Two Years as Lead Developer, AMA

[Teerin]

I have again caught up to the queries posted up to this point. Goodness gracious @"Sombra Hookier", that was a lot of questions! All good stuff, though. I'm glad to have had so much free time this afternoon.

Please continue to ask away!

[Thunderer]

Does @Alley know that @"Sombra Hookier" is interested in you?

Yes. Rumor has it there might be a duel; single shot pistols at ten paces.

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[NoMe]

thanks for your answer Teerin, damage, you have the keys to move it simply . i will try to use the admin way.

NoMe

I'm happy to help.

[Sand_Spider]

Now I am genuinely curious. As you mentioned in one of your answers to Sombra, what is this talk of potentially moving Discovery to a different platform/game about? Have certain games been discussed in the past but rejected? Which games are currently being considered, if any? Let's keep the edit-over-post theme goin'!

(Also Radar Jammers sound amazing, yes please!)

None have been rejected, to my knowledge. There have been a few projects or ideas for projects, each using different engines. These include Unity, Unreal, and Star Citizen, which would require varying levels of work each. The people working on these are going purely at their own pace, and as it is their prerogative they may or may not hire on any of the staff upon their work's completion.

[Arbs]

Do you take some time to l, well, play the game, fly around and enjoy yourself? If yes how often? If not, you definitely should.

[edit heOccasionally. I always make sure to fly around each of the systems that I had a hand in redesigning, as well as those heavily impacted by the story, after each update. I also like joining friends when they play, or snarking around on a few random characters of mine. In terms of frequency, I aim for at least once a week. This varies depending on how obligated I feel to attend to inRL work or dev stuff.re]

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"If your heart is filled with faith, then you can't fear."

Fleet Admiral Alan Jones

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[SnakThree]

How is attention distributed across factions and regions?
As such, it is not, per se. We maintain three "storyboards" which are a way to track inter-factional storyline progression across Sirius. One is for "territory" factions, another is "ULs, QLs, and Guilds", while the third is for corporations. The first is the "easiest" to prepare for as that directly affects the landscape of Sirius.

The only factions truly lacking are shipping corporations, who don't do much in the way of conquering or whatnot. They'll build bases or buy others, but that doesn't happen with every corporate every update. One could potentially presume that their House's military progression affects them enough.

Sometimes there will be a specialty unlawful or quasilawful (such as the Hogosha) which will be left out of an update cycle because there's nothing that we (devs) or the consulted faction leaders/representatives/lore guys have come up with. This hasn't been true for the Hogosha but unfortunately about two or three of these for each 4.88 and 4.89. We're working on having a system asset affected for each of the seventy factions across 4.90, but it can be tricky. For the common player, it's important to know that we/I do care, and we do try, for every faction.

What is the real story behind Gallia's Gates and Lanes?
Not the Gallic Junkers infiltrating Sirian Junkers to steal Ageira Technologies' data, that's for sure. I don't have a solid answer for the real story, although I would certainly like to iron it out at some point. There was a big discussion a long time ago about having multiple Valhallas, for completely unrelated reasons. I'd say that the two most likely explanations are that Gallia discovered another one of these, OR instead (not requiring Nomad spookiness in order to have nice things) Solar Engineering managed to invent them on their own.

Who is (more) responsible for POB balance and POB-made equipment.
Balance Department developers are generally charged with all gameplay balance, however modifications to the POB paradigm are usually consensus decisions by all the Department Heads and occasionally the Admins. Most changes must be within the abilitis of the FLHook guys to do, however.

Why are there so many issues with launched patches? Are they not being overviewed and tested before going live?
There are a lot of minutiae in patching, and a lot for people to learn. As for faulty changes, yes, they should be properly tested.

When can we expect more moneysink equipment and consummable ammunition?
Good question. I've been a proponent for variety in this area and will poke relevant developers appropriately.

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[Teerin]

Again, answered until now. Please keep 'em coming!

[GrnRaptor]

When are the Unione Corse finally getting their long promised VHF?

I often wonder the same thing. Hopefully soon, before 2018.

[Freeroamer]

What does it take to become a developer, What sorts of skills are in demand?

Depends on the department/role. System modding is a whole thing of its own. FLHook requires prior knowledge with object-oriented programming, as it's based loosely on C++. Story development requires writing experience, spreadsheets familiarity, and a ton of patience. PvP Balance and effects require .ini knowledge; effects and models require certain artistic skills. Generally we ask that applicants understand the structure of the team, agree to take prerogative to help train themselves as needed, stick around for a while, etc.. It's good for people to realize not only what to improve, but how to improve, as they're learning the skills needed for what they want to do.

Sorry that it's a very broad answer, it's a very broad question.

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[JorgeRyan]

What's your favorite ship(s) for each class? (Fighter, Freighter, GB, Cruiser, BS)

My favorite fighter might be the Nyx. Bomber is definitely the Jaguar Noir. Freighter is the Courier. Gunboat is the Defiant. I can't say for the cruiser since my experience there is limited to the LSC. I like that ship, plus I find the design of the Hel aesthetically pleasing. It would be neat for that special Liberty recon cruiser to see more use, too. Battleship? I really cannot say much about these as well, but the Murmillo and Togo look neat ... I've flown a Zepyhr, Atlantis, and Overlord only a handful of times.

I'll add on that I like messing around in my Plier SHF, and I like the l'Ane, Serenity, Shishapangma, Bison, and Lucullus transports. I want to see the Celestra get more overall use, and at some point I want to buy a Palace Royal Cruise Liner.