StarCitizen:WillsOp

WillsOp (also known as WillsOp Systems) is a StarCitizen:human limited liability corporation that produces spacecraft targeting system hardware and software. Established in StarCitizen:2902 in the StarCitizen:Croshaw system, it followed a strict policy of using no shared source code, which produced a more stable but more closed platform than its competitors. The firm saw limited market success until 2922, when a computer virus infected the firmware updates of many major ship manufacturers and locked shipboard sensor suites to grayscale mode. Because of its different coding systems, the virus failed to infect WillsOp-made sensor operating systems, and many security-minded companies opened contracts with the firm, greatly increasing its share of the market.<ref name="galactapedia">Template:Cite RSI</ref>

History

The corporation's first project was a multi-million StarCitizen:UEC bid to develop sensor rigging for the StarCitizen:UEE Navy's Carrier-Based Strike contract, the spacecraft design proposal that ultimately resulted in the Gladiator bomber. Lacking name recognition and any technological pedigree, WillsOp's bid failed in favor of the DiSys D-33 MultiSuite (long since replaced on active-duty StarCitizen:Gladiators). The company's founders briefly considered disbanding, but decided to continue.<ref name="portfolio">Template:Cite RSI</ref>

WillsOp settled in for the long term, competing on the civilian market as a higher-end third-party upgrade option. For two decades, the company went largely unnoticed. It signed no first-party contracts and was viewed as a reliable but generally unspectacular option. That changed in StarCitizen:2922.<ref name="portfolio" />

On August 9, 2922, a digital plague began to spread from spacecraft to spacecraft. Broadcast from an unmarked sensor buoy parked in geostationary orbit within sublight broadcasting distance of Terra's second-largest trade lane, a signal began to move across the system. Within hours, hundreds of ships were carrying an unnoticed software slot-in, and within a week the package had unknowingly spread to a dozen star systems.<ref name="portfolio" />

DeathGrrrr struck with a virus designed to infiltrate the shared code found in most sensor systems and timed to strike simultaneously around the galaxy. The attack did not disable spacecraft, something that would have been difficult given inherent safety backups unrelated to sensor suites, but it locked every infected sensor suite to grayscale mode. Traffic ground to a halt until a fix could be reached, and billions of StarCitizen:UEC in shipping were lost.<ref name="portfolio" />

DeathGrrrr was never captured or identified, and it remains unknown whether the attack was intended as a prank or something more sinister. An analysis of the software and the drone turned up nothing, but the method of infection was clear: a small worm script delivered directly to common-core code. The principal beneficiary of the situation was WillsOp.<ref name="portfolio" />

Because of its unique code, WillsOp's sensors were unaffected by the attack. The company became a household name and its sales rose sharply. Some newscasters suggested that the company might even be behind the attack. By the end of the fiscal year, WillsOp had captured a 35% share of the private spacecraft sensor market, up from under 1%. With the additional revenue, the company diversified, building physical radars and scanners in addition to continued development of its proprietary software.<ref name="portfolio" />

A market leader across sensor technology, WillsOp is routinely pursued by top-level spacecraft designs, and certain top-of-the-line designs ship with its technology as a default install. The military also became a customer, and WillsOp packages are standard in several advanced UEE spacecraft.<ref name="portfolio" />

Manufacturing

Targeting

WillsOp's prime seller is the StarCitizen:P3 Autocompensator, an aftermarket software installation that can be configured for almost any current-year civilian spacecraft, from a StarCitizen:Drake StarCitizen:Herald to a StarCitizen:MISC StarCitizen:Hull D. The P3 is one of the best target-tracking systems on the market, capable of direct tracking of up to three spacecraft and, with an attached and required WillsOp device, passive tracking of up to 512 ships in a standard interaction sphere. Videogame designer StarCitizen:Original Systems has licensed the P3 interface design for its StarCitizen:Arena Commander game, and the P3 comes standard with all trainer ships.<ref name="portfolio" />

StarCitizen:Origin Jumpworks GmbH has signed an agreement with WillsOp making it the exclusive supplier of custom-designed targeting systems for the StarCitizen:Origin StarCitizen:325a spacecraft variant. The WillsOp-designed system premieres with the 2944 model of the StarCitizen:325a.<ref name="portfolio" />

Tracking

In addition to direct targeting systems, WillsOp produces passive tracking systems that have become an industry standard. Where a targeting suite focuses on extracting as much information as possible about a single target, tracking systems keep track of everything else in a given area. WillsOp's trackers can make dozens of identifiers (limited only by range) available for instant targeting.<ref name="portfolio" />

While any WillsOp targeting suite requires proprietary WillsOp tracking software to function, the tracker itself is manufacturer-neutral. WillsOp trackers are produced in OEM models and made available at cost to spacecraft manufacturers, with the aim of introducing users to the WillsOp ecosystem before they select an aftermarket targeting system.<ref name="portfolio" />

Deep-space radar

After nearly four decades, WillsOp secured a long-term UEE military contract. It partnered with StarCitizen:Anvil Aerospace and the StarCitizen:UEE Navy to manufacture both the structure and the software for the StarCitizen:LongLook Radar system installed in every StarCitizen:F7A-R Hornet Tracker. The dome-like enclosure installs in the Hornet's upper turret slot, replacing the movable guns with a powerful radar.<ref name="portfolio" /><ref name="galactapedia" />

The LongLook offers a wide battlefield view in a single-seat fighter, with the processing power to track fleet movements and coordinate squadron-level engagements. A civilian model of the LongLook is also available and can be installed in any Hornet model in place of the standard cargo container, with some impact on performance.<ref name="portfolio" />

Safety mechanisms put in place since the DeathGrrrr attack have allowed other software systems to flourish again. Observers frequently cite WillsOp's lack of specialty or boutique sensor options, such as metal-penetrative mining scanners, as a source of lost revenue. WillsOp has remained focused on standard sensor equipment.<ref name="portfolio" />

References

<references />