Gaming Roberts Space Industries: Star Citizen

[blixel]

I was watching a tech show on youtube and the host mentioned this game called Star Citizen.

I hadn't heard of it before, so I took a look at the article and website. Looks kind of interesting I suppose. It's pretty.

I did a search on OF for "Roberts Space Industries" and "Star Citizen". It didn't come back with any results, so I thought I'd post this here to see what you guys think.

http://player.vimeo.com/video/51135962

 

[jangofett287]

Personally I think this is going to be what EVE Online should have been. I think its going to be great, and looking into it, the attention to detail is immense and the game is going to have such a great immersion factor.

 

[dgatsoulis]

Roberts making a game that he would like to play?

:lol:

Seriously now, the game, even at this stage, looks amazing.

Like many of us, I was a huge fan of the Wing Commander series.
I think I still have the (11?, I think it was 11) 5¼" floppy disks of the first game, in a box somewhere.
This one looks like the game Roberts always wanted to make, but the technology wasn't up to speed. Still, it would probably take a serious gaming rig to run it.

I used to love a good space combat, but after learning some physics -through Orbiter- I now hate the games that use airplane physics in space.

Personally, I tried, but never really got involved in any MMO game. My idea of multiplayer is a 1 on 1 Fight Night Round 4 on the PS3 with a friend sitting next to me, or 2x2 game of FIFA, with 3 of them.

I quess the reason is that the MMO crazyness started at a period when I couldn't go online regularly (or at all). Then the first successful games were either Fantasy or FPS, (genres that I don't like), so I and the online games always kept a distance.

Now, if someone manages to make an online game with the "feel" of Elite and Orbiter physics, then look at the pic above!

 

[Hielor]

Personally I think this is going to be what EVE Online should have been. I think its going to be great, and looking into it, the attention to detail is immense and the game is going to have such a great immersion factor.

I don't think this is aiming to be even remotely close to EVE.

EVE is an MMORPG with spaceships, with all the associated RPG mechanics--you pick a target and shoot at it, and whether or not you hit is determined by a bunch of random factors, not one of which is player skill.

This is an action space shooter like Wing Commander or Freelancer, with the ability to play offline and singleplayer.

This is good. The genre hasn't really had anything fantastic since Freelancer ten years ago, and if anyone has the pedigree to make something that can be a lasting and worthy successor to Freelancer, it's Roberts.

Looking at the contribution options--what's the difference between "First Responder" and "Early Adopter"?

 

[jedidia]

I heard about this a week or so ago. 3 million isn't easy to come by, but it might be one more instance where kickstarter and a big name make things work. We had Tim Schaeffer and Brian Fargo so far (Wasteland 2 cracked the 3 million threshold, if I'm not mistaken, and post-apocalyptic RPGs seem to be even a narrower niche than space sims, especially if you're planning a sequel to the great-grandfather of all postapocalyptic rpgs), and Roberts certainly doesn't have to hide behind the two.

I can't get quite excited about it, because I just can't be bothered to play any space sim that doesn't at least have newtons three laws implemented (I can make do without gravity, as it doesn't play a role in a dogfight situation), but neither does the trailer look like it nor do I really expect it from Roberts...

 

[n72.75]

I just found out about this, looks promising. I gave them money.

 

[hribek]

I can't get quite excited about it, because I just can't be bothered to play any space sim that doesn't at least have newtons three laws implemented (I can make do without gravity, as it doesn't play a role in a dogfight situation), but neither does the trailer look like it nor do I really expect it from Roberts...

That shouldn't be the case for Star Citizen, there's no artificial drags. The only non-natural limit I have heard of so far is maximum speed limit in combat instances, which is to be enforced by the fly-by-wire control layer, not the physics engine.
http://player.vimeo.com/video/51125119

The current funds total is over $1.6M (main site + Kickstarter)

 

[Hlynkacg]

That shouldn't be the case for Star Citizen, there's no artificial drags. The only non-natural limit I have heard of so far is maximum speed limit in combat instances, which is to be enforced by the fly-by-wire control layer, not the physics engine.
http://player.vimeo.com/video/51125119

The current funds total is over $1.6M (main site + Kickstarter)

And yet in the trailer you clearly see spacecraft firing thier engines without accelerating and slowing to a stop without retros.

Sorry I'm with jedidia on this one.

 

[Hielor]

I think in this case the Rule of Fun applies--http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfFun . I suspect that those or us who play Orbiter are in the small minority in thinking that realistic physics would make a fun space combat game.

 

[jangofett287]

http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/physics-not-a-dirty-word/ The official word on this.

 

[jedidia]

Well, that doesn't sound too bad.

On another note, Star citizen has already reached its funding goals: 500'000 on Kickstarter, as well as 1.4 million to Roberts Space Industries directly. Roberts estimates that the actual full game will cost somewhere about 14 million, and only intended the fundraising to get started, but mostly to get investors interested... considering the short time it took to get almost 2 million together, the chances of that don't seem too bad. Now where are those market analysts that said that noone was interested in an AAA space combat sim anymore? :shifty:
(probably grumbling in the same corner as those who claimed that you can't make money with a turnbased AAA game nowadays...)

I suspect that those or us who play Orbiter are in the small minority in thinking that realistic physics would make a fun space combat game.

Oh, I don't expect a space dog-fighter to be too realistic (because that would imply immediately scratching the dogfight part). I just need my inertia (don't care much about the realistic depiction of thrusters firing). It's so much part of my flying habits that I'm completely lost without it. Still, capping the max speed without the ability to override it would be somewhat of a backdraw. Sure, it will prevent newbies from getting lost in tedious jousting matches, but it is a rather important tool in the box of those who know how to use it without overshooting (and can keep track of the distance and relative velocity indicators at the same time).

 

[Zachstar]

Personally I think Star Trek Excalibur has the best overall idea of the physics part. Let the mod or even the ship alone decide it's own physics so you can have even an X-Wing vs another universe's craft and it will look right.

This game tho seems to be making a good call on it's physics. Besides, It has the badass carrier and it's internal visuals. So I think I am sold on the idea.

Overall, we sure could use some new space games.

 

[blixel]

"As we enter the last two weeks of the pledge campaign, we’re continuing to look at ways to make sure Squadron 42 and Star Citizen are the game you want to play. To that end, we’re preparing to roll out a more comprehensive set of stretch goals… and, as usual, we would like the community’s input. What do YOU think we could plan to add to our campaign?"

http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/poll-additional-stretch-goals/

 

[Hielor]

They've posted a ship design thingy: http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/ships-plan/

INTAKES are the hydrogen ram scoops on the front of the spacecraft which fuel it by gathering spaceborne hydrogen.. Upgrades alter the effectiveness and the profile of the vehicle; the more effectively a ship takes in fuel the more efficient its engines. The tradeoff is that, unless countermeasures are installed, this also increases the radar signature. The appearance of the ship is altered as well: more primitive intakes look like physical fan blades, others glow different colors as heat capacity increases.

What. My opinion of this game is going down.

 

[Zachstar]

What is wrong with that? It makes the game look interesting in my opinion. Yes that is not exactly realistic but it adds the tradeoff element that these games need.

Also I hope the game truly allows for a combined arms approach instead of a one man army (space navy fighter whatever) Similar to EVE online. I recently bought Guild Wars 2 and the main reason I do not play it is you don't have to seriously do things right to be effective warm bodies on the field > proper mix of healers, DPS, Tanking. While obviously in a game like this things are different but tradeoffs can make you dependent on other builds to do certain tasks (Fast intercept keeping your Y-Wing death star run safe... Oh wait)

 

[Ripley]

Here's the Italian Star Citizen webpage.
I'm not "affiliated" with them, just a heads-up for those who might be interested.

http://www.starcitizenitalia.com/

 

[statickid]

ALRIGHT! another game where i can check out a couple screen shots of

my puter sux lol

---------- Post added at 06:37 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:35 AM ----------

or, if it does well, i'll probably play it in about 10 years when i can get it for 5 bux at office depot next to collections of 1001 poker and gem matching clones, because by then i'll have a new medi-ochre computer that can run it at 200 fps

 

[Izack]

Yeah...another one with a garbage computer here. Won't be playing anything like this for another five or ten years, if ever. :lol:

 

[blixel]

Some new information about this game:

About each player having their own ship: "It will be your home, your mode of transportation, your line of defense against pirates, Vanduul raiders and the dangers of vacuum itself… and what's more, it will be an expression of your personal style and gameplay preferences. Every sci-fi fan has dreamed about customizing their own Millennium Falcon or manning the stations on their own bridge of the USS Enterprise, blasting off on adventures in space against evil empires and mysterious aliens. These fantasies are at the heart of our ship customization system: when you build a ship, we want you to feel like that ship is yours; that it's not just a carbon copy of every other Aurora or Freelancer that you encounter."

Star Citizen's ship customization systems explained

 

[Hielor]

Why are the guns mounted on spheres?

I'm not really sure I like where the ship design style is heading. It's a bit cartoony for my tastes...