EDIT: I've since done a video with my take on Master Modes and how I expect it to affect the flight experience: https://youtu.be/rrSpBYPRk0I First of all a huge thanks to all the developers for sharing insight into their hard work over the past year! It’s been a thrilling ride and I couldn’t be more grateful for enjoying everything SC already has to offer alongside the many friends I’ve made since I joined. Specifically in relation to the space flight and racing experience, I love to share my SC adventures and ideas on YouTube. Right now the newly introduced Master Modes is a hot topic and frankly, I think it is hard to form a good opinion without some more insight into the functionality. It might be a little early for all this but with all the debate going on… Here goes… 1 Q: Does SCM limit max speed or max acceleration? 1a Q: If speed… Is this a ship specific fixed value that is the same whether you’re in space, low density atmo or high density atmo? 1b Q: If acceleration… how does this gradient work from space to dense atmo? Will I have a faster top speed on Daymar (low density) as opposed to Microtech (high density)? The concern is that a limit in general feels artificial and gamey, a hard speed limit more than anything. 2 Q: If we are travelling 1000m/s in QCM and toggle to SCM, will systems force my ship to slow down or can I coast in space and maintain the momentum? The concern is that SCM will artificially limit speed and force a slow down instead of just limiting acceleration power where coasting is still possible depending on atmospherics or space. We see this in another space game which diminishing the more mature flight experience greatly. 3 Q: What does it mean going from a spherical boost formula to a formula where MAVs and retros receive debuffs? Is this a complicated way of saying that main engine thrust has a stronger boost multiplier than the other thrusters or is it more complicated and ship vector, speed and orientation dependant? The confusion comes from the statement “going forward, the boost is faster”. What is forward when we spin 180 while maintaining a decoupled vector for example, flying in reverse. 4 Q: When boosting, we can go past SCM top speed until boost is released. Does releasing boost automatically slow down your ship and does this slow down also occur in space or do we retain the momentum if there is no drag? The confusion comes from the artificial limitation this implies that makes little sense in a vacuum. This also gives the impression again that we are talking about a hard speed limit as opposed to an acceleration limit. 5 Q: In QCM, are there any limitations to normal flight thrust acceleration/maneuvrability/agility/rotationals as compared to SCM? We know that we cannot boost in QCM but if overal agility remains the same without a speed limit, what stops a racer from simply racing in QCM and going much faster around a track as compared to speed limiting with boost in SCM? We know that straight line speed often wins out over slower top speed ships with more agility around turns (looking at you, Herald). With this question I’m hoping to get more insight into how CIG compares SCM and QCM since the goal is that you do all of your none-travel stuff in SCM. But I feel that QCM will be faster to the racer which might not be intended. Especially in low atmo or space environments where low speed limits have a more extreme effect, going QCM will be faster. 6 Q: Adding a relatively low top speed (especially in space) feels more gamey than what has been the approach to space flight so far. This is pretty scary. We LOVE the free Newtonian way of space flight where overspeeding is a rookie mistake that only ace pilots overcome. How does CIG feel about this and how do you plan to stay true to some of these important experiences of SC space flight? Artificial limitations feel like baby wheels. Especially when they can be overcome by toggling a gamey mode that requires an in-lore quantum bubble to be activated even if it’s just to unlock the maximum speed. It’s hard to “believe”, or “accept” and ruins the immersion a little. “Why do I need to have this quantum bubble mode activated just to float through space faster?. I’m not touching quantum boost.” One thing I expect is that fast flying enthusiasts (hooning/hard flying) will likely whip around locations in QCM just so they can experience the exhilarating high speeds, at the cost of having no access to boost or shields. 7 Q: Understanding your goal of slowing down combat speeds, I would like to make the suggestion of an additional Master Mode: PCM. Performance Flight Mode would give the pilot access to flight with boost and without speed limits, at the cost of having no access to their weapons or countermeasures. There could be a substantial cool-down or other penalty in place that makes it extremely unlikely or outright impossible for a pilot to hot swap this throughout combat. It feels like there are ways of flight that fall in between your current Master Modes. - (SCM) A racer doesn’t need weapons but hates artificial speed limits, however… - (QCM) a racer doesn’t need access to quantum travel either. PCM seems to me like it would be the perfect middle ground that also applies really well to snub fighters that lack a Quantum Drive. Now you don't need to "gimmick" the QCM system to work for a snub and you find yourself with a much better fitting solution. In conclusion I want to add that, a bunch of these question might come across as very “racing” focused but do very much apply to a broader part of experiencing Star Citizen flight. There will be a lot of people that enjoy flying around at high speed across the surface of a low atmosphere planet like Daymar or a space station like Everus Harbor and having your speed restricted artificially OR having boost taken away so you can go faster, will feel more arcadey than we’re used to. I feel like there is a middle ground missing here. Not all of us choose between combat OR travel. Thank you so much as always, for sharing so openly what you’re working on, your passions and for your direct engagement with all the many different communities out there! BlackMaze