The first AAA game developed with money from fans instead of a major publisher

[redirishlord]

Chris Roberts started his latest game, Star Citizen, with a Kickstarter and it just kept going, here's their funding tracker.

This space simulation/MMO looks really immersive , engineered for balance and supports its community. 

Speaking of community involvement, they are producing their own modders competiton, The Next Great Starship where teams from the community compete for the chance to design a new starship asset for inclusion the game. Check out previous episodes for the competition itself, the most recent is a teaser for the upcoming Alpha Release Dogfighting Module.

Believe it or not, this website is for a pre-alpha community funded effort. That in no way means the various divisions, from Santa Monica to Toronto to Manchester, aren't hard at work creating something truly amazing.

Fantasy roleplay fans may not think a space sim is for them, but I challenge you to check it out and decide for yourself, there really is something for everyone here.

If the following advert videos don't grab you by the viscera and make you want to know more, I'm at a loss

 

Aurora LN commercial

 

Hornet F7C "Domestic emergency" commercial

 

Freelancer above, 300i "Speed" commercial

Edited April 4, 2014 by redirishlord

[Aiyen]

Ultimately it all comes down to the simple concept of player lag. Will they have solved that which has plagued EVE since its inception? 

Can you do truly massive space battles where 

A: Is it actually battles and not 5 hours on coms trying to jump around waiting for an engagement? 

B: When an engagement actually happen, will it be something more interesting then just massive missile lag vollys that try to focus 1-2 ships down at a time?

Can you actually get to the decent trade locations without having to wait 30 mins in line to get access etc. 

 

I guess the list will continue to include many other things, but I guess those are the most vital one. I am sure others will chip in with more observations! :) 

[redirishlord]

I hear your concerns, if this were the next EVE I wouldn't have any interest. If you can find the time, watch the Hornet F&C commercial (its short but sweet) for an idea of what the realtime 1st Person combat will be like (think spiritual successor to Freelancer, made by same guy but without MS calling the shots/reigning him in). Also checkout the link to something for everyone "here", it details the realtime integrated economy/mission generation, also this link has a video preview of one of the mining colonies (scroll down the monthly report to the Foundry 42 section) which is another profession that will be simulated in realtime 1st person, and btw the 6km long mining bases look amazing.

Edited April 5, 2014 by redirishlord

[EssArrBee]

EVE is basically, a futuristic banking simulator. Good training for using Excel. The time dilation thing in EVE helps a bit, but unfortunately only for the stats of when things happened, not the gameplay.

 

Didn't Star Citizen already raise over 40 million? That is a ton of cash, but I don't see how you make a MMO with that much, they usually require over 100 million to develop. The project is just so ambitious though that you can't ignore what is going on with it. I wonder how doing a monthly subscription based MMO will work nowadays. I don't know that it can work with all the garbage free-to-play stuff out there.

[redirishlord]

All I can say is check out some of the videos I linked, especially the Hornet. Those are in-engine (Cry modified for 1stPerson space sim). Its not a monthly subscription btw, buy a ship package and you're good to go (of course many early backers have bought small fleets, but there's no need to do that).

Its definitely not EVE, if you remember Freelancer it will be more that style with CIG running the persistent universe servers. They intend to release alpha modules over the next year, the "hangar" is out now. "dogfighting" drops after PAXEast, "planetside" brings FPS combat (ground & space station) later, than "social" opening up planetary environment bars for mingling and stores for shopping, finally a beta of the persistent universe then the Squadron 42 single player campaign to be released in chapters leading up to the full/live release. Finally, CIG has committed to continued content release & persistent server support after full launch.

Edited April 5, 2014 by redirishlord

[Aiyen]

If you remember the multiplayer from Freelancer then you would know another reason to be skeptical! :D 

The static ships, the pointless trade system etc. The SP was good but that was about it. 

 

It is space and it is MMO hence the only direct rival is going to be EVE these days, and all comparisons are going to be made for that. 

The fact that the combat is more like freelancer, and less like EVE is in theory a good thing, but in practice I can forsee a ton of technical issues once you get over a critical threshold of players.  

 

Also since you brought it up... one thing that REALLY ruins EVE is the fact that people can multi play several ships at once.. making it impossible for anyone with less then 3 accounts to compete in any serious way... this imo is what really mess up that game. It is an interesting way to reward the hardcore players, but everyone else is just not going to have a good time, and many agree that this is in large part why EVE is so stagnant... unless you come in with a lot of friends or a lot of money initially to back up several accounts then you will get nowhere fast. 

But that said then it is an interesting project. And here is to hoping that we all get to blow stuff up in realtime while chilling on our favorite leisure planet in the pass time. 

[redirishlord]

Amen to that, and don't forget the 1st person close combat!

 

*** scrape up 20 mins & check out this video; the first 10 are insight into the developer & tease for the dogfighting module to be released next week at PAXEast, the last 10 are featuring teams of modders & their entries in TNGS, if you remember the Bear Musician Skyrim mod watch for Team Troika (from TES to the 'verse, impressive).

Edited April 5, 2014 by redirishlord

[redirishlord]

In today's 10 question's for the Chairman video, Chris Roberts gives a great explanation of gameplay details and informs on the role of the Cloud Imperium Games (the maker of Star Citizen) as "dungeon master". CIG intends to continue producing free content in response to player actions as ongoing support for the persistent universe, in much the same way an AD&D DM would in a long term campaign. 

 

This was a particularly informative weekly update, take 15 minutes and satisfy your curiousity.

 

BTW, As of the time of this writing, fewer than 3,000 Alpha Slots remain so you might want to pick up a game package with  alpha/beta access while its included.

[redirishlord]

Regarding the release of the next playable pre-alpha content, the Dog Fighting Module;

 

"CIG is heading to Boston to show you what we’ve been working on! Check here for information about Thursday’s special event (including the livestream.)

 

Will the event be streamed online?

Yes! Chris Roberts’ presentation will be streamed via Twitch starting at 9 PM EST. You can access the stream at that time via the Roberts Space Industries website."

 

That's tonight btw.

[redirishlord]

Live interview with Erin Roberts of Foundry 42, Manchester at PAX East ,lots of great details on Star Citizen specifics and his views re- working for community backers vs working for puplisher. Thanks to Geekdomo for this great get.

 

Amazing how much is being incorporated into this game, can't wait to start playing. Speaking to that, backers can expect to begin playing the dogfighting alpha early next month, the first chapter (10 missions) of five (50 missions total) of the single player campaign available beginning of 2015. The full persistent universe opens after the final single player chapter is released.

[redirishlord]

Check out this 12 minute video from the Cambridge crew from Moon Collider showing off their AI for Star Citizen in the Crye Engine. Eve? I think not.