Star Citizen Development Discussion (Is Derek Smart Right?)

[rivethead]

Yes I literally fell through the planet and found myself floating in space. The unfortunate part was because I had already landed my ship on the planets surface I had no other recourse but to kill myself and start over. I find it telling that SC has a built in self kill button because all I had to do was tap the backspace key and then I found myself back at Stanton.

You bring up some fare points but it was really frustrating not knowing were to go. Sure the first 5-7 minutes was cool just running around and looking at the scenery but eventually I just wanted to get to my ship and get into space. I will say if the game was just a little bit more intuitive for beginners it would go along way in helping alleviate the frustration.

Like asking for permission to take off. No were did I see that this was a necessary step I just had to learn the hard way which wouldn't be to bad except I had to wait to retrieve my ship or PAY to get it retrieved faster. I shouldn't be penalized because the game is vague on little details like this.

Overall though I did have fun and have logged in and played some more. I found my way over to Port Olisar and now when I join the game I start there instead of Stanton. I haven't tried anymore jobs though. I'm just getting myself used to the controls and the ins and outs of flying to different systems in the PU.

Thanks for sharing your experience. As someone who hasn't run the demo since 2.4 (I think that's over 2 years ago now), I was interested in your experience.

Your experience is similar to what I read a lot on the SC forums.

Supposedly there are environment clues (signs, arrows, etc.) that help you know where to go from the start. But the common advice is to just get on chat and ask for help. That seems to be CIG's approach to a tutorial right now: other players. I think that makes sense - since it's just a tech demo and things are going to change, it doesn't make much sense to build a tutorial. Except that CIG market this product as a game you can "play" right now.....

The train and elevator rides (the length of time) are also a common complaint.

 

[Dranoche]

So after our conversation back on the 26 I decided to boot up SC the other night and see how it's coming along. This was the first time I've played in over a year and a half so a decent amount of time had passed. So of course there was a new patch which took forever on my measly 50meg connection but it applied fairly quickly and before long I was playing.

So I started at Stanton and found my way to the dock which btw took forever for me to figure out. Why the f did I have to take a train to get to the hangers/docks??? For the first 10-15 minutes was really frustrated because I didn't know were to go and the game didn't make it very clear.
So I called up my Avenger at the console and made my way to the hanger and boarded my ship. After dying because I was bouncing off the hanger ceiling because I didn't realize I needed to ask permission to take off. Again something the game needed to make more clear.
So I found my way back to the hanger this time calling up my 350, asked for permission to take off and eventually found my way into space...YAY!! So I decided to take on a simple job. It was bounty worth around $2k if completed. It took me a awhile to figure out how to engage the drive and find my way to the planet the target was on.

So I proceeded to fly down to the planets surface which was very cool. It was all in real time from space to surface IE no cut scenes to load the planet details. I landed about 600 meters away from my target and started to traverse the planets surface on foot toward the target. When I got about 150 meters from the target I FELL THROUGH THE PLANET and died....AHHHHHH. This was after already spending the last 45 minutes to an hour just trying to figure out were to go and how the controls work.....

Needles to say I was done. The most frustrating part for me was trying to figure out were to go and how the controls work. It's just not very intuitive. I'm sure if I played some more and got used to it would be fine but after almost an hour of messing around and finally arrive to my destination only to have the game glitch out and me dying was enough.

Ok so this was more than I expected to type sorry for the long winded post but I just wanted to give anyone interested in SC my take on it after about an hour and a half's worth of playtime.

I have a similar experience every few months when I check in. Fall through planet after getting out of ship. Fall through ship and planet after climbing into ship. Cargo container tossed behind seat in Mustang destroys ship. Ship randomly accelerates 1000-fold right before landing. Waiting for the free rebuy sucks. I'm happy to be a guinea pig for an in-development product, but not when I have to wait to try again. It's not a useful system at this point in development.

I don't think I'll ever come around on the controls, or the environmental interaction for basic things. Some of it's kind of cool but most of it is more novelty than useful. It might be possible to bind some stuff but that assumes you can find it in the bindings. And good luck trying to find a binding conflict. They're enhancing the wrong parts of the sim genre. Complain too loudly and a big backer will explain to you how it's not a game but a lifestyle.

I'm not mad though. A dumpster fire is still a fire, and I'm happy to sit and watch.

 

[Sable]

Star Citizen’s single-player campaign misses beta window, doesn’t have a release date

‘Squadron 42 will be done when it is done, and will not be released just to make a date,’ says Chris Roberts

www.polygon.com

I'm shocked. SHOCKED I tell you.

"In the note to donors, Roberts said “Squadron 42 will be done when it is done, and will not be released just to make a date.” He also said RSI would not show any of Squadron 42’s “gameplay, locations, or assets” in lieu of a beta, because the game is too far from a full launch to begin a marketing campaign. “If we show the non-spoiler gameplay now, that’s prime footage and gameplay that could have been used closer to release,” Roberts said. "

 

[gorobei]

the comments in the polygon article are like a perfect encapsulation of the defenders of sc vs the view from the outside. the mental gymnastics are just magical.

i thought roberts made some sort of statement a year or two ago about if they couldnt get sq42 out the door in a year something drastic would change.

 

[rivethead]

Chris Robert's Letter from the Chairman is an interesting read:

Letter from the Chairman - Roberts Space Industries | Follow the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42

Takes a shot at Cyberpunk 2077's disaster release (admittedly low-hanging fruit) while touting record high revenues and, more importantly, player engagement.

I'll admit the player engagement thing is a huge surprise to me. What do a quarter of a million new "players" in 2020 see in this project?

 

[gorobei]

the new players are mostly free weekend test period installs. i would be surprised if the retention/conversion rates are above 1%. covid quarantine probably pushed the numbers higher than past free weekends.

 

[francisbaud]

It must be the MMORPG with the most beautiful visuals, and it's not done yet. So much money being pouring in the project ($349). Maybe they'll achieve something never seen, super innovative and of great quality (one can hope).

 

[shortylickens]

Any real news on the project?

 

[rivethead]

Any real news on the project?

Delays. I used to pay attention. I used to monitor their forums and read some posts. I used to watch their update videos.

Apathy won.

I now spend that time playing real, actual video games and having fun.

I do know they're spending development dollars on in-game events now.....despite the fact there is no game and only a very buggy tech demo.

 

[zinfamous]

I guess the only people winning this game right now are CR and the lawyers?

 

[Vivendi]

I don't really follow it anymore but sometimes I'll look at the reddit starcitizen subreddit if someone links it in another sub. It's 99% posts about eye candy so I assume (correctly or incorrectly) that there is not much to do in the game yet.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Delays. I used to pay attention. I used to monitor their forums and read some posts. I used to watch their update videos.

Apathy won.

I now spend that time playing real, actual video games and having fun.

I do know they're spending development dollars on in-game events now.....despite the fact there is no game and only a very buggy tech demo.

Pretty much my thought. I have zero regret in what I’ve purchased, as I’ve said I am a big risk taker, I like early access games that do something different. I’ve had successes and failures, I just accept it as a risk.
I do like how they are pushing hardware, I do like the concept of a big world that you need to do “stuff” in even if that is a train ride to the star port. Maybe some day it will be mostly complete and maybe it will never be complete. Regardless I am okay with the risk.

 

[rivethead]

Pretty much my thought. I have zero regret in what I’ve purchased, as I’ve said I am a big risk taker, I like early access games that do something different. I’ve had successes and failures, I just accept it as a risk.
I do like how they are pushing hardware, I do like the concept of a big world that you need to do “stuff” in even if that is a train ride to the star port. Maybe some day it will be mostly complete and maybe it will never be complete. Regardless I am okay with the risk.

Completely agree. I still believe there is potential there.

Having said that, I am a bit irritated that they're spending dev time/$ on in-game events now. I'd like to experience those events. But the "game" is just way too buggy for my tolerance. It's too soon and yet another example of CIG "putting the cart before the horse" in my opinion.

 

[rivethead]

I don't really follow it anymore but sometimes I'll look at the reddit starcitizen subreddit if someone links it in another sub. It's 99% posts about eye candy so I assume (correctly or incorrectly) that there is not much to do in the game yet.

It's a buggy, beautiful tech demo right now. There are some basic gameplay loops (combat, mining, cargo) and if you're into a steep learning curve and ok with bugs and broken things, you can spend a lot of time with it. And some people are doing that....and enjoying it....right now.

 

[shortylickens]

Star Citizen Has Now Raised Over $550 Million

The Star Citizen juggernaut continues. Players have already poured $US275 million into the long-running space epic, and the studio raised another $US46 million from a group of investors two years ago. That same group of investors has just put another $US17.25 million into the project, bringing...

www.kotaku.com.au

More expensive than most movies and EVERY OTHER VIDEO GAME IN THE WORLD!

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Star Citizen Has Now Raised Over $550 Million

The Star Citizen juggernaut continues. Players have already poured $US275 million into the long-running space epic, and the studio raised another $US46 million from a group of investors two years ago. That same group of investors has just put another $US17.25 million into the project, bringing...

www.kotaku.com.au

More expensive than most movies and EVERY OTHER VIDEO GAME IN THE WORLD!

I am suspicious of that claim, I have heard some movies cost 300 million or more.

 

[DooKey]

I don't care how much they spend on it as long as I get a good game. Quit adding more crap to it CR and let the developers finish. Add on later.

 

[Skel]

Completely agree. I still believe there is potential there.

Having said that, I am a bit irritated that they're spending dev time/$ on in-game events now. I'd like to experience those events. But the "game" is just way too buggy for my tolerance. It's too soon and yet another example of CIG "putting the cart before the horse" in my opinion.

I admit I'm clueless on game development, but I've always thought one needed a game to have "in-game events". Does this mean we're out of Alpha/Beta/whatever, or we still going "it's a 'game' until something goes wrong,, then it's a dev version"?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I admit I'm clueless on game development, but I've always thought one needed a game to have "in-game events". Does this mean we're out of Alpha/Beta/whatever, or we still going "it's a 'game' until something goes wrong,, then it's a dev version"?

Technically it is an early access. Buy a ship or wait for a free weekend and you can play with the disclaimer that the game is not complete.

 

[rivethead]

Star Citizen Has Now Raised Over $550 Million

The Star Citizen juggernaut continues. Players have already poured $US275 million into the long-running space epic, and the studio raised another $US46 million from a group of investors two years ago. That same group of investors has just put another $US17.25 million into the project, bringing...

www.kotaku.com.au

More expensive than most movies and EVERY OTHER VIDEO GAME IN THE WORLD!

1) That "$550 Million" is Australian dollars.

2) That article was your typical clickbait Kotaku article posted in March 2020. One year ago. Why bother discussing it now? CIG has probably raised another $200 million AU$ by now.....

 

[rivethead]

I admit I'm clueless on game development, but I've always thought one needed a game to have "in-game events". Does this mean we're out of Alpha/Beta/whatever, or we still going "it's a 'game' until something goes wrong,, then it's a dev version"?

@Fanatical Meat gave you the best answer but I would just add that the definition of "game" can be different depending on your perspective. Marketing teams have looser definitions of "game" than consumers, especially in this case.

 

[shortylickens]

https://www.thegamecade.com/news/star-citizen-dev-reveals-partnership-with-firesprite-crowdfunding-passes-351-million/

Because why the redacted do they need to make anything when they have all that money?


Profanity isn't allowed in the tech forums.

AT Mod Usandthem

 

[KMFJD]

I'm starting to see more of the hardcore believers changing their thinking about this game as time goes by, even some of the most die hard fanatics.

 

[Artorias]

Oh the game will be released so they avoid lawsuits.

That slime ball Chris Roberts though is pocketing millions and siphoning it away from development.

 

[kn51]

I like the whole ToW narrative. Started off shown at Citizencon, said it was quick development, would be in backer hands to play earlier the next year. Fast forward another year, it was all a misunderstanding and surprise we've been working with a 3rd party all along.