrusters work realistically when the ship moves!
I feel really privileged to witness these first baby steps of the project
!
I’m glad I bought a drool bucket the other day…
” In an ordinary game’s development cycle, this would be something we would share internally or with the publisher… but we’re showing our backers instead, since you’re the ones making Star Citizen happen!”
Damn ! Hadn’t though of this ! Now I really feel like a small tiny publisher!
I am a small EA but the good kind , not the big evil one … 
This video was a really good move I think.
Somehow it gives a much great feeling of what it is like to be a part of this game reality than anything previously shared with us
Still dreaming, for now….
I’ve been waiting such a long time to for a game like this.
This will be my ‘Freelancer 2′.
Put the word out on this video, I think this and the first prototype video will do more to garner Pledges then the ‘Final Week’ video (seriously.)
(Again, just want to see the crowdfunding garner as much as it can in the time remaining.)
Incredible maneuverability on those ships! These physics are looking awesome, I absolutely cannot wait to strap in to the cockpit of one myself!
Yeah, I’ll take it as is. Give it to me now.
Good lord man this is PRE-alpha!?
This will be the greatest space flight sim in history.
Excellent work !!! This game will be epic
Looks good so far. After further development this game will be awesome.
… O.O
Nice to see some early footage – the AI shows tons of promise – the different formations can be useful and cool, the little stuff like each maneuvering jet firing to position the ship looks great. look forward to see more on that
The backgrounds look terrific as well to me half of a space-sim game is the ambiance of the different systems the differences between being in or near a nebula, a star whether the system is single, binary, trinary etc. near a dead planet being cooked by a close bright blue star, a frozen world where the star is just a spec or in the “habitable zone”
Hot damn that music is good.
Thank you for this fantastic impression.
I look forward to exploring these systems.
Keep it up, it will be an incredible experience ever ….
Many greetings from Germany…………..:-)
phenomenal excellent job, Looking forward to playing this legendary game
Looks good! Already have that good ol freelancer vibe coming to the fore
NICE! Keep the Vids coming!! Love seeing the progress
looking good! but pls dont let out the finished game with slow n weak sounding lasers..