OS Neutral Star Citizen (open-universe space sim) is moving into its last day of crowd funding!

[stiligFox]

Yea, I can't help but think the thing has bloated out such that no amount of project management will reel it back in. I haven't really paid much attention since my 60 bucks. I think I saw there's a hanger or something you can download now.

There is currently a hangar where you can explore your ships, and an arena mode where one can fly a ship and dog fight either in single player mode or online.

And while I do see a lot of feature creep, I don't think there is any need for concern. I've talked to a couple of the guys -- they know what they are doing It looks fragmented now and all over the place but there is definitely a plan going on.

(I am slightly biased as over all I've put about $300 into the game; I don't regret a penny of it.)

 

[blesscheese]

Yea, I can't help but think the thing has bloated out such that no amount of project management will reel it back in. I haven't really paid much attention since my 60 bucks. I think I saw there's a hanger or something you can download now.

????

Chris Roberts has developed and produced about ? a dozen ? AAA video games, and has been doing it for over 20 years.

He has a track record, and it is about 100% successful. That is why he has raised so much (plus, the pent-up demand for a good space sim).

Part of the deal with the crowd-funding is, they tell the crowd (us) "Hey, for x million we can build this game, but for x + 5 million, we can add these features...but, it is up to you if you want to fund it." If the crowd funds it, then they get it, and if they don't, they don't.

Realize also...not a dime of this money is going to some corporate suit/ professional marketer who doesn't deal with video games. These guys "went rogue" so that they could build the game they always wanted to build, but couldn't because of artificial deadlines or limited capital outlay by a publisher.

 

[kaltsasa]

????

Chris Roberts has developed and produced about ? a dozen ? AAA video games, and has been doing it for over 20 years.

I don't necessarily disagree but Tim Schafer has been doing this a long time too and they managed to feature creep Broken Age over budget, over the already enlarged kickstarter budget. So there's some precedence of the feature creep getting too expansive. Granted us backers are supposed to get both halves of the game but they had to drop Act 1 onto Steam Early Access to fund Act 2.

I'm not worried about my 60 bucks I kicked in. I'm sure we'll get a fine game out of it but there's something to be said for a good project manager beating deadlines out of folks.

 

[blesscheese]

I don't necessarily disagree but Tim Schafer has been doing this a long time too and they managed to feature creep Broken Age over budget

I wasn't disagreeing with the idea of "feature creep" only the statement earlier that "the thing has bloated out such that no amount of project management will reel it back in."

 

[Suture]

Yea, I can't help but think the thing has bloated out such that no amount of project management will reel it back in. I haven't really paid much attention since my 60 bucks. I think I saw there's a hanger or something you can download now.

Yeah, there's the hangar and the dogfighting modules available. I don't know if they've released anything else. I hadn't been paying attention since the website is all glitz and not organized very well in my opinion.

I'll just wait for the Mac client when a real beta is available and have a go at it then.

 

[kaltsasa]

I wasn't disagreeing with the idea of "feature creep" only the statement earlier that "the thing has bloated out such that no amount of project management will reel it back in."

It's tough to gauge really, we don't know their internal timetable for deliverables, but it has been an almost universal constant that at a minimum crowd sourcing projects that overshot their original asking price have run into delays. I don't recall ever seeing a scheduled release date so that could be good or bad. I'm happy to sit on my pledge until the thing until whatever is finally released be it 2015 or 2020.

 

[Suture]

I'm not worried about my 60 bucks I kicked in. I'm sure we'll get a fine game out of it but there's something to be said for a good project manager beating deadlines out of folks.

Totally agree. I should write a paper on Star Citizen from a PMP perspective for PDU credits

I've been looking around and I can't seem to find any concrete information on the Mac client. Is anyone aware of any specific posts by RSI about this?

 

[kaltsasa]

Totally agree. I should write a paper on Star Citizen from a PMP perspective for PDU credits

I've been looking around and I can't seem to find any concrete information on the Mac client. Is anyone aware of any specific posts by RSI about this?

I don't recall a Mac client being referenced when I funded it (this was before the kickstarter). I've mostly not followed it since then. I know the Elite kickstarter specified a Macintosh version but I don't recall that being the case for Star Citizen.

I wonder if I can still find that dumb card I got for funding this.

 

[Suture]

Someone mentioned in this thread that there was a stretch goal to make a Mac client, but when I checked the stretch goals I couldn't find it. I did, however, see various references to confirmation of a Mac and Linux client, but those were by community members on various forums -- no official word from RSI.

 

[kaltsasa]

Someone mentioned in this thread that there was a stretch goal to make a Mac client, but when I checked the stretch goals I couldn't find it. I did, however, see various references to confirmation of a Mac and Linux client, but those were by community members on various forums -- no official word from RSI.

It's being built on cryengine3, and I don't recall Crytek ever planning to release it for OS X.

 

[Suture]

Well, that's a good point. [insert expletive]

Think I'll go check GOG and see what Wing Commander games they have for Mac.

 

[antonis]

I remember that in the initial announcement from Chris Roberts - even before the kickstarter - his words were that he is not interested in any other platforms. It was a pretty clear statement on that matter.

Don't know if something has changed since (doubt it).

 

[Suture]

Yeah probably not going to happen -- Kaltsasa had a great point. I'll wait to see how things pan out before deciding if I buy a Windows 8 license.

 

[blesscheese]

Wow, just saw the GamesCon footage of a mission in Star Citizen 3.0 Alpha.

Holy cow! check it out at:

 

[antonis]

Yup, alpha 3.0 actually looks that Star Citizen might set a new milestone for the entire gaming, when released.

 

[Suture]

I have to say, that video of SC looks impressive.

 

[Janichsan]

Just a little reminder how trustworthy such presentations are:

If the actual SC Alpha 3.0 looks and plays anything like this (apparently highly scripted and rehearsed) demo, we can talk again.

 

[bhtwo]

Just watched the games con vid... amazing... not for mac though.

 

[Huntn]

Wow, just saw the GamesCon footage of a mission in Star Citizen 3.0 Alpha.

Holy cow! check it out at:

HOLY CRAP, ground breaking! You just need a 2020 computer to run it!
[doublepost=1472305729][/doublepost]

Just a little reminder how trustworthy such presentations are:

If the actual SC Alpha 3.0 looks and plays anything like this (apparently highly scripted and rehearsed) demo, we can talk again.

Game play is a different aspect of a game versus graphics and immersion, and on that latter basis Star Citizen is a home run. It's compleately evident this game has set a new bar.

However, gameplay remains to be seen. I am a former Elite Dangerous player who was very impressed with that title, which was not nearly as immersive, but had impressive graphics, but not as impressive as the immersive qualities of SC.

In ED, it did not take me long to get into a rut. Trading is fun at first, but got old quickly. Killing pirates was a blast at first, but alas that too eventually got old. I also had issues with the instances nature of the game. Not like Eve Online, a massive MMO, but a chopped up instances space with multiple versions of the same space station that holds 27 landing pads. I remember thinking, what happens when it fills up? Crank out a new instance. Well, My intent is not to be critical of ED, just speak of the things that will kill a game for me.

SC is looking incredible and the highlighted mission more like a single/multiplayer player game shows great promise. Stupid question, is this developed as a EO style MMO? The SC universe looks like it will be frick'n HUGE. It will be interesting to see if it fulfills it's promise, and you can run it on your hardware.

Does anyone know if it is planned as a subscription model? Is the game going to have an extensive array of A.I. Characters and piloted ships? I'm thinking yes?

 

[gkarris]

So, amidst all this, and now that I have a decent PC I made for Space Sims:

Is this a game for someone who's a more casual player? Like just fly around and enjoy Space?

I love the models and the ships. Maybe just plunge in with the $40?

Is that stand-alone game gonna be worth it as well?

Thanks...

 

[blesscheese]

So, amidst all this, and now that I have a decent PC I made for Space Sims:

Is this a game for someone who's a more casual player? Like just fly around and enjoy Space?

I love the models and the ships. Maybe just plunge in with the $40?

Is that stand-alone game gonna be worth it as well?

Thanks...

So I've been playing the Alpha 2.5 for about a week, and I can give you this advice:

Re: casual player -- I would say "Yes, BUT":
i. It is alpha quality -- good, but still alpha, so it crashes occasionally
ii. There isn't any coherent manual (that I can find), but watching some YouTube videos (STL Youngblood is recommended) will give good advice
iii. The fly around and enjoy space bit can get old quick, but there are currently 2 "games" to play
-- Arena Commander, which has a Racing Track to play, in, a Free Flight mode (in 2 areas, an asteroid belt and a dying star -- small areas), and then combat with AI ships in the same two areas. Then you can also race against drones or other players, or do combat against other players
-- Crusader, which is the start of their multiplayer persistent universe, in a small solar system setting with a limited number of missions and open to other players. There is a lot of FPS shooting going on at the space station Kareah, but Port Olisar (where you start off at) is no-fire zone (all weapons are de-activated).

In the 2.6 release, they will release Star Marines, which is their FPS component. Obviously, this will be limited as well.

You can probably get the game at any time for $35-40 dollars, it is only if you want to play Alpha-quality stuff now that you would want to spring for it...is it $60 to get in on the alpha? I can't remember...
[doublepost=1473209216][/doublepost]

Just a little reminder how trustworthy such presentations are:

If the actual SC Alpha 3.0 looks and plays anything like this (apparently highly scripted and rehearsed) demo, we can talk again.

I don't disagree. However, I've been playing Alpha 2.5, and so far, the quality is quite good. Here's how I look at it:

1) Chris Roberts has an extensive track record,
2) he has been delivering stuff quiet regularly,
3) the alpha quality stuff is quite good, and

this may be harder for people nowadays to understand, but

4) the game is the vision of the game he has always wanted to make, and for which he now has the tools. Since he is independently funded, he doesn't have to "stop now" or "split this off into 2 games to make double the profits" or even "yeah, we could release this, but we could make even more by releasing it as day one DLC & charging people another $25"

I will admit, I followed SC regularly after pledging, but got so worked up, I consciously decided to "forget" about it in 2014...happened to see the preview of the Alpha 3.0 and saw the game I've been waiting for, all my gaming life. I'm stoked!

BTW, if you remember, Gearbox didn't allow anybody to review that crap game before it was released...With SC, the on-going releases of alpha products, while not ready for official release, shows that there is actually a game that holds promise. Whether that promise will be realized is, I will agree, a question that can only be answered by the actual released game.

 

[gkarris]

So I've been playing the Alpha 2.5 for about a week, and I can give you this advice:

Re: casual player -- I would say "Yes, BUT":
i. It is alpha quality -- good, but still alpha, so it crashes occasionally
ii. There isn't any coherent manual (that I can find), but watching some YouTube videos (STL Youngblood is recommended) will give good advice
iii. The fly around and enjoy space bit can get old quick, but there are currently 2 "games" to play
-- Arena Commander, which has a Racing Track to play, in, a Free Flight mode (in 2 areas, an asteroid belt and a dying star -- small areas), and then combat with AI ships in the same two areas. Then you can also race against drones or other players, or do combat against other players
-- Crusader, which is the start of their multiplayer persistent universe, in a small solar system setting with a limited number of missions and open to other players. There is a lot of FPS shooting going on at the space station Kareah, but Port Olisar (where you start off at) is no-fire zone (all weapons are de-activated).

In the 2.6 release, they will release Star Marines, which is their FPS component. Obviously, this will be limited as well.

You can probably get the game at any time for $35-40 dollars, it is only if you want to play Alpha-quality stuff now that you would want to spring for it...is it $60 to get in on the alpha? I can't remember...

It is a $45 "pledge" for Alpha access and a basic ship.

Thanks for the precise description - I was having trouble finding out exactly what you get right now compared to what I'm looking for.

I took the plunge and downloading it now to my laptop. Gonna transfer it to my gaming PC and start the journey...

 

[blesscheese]

It is a $45 "pledge" for Alpha access and a basic ship.

Thanks for the precise description - I was having trouble finding out exactly what you get right now compared to what I'm looking for.

I took the plunge and downloading it now to my laptop. Gonna transfer it to my gaming PC and start the journey...

Well, congrats, "citizen."

I remembered, boredgamer has some good (& quick) YouTube videos.

Keep me posted....

 

[gkarris]

Well, congrats, "citizen."

I remembered, boredgamer has some good (& quick) YouTube videos.

Keep me posted....

Thanks, I saw a couple of those.

I started watching these (for us more "casual" folk):

I've downloaded it and put it on my gaming PC. I remember what you had to start doing from some of these videos.

I'm trying to figure out these ships. I thought I just got the Mustang but I got a couple of other Origin ships?

Glad I built a Space Sim PC for all this!

This is a cool sim - what did I get myself into?

 

[blesscheese]

Thanks, I saw a couple of those.

I started watching these (for us more "casual" folk):

I've downloaded it and put it on my gaming PC. I remember what you had to start doing from some of these videos.

I'm trying to figure out these ships. I thought I just got the Mustang but I got a couple of other Origin ships?

Glad I built a Space Sim PC for all this!

This is a cool sim - what did I get myself into?

You have extra ships because they are running a promotion--> you can "test drive" an M50 or 350r for a week (over Sep 9), vote, and then the winner will be available again to buy (for real money) on their website.

it is worth repeating that *all ships will be available for purchase in-game with in-game currency*. There is no need to buy any extra ships once you have paid the $45 to get into the game. Having said that, a number of us went overboard and bought a bunch of stuff to help get this thing funded, but, you don't have to do that...

There was another website where the guy actually told you what keys to hit to do the necessary actions...lol, I'll dig that up. I printed out the sheets, but I had no idea what "Mobi-glass" was until he showed it and I realized what I was missing!

They've changed some of the keys since 2.4, so be careful of older videos. If you want to launch your ship,
1. Press the space bar -- wait for the ship to go up (for some reason, I have to press it twice)
2. Hit N to raise your landing gear
3. Hit W to accelerate....