Latest from TheAgent. Some seriously hilarious stuff.
* CIG has been given another 12 months to release the SQ42 first strike/prelude
* a reminder that this is NOT the full game or "Episode 1" but more of a "demo" in media res
* this new date is "absolutely immovable" by new oversight committee (lol: we'll see)
* this is a combination of covid19 and other development woes
* hearing (again) that UE4 is being utilized for cutscenes
* "We're doing [in-game cinematics] twice. We create a simple preview using [UE4 Blueprint/Sequencer] for approval, since it's faster. After sign-off, we create them [into Lumberyard using Track View, a CryEngine tool]."
*supposedly this creates less work, as approval/rough cut cutscenes take "a very, very long time to sculpt" in LY/CE
*post-approval cutscenes were constantly changed, even after sign-off
*these highly-detailed, complex and polished final cuts went back to planning, sometimes being completely rewritten as other chapters of the game changed
*"thousands and thousands of man-hours" continue to be lost to this, according to 3rd party animator
*final cut in "immediate lockdown" starting Q4 2020
*this means no more changes to the initial story, animations or voice acting
*number of employees at CIG proper now less than 350
*many 3rd party contractors bring this total up higher
*"This is the second time we have enlisted the major help of third party developers. Loads of us wonder about another waste of resources, since we brought everything back in-house [in 2017/2018] anyway. Are we going to look through their work and again say 'Not good enough?'"
*expect a 4.0 announcement "soon" [read: next 90 days] that finally takes Star Citizen into beta stage
*no specific date tied to 4.0 but expect it "soon" [read: Q2/Q3 2021]
*with the addition of Pyro/beta, server limits will be increased to 100 for each star system
*new system will limit the number of concurrent players in a single area, able to split and combine players "seamlessly" as required [we'll see!]
*this is the first step of "server meshing" talked about the last half decade
*a new city, orbital platform and prison (???) can be selected as new start locations
*Theaters of War has gone back to the drawing board [I'm pretty sure its KIA]
*the investors supposedly do see value in that mode and it is not entirely dead
*more "fast-paced," "teen-friendly," and "Fortnite-esque" are words exchanged about ToWs future
*investors were surprised that Star Citizen already had a "Star Wars: Squadrons" mode and that it wasn't marketed more and more heavily monetized
