Star Citizen Info Thread

[Redglyph]

They can and do all that now, and charge for all of it piecemeal. If anyone complains about the quality of what they're playing or the 5 fps, they can just say "it's in development."

But I think they could keep doing that even if they released it officially. Such models already exist, Eagle Dynamics do that with DCS simulator, or Laminar Research with X-Plane. It's in constant evolution even though it's released.

With DCS there are stable and beta branches, new aircraft modules are released now and then (not everyday, those are quite complex add-ons), with an Early Access phase, there are periods where campaigns or modules are broken (even on the stable branch). Of course people are not always happy, but they stay because they know it'll improve, and overall it's been working pretty well for years.

No microtransaction, virtual money and so on, of course, they're honest sims.

 

[Morrandir]

Looks like Shroud of the Avatar found a worthy spiriutal successor.

 

[JFarrell71]

But I think they could keep doing that even if they released it officially. Such models already exist, Eagle Dynamics do that with DCS simulator, or Laminar Research with X-Plane. It's in constant evolution even though it's released.

There are expectations that come along with releasing a game that don't come with calling it a beta, early access, or whatever term you want to use.

 

[TheDart]

So, still hopeful this will come out before I die - though it's taking even longer than I would have expected. Well, not really - but I guess I've finally accepted just how long it's going to take - rather than being hopeful CIG will ever meet one of their date-related goals

Meaning I'm no longer following it closely - but just enough to recognize that they're still making excellent progress. But it's still going to be several years before anything resembling a beta is going to be out.

SQ42 really does seem relatively close to the finish line, but there's no way I'm going to speculate on a release date. I'm just not going there anymore with this game.

Anyway, if anyone is genuinely interested in just how ridiculously ambitious they're being with this game - here's a new video of my favorite CIG designer Tony Z - that goes into some detail about the Universe simulation systems. This guy is insane when it comes to design/mechanics talent - and he's essentially spent the past 7 years designing the systems responsible for basically simulating an entire universe with a level of detail that's far, far ahead of anything else that ever was in gaming:

 

[joxer]

So, still hopeful this will come out before I die

I don't see a problem.
You'll play it from afterlife.

 

[Carnifex]

I stopped reading the updates some time ago, I just chuck them into the spam file, now. I'll be frankly amazed if we ever get a single player game out of this entire fiasco, mark my words.

 

[TheDart]

I stopped reading the updates some time ago, I just chuck them into the spam file, now. I'll be frankly amazed if we ever get a single player game out of this entire fiasco, mark my words.

Oh, we will.

The real question is will enough people have access to their 3080s before it happens!

 

[Carnifex]

As you say. For now, I'll continue plodding along in Pathfinder and Pantheon, whenever the bloody servers are up! =p

 

[TheDart]

As you say. For now, I'll continue plodding along in Pathfinder and Pantheon, whenever the bloody servers are up! =p

Pantheon the MMO? Now there's a game that's questionable when it comes to an actual release happening

 

[Redglyph]

Anyway, if anyone is genuinely interested in just how ridiculously ambitious they're being with this game - here's a new video of my favorite CIG designer Tony Z - that goes into some detail about the Universe simulation systems. This guy is insane when it comes to design/mechanics talent - and he's essentially spent the past 7 years designing the systems responsible for basically simulating an entire universe with a level of detail that's far, far ahead of anything else that ever was in gaming:

That must be quite fun to develop!
Don't show that to Vincke Swen though, or he'll make Baldur's Gate 3 an MMO just to build similar tools

 

[Carnifex]

Considering I've been playing it on and off, in different incarnations for the past four years, at least it does exist. Whether or not it actually launches for real is anyone's guess at this time, yet as long as the current servers are maintained and I can play it a few hours per week, I'll be content.

 

[TheDart]

Considering I've been playing it on and off, in different incarnations for the past four years, at least it does exist. Whether or not it actually launches for real is anyone's guess at this time, yet as long as the current servers are maintained and I can play it a few hours per week, I'll be content.

Well, I've been playing Star Citizen for significantly longer than that

Doesn't really change much in terms of how people perceive it, though.

I'm hopeful Pantheon will be out eventually - but I personally doubt it'll be able to stay afloat, even if it does.

I think the ship has sailed on that kind of game long ago, but I could be wrong.

 

[Carnifex]

At least I'm on that boat, with numerous life preservers, if necessary

 

[Redglyph]

If you want to try Star Citizen…

Star Citizen Celebrates Annual Ship Showdown Event with One-week of Free Game Access and Test Flights for the Community’s Favorite Ships

[. . .]
The Star Citizen Ship Showdown is a month-long celebration of galactic proportions where players around the world vote for their favorite vessels and spacecraft designs in the ‘verse. Players campaign for their favorite ships with original videos, songs, miniature, photos, and more. You can find an archive of the best community creations celebrating their favorite ships, here. The second phase of the event sees 16 of the most popular ships competing in a head-to-head bracket vote.

To celebrate the conclusion of this annual celebration, developer CIG welcomes new players with free access to download and play Star Citizen along with free access to Ship Showdown’s final four ships for both new and existing pilots. Those who have any of the final four ships with the most votes can also look forward to additional prizes including an exclusive in-game skin and leather jacket, while the ultimate winner will also receive a manufacturer-themed in-game backpack.
[. . .]

EDIT: the gremlins are probably quotes, I'm not fixing them

 

[JDR13]

I'm tempted to try it just out of curiosity. Any idea how much content is complete? I haven't paid any attention to this project in quite awhile.

 

[Moriendor]

I'm tempted to try it just out of curiosity. Any idea how much content is complete? I haven't paid any attention to this project in quite awhile.

Of the promised content? Impossible to say since the promised scope remains insane. They have maybe "finished" a very small single digit percentage (2%?) of the game in total and that's a very generous estimate.
For example, 100 star systems were promised for launch as per the $6 million stretch goal. There is still only a single star systems, albeit fairly well fleshed out by now with many individual locations.

Many other gameplay systems are missing. They promised very detailed and intricate gameplay systems for every ship type and pretty much none of that has materialized beyond a basic form yet.

An excerpt of the missing gameplay systems just by ship/ship type would be: Smuggling, bounty-hunting, trading (you can trade in the current game but they promised a much more sophisticated in-game economy), exploration, mining, salvaging, science & research, piracy, electronics warfare, tourism/passenger transportation, and the list goes on and on… it's insane.

In typical CIG fashion they have promised super-deep, super-detailed systems, too, and going by the current pace of development over the last ten years we are easily and without exaggeration talking decades more of development work before those gameplay systems will ever be finished at the promised level of detail and quality.

Of course free is free so it's safe to give it a shot and try for yourself. I'm a day 1 backer, got suckered into it by the hype back in the day and backed the game with a substantial amount in 2012. I am disgusted with the project and its leadership because of all the lies over the years. For me, it's easily the biggest disappointment ever in my gaming life.

 

[Couchpotato]

Honestly it seems they don't want to finish both games.

Sure they have content so you can't call it a scam, but they have no incentive to actually finish. At this point the company is like a machine that needs a constant cash flow.

As they have to many employees to pay and high operating costs.

So it's easier to sell an insane amount of early DLC for more cash on top of the billions raised already from kickstarter, and other investor's. Wait smells like a ponzi scam.

 

[JDR13]

For example, 100 star systems were promised for launch as per the $6 million stretch goal. There is still only a single star systems, albeit fairly well fleshed out by now with many individual locations.

Surely they didn't mean 100 hand-crafted systems though, right? Because that would be insane. Wasn't the plan to use some kind of procedural generation for the majority of them?

 

[Moriendor]

Surely they didn't mean 100 hand-crafted systems though, right? Because that would be insane. Wasn't the plan to use some kind of procedural generation for the majority of them?

Not from the beginning, no.
Procedural generation was a buzzword that came up in… like, 2015, maybe …see, it's hard to remember when looking back at a decade of development .

When the $6 million stretch goal* was reached, no one knew in their wildest imagination that the project would take more than a decade and raise almost $400 million eventually (we're at $386 million as of this post).

At the time of the $6 million stretch goal, Roberts was always talking about being able to deliver his full grand vision with a budget of around $20 - $23 million. The idea for the star systems was definitely much more basic back then. Think Freelancer with its kiosk system but you would be able to land and walk around the landing pad using the different locations in 1st person.

The "vision" shifted significantly when SC blew through the $20 million budget like a hot knife through butter. That's when Roberts started talking about dreams of much more fleshed out planets and star systems.

So, eventually they introduced the concept of procedural generation. I just looked it up and my guess wasn't too bad. It was indeed in 2015 when they showed off this trailer.

I remember that they delayed the introduction of a second star system several times because of technical difficulties. They just could not get the transition (space travel between systems) to work. It was then delayed indefinitely and to this day there is only a single system that gets expanded with new locations on a regular basis.

So, maybe instead of a space game with 100 star systems we will instead be ending up with a game with one star system and 100 locations … and Chris Roberts will sell it to people as if this was always the original plan anyway .



* Here is the full list of stretch goals.

 

[Redglyph]

I'm tempted to try it just out of curiosity. Any idea how much content is complete? I haven't paid any attention to this project in quite awhile.

I have to admit I completely lost track of this game, even though I have pledged a little ship a few years back. :lol: Waiting for reviews on SQ42 once it's considered finished enough.

It's a good opportunity to have a look, even if it requires some time to get into the game and maybe some hardware to enjoy it (at least a joystick or a game controller with analogue sticks).