Star Citizen Live: Q&A Contested Zones and Asteroid Bases

Join us for another Q&A session featuring the Frankfurt Level Design Team, who will answer your questions about Contested Zones and Asteroid Bases coming in Alpha 4.0.

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Roberts Space Industries is a spacecraft manufacturer within the persistent-world game "Star Citizen" and its companion single-player spaceflight sim, "Squadron 42." RSI is also your portal for information, updates, and purchases of your very own spacecraft with which to trade, plunder, and protect the citizens of Star Citizen.

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[tyller]

Questions/Time Stamps
4:54 What's the plan for all the new locations so that they do not end up being "boring bunkers" with the same missions on a loop?
6:51 With contested zones, what's being done to avoid bottlenecks and other obvious camping spots?
13:22 How widely spread are these contested zones in asteroid bases around the pyro system?
16:00 With asteroid bases, will there be asteroid bases without enemy NPCs or non-violent gameplay as well?
17:35 Are there plans, or does the tool set allow for the creation of non-derelict asteroid bases?
20:16 How will we be able to extract something from the contested zones if people spawn right next to it and are back in one to two minutes after we kill them?
22:26 Will there be multiple ways in and out?
22:34 Traps?
24:21 What group sizes are contested zones designed around?
26:30 Will asteroid bases appear as quantum markers always or is exploration stuff necessary to travel to them?
28:47 Kopions? Are these placeholders later to be replaced by more fitting creatures?
32:16 Will some contested zones vary in terms of difficulty and overall loot?
35:11 What's the ghost thing?
35:37 Do contested zones have one main objective or are there different areas with things to gain from each of them?
37:03 "Mop spear" wants to marry a sand worm?
37:25 Will asteroid bases have any enclosed docks that would handle a capital size ship?
39:20 Why did you do the asteroid bases by hand instead of with procedural tools?
42:00 Will we be able to manipulate the environment of contested zones, like turn on or off gravity?
47:28 What kind of rewards are there from the contested zones?
51:26 Are asteroid bases, as gameplay locations, a precursor in test for player owned asteroid bases?
52:14 How do you envision contested zones evolving over time to prevent them from becoming static content?
53:31 Will contested zones have any time pressures that players must manage?
56:21 For both asteroid bases and contested zones, how varied will they be from base to base?
58:19 What lessons, if any, from other games, have informed your approach to creating what is your first version of that kind of experience with asteroid bases and contested zones?

[Uhpgradde]

Please remove the non-interactable set pieces from player hangars. They are blocking meaningful use of the space.

[Gundobald]

Please consider adding spaces on planets and in space around the areas to “ hide” our ships. Like small caves or outcroppings or crevices amongst asteroids.

My ship shut down should not be detectable parked on a rock or stuck in a cave.

And how about some camo shrouds we can place over the ships to further reduce detection

[ksl-]

I really want a random truck stop / diner combo deep in the middle of nowhere in space. That has always been one of my favorite scifi space tropes.

[HK]

Asteroid Bases are what I call "Space Man Caves"...

[tripsquared_greenworks]

The pet Kopian idea is so cool. My character I made, for the character creation contest, was a circus Kopian trainer. She trained them to do tricks at her day job. In her off time, she uses the Kopians to help hunt down bad people who have bounties on their head.

[TheCoreGameplay]

I'm so excited about the rarer loot. If things happens like you guys say it's going to be a really good start 👌

[rupert]

We need a face hugger trap!!! Take my money, CIG!

[ddavis]

Why didn't you guys answer the second most upvoted question on if the asteroid bases are coming to the Aaron halo or around Stanton?

[HarDaper]

there is a certain experience that can be had when playing solo in a MP game like SC has been made out to be becoming... if put into the context of a quasi survival game of this scope. living off grid solo or in very small groups becomes emergent gameplay for some, and through this emergent gameplay the base concept of the game is given different meaning, for some. as, when this logic is used, "survival" becomes skills of stealth, resource collection, and careful faction alignment.

the simple act of progressing as a solo character based at an LZ or LEO would have its own challenges. maintaining a character around an LZ solo for any length of time would require some skill and planning, some of which would include factoring in gank squads, general shenanigans, and maintaining a clear crime stat. this is a real RP thing for a lot of people, and not something that should just be factored out on the basis of "it's an MMO"...

Co Op should be encouraged, but optional at the cost of the solo player effectively consciously choosing to play hide and seek, while also having to accept that their personal skill level dictates the level of contracts they can complete out of the contracts provided to them as they are working without a safety net, then budgeting for ships and apartments out of their potential income.

[valorunkommon]

Ooo, domesticated kopions confirmed 😂. Can't wait to have one on the ship!

[APHEX]

What about death of the spaceman with those PVP "extraction" areas? Isn't that really bad because you loose renown and maybe die forever? Did I miss something?

[Stone_Paladin_]

Happy Birthday Jared, Thank you for some great insight into SC, and a few chuckles. :)

[aligoogle]

Wish you a cool vacation Jared and thanx for the amazing work 💙 and...HAPPY BIRTHDAY 🎉🎉🥳🥳🥳

[seanLeprechaun]

RE: Griefing vs. PVP: For me it boils down to people who are no longer trying to win, they're trying to make you lose. If you're camping a door because your team mates are doing something to further the objective and you're trying to slow down/stop opposition, that's PVP. If you're camping an entrance because you think it's funny to just kill people who are trying to experience the game, that's griefing. The fact that these asshats are mixed in with people who are genuinely trying to PVP is what makes PVP environments so unappealing to me.

[NecroBones]

I'm very thankful for Jared's clarifications and disclaimers for exactly the stated reason. There are still lots of misconceptions circulating around due to things that were misunderstood many years ago, but the rumors never die. Anything we can do to lessen the impact of misinformation and misunderstanding is helpful.

[Kehlvowen]

Happy Birthday Jared!
From one citizen of the stars to another, looking forward to another year of your shows.

[KombatKrab]

Part of being prepared for a high risk high reward operation is education. With the equipment you choose to use, the situations you can encounter.

[EmanuelSpader]

I would really like to hear CIG explain why they are adding so much convenience to Pyro. Places to refuel, places to restock on food and supplies, places to rearm. I think they are actively taking away the sandbox from Pyro by doing this. It's turning into a theme park

[GMDobson]

Why dont they just make Bacta for regeneration beds where it runs out after x respawns.