Chris Roberts Back in your wallet - STAR CITIZEN

[jakonovski]

Well, here we go. The excuse phase.

"We have so much money we can't develop a game while we decide what to do with all that money."

You never had that kind of money, so don't judge.

Yeah I know. I'd be giggling and rubbing it all over myself.

[Falconeer]

This has been posted on the Elite Dangerous Youtube Channell but I'll post it in the Star Citizen's thread cause it belongs in both but no one reads the other. Anyway, it's a cool interview that took place a year ago where Chris Roberts and David Braben talk about the future of their crowdfunded games. A lovely video.

In the remote chance that someone here is too young to know stuff, Chris Roberts would have never made Wing Commander or Star Citizen without David Braben's Elite, although for fairness Roberts points out maybe the biggest difference between their two design philosophies: crafted content for Roberts, procedural content for Braben. Also, interviewe Gary Whitta is an old "gaming journalist" from the 80s and 90s, perfect for the context.

"Chris, Kudos to you this is pretty amazing. You started with a 500k dollars goal, and you are currently at 2.1M, your funding is more than four times over..."

 

[Pennilenko]

This has been posted on the Elite Dangerous Youtube Channell but I'll post it in the Star Citizen's thread cause it belongs in both but no one reads the other. Anyway, it's a cool interview that took place a year ago where Chris Roberts and David Braben talk about the future of their crowdfunded games. A lovely video.

In the remote chance that someone here is too young to know stuff, Chris Roberts would have never made Wing Commander or Star Citizen without David Braben's Elite, although for fairness Roberts points out maybe the biggest difference between their two design philosophies: crafted content for Roberts, procedural content for Braben. Also, interviewe Gary Whitta is an old "gaming journalist" from the 80s and 90s, perfect for the context.

"Chris, Kudos to you this is pretty amazing. You started with a 500k dollars goal, and you are currently at 2.1M, your funding is more than four times over..."

 

Elite Dangerous actually looks like its a game now though, in alpha where people can shoot at shit. The alpha only costs like 200 bucks...

[Lucas]

"Ten for the Chairman" video (segment that lately has started airing during the weekly Wingman's Hangar, but this one is standalone), where Chris Roberts answers some more questions about the Dogfighting module (yep, you can call it a "damage control" video):

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13436-Ten-For-The-Chairman-Episode-3

Details about tomorrow's livestream:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13437-Youre-Invited-Livestream-Details

Greetings Citizens,

First of all, we would like to thank you all for the incredible support regarding the Dogfighting announcement. The response from the community has been more than we could have expected; your appreciation for this project was never in question, and we are impressed that you have a genuine understanding of how game development works. Thank you, sincerely, for your support.

On Friday, Star Citizen developers in Austin, Manchester and Los Angeles will be joining you for a multipart livestream event in order to share our current status. We would like to take questions from the community for the event, and have established three forum threads to draw from. If you have a question for the team, please post it there before the event!

Foundry 42() (Squadron 42)
CIG Austin() (Hangar Patch 10)
CIG Los Angeles() (Dogfighting)

The show will open at 11 AM CST (-5 GMT) with Chris Roberts and the team in Los Angeles. Then we’ll move across the pond to check in with the team at Foundry 42. They’ve just moved in to their new office and are eager to show you around… and share the current status of Squadron 42.

The stream will continue with the epic 50th episode of Wingman’s Hangar and then Hangar Q&A with the team in Austin. It concludes with Chris Roberts and the LA team demonstrating Dogfighting and answering some of your burning questions!

In other news, CIG Austin itself will move its HQ to a much bigger place starting on December 28th (after a longer than expected back and forth checks in other places....drop by and say "hi" on the behalf of F13, Schild  )

[jakonovski]

What became of this livestream? Gorgeous footage of an awesome game or not?

[schild]

http://kotaku.com/30-years-later-one-mans-still-trying-to-fix-video-gam-1490377821

lol

[Goreschach]

I knew a guy named Chris once.

True story.

[schild]

I knew a guy named Chris once.

True story.

Was he gaming's second greatest conman with a jar of Magic Beads?

[Goreschach]

I knew a guy named Chris once.

True story.

Was he gaming's second greatest conman with a jar of Magic Beads?

No, but he had his own last name.

[Venkman]

Was he the Governor of New Jersey?

[jakonovski]

They put up the stream on Youtube, and the gameplay part is about 7 minutes long, starting at 1:27 or so. There's basically nothing in it. Seriously, the game has no assets except for asteroids and the ships they've sold. This game is never coming out. NEVER. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw7SYWuV_ns

[Margalis]

Did people actually like the gameplay of Wing Commander?

I always thought WC was super boring and the main selling point was the cutscene stuff. Making a space shooter is tough IMO, because space is so empty it often feels like you aren't really moving and you end up feeling more like a rotating turret than a ship.

[Malakili]

I was more of an X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter fan myself.  But in any event, that gameplay was at least gameplay. 

That being said, I think the actual space combat part of this game is the least interesting part of what they are proposing to me personally.  If this game ends up being a big thing, I can't imagine it's going to be because the space combat is just so amazing.  It'll be because all of the sandbox elements they promise actually work. 

[Merusk]

So... Eve 2.0.

[Malakili]

So... Eve 2.0.

Well, that's essentially what they are promising.

[Lantyssa]

Eve with dogfighting.  That's all anyone ever wanted, really, so hopes reside upon it.

[Merusk]

Yeah but that lets me know I can totally ignore it.  Eve bored me even ignoring the 'sit around and wait' combat 'patrols'

[Venkman]

Eve worked best for me when I knew other people were doing that and the bit part I played was hauling shit around to support it.

If hauling shit around includes realtime dogfighting, I'll definitely give it a whirl. That's really the only reason I even bother reading this ponzi scheme thread. Eventually someone will know enough to be able to confirm what we may get.

Or what got cancelled 

[Lucas]

CIG Austin HQ moving to the new office location (no gameplay! :P):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1jMrsAKaqo

[slog]

Eve with dogfighting.  That's all anyone ever wanted, really, so hopes reside upon it.

I played this game.  it was called Jumpgate.

[UnSub]

Did people actually like the gameplay of Wing Commander?

I did. But it was years ago and the combat itself was pretty basic.

The FMV acting in some of the later games was hilarious too.

[Draegan]

Eve with dogfighting.  That's all anyone ever wanted, really, so hopes reside upon it.

I played this game.  it was called Jumpgate.

That game was fun too. Damn you NetDevil!

[Severian]

I played this game.  it was called Jumpgate.

That game was fun too. Damn you NetDevil!

You may still be able to play it if you want to, Netdevil be damned. Here: http://jumpgate-tri.org/

[rk47]

Did people actually like the gameplay of Wing Commander?

No. Don't say that.
The true quality of Wing Commander lies with the dynamic campaign where failure does not meant a retry like TIE Fighter / X-WING.
That is one thing I liked about it, the dogfighting was more arcadey and pacier than TIE / XW - but I can dig it. Its nice dynamic soundtrack felt right. Sparks flew and display explodes, theme changes. Gauges all red, no shields, oh boy it's that 'EJECT EJECT' theme.
You had a hard mission you couldn't beat? RTB, campaign ends in a somber tone, future battles becomes harder but still finishable.
There's even a final mission where the whole war has gone bad and the humans are now retreating instead and you had to cover your carrier's retreat.
It's way ahead of its time. But WC 5: Prophecy dropped this idea completely as the FMVs gets more expensive and you can't re-shoot 39246792 cutscenes.

[ajax34i]

You had a hard mission you couldn't beat? RTB, campaign ends in a somber tone, future battles becomes harder but still finishable.

That feature would have made the game suck for me.  If missions are getting hard, then I want future missions to be easier, because I want to finish the game and see the damn endings without having to become a master of the joystick.

Adaptive difficulty settings without the player even realizing, now that's a thought.

[Lucas]

Here's a video of Chris Roberts visiting the "Foundry 42" studio in Manchester (which, again, is entirely devoted to the single player game), with his brother Erin showing him around.

http://youtu.be/0T_oJlZ8pGI

I posted this because the awkwardness of it all is absolutely off scale 

On a slightly more serious note, here's Episode 5 of the "Ten for the Chairman" segment:

http://youtu.be/RtyZzO5OrE0

[Sobelius]

They put up the stream on Youtube, and the gameplay part is about 7 minutes long, starting at 1:27 or so. There's basically nothing in it. Seriously, the game has no assets except for asteroids and the ships they've sold. This game is never coming out. NEVER. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw7SYWuV_ns

I just heard about the game so came pretty late to the party. Pledged for the 300i -- the vision sold me, as did the ability to play the single player story as multiplayer so I can enjoy the elements of the game I like with friends without having some idiot ganking me outside "safe" space just because he can.

The nice thing about coming late to the party is that I don't feel like I've been waiting for this -- it's all new. The hangar is cool -- dogfight module sounds cool and I assume it's coming along. So many games to play in the meantime I figured it was worth throwing money at it to get in whenever it is ready.  They've raised almost $37 Mil  -- nice. With the exception of entering my birth date, the whole sign-up and buy experience was flawless and fast. I paid, downloaded and was walking around the hangar within 30 minutes of my decision to pledge. Here's hoping that level of quality experience extends to rest of game.

[ajax34i]

Hahahahahah.

[Lucas]

The (for now web-based only, of course) Organization system has been launched. The main thing to know is that you need to have a game package in order to take part (which means, create or join an organization) in it.

Here are the official news article and the FAQs:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13488-Organization-System-Launch
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/faq/orgs

FAQ excerpt:

What is an Archetype?

An organization is basically what its members and administrators want it to be. We have set up 5 basic archetypes for organizations, but they are exclusively role-play elements, and have no incidence whatsoever on the system, or the future game.

Corporation – a for-profit business entity. A corporation is a great choice for everything from shipping flo-pets to Goss II to organizing a hostile takeover of Origin Jumpworks.
PMC (Private Military Company) – For organizations with a taste for combat. Focuses for PMCs include escorting cargo runs, hunting for pirates or helping the UEE take on the Vanduul.
Faith – Organizations that have come together for a single cause or under a single banner. This could be rebels fighting for Terran independence… or the devout followers of the LAMP!
Syndicate – Common interest groups for those who operate on the edges (or outside) of the law. There’s safety in numbers when you’re moving contraband through Spider or preying on hapless cargo ships.
Organization – Want to make your own way without any previous association? Feel free to keep with the default nondescript type!

Again the Archetype does not have any impact on how the Organization works as an entity.

What are ranks and roles?

The administrators of an Organization have the option to attribute a Rank to any member : this is purely a specific status to signify the importance that a member has earned in the organization. It can be wor with pride, but offers no specific rights.
On the other hand, an organization’s Founder can give Roles to other members, in order to delegate some of the org’s management.

A member can have any number of roles :

Owner can do anything, from recruiting to customization, to simply disbanding the organization.
Recruitment can send out invites to the org, and accept or deny applicants
Officer can manage the org’s members, and their roles/ranks, as well as moderating the Org’s private Chat channel.
Marketing can change the org’s public appearance, official texts, history, manifesto and charter.

I like the fact that you can get creative with roles and ranks 

Orgs main page:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/community/orgs

Looking forward to the F13's fleet 

[Draegan]

I played this game.  it was called Jumpgate.

That game was fun too. Damn you NetDevil!

You may still be able to play it if you want to, Netdevil be damned. Here: http://jumpgate-tri.org/

Oh fuck you very much for that link. Just what I need, more games for me to play that I have no time for.

[Lucas]

Yeah, I'm not a tl;dr guy 

A couple of updates:

- Bar any last minute disaster, the Dogfighting Module will be unveiled at Pax East (the event itself will be on April 10th), and be available to backers a few days after that. Watch the following video from approx. 9:37 to 11:40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuS4wwPPeFc

- An important news from that segment is the first iteration of their world server, which came online this week, and that will serve as the backbone for the dogfighting module and the Persistent Universe in general (and the main reason for the delay of the DFM)

- The ships are now all receiving the "Physically Based Rendering" - or "PBR" - treatment (beside other modifications to their shape, cockpit etc.); the hangar module will be patched in a few days with some more fluff, then the next patch will be all PBR based;

- As an example, here's the current, PBR version of the Vanduul Scythe:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13568-Scythe-PBR-Update

- More Vanduul concept art at this link (Scythe update, Vanduul Bomber and Harvester):
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13567-Vanduul-Update-Gallery

- Sorry, can't find the link to the interview/forum post/video or whatever, but here's the latest on Squadron 42: the plan is now moving toward episodic content, without having an alpha or beta. Still, they're not talking about chunks of 3-4 hours, but big portions of the game. Consider that the total amount of missions will be about 50 (5 million stretch goal), not counting the first "expansion disk" (I'm a oldie!! :). Of course, 50 is probably, well, the total amount, including branching you will probably see only in a second playthrough or after a re-load.
---

Finally, here's a couple snippets I took from two forum posts  detailing how the whole project is being developed as a worldwide effort:

From Chris Roberts:
http://partedveil.com/index.php?p=2&quote=1909659

From Eric Peterson:
http://partedveil.com/index.php?p=1&quote=105396

I also read a post I can't find at the moment, where a member of the Manchester studio said there are now 33 people working on the single-player game, but they aim to reach a final tally of about 40 (or was it 50? can't remember).

Ooook, sorry for the long post, carry on :)

[Xuri]

So. Has anyone created any in-game religions for Star Citizen yet? After seeing that there will be a "Faith" archetype for organizations, my mind is starting to weave fanciful stories that involve taking on a L. Ron Hubbard-like persona and creating a fanatic religious cult. For the money, of course.

[ajax34i]

With celebrity endorsements.

[Lantyssa]

So. Has anyone created any in-game religions for Star Citizen yet? After seeing that there will be a "Faith" archetype for organizations, my mind is starting to weave fanciful stories that involve taking on a L. Ron Hubbard-like persona and creating a fanatic religious cult. For the money, of course.

No, but I'd be willing to be a convert for the fun of it.

[WayAbvPar]

So. Has anyone created any in-game religions for Star Citizen yet? After seeing that there will be a "Faith" archetype for organizations, my mind is starting to weave fanciful stories that involve taking on a L. Ron Hubbard-like persona and creating a fanatic religious cult. For the money, of course.

If any player base was ripe for faith-based monetary extractions, it is this one. Good plan.