Vapourware Scam Citizen - Only people with too much money can become StarCitizens! WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW MORE?

[AstroZombie]

I saw an Xbox 360 controller in the video, time to go ballistic on their forums :p

 

[Blaine]

There's not nearly enough solid gold wainscoting or Tiffany chandeliers in those offices.

Joking aside, from what I've seen/heard, the team over at CIG seems relaxed and happy. The offices are pleasant, the creature comforts are more than adequate, and they even have their own balcony for smoking hookahs.

Generally that fetches you a much better outcome than overworking people 80+ hours a week in shabby grey cubicles and loading individuals down with the work of 2-3 people, which is one of the reasons why there's never technically "enough" funding.

 

[mindx2]

I'm really happy their expanding the single player portion of this game! Man, they're at $29 million now and more of it will now be directed to the single player campaign... ! Never really been hyped about the MMO/ persistent world part but give me an enhanced spiritual successor to Wing Commander and I'm a happy camper.

Greetings Citizens,
You’ve picked up a lot of bombers… and used them to blow another stretch goal out of the water! This time I want to offer a special thank you on behalf of the Foundry 42 team. The latest stretch goal unlocked additional funding for the Squadron 42 single–player experience. In honor of that, we’ve put together a special Inside CIG behind-the-scenes video introducing the team making the game!

• Enhanced Mission Design for Squadron 42 – The team at Foundry 42 has big plans for Squadron 42, and we’re going to provide extra funding to make it a true spiritual successor to Wing Commander! Squadron 42 can go above and beyond anything you’ve seen before. From opening with an epic battle instead of a training patrol to missions that seamlessly combine boarding and space combat, we aim to put you right into the action! Additional funding will let the team realize this, with enhanced mission design and more resources and animations to enhance fidelity.

Last time we asked you to vote on a role for the next ship we build, and the resounding answer was that Citizens want to have a mining ship. We’re happy to oblige, but I’ll go ahead and warn you that mining in Star Citizen is going to be a lot more immersive than what you’ve seen before; you won’t be clicking on an asteroid until you’ve collected metal!

• RSI Orion – Roberts Space Industries’ goal has always been to make the stars available to individual Citizens. Now, with the RSI Orion mining platform, RSI is letting individuals take over a process formerly controlled by megacorporations. The Orion’s features include high-grade turret-mounted tractor beam arrays, durable exterior-accessible ‘saddlebags’ for mineral storage and a cabin designed by the team that brought you the Aurora and Constellation!

Now it’s time for you to pick the $32 million stretch goal ship. We’ve removed the winner and the lowest-performing option from the last poll. What will it be now? A massive cargo hauler, a speedy information runner, a dedicated salvage ship? The choice is in your hands!

Remember that each stretch goal represents a broad array of improvements to Star Citizen: more staff, better equipment, more variety in the finished universe. The ships you choose are just a sample of what each million dollars lets us add to the game!

— Chris Roberts

 

[Blaine]

To date, no space sim with mining as a feature has managed to make it anything more than a boring chore. For example:

• X Universe—scan asteroids, drill/nuke large asteroids (which means shoot it with something powerful), break fragments down into rocks (which means shoot it with any weapon), scoop to cargo bay (fly into rocks); build mine on large asteroids (best use)
• Evochron—scan asteroids, point laser at asteroid and wait for cargo hold to fill, jettison lesser minerals as you go, be careful of overheating asteroid
• EVE Online—scan asteroids (wide variance of types, esp. between safe and lawless space), point laser at asteroids, fill cargo hold, transfer to hauler/mining overseer ship for processing/transport to a station

There's lots of complexity folded into some of these mining models (especially EVE's), but ultimately they boil down to pointing a laser at a rock and waiting for your rock box to fill up with rocks, then taking them back to the rock market for sale to rock purchasers. It's exactly as boring as it sounds.

Frankly, something like a real-life coal mine wherein you have to hire and fire workers with varying skill sets (and expertise thereof), purchase, maintain, and manage machinery, plan and construct the mine layout carefully, install elevators and safety equipment, balance the books, deal with fires/gas leaks, and deal with contractors/factories (consumers) would indeed be interesting, but that would require its own separate game and is way beyond the scope of a space sim centered around piloting starships.

 

[Disgruntled]

Welp. Ive gone in with a fat wad of cash. Now have to time it right when to sell off the surplus.

A bit unsettling looking at those dates... eerily around the speculative online dogfighting module release.

 

[Turisas]

Frankly, something like a real-life coal mine wherein you have to hire and fire workers with varying skill sets (and expertise thereof), purchase, maintain, and manage machinery, plan and construct the mine layout carefully, install elevators and safety equipment, balance the books, deal with fires/gas leaks, and deal with contractors/factories (consumers) would indeed be interesting, but that would require its own separate game and is way beyond the scope of a space sim centered around piloting starships.

Naw, just make it an annoying mini-game that makes it impossible to /afk mine.

 

[Ninjerk]

Man, these nerds have a ton of money.

 

[Blaine]

Holy fuck, what the fuck is even happening? The total's almost 30m, with $671,226 sold yesterday, according to the chart.

$32m by the end of this drive is now a given, what with the Idris and the new alien ships being sold on the 26th, and the weekend not even over yet.

 

[Turisas]

Holy fuck, what the fuck is even happening? The total's almost 30m, with $671,226 sold yesterday, according to the chart.

$32m by the end of this drive is now a given, what with the Idris and the new alien ships being sold on the 26th, and the weekend not even over yet.

Hopefully all those execs Roberts tried to sell the game to before are already tying nooses in their offices. "No market viability", lololol.

 

[Raapys]

This is very fitting. According to IMDB, the 1999 Wing Commander movie had a budget of 30mill. I hope the game's a bit better though.

 

[AstroZombie]

 

[JohnTheRevelator]

I'm on a fence with this one. As far as controlling ships is concerned is it more full simulation flip 100 switches to start engine kinda thing or more of a freelancer popamole point and click affair? MMO aspect seems to be promising.

 

[Blaine]

I'm on a fence with this one. As far as controlling ships is concerned is it more full simulation flip 100 switches to start engine kinda thing or more of a freelancer popamole point and click affair? MMO aspect seems to be promising.

Chris has answered this in the past—it will be a comfortable medium. For those who choose to use utilize the IFCS (computer-controlled inertial flight to simulate point-and-go) and set their game options to offer a more simplified experience, the game will be more arcade-y. For those who do wish to flip toggles, press buttons, map thrusters, micromanage systems, and turn off IFCS, that level of complexity will also be available. However, even at its most simplified, Star Citizen won't be nearly as arcade-y as the arcade-iest games out there, and even at its most complex, it won't be nearly as complicated as DCS: A-10C Warthog.

On a scale of 1-10, 1 being War Thunder (good recent example) and 10 being a multimillion-dollar commercial jet simulator, Star Citizen will be a 5 by default, ranging down to 4 or even 3 at its simplest, and up to 6 or perhaps even 7 at its most complex. Few computer games come close to a 7, let alone 8 (DCS is an 8-9).

7 might be a bit of a stretch, but I'm hoping for 7.

 

[JohnTheRevelator]

By Warthunder you mean mouse aiming arcade mode? Also how do I get around getting LTI ship (hypothetically speaking)?

 

[Blaine]

By Warthunder you mean mouse aiming arcade mode? Also how do I get around getting LTI ship (hypothetically speaking)?

Right—third-person, mouse-centric, no realistic stalling, very forgiving, no flaps/complex throttle/etc.

You can get LTI ships right now, as long as you get what's one sale. Otherwise, you'll need an original backer's help (i.e. me), although after the 26th no one will be able to get new LTI ships, not even original backers.

 

[AstroZombie]

I'll be honest, once the game is out I'll miss watching the money counter grow...

... or not, I might be too busy mining stuff.

 

[JohnTheRevelator]

Whoa I'm not dropping 180 dorra on a game I'm not sure I'll like that much anyway. How does that other option work? I make account and send you name along with cash and hope for the best? Frankly I'm wondering if it's even worth hassle since I'm most likely opting for bottom of the barrel cheap options.

 

[Blaine]

Whoa I'm not dropping 180 dorra on a game I'm not sure I'll like that much anyway. How does that other option work? I make account and send you name along with cash and hope for the best? Frankly I'm wondering if it's even worth hassle since I'm most likely opting for bottom of the barrel cheap options.

If you'd popped in on Thursday, you'd have been able to pick up an LTI Aurora LX.

What you can do is purchase and then gift $35 worth of stuff to an email I'll provide, at which point I'll exchange it for store credit and gift you back a $35 package including an LTI Aurora, digital downloads of all three game modules (Squadron 42, Star Citizen, and user-hosted multiplayer), and alpha and beta access including the already-released Hangar Module. Also a few other odds and ends.

Note that if you buy a ship today, there's a waiting period of 24 hours before it can be exchanged for store credit, so keep that in mind. I'll go ahead and PM you my email address; you'll need to provide me with your own for me to gift the package back to.

Really all you have to do is 1.) buy $35 worth of stuff, 2.) gift it to me along with your email address. That's all.

 

[AstroZombie]

Another day, another million.

 

[Blaine]

At this rate, EA will donate itself to Star Citizen sometime halfway through next year.

 

[AstroZombie]

At this rate, EA will donate itself to Star Citizen sometime halfway through next year.

40 mill stretch goal - buy the wing commander IP.

 

[Hoaxmetal]

Another day, another million.

Next one didn't even take a day :D

 

[AstroZombie]

 

[Blaine]

You ready for some spaceship porn? Behold the Banu Merchantman:

And now my pledge total is up to $3500 between the Merchantman and the Khartu.

 

[WhiskeyWolf]

In my opinion the ship should have more hull and be much more bulkier.