Star Citizen - new project from creator of Wing Commander, Privateer, & Freelancer

[BaneTheBrawler]

the last goal was a fucking space plant. like, an inanimate object that just sits in your hangar. somehow i dont think that's going to slow them down overmuch. i think you should actually look at the funding goals.

is it really dangling the carrot for more money if the playerbase literally asked them to keep doing it? and desperate? i don't even know what to say to that. have you actually, yknow, talked to anyone?

[Bregor]

the last goal was a fucking space plant. like, an inanimate object that just sits in your hangar. somehow i dont think that's going to slow them down overmuch. i think you should actually look at the funding goals.

Yeah lots of them are minimal, sure. A bonzai tree in your hangar or a map room and things of that nature are either so small they don't affect anything or are normal content regardless of being stretch goals rewards. Ships and star systems take longer but once again that's normal content. The current goal? Creating three alien languages from scratch and implementing them into gameplay, presumably with voice actors. Sounds like a lot of work.

is it really dangling the carrot for more money if the playerbase literally asked them to keep doing it? and desperate? i don't even know what to say to that.

Yes it is dangling the carrot, for the express reason that you asked for and want the product, don't have it yet, but have the expectation of getting it in the future. That's what the expression means. If mules spoke English and you asked them if they want the carrot, they'd say, "YES I WANT THE CARROT KEEP IT THERE I WANT TO EAT IT." And wouldn't you say that this particular fan base is desperate for a comprehensive space sim/dogfight style game? Isn't the lack of such games on the market the whole reason SC's funding has been so big in the first place?

have you actually, yknow, talked to anyone?

I'm trying now! Next time I see my father-in-law I'll try to talk to him about it, at least until my wife elbows me in the gut to shut up about nerd stuff. But I'm posting in this thread because the only info on the game I've found from casual googling is from RSI itself, or barebones news articles, and the positive ones seem like Chris Roberts blowjobs and the negative ones are pretty much trollbait. I'm trying to understand this model and why people continue to give RSI money. Are most people donating only once? Seems unlikely given the amount they've received so far. Do people give money after every $1 million for an early crack at the new bonuses? I honestly don't know.

[BaneTheBrawler]

yeah, it is a lot of work... but they've already done their big growing phase. not a huge deal to tell HR "yo we need a team to do this. hire some peeps." and get on with your projects. This is part of what I meant about the initial growth spurt; they initially had a core group who did everything, but now they've got a whole actual company where they can delegate and have teams working on each individual thing.

I guess, but that's just how you're choosing to look at it. I would put it as a fan base eager to play and willing to pitch in and help out. There have been several votes where we were given the choice between something somewhat selfish, or something that would likely bring in (or at least make room for) more players and we've picked the more altruistic option each time. Every backer wants to see this game succeed, and is considerably smarter than a mule. Yes we realized it was gimmicky and created funding surges. That was a HUGE factor in why we voted for it. We want to bring in more backers/funding. Tiny playerbase can kill a game just as surely as poor content, and we know that.

unless specifically stated otherwise, the stretch goals apply to everyone, whether they pledged in the kickstarter or don't buy until launch. The exclusive ones were promotional deals, like "pledge to this other kickstarter and get a crossbow!" or rewards for the earliest backers, or advanced-access type deal, where you start the game with jump coordinates for that system, whereas other people need to find it or be given them. The ships are the last type, by the way. You can pay now to start with that ship, or you can buy them later in-game.

Rounding up to 50 million, with the current backer number of 517,567, each person has spent roughly $96.61. Hard to say how many times people pledge, but most pledges are more expensive than that (some by quite a lot) so I'd imagine the outliers are driving the average up quite a bit, which would mean most people probably just buy one of the cheaper pledges.

[Bregor]

Rounding up to 50 million, with the current backer number of 517,567, each person has spent roughly $96.61. Hard to say how many times people pledge, but most pledges are more expensive than that (some by quite a lot) so I'd imagine the outliers are driving the average up quite a bit, which would mean most people probably just buy one of the cheaper pledges.

Seeing those numbers, two things come to mind. First, over 500k backers is a shitload. Even half that number playing at launch for a subscription service will be a success. Second, I figure most people probably give between $10-$50 and then there are the outliers who've thrown hundreds at the project. Just hope my father-in-law is in the former category.

Anyway, thanks for the info. Like I said I'm still trying to understand everything going on here. Seeing that huge dollar figure, and after reading up on how massive and detailed their scope is, my gut reaction was pretty cynical. But this is probably the best opinion piece I've read about SC. Like it says in the summary, even people who won't play SC should want it to succeed on some level. Beats the shit out of another FPS or Assassin's Creed, or FFXIII sequel for that matter.

I might still make fun of space bonzai trees though.

[Intrinsic]

I paid $110 during the Kickstarter, but I did it more as a thank you for the hundreds of hours I played Freelancer than for the upcoming product. I'd bet there are a good amount of people who donated for the same reason.

[Aevis]

New in-game engine trailer for the Constellation class ship

[Purrrfect]

And some form of the fps part is supposed to be ready in a few weeks I think I read. Along with updated hangars (didn't see any time estimates on that).

[Siya]

I'm surprised how much money people have thrown at this game. According to reddit there is a streamer who has spent 30k... I watched the original kick starter and put the game on my radar but why are people so head over heels for this game which won't be out for quite a while?

[Krandor]

I'm surprised how much money people have thrown at this game. According to reddit there is a streamer who has spent 30k... I watched the original kick starter and put the game on my radar but why are people so head over heels for this game which won't be out for quite a while?

Pretty much just need to look at one of the first few posts in this thread.

wing commander + freelancer combined with cryengine 3, pc only, coop, offline multiplayer server, official mod-support...ALL MY MONEY!

[Julian]

If I was super rich, and the guy behind the original suikodens took to crowdfunding, I'd probably give a ridiculous amount of money.

I imagine its a similar train of thought here?

[Bregor]

I donated to the Unsung Story kickstarter, I think it was $80. I'm sure many people on here would throw some money at a FFT2: Ramza's Revenge or a kickstarter to erase the XIII universe from memory.

But yeah, $30k is hilarious. If I had the disposable income and/or believed in the project that much, I'd contact them about being an actual investor rather than just getting in-game bonuses or model ships.

[BaneTheBrawler]

well one of the pledges is $15,000. guy prolly just got two. or that one and a bunch of the smaller ones.

[6souls]

Gamescom Interview

Spoiler: show

We already know that Star Citizen looks absolutely amazing, and at Gamescom we had a chance to catch up with Cloud Imperium Games’ Technical Designer and resident CryEngine expert Dan Tracy, who walked us through the technology behind the stunning Origin M-50, which is the latest ship released for the game and an agile racer.

Tracy explained that the M-50′s incredibly realistic details are displayed thanks to twelve 4096 x 4096 textures layered on top of each other, while the model is made by 100,000 polygons. Further details are provided by normal maps which are also 4096 in resolution.

Of course to run all that goodness you’ll need a quite powerful computer, but if you have a lower-end rig the game has lower resolution mipmaps created for the long distance LODs, which scale down to 2048 and then 1024 pixels.

One of the most impressive elements of the game is that visual damage actually saves over time. In most games once you finish your session your vehicle will look as good as new, but not in Star Citizen; the scratches and dents on your ship actually build up as the materials degrade over time. The more you use your ship and damage it, the more it will display your status as a veteran.

You will be able to remove light scratches with a new paint job, but destroyed parts will need to be fully replaced. In Star Citizen‘s persistent universe you will actually need to leave ships at the repair shop for a while for maintenance.

Above you can see a video of the M-50 I shot directly at Gamescom, with Tracy’s explanations. As soon as you’ll see just how beautiful it looks on an actual computer screen, I’m sure you’ll forgive my explosive enthusiasm during the conversation.

http://www.dualshockers.com/2014/08/...ves-over-time/

[Purrrfect]

I can't wait to see my 315 in a brighter hangar than the basic one. It's so dark that it's hard to see the black ship very well. Stuff like the scratches is a pretty amazing touch.

[6souls]

DirectX12 to help with Polygon Load on Ships

Spoiler: show

While the game is now running on DirectX 11 only, DirectX 12 could help diagnose and avoid memory paging problems due to the compexity of the ships, that have more geometry than what normally fits in the average GPU memory. We also learn that ships are extremely high in polygon count. Normally the split of memory between polygons and textures is 20%-80%. In Star Citizen it’s 40%-60%.

http://twvideo01.ubm-us.net/o1/vault...lEffectsIn.pdf

[6souls]

[6souls]

[6souls]

[Waraji]

That's cool and all, but when the fk are they going to release the FPS module? RESULTS, GIVE ME RESULTS!

[Cutriss]

That's cool and all, but when the fk are they going to release the FPS module? RESULTS, GIVE ME RESULTS!

Was announced like a week or two ago that the FPS module is being back-burnered.