The shipsize decreases when inside ?.

[MagixJonsn]

No, the interiors don't exist when you're not in them, because it would be ridiculous keeping all that geometry in memory when you don't need it, but when you enter them you are not entering a "new level" and it's not "outside the ship". When an interior exists it exists in the same "space" as the rest of the game, and it is located inside the object it's an interior for.

Someone asked earlier whether it is possible to "look out of the window" from a station interior, which is essentially the same question. Well, the answer is yes, you can, assuming that is that there's a window to look out of!

Thanks for this answer, this has bugged me since the moment I saw it. So it is loaded on request, but the location is still inside the ship. Makes sense (and would have been my 2nd guess, but wasn't sure). I'm relieved.

Though at first I was not convinced that this is the best solution (in my amateur believe): my thought process was that the cockpit has much more detail and geometry than the back, it even looks like the front cabin has about 90% more complexity than the back, therefore the 10% geometry of the back wouldn't impact so much on the performance.
With this in mind I thought it might not need so much additional memory to make the full ship walkable without section-loading. I mean for now we only have 2 small empty rooms in the back. If the interiors were more complex I would understand it a little bit better.

But enough from my side, I understand now, and if you ever makes a larger ship then the section-loading is definitely reasonable. In fact it makes the game scalable, which is great.

[Flybye]

EDIT: no 3rd person view on release is confirmed

That's really weak by EGOSOFT to remove the 3rd person viewoption from the game,....

Thank god no 3rd person view. Why do people like seeing their own bodies get in the way of seeing their environment is beyond me. But I admit they should include this option for people that love looking at their backs.

[CBJ]

Can you exit the ship in first person while undocked?

I'm fairly sure that would be bad for your health. Seriously, though, no, you can't currently go EVA.

The 'holding effect' with capital ships - does that include a modicum of gravity or are you just held still relative of the larger vessel?

No gravity.

[hourheroyes]

Incorrect. Bobucles is closer to the truth. No, the interiors don't exist when you're not in them, because it would be ridiculous keeping all that geometry in memory when you don't need it, but when you enter them you are not entering a "new level" and it's not "outside the ship". When an interior exists it exists in the same "space" as the rest of the game, and it is located inside the object it's an interior for.

I know I've heard it said that when you step away from the controls, "Yisha" (autopilot) will control the ship for you. Does this mean that if we walk into the ship interior during combat, Yisha will be fighting for us, and the ship could actually explode while we're in the loo?

Thanks for clarifying stuff for us, CBJ

[Alci]

The "back-interiors" are simply a new level outside the ship.

Incorrect. Bobucles is closer to the truth. No, the interiors don't exist when you're not in them, because it would be ridiculous keeping all that geometry in memory when you don't need it, but when you enter them you are not entering a "new level" and it's not "outside the ship". When an interior exists it exists in the same "space" as the rest of the game, and it is located inside the object it's an interior for.

I understand "load on demand". But why it is then completely different then the rest of the game? When doors are opened on the station they open. And stay opened, you can go through and look behind you. Same as going from Skunk interiors to the station. There is one instance. Ofc. the graphics is not rendered beyond even angle of view. But it looks like one instance. While getting in/out cockpit, there are not doors. You open them but you cannot see through them. There is blackout and automatic controls. You cannot even walk in cockpit area and just use seat as would be logical, you can walk only outside that solid never-opened door. This doesn't seem like load-on-demand. This seems like instance changing.

I don't actually believe even that it does exists in "same space". There is no real docking. The ship remains in space. It doesn't seem to "land". When doors are left you are already with the backward part on the station. It seems you cannot look inside the ship to see Ishka there. And when you get back to the ship you will be exactly in same place in space where you docked from. Those doors acts as teleport, teleporting you from cockpit part to station with ship model without cockpit. To another instance with completely different controls. That's not "load on demand".

And I think universe scope is unloaded. And only the fraction of things, like planets, rocks, highway, remains to create an illusion of universe. But no simulated details like police scanning ships or raider looking for you around the station.

[DaddyMonster]

Can you exit the ship in first person while undocked?

I'm fairly sure that would be bad for your health. Seriously, though, no, you can't currently go EVA.

The 'holding effect' with capital ships - does that include a modicum of gravity or are you just held still relative of the larger vessel?

No gravity.

Ah, yes, going out without the space suit is frowned upon in astronaut circles.

Thanks for that!

[Shootist]

I don't actually believe even that it does exists in "same space".

CBJ is lying? CBJ is mistaken? Which is it?

[pigeonpigeon]

I understand "load on demand". But why it is then completely different then the rest of the game? When doors are opened on the station they open. And stay opened, you can go through and look behind you. Same as going from Skunk interiors to the station. There is one instance. Ofc. the graphics is not rendered beyond even angle of view. But it looks like one instance. While getting in/out cockpit, there are not doors. You open them but you cannot see through them. There is blackout and automatic controls. You cannot even walk in cockpit area and just use seat as would be logical, you can walk only outside that solid never-opened door. This doesn't seem like load-on-demand. This seems like instance changing.

I don't actually believe even that it does exists in "same space". There is no real docking. The ship remains in space. It doesn't seem to "land". When doors are left you are already with the backward part on the station. It seems you cannot look inside the ship to see Ishka there. And when you get back to the ship you will be exactly in same place in space where you docked from. Those doors acts as teleport, teleporting you from cockpit part to station with ship model without cockpit.

You're talking about two different things. When your ship is floating around in space and you stand up from the controls and move to the back of your ship, according to CBJ your ship still exists in space where you left it and if your ship had windows in the other sections, you would be able to look outside. Unless they're being disingenuous, which I suppose is possible. I'm assuming that a seamless transition between walking mode and flying mode was more complicated than what they were willing to do, so this loading effect might be more about 'walking' vs. 'flying' than instancing.

The docking also has nothing to do with this. Who cares if your ship teleports inside the station to dock? I'd rather that than have to watch an animation every time, or something; whether the ship itself teleports during docking has no bearing on whether things are being instanced or not. And considering you can look through windows in stations and watch what's happening outside, it's obviously not instanced.

I could be wrong, I don't really know. If I get out of my chair to the rest of my ship and suddenly time freezes outside, I will be angry. I don't care how they handle the transition between flying and walking, as long as my ship continues to exist in space while I'm not in the pilot chair. I just re-watched OperationDx1's video and you're right that the docking teleportation is a little jarring, and not very elegant; I would prefer if, when re-entering your ship, your ship is in a new position consistent with being 'parked' than exactly where you left it. But it's not something that will prevent me from enjoying the game.

[CBJ]

...lots of stuff about the Skunk...

Actually, to be fair, it's true that the Skunk is a slightly special case. The differences, however, are more a matter of convenience than anything else, caused by the need to move between two different interiors, the Skunk's and that of the platform you land on. However it's still the case that when you walk down the ramp of the Skunk, you really are inside the location occupied by the landed Skunk model. It's also true that if we did allow you to walk around the ship in flight, you'd find it would look the same (apart from the ramp being up, of course) and would be inside the space occupied by the ship.

And I think universe scope is unloaded. And only the fraction of things, like planets, rocks, highway, remains to create an illusion of universe. But no simulated details like police scanning ships or raider looking for you around the station.

You can think that if you like but you'd be wrong. There is no illusion. The universe continues around you in all its glory when you are walking around an interior, in exactly the same way it does when you're flying your ship.

[CutterJohn1]

CBJ, could you make an interior that is much larger than the ship itself? Like, for instance, a TARDIS? Or will you, if you do that, see the exterior of the ship inside your space?

I'm just curious if you *have* to follow the confines of the internal layout of the ship.

[CBJ]

We could if we really wanted to, I suppose. Whether you'd actually see the exterior of the ship inside the space occupied by the interior would depend on what we chose to render, but if we enabled rendering of the exterior, then yes it would show up inside the interior!

[Alci]

"look out of the window" from a station interior... the answer is yes, you can, assuming that is that there's a window to look out of!

...There is no illusion. The universe continues around you in all its glory when you are walking around an interior, in exactly the same way it does when you're flying your ship.

ok, thanks for confirmation I will hope for some screenshot of battle from aboard capital ship but I will leave it to rest until release. Thanks

[A5PECT]

CBJ, could you make an interior that is much larger than the ship itself? Like, for instance, a TARDIS? Or will you, if you do that, see the exterior of the ship inside your space?

I'm just curious if you *have* to follow the confines of the internal layout of the ship.

I see what you're driving at.









So when does that X Rebirth Scripts and Modding forum open up?

[MegaJohnny]

We could if we really wanted to, I suppose. Whether you'd actually see the exterior of the ship inside the space occupied by the interior would depend on what we chose to render, but if we enabled rendering of the exterior, then yes it would show up inside the interior!

That sounds very authentic, thanks for the info!

[CBJ]

OK, just for fun, I checked this specific point out using development and debugging tools to get into the Skunk's interior while in space. I'm happy to confirm that the interior of the Skunk does fit within the bounds of the exterior. There is space to spare to for that door in the sitting area to lead somewhere, and the closed ramp even lines up correctly with its external surface. And yes, I flicked a few switches and was able to see the outside world.

[CutterJohn1]

We could if we really wanted to, I suppose. Whether you'd actually see the exterior of the ship inside the space occupied by the interior would depend on what we chose to render, but if we enabled rendering of the exterior, then yes it would show up inside the interior!

Cool. My concern here is obviously for modding. Being able to reuse stuff and not be overly concerned with everything fitting exactly would greatly simplify the process, since making a coherent ship design coherent between the inside and outside is a lot harder than slapping two bits together.

The idea, obviously, is some people would probably make ship interiors, and others would just make ship exteriors, and people would mix and match.

Also, I want a TARDIS!

Another question along the same lines.. Is the exterior of the ship rendered while in the cockpit view? This would simplify modding new cockpits a fair degree as well if the cockpit could be designed independently without having to worry about everything lining up correctly.

[CBJ]

Oh, there was me thinking you were calling me out on how accurate the model was.

For modding purposes, though, if there are no windows (i.e the interior is opaque) then you should be able to get away with being a little less precise than our artists have been.

[Dreez]

Well, i can't speak for the rest of the X-community, but some of the things i loved about X3
was the ability to switch to either my target's camera to get their point of perspective,
OR switch to a "glide by" camera that made it look like an awesome movie watching my
<insert shiptype> fly to while shooting in all directions.

And from what i can' understand, all of these options are now gone.
No more fan-film-making, no more awesome screenshots.

Why.. oh why, did you remove the different camera options .

[pigeonpigeon]

...lots of stuff about the Skunk...

It's also true that if we did allow you to walk around the ship in flight, you'd find it would look the same (apart from the ramp being up, of course) and would be inside the space occupied by the ship.

Wait, now I'm confused. We can't walk around the ship while in space? But we've seen people do that in videos of the game! If that's the case then what's happening here?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... azHs#t=427

And if somehow that's being cut for the launch version of the game, does that mean we'd have to land every time we want to interact with non-Yisha crew?

[stilgarpl]

Why.. oh why, did you remove the different camera options .

Two words:

Camera Drones.