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UE5 Starting Zones
🕑 Added 2022-11-21 19:12:49 +0000 UTCHi All,
This is not the UE5 development update - that's still coming later this week. This is something that the core team have been discussing today and we want to be entirely up front about; we always do our best to remain open and transparent, so this update covers a development decision we're in the middle of making right now.
We'll take on board feedback, but it's really not something which can simply be decided by vote - it needs to be based on what we can/can't do without sacrificing the long-term quality of the game.
Planned Zones
The two main zones we had planned to release in the initial UE5 build were Tal-Senet and Mehden Island. There is a third zone involved, but that area is a brief "introduction" zone, doesn't really impact development, and is essentially complete.
- Tal-Senet is an island covered in the ruins of an ancient library complex. It houses the only "authentic" Lybossan Taberna to be found in Sabu, and is home to a range of artisans and tradespeople. Our first in-depth romantic interest, Damaris, also calls the island her home.
- Mehden Island is a larger landmass to the west of Tal-Senet, though it too is separated from the Sabuthi mainland by the Euphoris river. The island is a microcosm of Sabu proper, with both wealthy estates and rural farmsteads. River-based trade with a nearby Minoan-run city allows several metalworking smiths to ply their craft. As with other regions of Sabu, Mehden is built atop relics of the past, with many tombs and other forgotten dangers lurking beneath the sand.
So what exactly is the issue?
Tal-Senet is almost complete, perhaps ~90% if we were to put a number on it. Mehden Island is not. The topography of the zone is mostly implemented, however many art assets/cinematics are not ready and the new mechanic to enter tombs is not fully functional (nor are the tombs assets entirely ready).
There are two (very brief) new quests which take place before arrival at Tal-Senet, however these are really only intended as flavour quests and don't constitute much gameplay. The three (full length) new quests require travel to Mehden Island at some point.
With the initial UE4 version of CI, all the way up to the most recent builds, we made sure to push gameplay content no matter what. We saw this as more important than anything else, as it ensured there was something for you to get your hands on asap. It did however cause problems. As time went on we hadn't finished an area, or an NPC, and quests began to encroach on each other and it became increasingly difficult to keep content as planned.
We do not want to repeat this mistake with UE5.
We essentially have two options;
- Edit the quests to take place fully on Tal-Senet and release that area sooner.
- Delay further and release with both Tal-Senet and Mehden Island completed.
What's wrong with editing the quests?
In short, we really don't want to do it. Not only is all the audio recorded and the quests themselves hooked up, but it would totally change the nature of Mehden Island as it would have no planned content at release. Moving the quests also alters how the game unfolds, including how choices are presented to the player.
Such a change would need to be permanent too, as if we moved everything again later it would cause yet another delay down the line; simply moving the delay into the future but not avoiding it. Worse, it would generate work that had to be undone, literally wasting time. For this reason any changed quests would necessarily remain changed.
Some elements cannot be moved, and so features like pregnancy wouldn't be fully functional (births currently can only take place at an Aethio shrine - there isn't one on Tal-Senet).
How has this happened & will it happen again?
It's simply the continued impact of having one less member of the team due to parental leave, along with sickness and general development hiccups - we made our best estimates of the impact on development but we have limited experience of operating with one less person; it's not as simple as 1/5th less work hours.
This cannot happen again as we've taken proactive steps to prevent it; we have finally managed to convince another former colleague to ditch their 9-5 industry job and take the plunge/join the dark side. It's taken a lot of time, including countless instances of singing "The Other Side" from The Greatest Showman at them, but they join the core team in February. In terms of skills they bring with them several overlapping disciplines, including both technical and art, meaning that the team will be far more resilient to staff absence going forward.
Will Ascended still get an update?
Ascended tier patrons will still get monthly updates to the UE4 build yes, this decision does not impact that.
Finally a personal note from me, echo. I'd tried to avoid arriving at this point, though the entire team knew it was a potential outcome. We don't impose crunch, and back in October I did step back from 14 hour workdays for a while, but I do tend to self-impose high workload whenever we're behind schedule as I can't help but feel personally responsible to all our supporters. For a few weeks I've been trying to brute-force the additional workload, working some 8am - 3am days and not taking weekends. I was making some very solid progress, but it's not something I can continue indefinitely and I have to ease off again.
This means that rather than being on a knife-edge of getting everything on both Tal-Senet and Mehden Island, the additional workload will definitely overrun and necessitates the decision outlined above.
I know that a lot of you are really excited to get your hands on the game, that's exactly why I've been pushing myself so hard, and I'm sorry that it will either be not as soon or not as substantial as I'd hoped. Please know that I put blood, sweat, and tears into trying to keep things on-time, and it will be worth it when we get there.
Team Carnal Instinct
Comments
Nemesis N Nio
Hey Im wondering WHY Winter Winds Quest is not Re Doable Now? - I Really like to Re Do / Do it Now
I'd much prefer to wait for the full release, I know you all will make something amazing.
Jacky Chang
I may be late to the post but don't you dare break yourselves with crunch and overwhelming work hours. The work you're doing is very evident and promising. You're constantly updating us and that's more than most "triple A" companies these days. Thank you for your great passion.
I agree that long term view is very important and breaking or delaying things to make the present more interesting doesn't make sense if it means more limits to the future work of future delays and redoing of work.
Kyle Anteau
Even if it means not getting a monthly release, I personally would prefer late, finished and polished content as opposed to on-time, disunctional content. Really, truly, it's indie studios that keep this school of thought alive, as AAA companies sure don't subscribe to it. Keep doing your great work guys, do whatever you need to do this right, and don't push yourselves!
Something...
Nothing like this has really been done before so do it right.
Take your time! Please answer this question though. Why is the quest, liquid Gold - Return to Medjai, glitched? Will not let me complete it. He asks a question, then it ends the dialog to me standing there.
take your time
Daniel Geeson
LOL!!! Agreed.
Brian Killian
im a star citizen player as well hopefully they manage to actually bring out a full release in the near future
Hey, CI team. I think that I speak for everyone when I say I'm super grateful for the clarity and honesty that you all have shown us consistently through the development process of this game. I personally have complete faith that you all will deliver a well made game to us. Do whatever you think is best for the overall health of the game, and for your own health, too. So what if development goes a little slower? Knowing that the game I'm looking forward to will be done eventually is enough for me <3
Daniel Geeson
As a Star Citizen player, I am fully aware that releasing an update for the sake of releasing something can cause more harm than good in the long run. Take your time, make the game you want us to play and the game we'll enjoy playing. If it takes a little longer so beit. Your true supporters will understand. {edit: Try reading the whole post before commenting ME!} Also, whilst I appreciate the effort, I don't think there is a need to put blood, sweat and tears into this, as already commented, take your time. Game development takes time to do properly, pushing the knife-edge consistently can also lead to mistakes that will add extra time to fix. Additionally, take some time for yourselves, whilst 14 hours, 7 days a week might be making good progress, it can't be good for your health. Look after yourselves, take breaks if you need them too.
James Beaven
take your time, delay the release and do what needs to be done. no need to rush something half done, we can wait for the proper release.
PelySux22
take your time
