Star Citizen: Chris Robert`s new space sim (the Wing Commander guy)

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Stringjam

Golden Member
Jun 30, 2011
1,871
33
91
how do you get an M50?

I'm seriously thinking about spending a little bit more and upgrading my ship.


I got my M50 on the Reddit market...but I would hold off until they fix up the Gladius. The M50 goes up for sale during limited edition sales like Anniversary and Christmas.

The Gladius is (was) like an M50 with a green paint job and more guns and missiles. It's really a better boat for combat when it works. Plus...it does look freaking awesome.

gladius2.jpg


My advice..hold back during these next few patches, because indications from Calix Reneau (CIG flight developer) point to some big balance passes in the next few iterations. If they get the Gladius back where it belongs it's a better ship to invest in (and WAY cheaper) than the M50.

Not to detract from the M50 though....because it's still a killer ship that I'm always giddy to fly.

If you're just itching to upgrade your ship though, I would go with an Avenger. It has a blackout bug right now, but otherwise it's probably the best all-arounder in the game.
 
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TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
91
I kinda like the idea of a multi person ship.

The gf is slowly getting onboard with the idea of the game and she loves Star Trek. I'm pushing the concept of her learning the lore and being interested in checking places out. So I kinda want a touring ship that's still fun and offensive. I think it'd be easier if she could just 'ride along' instead of having to fly her own ship.
 

Jaepheth

Platinum Member
Apr 29, 2006
2,572
25
91
Personally, I'll probably be doing a lot milk runs and PVE with my ship between FPS mercenary work.
 

rivethead

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2005
2,635
106
106
I kinda like the idea of a multi person ship.

The gf is slowly getting onboard with the idea of the game and she loves Star Trek. I'm pushing the concept of her learning the lore and being interested in checking places out. So I kinda want a touring ship that's still fun and offensive. I think it'd be easier if she could just 'ride along' instead of having to fly her own ship.

The Reliant is ideal for what you just described. It's a 2-seater starter ship. And it should be hangar-ready (if not flight ready) any day now. Which means they'll likely put it back on sale.

You could then upgrade your Aurora (I think that's what you have) for $15-$25 (depending on Aurora model).
 

rivethead

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2005
2,635
106
106
I believe that the M50 is primarily designed for racing. It's essentially two huge engines with a cockpit strapped to them (and two laser repeaters....which makes no sense for racing but hey).

The Gladius was designed for interception. It's two huge engines with a cockpit strapped to them....and more weapons.

At least that's how I think about them.
 

Stringjam

Golden Member
Jun 30, 2011
1,871
33
91
I believe that the M50 is primarily designed for racing. It's essentially two huge engines with a cockpit strapped to them (and two laser repeaters....which makes no sense for racing but hey).

The Gladius was designed for interception. It's two huge engines with a cockpit strapped to them....and more weapons.

At least that's how I think about them.


I think the confusion around the M50 has mostly come from CIG and how they've approached it.

Back when they first concepted it, it's original role in lore was an interceptor (it is, after all the "M50 Interceptor"). The concepts even had special dual barrel guns. Back at this point racing wasn't even a thing in SC.

EDIT: Found the old pic:
M50_031813.jpg


I think currently it's actually starting to fit into that role better. It's the best handling ship, and its size makes it very hard to hit. The balance is its shields and armor are quite weak, so if you do get hit, it's over pretty quickly.

I think it has to maintain some level of combat viability to be true to the original backers who bought an "interceptor" at a very high price compared to other single-seaters. I think it's actually balanced pretty well right now, but only because the Tarantulas haven't been nerfed yet. I think once they are, you'll see this ship return as a shiny hangar ornament and the cries of the M50 Interceptor original backers will be heard once again.

You're right though, the Gladius is a pure interceptor. Right now it's too slow and sloppy, but they said they were going to fix that in the next big LIVE patch.
 
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rivethead

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2005
2,635
106
106
Thanks for the clarification! Ever since I pledged (May 2014) CIG has always pushed the M50 as a racer.....so you're absolutely right that CIG is the source of the confusion (at least for me).

On a different note.....I tried out 2.1d last night and it was an awesome experience. Smooth with very few FPS drops. But I'm not sure if it was the code or the lack of players. In Arc Corp (which is much more detailed than the last time I took a look....wow it's really coming along!) there were 4 Citizens (myself included). In Port Olisar, I saw two people in the station and saw a Connie as I was leaving......that's it.

Took on some pirates at a comm array......and won. AI was noticeably "different" than my last experience. It was more believable.

For whatever reason, I was able to fly my Avenger with custom weapons (I was playing around with the holotable and put S1 gimbals and S1 repeaters on the wings of my Avenger....so all weapons gimbaled).

Gimballed weapons made it way easier for me (keyboard/mouse), but I'm not sure it's something I want to get used to. I now see why people have started calling AC - "keyboard commander"........
 

Worthington

Golden Member
Apr 29, 2005
1,432
17
81
I believe it's just going to get released when done. They've gone through some serious effort to keep plot and story lines away from the general public. Going with a beta release would undo all of that work.
 

Sabrewings

Golden Member
Jun 27, 2015
1,942
35
51
That said.. it's still CryEngine at the core; something I've been following for about 10 years now.

This is becoming less true day by day. Chris has already said they've made rendering pipeline adjustments to improve the efficiency of the types of environments we have with SC. In the near future (sometime this year I believe) they're going to start on a complete rework of the the core engine and pipeline for DX12. After that, and by the time of release, there won't be much original CryEngine left.

I have the CH ProPedals and they're solid. I only use the toe-brakes though. I used to use the slide-axis for lateral strafe when I had a hand throttle. The only thing I didn't like about the slide axis was the detents towards the end of travel.

I've been toying with this idea myself. Currently I have the pedals slaved for roll, and nothing on the toe brake axis. Maybe setting up each toe for side strafe in that direction would be worthwhile? I need to try it out soon.

My up, down, left, and right strafes are all on a throttle hat at the moment with forward/back and up/down on rotaries to assist with decoupled landing.



In other news, today is the last day to update your ship inventory for the fleet view. It's going to take some organization and I'm going to tally it all up and start work on it tomorrow. Shouldn't take too long.
 

Sabrewings

Golden Member
Jun 27, 2015
1,942
35
51
Is Squadron 42 going to get the alpha - beta treatment or is it just going to be released when its done ?

No alpha or beta will be released to backers. It's a single player game and is easier to develop traditionally. They also want it to be a surprise as you go through the story, hence why we've not really seen much in the way of assets from it.

The Reliant is ideal for what you just described. It's a 2-seater starter ship. And it should be hangar-ready (if not flight ready) any day now. Which means they'll likely put it back on sale.

You could then upgrade your Aurora (I think that's what you have) for $15-$25 (depending on Aurora model).

The Reliant is the most awesome of all the starter ships, IMO. It's got the slightly alien vibe for cool factor and puts me in mind of the B-wing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nea6aAJM0k8
 
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TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
91
This is becoming less true day by day. Chris has already said they've made rendering pipeline adjustments to improve the efficiency of the types of environments we have with SC. In the near future (sometime this year I believe) they're going to start on a complete rework of the the core engine and pipeline for DX12. After that, and by the time of release, there won't be much original CryEngine left.

I was under the impression that Crytek was still involved and helping, at least as a consultant.

I'm curious how much of SC's work is going back to Crytek.

aka.. They find a cryengine 'bug' in SC and they fix it internally.. Are they reporting that back to Crytek?
 

rivethead

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2005
2,635
106
106
No alpha or beta will be released to backers. It's a single player game and is easier to develop traditionally. They also want it to be a surprise as you go through the story, hence why we've not really seen much in the way of assets from it.



The Reliant is the most awesome of all the starter ships, IMO. It's got the slightly alien vibe for cool factor and puts me in mind of the B-wing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nea6aAJM0k8

Squadron 42 is a trilogy. The first episode will be released this winter (hopefully). Rumor is that it will no longer be included with starter packages after January 31st. I would expect it to begin pre-sales this spring (if we're really on schedule for a winter release).

The second installment is called "Behind Enemy Lines". Most backers will have to purchase this separately (Old backers (2012-2013 got it free)).

Not sure what the third installment is going to be called.

And yes, the Reliant is going to be fun. The moment it's hangar-ready, I'm launching my CCU from the Avenger. I'm hoping that is very soon.
 

rivethead

Platinum Member
Jan 16, 2005
2,635
106
106
Saw this comment on reddit:



Any thoughts?

I kinda want to upgrade my ship, but many that I like aren't available (maybe on grey market). Is there any merit to the statement above?

It depends. If you got that Aurora MR package during the anniversary sale and paid $30, then you would have to add money to your account to get the $45 Aurora LN package.

This more refers to people accidentally buying the MR package right now. The Aurora MR starter package is currently $45. The Aurora LN package is currently $45. The MR is a pricing mistake (it's too high....should probably be $35). The LN is the much better ship with a higher ship 'value' used when calculating CCU to another ship.
 

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
91
It's a nice ship. It's flyable in PTU 2.1....I snuck a ride on one a few weeks ago.

I'm tempted to get one, but I also feel hesitant because of upcoming changes... but I know the clock is ticking to get a 'package' so I kinda want to just pull the trigger asap.

I want to buy a 2nd sub so my GF can ride along. She's not much of a gamer, but she loves star trek and the lore.

She seemed to enjoy watching STLYOUNGBLOOD's lore videos more than watching me play the game. So I want to get a ship she can just ride with me in, and she can learn to use a turret or something simple.

She said she likes the idea of learning more about the lore so she can be a 'co pilot' and tell me about stuff I might not know or help me plan missions. So I'm thinking I get her a $45 package, but I upgrade mine to get a 2-3 person ship.
 

Sabrewings

Golden Member
Jun 27, 2015
1,942
35
51
I was under the impression that Crytek was still involved and helping, at least as a consultant.

I'm curious how much of SC's work is going back to Crytek.

aka.. They find a cryengine 'bug' in SC and they fix it internally.. Are they reporting that back to Crytek?

Not to my knowledge. I think that CIG paid an all out license fee to be able to take CryEngine and run with it in any direction they please without any feedback from Crytek. They hired former Crytek engineers that had been with the company since the original Far Cry and Crysis days. I guess Crytek was downsizing and it was a perfect time to scoop them up.

I can't imagine how much "consulting" Crytek could do given how modified it is now and how much experience they let go. As for bugs, I doubt anything CIG come across would be applicable to other implementations. CR has said himself that CryEngine was the best of the options they had available at the time, but through development they're going to be nearly rewriting the entire engine by the time its done. It's a single player FPS engine being asked to do a MMO space sim. The network efficiency overhaul alone is affecting every aspect of the engine except the render pipeline itself, and they've already put work in there.
 

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
91
Not to my knowledge. I think that CIG paid an all out license fee to be able to take CryEngine and run with it in any direction they please without any feedback from Crytek. They hired former Crytek engineers that had been with the company since the original Far Cry and Crysis days. I guess Crytek was downsizing and it was a perfect time to scoop them up.

I can't imagine how much "consulting" Crytek could do given how modified it is now and how much experience they let go. As for bugs, I doubt anything CIG come across would be applicable to other implementations. CR has said himself that CryEngine was the best of the options they had available at the time, but through development they're going to be nearly rewriting the entire engine by the time its done. It's a single player FPS engine being asked to do a MMO space sim. The network efficiency overhaul alone is affecting every aspect of the engine except the render pipeline itself, and they've already put work in there.

Ok, that makes sense. I've only scratched the surface learning about the deal and arrangement.

In the back of my mind I was wondering what value many of the specific functions that was being added to SC would have for the base CryEngine platform.

It def has a 'crysis' feel to it though.
 

TechBoyJK

Lifer
Oct 17, 2002
16,699
60
91
I'm ok with being a StarEngine fanboy.

Not to derail the thread, but has anybody heard much about 'modding'?

I loved working in the Sandbox. It'd be neat if I could generate some content or something.. make my own Star System for people to visit.