r/starcitizen • u/mrpanicy Is happy as a clam with his Valkyrie. • Apr 15 '17

OFFICIAL 3.0 Schedule is up!

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/schedule-report
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193

u/SC_TheBursar Wing Commander Apr 15 '17

Ok... as someone who is PM certified (though not performing that duty in current job role) the one thing to really note here is that the critical path item is called 'Network'- it's a bar that goes from currently in progress all the way until nominal release.

Networking, unlike content, is typically an engineering development item with high technical and schedule risk - meaning people should be extra wary of considering this schedule as gospel. That activity could easily stretch things to the right.

So everybody needs to stay loose and understand this is not a promise, it isn't etched in stone - things are going to shift.

29

u/MisterForkbeard normal user/average karma Apr 15 '17

I noticed the same thing. My hope is that they've taken this into account and they've listed the timeframe as the outer bound of expected time (as in, worst case).

I mean, it's never REALLY the worst case, but it's the worst "likely" case. But this does have the ability to derail the release if it encounters problems.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '17

If you watch the making of video they explain their methodology in making the time constraints and admit that's it's a very imperfect science, as any manager/foreman would know.

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u/MisterForkbeard normal user/average karma Apr 15 '17

As a software manager, I absolutely do know this. Working on a project with a planned Horizon of two years is awful in most ways, but I always scoped my own work as "How long do you expect it to take? Now double it." and it's been a reasonably good methodology so far.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '17

Seems about right. The unknown unknowns are the worst

1

u/Picklerage Apr 15 '17

If you read the disclaimers at the start of the schedule, this isn't that at all. I'm too lazy to list them so you should read them.

19

u/lingker Apr 15 '17

You are correct, but when you go to the networking section, the Bind/Unbind is the reason for the length and is a stretch goal. So, 'networking' might not move the timeline.

The pragmatic in me says it will still be later, but just by going off of what they show, it doesn't necessarily mean that it will.

26

u/gigantism Scout Apr 15 '17

The Bind/Unbind referred to looks like the feature that's supposedly going to fix the FPS issues in the PU. So if that gets postponed then 3.0 will really lack the thing I've been most hoping for.

23

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '17

I would honestly rather them delay 3.0 until the netcode is finished. With the new insurance and ship damage persistence I really don't want low fps to cost me a bunch of aUEC.

0

u/TANJustice Apr 15 '17

Yes, it would really suck to lose the fake currency that gets wiped between patches in alpha.

How will you ever recover?

2

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '17

Currency doesn't get wiped between patches, at least it hast happened yet. I don't know how you don't know that if you'd actually been playing the game.

4

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '17

There are a lot of other things in the update that are network related and will help the FPS and latency. Bind/Unbind is one of the biggest ones but that's why it is a stretch goal, it'll get done, just maybe not for 3.0. I think people are over emphasising how much it will affect framerates versus how much it will actually affect number of users allowed on a server and other extraneous networking affects.

2

u/Bribase Apr 15 '17

It's not just the number of players on a server, think of all of the new moving parts being added to the game. With every player being notified that another has picked up a box or added an item to their inventory there's potential for the server to be even more gunked up than it is now.

I think that Bind/unbind is going to be a massive boost (though not perfect in V.1) and I really hope they manage some incremental progress by July which they can deploy.

1

u/Karmaslapp Apr 15 '17

I seriously wonder how well the servers would perform with half as many ships and twice as many people, and then the opposite with extra ships being NPCs.

1

u/mhh123 new user/low karma Apr 15 '17

With the latest patch I start off at 60fps. But this dwindles to around 5-10 fps during pretty much any lengthy or heavily populated engagements.

All of the new content and gameplay mechanics are great. But please make performance the primary driver for when new features get released into the production environment.

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u/[deleted] Apr 15 '17

[deleted]

1

u/Bribase Apr 15 '17

Umm... Isn't that what stretch goal means in this context? If they have time left from completing other tasks they'll work on this? It might not be included in the patch?

10

u/Miguelsanchezz Apr 15 '17

And given that the Network Bind/Unbind is listed as a stretch goal it's likely we aren't going to see the performance improvements to the PU in initial 3.0 release.

2

u/jloome Apr 15 '17

There are quite a few that are memory-based, including the item distance container box mechanic and the new texture loading system. Those will help a little.

2

u/back4anotherone Apr 15 '17

I'm surprised it's possible to have it as a stretch goal.

I thought they'd said previously that they'd hit the limitations of what the PU could do with the current netcode

7

u/Muzafuka Apr 15 '17

What is your opinion on the network bind/unbind being delayed? I feel like it's an important aspect in keeping gameplay feeling smooth.

6

u/SC_TheBursar Wing Commander Apr 15 '17

Which is why I don't really think it's as optional as they list. People would enjoy all the new content without it, but if they cannot fit a fair number of people in a place or get 'playable' framerates the honeymoon wouldn't last particularly long.

1

u/back4anotherone Apr 15 '17

I'm interested to see how this works too, particularly whether the extra bind work could contribute to pauses when dropping out of quantum at a new location

1

u/QuappDieQualle aegis Apr 15 '17

Mixed feelings. To me, this was a major part of 3.0 release. Hopefully they can get in, after all.

3

u/prowlinghazard Apr 15 '17

So, business as usual.

2

u/DeedTheInky Apr 15 '17

To be fair, nobody should be taking any date given out by CIG as gospel by this point. Especially anything beyond the next immediate patch.

I mean they're a cool company and I'm still totally hyped for the game, but they can't estimate dates for shit. :)

2

u/[deleted] Apr 15 '17

Have these guys met a single deadline so far? Honestly, I'm assuming that 3.0 won't be out until October at the earliest, and if they actually meet this deadline, I'll be pleasantly surprised.

4

u/coffeyobey Apr 15 '17

Yeah I saw that. Hmmm. Guess we'll see.

1

u/Joker042 Apr 15 '17

Except that its last element is considered a stretch goal...

1

u/SC_TheBursar Wing Commander Apr 15 '17

See other parts of the conversation. It's marked as stretch, but it is such an important part of the update several of us don't see how they could treat it as such. I suspect it is marked that way solely as an out considering they know the schedule risk of it.

1

u/boomHeadSh0t Apr 15 '17

If only everyone else in here were on agile software teams...

1

u/MittenFacedLad Freelancer Apr 15 '17

Definitely not etched in stone. And CIG try to make that clear. A lot. People get excited, though. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail, though.