Star Citizen - Development Update

Erillion · October 2015

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/15017-Development-Update-Star-Citizen-Alpha-20-Star-Marine

CIG has consolidated all its patch notes and Star Marine development reports into a single new SC Alpha 2.0 Development Update.

Check out also the new Convalex Shipping Hub (Charlie Station) video.

They also show a video about FPS testing by the QA team (the ambush
scene where the pirates ambush the marines on Kovalex Security Station).
Shows that friendly fire never is.

Have fun

Giffen · October 2015

Aren't they like a year past their launch date already? When are they going to actually work on the game and not just videos? How much longer will their dwindling money hold out before they launch?

Brenics · October 2015

Giffen said:

Aren't they like a year past their launch date already? When are they going to actually work on the game and not just videos? How much longer will their dwindling money hold out before they launch?

Great question and one they will never answer. Personally I think they have no idea.

ArChWind · October 2015

Giffen said:

Aren't they like a year past their launch date already? When are they going to actually work on the game and not just videos? How much longer will their dwindling money hold out before they launch?

Why make a game if you can make more off of promises and videos?

GeezerGamer · October 2015

But......but......explosions

time007 · October 2015

wonder when this game is due out

Erillion · October 2015

Giffen said:

Aren't they like a year past their launch date already? When are they going to actually work on the game and not just videos? How much longer will their dwindling money hold out before they launch?

No.
Since 3 years ago.
Long enough.

Have fun

Aethaeryn · October 2015

Erillion said:

Giffen said:

Aren't they like a year past their launch date already? When are they going to actually work on the game and not just videos? How much longer will their dwindling money hold out before they launch?

No.
Since 3 years ago.
Long enough.

Have fun

Isn't it:

Yes. (When I backed and gave money it said November 2014 I believe)
Since 3 years ago.
Only they know.

Wizardry · October 2015

Ill tell you why i usually dont like space games besides the fact it takes too much work to get it right.

I ran into the same problem in Tabula Rasa and that is the gunfire.We are talking about super space travel and ships living in space yet they are shooting what is like 1960s miniguns.Even Eve had the same problem,the ships would shoot this ever so cheap looking pew pew,it just looks real bad to me.

I can look back at Unreal as far back as 1998 and they had that cool shock rifle,the combo was a really fun cool attack mode and it also had an aoe effect.What i see is too much pew pew that looks bad in most of these games.

The first and second video,idk if they are not finished texturing,it looked finished to me and looks real bad.Everything was grey white and i hate fog lighting when it serves no purpose because again it looks bad.It looks to me like they are trying to go low poly to save from having to test it and tweak it and properly lay it out.Basically like Blizzard making a ton of instances because it is easier to do.

The second video was to test ambush,not sure what they were actually testing,as i stated pew pew miniguns is there really anything to test there.

Oh well i guess they are showing you something, some might be satisfied.

Shodanas · October 2015

Giffen said:

Aren't they like a year past their launch date already? When are they going to actually work on the game and not just videos? How much longer will their dwindling money hold out before they launch?

You do grasp that said videos show actual gameplay, don't you ?

So yeah, they are indeed building a game.

Erillion · October 2015

Aethaeryn said:

Isn't it:

Yes. (When I backed and gave money it said November 2014 I believe)

When you backed this, the Nov 2014 date was obsolete by the end of the Kickstarter campaign in November 2012. That campaign brought in much more than planned and enlarged the scope of the game significantly. And THEN we backers added another 87 M$ on top of THAT.

It was only communicated about a hundred times or so by CIG that the game they are now building is much larger (and therefore will take longer to develop).

So where have you been since Nov 2012 that this is completely new and unexpected to you ?

Did you never ever check the homepage ? Did you deliberately avoid all gaming magazines and news sites ?

Have fun

Brenics · October 2015

They should of brought out the game they originally said they were making then add around it and put the FPS in. But too late now and now no one actually knows how much cash they have left to even make the game.

From what I see it looks like CR is still more into making movies. But time will tell.

Erillion · October 2015

Brenics said:

They should of brought out the game they originally said they were making then add around it and put the FPS in. But too late now and now no one actually knows how much cash they have left to even make the game.

From what I see it looks like CR is still more into making movies. But time will tell.

W.r.t. money, according to THIS

https://twitter.com/icotom/status/654593680267976704

in 2014 Star Citizen made more in crowdfunding money then ALL other games COMBINED on Kickstarter
(33 M$ vs 20 M$).

Have fun

Talonsin · October 2015

Erillion said:

It was only communicated about a hundred times or so by CIG that the game they are now building is much larger (and therefore will take longer to develop).

Could you please point me to where CIG made this statement? Not implied or votes by the players (who never voted to increase the development time) but an actual statement by CIG that says something along those lines? I can not find a single stretch goal that lists increasing development time if it is met but I can find a statement made by Chris Roberts himself in Sept of 2013 that says stretch goals will not increase development time.

Source: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13284-Letter-From-The-Chairman-20-Million

Erillion · October 2015

Here you are:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14839-Letter-From-The-Chairman

"......If you have followed Star Citizen from our kickoff in October, 2012, you know that the game we’re building today is a bigger and more technically accomplished project than I thought was possible back then. The original crowd funding goal was to raise enough money to deliver regular community updates, access to the multiplayer dogfighting alpha and a single player campaign called Squadron 42. You can see the first goal, which was achieved on 25th of October 2012 here. It’s no secret that I originally thought I would have to build a smaller game first and then over time add features and content to get close to the full living universe that I have always wanted to realize. This community came together and, both through your financial support and your belief in the project, made something incredible possible. You went above and beyond in backing our dream and so we are going to, also. Because of you, we’re building cities where I had hoped for just landing pads, we’re building armadas of starships where I asked for squadrons and we’re populating a living, breathing world in ways I didn’t dare to dream of in 2012.

You all know that already; you’ve lived that. You’ve seen Star Citizen evolve and start to come together. You’ve watched our atoms form molecules, our modules form a real, playable game (that you can boot up and play today!). There are people out there who are going to tell you that this is all a BAD THING. That it’s ‘feature creep’ and we should make a smaller, less impressive game for the sake of having it out more quickly or in order to meet artificial deadlines. Now I’ll answer those claims in one word: Bullshit!

Star Citizen matters BECAUSE it is big, because it is a bold dream. It is something everyone else is scared to try. You didn’t back Star Citizen because you want what you’ve seen before. You’re here and reading this because we are willing to go big, to do the things that terrify publishers. You’ve trusted us with your money so we can build a game, not line our pockets. And we sure as hell didn’t run this campaign so we could put that money in the bank, guarantee ourselves a profit and turn out some flimsy replica of a game I’ve made before. You went all in supporting us and we’ve gone all in making the game. Is Star Citizen today a bigger goal than I imagined in 2012? Absolutely. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not: it’s the whole damn point.

Will it take longer to deliver all this? Of course! When the scope changes, the amount of time it will take to deliver all the features naturally increases. This is something we are acutely aware of. How do we balance the mutually conflicting wants of the community; to have this hugely ambitious game, but not wait forever for it?

Our answer is to embrace open development and share features and functionality that will go into the final game before everything is completed. Originally we had just planned to share a multiplayer dogfighting alpha and then the beta of the game (which would have just been Squadron 42). As we smashed every stretch goal, and continued to power through additional ones, it was pretty apparent we had to find a way to keep people engaged while we were building this virtual universe. In today’s 24/7 short attention-span world people don’t have the patience to wait around for years. This is why we decided on multiple modules: the Hangar, so you could first see your ships and walk around them in the manner you would in the final game, then Arena Commander, to allow people to get a taste and give feedback on the basic dogfight and flight mechanics. Star Marine, which will be available shortly, is the module for backers to experience and give their feedback on the First Person Shooting component of the game. Not long after that we will be releasing the next level of Arena Commander, allowing players with bigger ships to fly them with friends, on maps that are closer in size to the huge ones you’ll have in the final game. Then we’re rolling out aspects of the Persistent Universe: first there will be just planet side environments to explore, but not long after you’ll be able to transition to space and fly to another destination, and then after that to another system. We have taken this route to allow people to experience and give feedback to make the game better as we build it. Almost no one else does this. And we’re still doing it: case in point, our first 16-player version of Arena Commander went to the PTU on Saturday! I’ve said it countless times: my goal is to make the journey of Star Citizen’s development worth the price of admission and the final game be the best bonus in the world.

So while it will take longer to build the full vision that all of you are helping to achieve by contributing your funds, our plan is to have you play large sections of it without having to wait for everything to be done like you would on a normal retail product. That is the advantage of being online and on the PC. It should be a win / win: you get to play a more limited version early, a version that is closer to the original goals, but you know the bigger, fuller featured version is coming – and the best bit is that you get it all for your initial pledge!

Is ‘feature creep’ a worry? Sure… it’s always a worry, and we are well aware of it. However, building the game to the stretch goals embraced and endorsed by the community is not feature creep! We made the decision to stop stretch goals at the end of last year. That was a hard choice to abandon one of the central tenets of crowd funding projects, the idea that the sky is the limit… but it’s one we felt we had to make for the better of the game. Today, we have a radical design that’s like nothing else in the industry and we’re building towards it every hour of every day. We count on the community’s continued support to build the game to the high level that we set out to accomplish. Allowing independent authors to do more is the point of crowd funding, and going beyond our limitations is the entire point of Star Citizen.

Occasionally I see comments out there from people who haven’t taken the time to watch the thousands of YouTube videos of people running around their ships and hangars or dogfighting in space, or visit our site to read the vast amount of information we make publicly available that call us vaporware or a glorified tech demo. Arena Commander, which is still evolving, is a better looking and playing game than a lot of finished games out there. We are maintaining a live game and building one all at the same time. It’s harder than just developing, as most companies that run online games will tell you, but it’s worth it, both to ensure you get to experience features as soon as they are ready and to make a better game in the long run....."

Have fun

Brenics · October 2015

Erillion said:

Brenics said:

They should of brought out the game they originally said they were making then add around it and put the FPS in. But too late now and now no one actually knows how much cash they have left to even make the game.

From what I see it looks like CR is still more into making movies. But time will tell.

W.r.t. money, according to THIS

https://twitter.com/icotom/status/654593680267976704

in 2014 Star Citizen made more in crowdfunding money then ALL other games COMBINED on Kickstarter
(33 M$ vs 20 M$).

Have fun

We already know the money he made, you can post it till you are blue in the face. The fact you keep missing is how much is left? He clearly does not have a finished game and he could be going thru money faster than it came in. So if you want to post something significant show us how much he has now. You and no one else knows this except CR and his wife. I bet the way CR is if they had a lot of money still to burn he would be throwing it all in our faces. As the saying goes!

SHOW ME THE MONEY!

spankybus · October 2015

Wow...the only thing gamer's like more than playing games is whining and bitching about them...any anything else. Don't add features they request during development...they bitch. Add features requested during development, they bitch you didn't do it right. Change it after the fact, they whine it took too long and are playing something else.

So people are mad that CIG kept taking money and making the game bigger. Would you be happier if they kept taking money and did not apply the new funds towards additional development, but maintained the original scope?

I am sure the CIG bank accounts would be quite happy with that one...the backers...not so much.

I can't be bothered to site any specific articles, but I think I remember a few times they asked if they should halt stretch goals. I think they also asked once if they should continue gathering funds or stop with what they have. I wanna say it was around the 50 mil mark or something...a poll in one of the letters from the chairmen or something. Again, vaguely recall it, but maybe someone more ambitious can look it up.

I wonder how many people who are commenting negatively on these forums are actual backers vs how many are just your garden-variety whiny, bitchy gamer with nothing better to do. Nothing really wrong with that, I mean that's what game forums are for, discussion. But it seems its it usually the negative, whiny, hiptser, potheads who spend most of their time on here, denigrating the work of others.Because happy gamer's are off somewhere else, gaming.

AS for me? I backed, and I am hopeful but somewhat concerned. I have worked on games. I have seen many people like CR, who are extremely creative and passionate about what they do...and also egotistical as hell. Usually totally convinced they can do no wrong. It is important for people like this to have someone to tell them NO and keep things moving. With so many high-level personnel leaving, it does potentially suggest that working with CR is a nightmare.

BUT

The videos shown at CitizenCon do indicate that there is a lot of work being done with CIG. Work being done but a LOT of talented people...not just CR. When I see that, my faith is somewhat restored. Not because of anything CR says...he will always sound good. It is due to the visual evidence of the people who are actually making this content.

My expectation of Star Citizen is up there with Arma 3. If you have played it, they you will understand me. It is a hyper-realistic combat simulator. So much attention is payed to realism....so much so, that the art tends to be a bit...Meh. but because of the gameplay it affords, I forgive them....now if only their AI weren't completely maddening at times....

With all of its attention to realism, allowing both space combat and FPS, my expectation that some aspects of art and animation quality will suffer. I am ok with this to a point,so long as I get to do all of the activities they are promising. So far the art looks good in pictures. But in the PTU, I see plenty of room for improvement.

For example, the glass walls of my Cutlass Blue flicker like effing crazy (Z-Fighting). They could have fixed this a million times over. Frankly, it should never have happened as ways to avoid z-fighting issues have been known in gaming since 3D was invented. So why is it still in there??? Bewcause they are completely revamping the Cutlasses with modularity...why bother fixing a version of a ship that's not gonna be around in that form at launch.

Does knowing that make me feel better? Yes, and No. Yes, because I'd rather they not invest effort fixing crap if its being completely revised. The NO is because a lot of the problems on the first generation of the ship....that they released to their backers as hangar-ready, BTW, were almost amateur in nature. Stuff that my students who are just learning to make game assets would make. My personal litmus test for SC is when they release the improved version of the Cutlass. Does it feature more issues like its initial variant?

For me, I am still enthusiastic...even if I know there is a voice in my head that advises caution. Once i get my hands on Alpha 2.0...I will be able to feel better about this game....unless alpha 2.0 is a completely broken mess. I am waiting for that release before i jump on any bandwagons.

Brenics · October 2015

So because we aren't backers we shouldn't be interested if CR and CIG end up hurting crowdfunding. Then we have to go thru all these advertisements for a game that isn't even made. Give me a break, if you or CR can't accept some of us do not believe there will ever be a game from the way CR is blowing cash then maybe you should slow down on the advertising for something that isn't even made.

salaciouscrumbs · October 2015

It is true that the game is very late relative to what Chris Roberts (foolishly) stated. In my opinion, Roberts has release-date tourettes syndrome and can't keep his mouth shut when it comes to his rosy outlook development time.

That being said, considering the scope of the game, development appears to be going quite well for them - actually a bit faster than games of comparable size. Anyone who tries to argue differently is blatantly ignoring facts of course. Games with less scope, such as Fallout 4, GTA IV and other titles are all 5+ years development. So far, Star Citizen is about 3 years.

So TLDR:

1. Roberts crazy-stupid release date promises completely wrong

2. Realistic release seems to be on schedule for 2017 (5 year development)

spankybus · October 2015

Erillion said:

Here you are:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14839-Letter-From-The-Chairman

"......If you have followed Star Citizen from our kickoff in October, 2012, you know that the game we’re building today is a bigger and more technically accomplished project than I thought was possible back then. The original crowd funding goal was to raise enough money to deliver regular community updates, access to the multiplayer dogfighting alpha....." (CLIPPED FOR BREVITY)

Have fun

In fairness, man...that doesn't really help your argument or disprove the individual (Talonsin) who requested the quote. The post date from that 'Letter from the Chairmen' was July 20th of 2015...this year (according to the forum posts attached to the original CR letter). This was WAY after the time frame it should of been stated when the funds rolling in started to get serious and CR began to plan expanding the scope of his original vision.

I believe what Talonsin was asking for was something in writing from well before the original 2014 delivery deadline. Something that states the scope of SC was being expanded due to the increased revenue and the 2014 delivery and the original vision of SC was no more.

Talonsin, please correct me if I am wrong.

Shodanas · October 2015

Brenics said:

So because we aren't backers we shouldn't be interested if CR and CIG end up hurting crowdfunding. Then we have to go thru all these advertisements for a game that isn't even made. Give me a break, if you or CR can't accept some of us do not believe there will ever be a game from the way CR is blowing cash then maybe you should slow down on the advertising for something that isn't even made.

Oh please, stop this "CR and CIG will hurt crowdfunding" already. It's total BS based on nothing but thin air and wish full thinking.

The game is made right in front of your eyes. 90% of the footage shown in CitizenCon is actual gameplay and in-game assets. You want to argue about the game being behind schedule ? Sure, we can converse on that basis, just stop crusading that CR is just blowing our money without making a game.

spankybus · October 2015

While I have faith that the game will be made (it's happening now), the doubts in the back of my head look something like this:

You have to love photoshop. If i had time, i would turn all that powder orange and add the quote, "The power of Spice Compels me!"

Brenics · October 2015

Shodanas said:

Brenics said:

So because we aren't backers we shouldn't be interested if CR and CIG end up hurting crowdfunding. Then we have to go thru all these advertisements for a game that isn't even made. Give me a break, if you or CR can't accept some of us do not believe there will ever be a game from the way CR is blowing cash then maybe you should slow down on the advertising for something that isn't even made.

Oh please, stop this "CR and CIG will hurt crowdfunding" already. It's total BS based on nothing but thin air and wish full thinking.

The game is made right in front of your eyes. 90% of the footage shown in CitizenCon is actual gameplay and in-game assets. You want to argue about the game being behind schedule ? Sure, we can converse on that basis, just stop crusading that CR is just blowing our money without making a game.

LOL you say so, I seen a FPS where you couldn't shoot anyone. I did see a pretty cool space sim but was certainly just a small part of the game. I really didn't see anything that could actually be a game you and CR say is coming. I seen actors more than likely getting paid big time for something not made yet and even CR said needed a lot of work. I also see a company selling things that aren't part of the game and a few of those ships can't even run in the game he says he is making. Yeah you say 90% of what we seen is actual game play yet that may not even be 10% of the actual game.

Yet we see on this site and others advertising for a game that isn't even made yet and we get over and over and over again how much he made from backers yet he won't say how much cash he actually has left.

But hey look over here for 900 dollars you can own this.......................................

spankybus · October 2015

Why do they owe you an explanation of how much money they have left, how much is spent on what, etc? No other Kickstarter project seems to be held to the same standard? I've heard of more that a few that never delivered anything and just disappeared, completely collapsed.

You aren't an investor who has any ROI coming. You can pledge a few bucks to buy the game before it comes out. You can pledge a lot of yer nuts (a personal opinion, admittedly). The only thing you are entitled to is access to the game when it releases (and its various stages of alpha and beta).

Shodanas · October 2015

Brenics said:

Yet we see on this site and others advertising for a game that isn't even made yet and we get over and over and over again how much he made from backers yet he won't say how much cash he actually has left.

Seriously?

CIG shall reveal their financial status because YOU, someone who has not paid them a dime, asked for it?

I have news for you mister, it doesn't work that way. Find me backers, people who paid THEIR MONEY asking CR for a financial report and maybe then i'll give your writings some credit.

CIG doesn't owe you or DS or anyone else "concerned" about crowd funding getting hurt anything. Find me a KS project where the backers have full access to the finances and again i'll give you some credit.

Brenics · October 2015

Yep and we are also entitled to all the advertising on this site about a game not even made and we may also be getting nothing but BS facts. You know what this really comes down too? The company may actually be hurting for cash and you guys need to keep advertising it to try and get more cash for a game that may never see light of day.

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