Star Citizen, Roberts Space Industries - Chris Roberts' life support and retirement fund [2012-]
- Thread starter green.pixel
- Start date
If they can launch with everything they claimed in kickstarter including the original kickstarter goals then I wont complain. Since they promised that they would complete all that by a release of Nov 2014.
It is now the end of June 2016 and they are no where close to delivering on those things.
Can anybody be that big a fan, seriously how long before
update : chris roberts is driving to work.
update : chris roberts has just turned right.
update : chris roberts has just put on a bon jovi cd
no they didnt, people claimed the game is only complete when they enable all ~100 Star Systems and all other promised features. The only person as far as I can tell that have made false claims is you...
No, they aren't releasing shit (save for the pitiful PTU and other "modules"). They are selling a pipe dream and making bank on it.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
Just like pretty much every MMO in existence. Or Warframe. Or every game in existence with DLC. Or even many games without DLC that receive content updates (new maps, quests, characters, etc.) after release.
Or is your point that most games released nowadays are incomplete?
Regards,
SB
This is disingenuous. Would you say Fallout 4 is not a complete game? I sure wouldn't.
The fact that the game will supposedly continue to get new content and patches after release is absolutely expected (and good!) these days, especially in an MMO like Star Citizen. That doesn't mean that every MMO or game with DLC in existence is not a "complete" game until the last piece of DLC and the last ever patch has been released. That's a ridiculous argument.
Personally I could care less about them hitting exactly 100 star systems and other very specific claims they made during the campaign. If they can release something with even half the amount of stuff they promised (and it's fun and not horribly buggy and disjointed) it will be quite the acheivement. Unfortunately even that is not practical; even the initial scope of the game was always beyond the realm of possibility. Then came the feature creep..
I think Chris did initially set out to make the incredible game of his dreams that he always wanted, but somewhere along the way they accidentally invented the ultimate business model (selling imaginary spaceships) and his mind exploded.
Despite all this I have really high hopes for Squadron 42.
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Silent_Buddha
Legend
Thank you, that was the point of my reply.
And yes, it's taking a lot longer than initially promised. But that doesn't worry me as I never expected to receive a game when I gave the money in their initial crowd funding (before Kickstarter).
Anyone that gives money to a crowd funded project should go in with expectations that nothing will be released. Or if it does, it isn't going to match up with expectations. I always look at people buying virtual ships for hundreds of USD with a bit of bemused amazement. Then again I also look at people that donate 100's and 1000's of USD to Twitch streamers with disbelief. Or the people that crowd fund higher tiers in the 100's and 1000's of USD.
While there are some amazing games that wouldn't exist without crowd funding (Wastelands 2, FTL, etc.) there are also a ton of games that will never release (Hero Trap is a recent example, with the developer actually writing to backers that the game will never be finished and they deliberately asked for less money than would be required to finish it) or are well below expectations generated by the Kickstarter promises (Mighty Number 9 is one of the most well funded Kickstarters ever, and perhaps the most disappointing to everyone that Kickstarted). Heck Double Fine has been notorious lately for requiring more money than they asked for in their Kickstarters to finish their games. And they have generally had well funded Kickstarters.
This isn't to say that people shouldn't crowd fund, but that they should do it with proper expectations. There will be scams, there will be the inability for a developer to follow through, there will be unfinished games, there will be finished games, and there will be at times amazing results.
Anyway, I believe Chris Roberts will actually deliver a game at some point significantly more than I did when I first gave money. However, I also think, he's expanded the project beyond what was originally promised. But anyone who has followed Chris Roberts knows that is what he does. He did it with Strike Commander (delayed with more and more features added) then the later Wing Commanders. Star Lancer was relatively on point where development was concerned as it was his company (Digital Anvil) he was trying to off the ground at the time, especially after the commercial failure of his Wing Commander movie. But then he went right back to being too ambitious for his own projects with Freelancer which wasn't finished until after he left the company when it was acquired by Microsoft. It was finished in 2003 when the original promised launch date was 2001. Amazingly enough it was still a damned good game but never would have gotten finished if Microsoft hadn't stepped in with the acquisition.
Hence, at best, I expect something similar (amazing game after a LONG development cycle). Only with a longer development cycle than anything he's previously done because he actually continues to get funding to expand on his dreams.
He's always had big dreams (why he clashed with Origin at the end and left to make his own company). But up until now, he hasn't had the independent financing to realize his dreams. He now has that funding, and you can bet he's going to spend every single dime he can to realize those dreams. Which means, it's going to take LONG time to finish.
Assuming his dreams don't continue to grow...
Which means. I'm glad I gave him money. It was a reward for his past games. I may get a game, I may not. But if I do, I expect it to be amazing.
Regards,
SB
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I don't really understand your argument. Anyone funding a kickstarter should go in with the expectation that the project will never be released? Is this a joke post?
If I were in charge of making a game I'd be exactly like Mr. Roberts. I would constantly think of cool new stuff and demand that it be put into my game. So I would make a terrible "chairman". There are very good reasons that features get locked down early in the development process (so the developers can actually make the game). At this point literally years past the stated release date for Star Citizen they still don't have a clear idea of what it is exactly that they are making. Almost everything is super vague and in flux. Make a good game (or a game period) this does not.
Therein lies the problem. He will continue to rake in millions of dollars for at least the next few years, and until that stops I guarantee we will not see a true Gold release of Star Citizen. His mind will continue to explode. It could go on for decades with folks like Jupiter behind it. (no offense meant to Jupiter, I have no personal issues with you and I actually enjoy checking the new stuff out in your posts).
If I were in charge of making a game I'd be exactly like Mr. Roberts. I would constantly think of cool new stuff and demand that it be put into my game. So I would make a terrible "chairman". There are very good reasons that features get locked down early in the development process (so the developers can actually make the game). At this point literally years past the stated release date for Star Citizen they still don't have a clear idea of what it is exactly that they are making. Almost everything is super vague and in flux. Make a good game (or a game period) this does not.
Silent_Buddha
Legend
The best we can hope for, IMO, is that he realizes part of his dream. A part that is playable and released. And then constantly expanded upon.
In other words, follow the Warframe model. It's constantly being upgraded graphically. First released with Dx 9 then updated with Dx10 and now with Dx11 with Dx9 being deprecated and no longer supported. It graphically rivals all modern AAA games graphically despite being released to the public way back in 2013 (official release) or 2011/2012 if you were a founder (2011) or closed beta PC (2012). All due to constant updates to models, textures, lighting, shaders, etc.
Its story is constantly being updated. Game modes are constantly being added (recently a sports arena was implemented). Characters and weapons are constantly added and upgraded/balanced. Gameplay is constantly refined and in some cases changed (melee 2.0 and parkour 2.0). World sets and level designs are occasionally added or upgraded.
Everything is on a much smaller scale than Star Citizen, but it also operates with a far smaller budget.
Squadron 42 is supposed to start that off. But who knows when that'll actually come out.
Regards,
SB
The real problem with Star Citizen is simple. They can't make the gameplay right. Mouse is still way over powered and joysticks are worthless in the game.
They made a whole video telling us that we were wrong , that controls were perfect and that someone using just a mouse should beat someone using a hotas.
That goes against being the Best Damn Space Sim ever.
They made a whole video telling us that we were wrong , that controls were perfect and that someone using just a mouse should beat someone using a hotas.
That goes against being the Best Damn Space Sim ever.
I get the impression the game is going after the Freelancer / MMORPG dudes mostly anyway. They like games that use the mouse.
For that matter, all of the Wing Commander games had simplistic mechanics that worked fine with a mouse.
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Maybe but its not what they promised at kickstarter and after. They even had to put out a video after that video saying oh no we will look at the controls they aren't final and all that bs.
You should look at House of the Dying Sun (made by an ex bungie dev and several members of the freespace 2 open community)
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WIP Female Character Close Up Detail, From ATV:
Very high quality for an MMO character.
Liam Cunningham - Squadron 42 (Ser Davos from Game of Thrones)
HERALD PROGRESS UPDATE: http://imgur.com/a/geINS
Ceterpillar living module (19:31)
ATV: TLDR(Too Long; Didn't Read)
Intro
Los Angeles
Source: http://imperialnews.network/2016/06/around-the-verse-episode-238/
Here CIG talks about some network stuff
TLDR(Too Long;Didn’t Read)
Very high quality for an MMO character.
Liam Cunningham - Squadron 42 (Ser Davos from Game of Thrones)
HERALD PROGRESS UPDATE: http://imgur.com/a/geINS
Ceterpillar living module (19:31)
ATV: TLDR(Too Long; Didn't Read)
Intro
- Episode 100!
- Star Citizen Alpha 2.4.1 has gone live which is just a bug fix patch.
- Star Citizen Alpha 2.5 isn’t content locked down yet, but we’re guaranteed to see a flyable ship, some new clothes and some additional things to explore in Crusader
- Polo shirts are coming soon.
Los Angeles
- They’ve been working on the female character rig.
- They’ve tried to keep it similar to the male rig so that the characters just work in engine.
- There is a faked muscle system that allows characters to deform better.
- This technology will also be used on the Vanduul.
- Steve Bender is back from Germany/UK.
- They are increasing ship exit/entry animation speeds for all ships.
- They realised that the animations currently in place were designed for the hangar and getting the “initial experience” of the ship.
- New locomotion sets also respect keys that are being pressed - ie. walk, sprint, etc.
- Engineering hit a milestone on Item System 2.0.
- They’ve completed interactions - allowing lots of different functionality to be added to a item that can then be interacted with.
- James Ku, Senior Character Artist, sculpted a brand new female from scratch in ZBrush
- The high poly sculpt was retopologized into game topology
- The textures were generated from the high poly and applied to the game topology
- Human skin shader was applied and configured
- Texture projection was performed in MARI and subtle details (blemishes and colour variations) were added
- Unfortunately there are still lots of animations to be applied, tones of testing to be done and lots of clothing to be fitted: but they are making really good progress.
- Soon™
- Chris Roberts gives a walking show and tell tour of the L.A. office and we meet several of the artists, developers, engineers and staff as well as get to see their working environment, which has a decidedly Star Citizen flavoured design. A must watch as any description would pale in comparison.
- Elwin Bachiller has been working on the tractor beam operator room and making sure it gives the player an unimpeded view of the right side of the ship during cargo loading.
- Daniel Kamentsky is one of the 3D Artists responsible for the Drake Caterpillar’s style guide that will be used for future drake ships as well.
- Justin Wentz has been worked on a bit of everything for the Caterpillar from interiors to living quarters, cargo bay, etc and is currently finishing up the redesign of the command module
- The Caterpillar is still months away from completion, but when it’s ready it’ll be a sight to behold.
- Moneyshot got the MVP for creating Star Citizen themed metal emblems.
Source: http://imperialnews.network/2016/06/around-the-verse-episode-238/
Here CIG talks about some network stuff
TLDR(Too Long;Didn’t Read)
- Ahmed – DevOps Engineer who takes care of the day to day operation of the cloud infrastructure and works with a large time consisting of Miles, Keegan, Andy, Nate, Peas and several more DevOps Team members.
- Originally came from the website industry handling high traffic startups in Egypt and helping them scale and such. This is is first game and saw the challenge it posed and is why he signed up.
- Jason – Server Programmer who’s in charge of the backend service architecture on a day to day basis and makes it work.
- Started at Origin and worked on Ultima and Crusaders. He also started his own studio named Asylum Software making smaller MMO’s and also worked at Qualcomm as a server engineer build high performance applications.
- Tom – Works with Jason as a Senior server programmer and deals with lots of command and control tools and making sure people know what’s happening with PTU and live.
- Was with Sony Playstation Online Technology Group for almost 10 years. Helped build network libraries for studios and shipped around 160 titles using that framework. He mainly worked on FPS titles, but wanted something new as the challenges of MMO’s present many problems that need to be solved.
- They talked a lot about how MMO’s in the cloud was something no one has ever attempted, let alone thought was feasible. It presented many challenges as far as uptime and making sure that there’s multiple instances of a service running incase one goes down and also figuring out how to get around the fact that some of the things you typically had physically present such as networking and etc were now offsite.
- Persistence was something they talked about being a necessary feature that isn’t glamorous to us, but to them it’s a huge milestone and with 2.4 there was a lot of behind the scenes from many people to get it onto the live servers and they’re not done yet as there’s still much more to be done with persistence.
- One interesting factoid was how scaling in Star Citizen dwarfs MMO’s like WoW for instance. A character might have hundreds of items on them in WoW, but with just the ships in the game and the items you can purchase on the store ranges into the thousands. It’s quite a feat to keep track of everything, but the systems they’ve designed and are building will be able to scale having thousands of players with thousands of items on them on one megaserver.
- Patch size reduction is something they all want implemented as soon as they can. They feel bad pushing somethings three builds a day and people only being able to play the third. Mike Pickett in Austin has been spearheading the problem along with many others. It’s not as simple as reducing the patch size for the live build, but every build they put out and how the systems interact with the files themselves.
- For Client framerate and Server framerate, they’re not mutually exclusive to one another. They prioritise what they can fix or optimise within a time frame and push that out, while also working on larger projects which will then resolve many issues later on. They appreciate the support from the Evocati testers, PTU testers and regular live players for their bugtesting and feedback, but some things will have to wait before they can polish it further. The game is constantly being built and aspects of the project have to wait for polish until other things have been put in first.
- At roughly 30 minutes of the show, Ahmed goes into an explanation of how their infrastructure is setup. It’s fairly complicated and I recommend watching it to fully understand what he says which you can watch here.
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This weeks ATV is awesome!
1km huge Bengal Carrier (26:10)
He said that the scale of this ship is as big as 3-4 Battlefield maps. With functional interiors etc.
It has 90 turrets and its own fleet inside. There are internal elevators big enough for 60m Retaliators.
Bengal
-15:40: New big multiplayer pirate Location
UI (will have a 2D and 3D toggle)
EDIT:
The UK Office alone has 180 people working on this game. They want 200 people there.
LA and Frankfurt studios
1km huge Bengal Carrier (26:10)
He said that the scale of this ship is as big as 3-4 Battlefield maps. With functional interiors etc.
It has 90 turrets and its own fleet inside. There are internal elevators big enough for 60m Retaliators.
Bengal
-15:40: New big multiplayer pirate Location
UI (will have a 2D and 3D toggle)
EDIT:
The UK Office alone has 180 people working on this game. They want 200 people there.
LA and Frankfurt studios
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