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

[Gryffes]

I picked up the game in a deal back in november, finally got around to playing it, damn it's graphically a nice game and I'm enjoying the content there is so far ( dogfighting and racing ), despite being awful at both so far

[6souls]

[Bombur]

Well the game is now in Alpha 2.0, and ROI has invited 50k backers to test the game.

Alpha 2.0 trailer




Some gameplay

[Gryffes]

The trailer was sent weeks ago, alpha 2 is not on live yet, it's on PTU.

[Aleth]

So the capital ships are going on sale again in two days. Anyone going to pick up a Javelin or Idris?

[Aleth]

If you missed the livestream the highlight was full seam-less flight from space down to the planet surface:



Here's another video showing off their planet tech:



It looks like they will over-deliver on the planet-landing side of things. I wasn't too excited by the idea of limited automatic landings that made planets no more than a space-dock; so I'm relieved.

Hopefully this opens up the game to Starflight / Star Control 2 -style planetary landings and exploration. I loved the ATV exploration / mining / creature collection from those games so it's good to see the potential arise in SC.

[Teknique]

So the capital ships are going on sale again in two days. Anyone going to pick up a Javelin or Idris?

How much will they be? I might pick up the game depending on the price.
$45 is a bit steep for a single ship

[Aleth]

Unfortunately you just missed a bunch of starter package sales that came with the livestream. They were $30 (not including tax).

There is a chance that a similar starter deal will appear again between Christmas and the new year. Even some AMD/Radeon graphics cards last year shipped with a custom paint-job racing ship and access to Star Citizen + Squadron 42.

The next best entry options are the mustang / aurora starter packages which are $45. This would get you the ship, access to the Star Citizen online persistent universe as well as the single-player Squadron 42 when it all releases.

You can spend a lot more than $45 on the ships they offer (capital ships start around $1k and the Javelin destroyer is like $2.5k!!!) but the important thing is that you have a game package that actually lets you play SC + Squadron 42.

They appear to intend the game to let you take part in the type of game-play (cargo/mining/racing/exploration/bounty hunting/FPS shooting/civilian transport....) you are interested in regardless of what ship you start with.

When the game launches players will no longer be able to "pledge" for better ships so I wouldn't worry about being limited by what ship I start with. It could be that being hired as crew on a large vessel will be a faster way to "progress" than owning your own smaller vessel anyway.

Edit:

As of 2016 they say they will be selling Star citizen as separate games instead packages that have everything. There will be 3 parts to Squadron 42, each being a full-size AAA title and the Star Citizen Online Persistent Universe. Each will cost as much as a full game so getting a package before then might save you some money if you think you'll want to play them.

So if they don't do another starter sale before the new year your best bet might be the starter $45 package.

If you sign up with a referral code when you pledge for a game package you get an additional 5,000 UEC (the currency in the persistent universe) worth $5+ to spend when the game launches.

My referral code:

Spoiler: show

STAR-SK5H-PVHP

Full disclosure: I might get some kind of laser Gatling-gun if you use my code.

I went for a 325A but I would have felt just as comfortable had I got any of the starter packs with the aurora/mustang. I was also tempted by the 315 and the avenger...

[Teknique]

If i was to buy the 45 dollar ships, which one would be better for just starting out?
I looked at my emails since i have subscribed to this shit for like 9 months and clicked the link but only saw the aurora/mustang available.

[Aleth]

That's up to what sort of thing you think you like the sound of. The aurora lets you do a bit of everything as does the mustang.

The mustang is faster so can race and might be a harder target when dog-fighting.
The aurora has more cargo space and is a little harder to damage when you land it heavily.

At the moment there are 4 packs at the $45 mark. To make sense of them you need to know that you used to be able to buy an Arena Commander pass for $5 to access a dog-fighting alpha of the game. You no longer need to buy this as everyone with a game package now gets access to it (a gift to the community to commemorate the millionth player joining) and people who had an AC pass got around 5k UEC (in game money) as a refund for the passes.

Here are the $45 packs I see:

In all packs you get; Star Citizen, Squadron 42, 1k UEC, SelfLand Hangar, Digital Manual, 3 months insurance. The difference between packs is the ship you get:

Squadron 42 Preorder: Aurora MR Ship
Aurora MR AC starter: Aurora MR Ship
Aurora LN: Aurora LN Ship
Mustang Alpha AC starter: Mustang Alpha Ship

The first two packs are identical. The aurora LN is a stronger, more combat oriented hull version of the aurora. The mustang alpha is the most basic mustang model.

The Aurora LN is normally a more valuable ship then the MR but as the first two packs used to contain the now defunct AC pass they all appear to be at the same price. I suspect if you get one of the first two packs you may still get the 5000 UEC they gave to refund the passes - though I don't guarantee it.

However the LN has more hard-points on its hull than the MR. This is something you will not be able to upgrade in the game universe without changing your ship hull. It also has stronger shields and more weaponry. This is likely to be worth more than the 5000 UEC in-game.

I would suggest, then, you choose between the mustang and the Aurora LN.

Personally, I'd lean towards the LN unless you were keen on racing. The reasons are that the LN has larger shields, larger power supply, more weapons and missiles over the mustang. Also it is much harder to damage when landing improperly.

However the mustang is faster and may come with an additional 5000 UEC.

I hope this clears it up a little. The pledging process is a little muddied with the old module passes still being mentioned on the site.

[Aleth]

Update: Checked the standalone value of each ship;

Mustang Alpha $30
Aurora MR $25
Aurora LN $35

Based on that I'd still say go for the Aurora LN or the Mustang packages as you get 5 bucks more value of stuff (UEC or ship) over the ones that come with a MR.

Edit: Someone on reddit has made a comprehensive guide it seems which might be handy.

Also it looks like the old AC pass is turned into $5 store credit if it was bought separately, AC passes that are part of packages are turned into 5,000 UEC. Still don't know if this is an on-going thing though.

[Teknique]

Much appreciated. I think i will buy that LN
Any idea how this game would run on a gtx 760 and 8gb ram before i drop money on it? My processor is a i5 4690 i believe

[Aleth]

With some cfg tweaks it runs well enough for Arena Commander dog-fighting on my 2008 Q6600 based machine with a gtx 570. The PTU test universe I haven't tried yet on this machine. I know Arena Commander runs well on an i5 with a 770 if that helps. Most people get about 5 -15 minutes if they go outside into the test universe alpha before a crash at the moment. Luckily stability is what they're working on atm.

Personally I'll be looking to upgrade after the game launches for real as the majority of my PC will be 8+ years old.

Though the game is intended to be one of those games that pushes what's possible (visually) on the PC I suspect that there will be a large amount of optimisation between now and launch. As an example; they just recently shaved 500,000 polys off one of the (large) ship models!

[Purrrfect]

Guess I need to update the client again and dust off my 315 to see what 2.0 is like. Since it's seamless space<>planet now I guess we'll be able to scan down wreckages in-space and on planets when exploring for loots. Would be pretty neat to be loading up some cargo on the planet and look up to see someone jumping into planet range and having too rush into your ship to try and get away with the goods.

[avelle]

Looks like I have the Aurora LN with lifetime insurance from the pledge I made back in 2013. There are way cooler looking ships but seems it is a solid all around ship. Still tempting to upgrade to something else though.

[Teknique]

Before i buy a ship, where do i enter this referral code? i have already made an account
Looked it up apparently its only valid on new accounts which sucks, i would rather not make a new account unless money is rediculously hard to get in this game
apparently after looking current account i made it with a referral code so i already have 5k euc or whatever.

After waiting 3 hours for the download to finish, i cant help but feel i wasted my money. The tutorial is fucking garbage and buggy as fuck and im getting frame freezes every few seconds, though i did have a bit of a laugh in the take off tutorial: The vertical hatch opened and another ship flew/dropped on the training guy and got stuck there for a bit, But the fucker never leaves the room so the locks on my ship never get removed so i cant ever even try to take off. I loaded up the universe area arcjet or something like that and managed to run around almost frame skip free, but then my game crashed after i requested my ship and was running towards it so i never got to crash into 50 things trying to take off for the first time

The area was port olisar not arcjet
Well reloaded it and jumped out into space, Couldnt figure out how to fire my weapons or do anything useful like go mine or trade and then my game crashed again, but no frame rate stutters in space yay

[Aleth]

Hi, yeah the referral code is entered when you first make the account. I don't think 5k UEC is going to be a huge deal but a little boost at the start is going to help. It's probably the price of a hand-gun or something in the eventual PU. I wouldn't worry about it if you already have an account etc.

If you want to try out combat in a more stable way, use the electronic access in your hanger to try out Arena Commander. I recommend Vanduul Swarm as a good way to get used to the flight mechanics. The tutorial bugged on me a few times and took several attempts to complete.

I wouldn't regret your decision just yet. The game is still in alpha and with a game package you will essentially have access to all parts (I think they said it's a trilogy) of the single player as well as the multi-player.

Edit: There's also a huge amount of mechanics that will be coming to the game. What you get to play at the moment in the alpha is just a server stability test the backers are able to take part in.
Have a go at the racing and Vanduul Swarm if you want to try the more stable parts of the game. I'm terrible at the racing but the dog fighting is pretty enjoyable. You can earn points to rent out better weapons and systems for your ship or even try other fighters to use in Arena Commander.

I don't think the space ---> planet stuff is in live yet, but it's still pretty exciting.

Anyway, here's the sweet warp animation:



I like how you have to actively navigate the warp... I wonder what happens if you mess up and fall out.

[Purrrfect]

Lol when I call up my ship on the station its always hovering about 5 feet above the surface and the ladder doesn't come out when I enter, and once I sit in the seat it drops down onto the platform and then bounces up like a fish. And yea it crashes after about 15 mins or so.

Where do you find these comm stations they want you to eva to?

[Aleth]

I believe you use the quantum drive to get to the relays. They are part of the quest journal in the game - I forget the specific key for it. I think you press B to bring up destinations then you point your ship at the HUD element for the one you want (a circle expands on your HUD) and hit middle mouse-click to activate the quantum drive and you will jump near to the destination. To go faster than 50 m/s press V to go into cruise mode, then again to go into super-cruise mode.

Yeah the 15 min crash seems about average. There's plenty of bugs in the PTU atm but there's no part of me that thinks it's insurmountable by the team CIG has hired, they seem dedicated and capable.

I have always thought that a game of this scope was inevitable - the next step in video games as art/culture. If you're a child of the 80s/90s you've probably been thinking about the potential for a game like this for decades now (multi-player Starflight anyone?) and there is no longer any reason why it is not possible.

There's something about the attitude and openness of CR and his teams that make me confident they will, given time, succeed.

[avelle]

Tried to get into the alpha last night but only managed to look around for a bit until it crashed, never got into my ship, lol. Looks great even on low settings though!