The Vehicle Experience Team of Star Citizen took to the game’s official forums to field player questions in an AMA, with the devs talking up ship capacitor gameplay as well as other vehicle-related matters.
A number of answers refer to the pending arrival of ship capacitors, promising the system will change combat dynamics as well as change the balance of thrusters, shields and weapons since these systems will have to be re-balanced around the feature. The AMA also confirmed that managing heat will tie into capacitor management, with one answer noting that a protracted dogfight would build up more heat than a one minute-long fight.
In terms of overall combat meta, one answer addresses the intention of the Vehicle Design Team to further flesh out individual ship roles, as well as plans to balance some ships to get them more on par with the Talon and Vanguard, both of which are currently dominating the game’s ship combat meta. The team also plans to make the speeds at which players enter combat more important. Finally, the balance of multi-crew ships was discussed, pointing out that getting balance right is tricky as the team wrangles with how to make filling an empty seat matter while not merely making a second player improve combat performance by a factor of two.
The AMA also promised that landing cameras are in the works (and even promised the next episode of Inside Star Citizen would discuss this), confirmed that G-force exhaustion mechanics are going to make a comeback, and talked up the intended design of Missile Operator Mode and the importance of properly balancing the inherent risks and rewards of firing a player-guided torpedo. The full AMA has all of the details.
In other Star Citizen news, the ongoing XenoThreat dynamic event has hit its third phase, commanding players to fight against capital ships and fighter escorts.
