Star Citizen - $500,000,000 raised

[Morrandir]

@DArtagnan , I don't follow the project, so I hardly know anything about the game itself. Can you sum up briefly (! ) what makes or will make this game special?

 

[NFLed]

I'll continue to look forward to this game but no more so than many other games. I worry that when the game is ready for full release in X years (or X decades?) its technology will be so far behind the curve that it might not be fun to play compared to many other games of its day. And/or a concern that another similar-though-much-less-expensive game would already be released which is just better.

(singing) "In the year 2525, games will need to do a lot to survive, ..."

(very old man voice) "Back in my day when I was young games used to cost only $500mil and took 20 years to make! You young whippersnappers have it easy!"

 

[Couchpotato]

I only know of a few games that cost over $100 million to develop. That doesn't include the marketing cost either. The budget raised for this game has to be record breaking.

 

[Ripper]

I wonder if there's any credible data behind these claimed figures, or if it's just the ticker on the RSI website. Perish the thought that they might not entirely be on the up-and-up, but one can see how there might be a motive to misrepresent the finances.

One thing I find curious is that they went from $400 million last November, to 500 now. Who the hell has put a hundred million bucks into it over the last year?

Not saying it's impossible, but it all seems a bit weird.

 

[Carnifex]

Thieves will be thieves, just learn a valuable lesson and don't give these ass clowns another damn penny.

 

[Zloth]

... never again.

Think we would even get a chance at that?? I don't know if I'll be alive when Star Citizen 2 shows up, but I really doubt I'll be able pull off action games by that point.

 

[Silver]

I'll just wait for release. I wonder when that will be? Maybe just before Man lands on Mars?

 

[SveNitoR]

To me a giant problem with this game, apart from it probably being a decade from completion, is that it might not even be fun when it releases.

Some people say: "If they pull it off it will be amazing!".

But will it be amazing?

Just because something is simulated very well down to minuscule proportions, doesn't mean it is fun. The real world is infinitely more complicated than any computer game, and still most activities are not very fun.

 

[DArtagnan]

@DArtagnan , I don't follow the project, so I hardly know anything about the game itself. Can you sum up briefly (! ) what makes or will make this game special?

Not in this thread, that would be like explaining why western democracy is not that bad at a communist rally led by Putin himself

But anyone genuinely interested can easily educate themselves by watching a couple of the less partial YouTube videos.

As I said, it's less despised these days and there are fewer hit pieces saturating the scene.

But there's no video out there that can explain to the average Joe why the most ambitious game of all time is taking so long or why the millions of backers keep funding it.

That's something one must decide for oneself and the easier answers also come easier. The cult theory or they're all morons etc.

 

[Morrandir]

But anyone genuinely interested can easily educate themselves by watching a couple of the less partial YouTube videos.

Well, I had hoped to be able to do without that.
Also I'd rather have an opinion from someone I "know".

But there's no video out there that can explain to the average Joe why the most ambitious game of all time is taking so long or why the millions of backers keep funding it.

I'm totally not interested in the project or the controversy about it. I just wanted to know about the game.

 

[DArtagnan]

Well, I had hoped to be able to do without that.
Also I'd rather have an opinion from someone I "know".


I'm totally not interested in the project or the controversy about it. I just wanted to know about the game.

If you're totally not interested - what's the incentive to explain anything? I'm struggling to see it

But I'll give it a shot.

I'm not going to list all the features and technology involved - as that's exhaustive and I will miss many of them.

Also, the game isn't finished - so I can't talk about what's special about something that doesn't yet exist in its final form.

I would say the alpha has reached a stage where only the most ignorant can ignore what's special about its potential (and many of the already implemented features), if nothing else - if they actually try it during free-fly.

I can talk about what I think is special about the intended design, the ambition and why I think it's fully possible to achieve.

It's really about the fidelity of the simulation and the attitude of the people involved, more than anything.

The uncompromising attention to detail - but always with the focus on what's fun and what will serve the ultimate vision.

Many of those things won't seem necessary or even remotely fun to people who don't understand what they're going for - which I think is key.

There's nothing "brief" that I can say that will make you understand my position, I don't think.

But if you (genuinely) feel like it - this is a good demonstration of the level of fidelity involved - and the kind of designers they have working on the game:

You won't get it by watching 10 minutes - you have to watch most of it, so if you're only superficially interested - I can't help you understand.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8VFw1F-olQ

 

[SirJames]

@DArtagnan , I don't follow the project, so I hardly know anything about the game itself. Can you sum up briefly (! ) what makes or will make this game special?

Star Citizen is an online space-sim MMORPG.

Special features! You can walk around in spaceship interiors.
Special business model! Never-ending crowd-funding of a game that doesn't come out.

You are now a Star Citizen expert.

 

[Redglyph]

@Morrandir Something that is quite unique is the continuous sim-like experience.

Your avatar leaves his apartment, wanders around to buy stuff and get missions, teams up, walks to the ship, aboard and sits in the pilot's chair (or as a passenger), then for the pilot it switches to the ship controls with convincing physics. And there again, the travel is continuous as you exit the atmosphere and visit orbital stations or go further. Combats can happen on foot or in the ship.

Most similar games are either ship-only (Elite), or 1st/3rd-person and the ship travel is skipped (Mass Effect).

 

[DArtagnan]

BTW, it's significantly more than 500M$ - according to various sources. Here's a decent summary:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnuVP94hrTY

 

[Stingray]

BTW, it's significantly more than 500M$ - according to various sources. Here's a decent summary:

I considered mentioning this earlier in the thread. I've read a few articles in the last couple years about the amount they've raised, and they made mention of how the true total raised is around $100-200M higher than the number on the website. Didn't have any good sources to link though, so I didn't bother. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they hit $1B

 

[DArtagnan]

I considered mentioning this earlier in the thread. I've read a few articles in the last couple years about the amount they've raised, and they made mention of how the true total raised is around $100-200M higher than the number on the website. Didn't have any good sources to link though, so I didn't bother. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they hit $1B

Given the glacial rate of progress, I would estimate $1.5B at least before MVP of Star Citizen is released - especially if we count what Squadron 42 will bring to the table.

SQ42 has been making very significant progress lately, so I don't think it's THAT far off - though I've long since given up on estimating release dates for anything related to SC

 

[SirJames]

If business is going so well they make it to 1.5 billion in crowd-funding then you can be pretty sure they'll be a farther off release than ever.

 

[DArtagnan]

If business is going so well they make it to 1.5 billion in crowd-funding then you can be pretty sure they'll be a farther off release than ever.

That means the cult will have plenty of time to grow ever larger

 

[Morrandir]

Thanks for your explanations, @DArtagnan , @Redglyph , @SirJames.
I guess I understand it a bit better now.

If you're totally not interested - what's the incentive to explain anything? I'm struggling to see it

Apparently I failed to explain it properly. I'll try again:

I'm interested in the game in the sense that I'd like to know what I will actually play when I somewhen buy it as a regular player after release.

I'm not interested in the development process, the company, the fundraising, the "scam" etc.

 

[mercy]

Jesus! This is Robbery!! Also best ever Pension for Chris Roberts. 500 mil will probably will make this company a target for class action lawsuits.