The Saga Of 'Star Citizen,' A Video Game That Raised $300 Million—But May Never Be Ready To Play

[Space Lynx]

Cyberpunk 2077 has been in planning to some degree since 2011 or 2012.

but they didn't tell us it would be out in two to three years while taking my money upfront either... so...

 

[Kapone33]

but they didn't tell us it would be out in two to three years while taking my money upfront either... so...

Yes but look at the Game and we actually have a real release date, there is nothing to compare it to while SC has Elite and a bunch of other Space SIms to contend with.

 

[Space Lynx]

Yes but look at the Game and we actually have a real release date, there is nothing to compare it to while SC has Elite and a bunch of other Space SIms to contend with.

I think that just makes it sadder, since they had more things they could just copy paste... lol

 

[dj-electric]

This is absolutely insane. The one truism for me is that if Star Citizen releases after CP 2077 it will wait even longer for me to play.

FTFY.

Honsely, i think that technologically SC is amazing, but the feature creep is so gigantic, i do not see the game as being final before some years ahead. Looking at the content they provided in the past 12 months compered to the final goals of the game, it would technically take another 6-7 years.

 

[Kapone33]

FTFY.

Honsely, i think that technologically SC is amazing, but the feature creep is so gigantic, i do not see the game as being final before some years ahead. Looking at the content they provided in the past 12 months compered to the final goals of the game, it would technically take another 6-7 years.

Just to put that in perspective we were promised the game in 2012 then they announced Squadron 42 and therefore the game would release in 2014 it is now 5 years later. In terms of content yes I agree with you but what is the point of all of this content if you cannot actually play the real game. I too would love to have $20000 of disposable income to buy that Capital ship(s) they are offering. Don't get me wrong Space Sims are one of my favourite genres but SC reeks of a true lack of logistics.

 

[INSTG8R]

This is absolutely insane. The one truism for me is that if Star Citizen releases after CP 2077 it will wait even longer for me to play.

Just for perspective because I checked again today....

 

[Chomiq]

Surprised to see BBC make a 12 minute video about it:

Star Citizen: Is this £200m game becoming too ambitious?

In development since 2012 Star Citizen wants to build an entire universe for game players.

www.bbc.com

 

[Space Lynx]

Just to put that in perspective we were promised the game in 2012 then they announced Squadron 42 and therefore the game would release in 2014 it is now 5 years later. In terms of content yes I agree with you but what is the point of all of this content if you cannot actually play the real game. I too would love to have $20000 of disposable income to buy that Capital ship(s) they are offering. Don't get me wrong Space Sims are one of my favourite genres but SC reeks of a true lack of logistics.

I think they forgot how expansion packs work... give us a polished smaller game now, then add expansions later... instead of a buggy mess

 

[moproblems99]

I think they forgot how expansion packs work... give us a polished smaller game now, then add expansions later... instead of a buggy mess

Why wait for expansions when people will keep shelling out now? Pretty soon oxygen reserves on Mars will be for sale for a low, low price of $39.95.

 

[Vayra86]

And by "included" you mean you got about squat so far

Sure but then I never set a 'due date' for myself when I tossed my 35 bucks at Roberts. I did that only because of the brilliance and scope of the concept, as it read like a dream coming true - with the knowledge most dreams are called as such because that's what they are

Regardless, legally, I do believe I was sold a service/product with a summary of things it contained and SQ42 was in it along with the starter ship and early access. In fact most if not all pledges were like that. The earliest versions also included a lifetime insurance on the included in it, but that was somehow altered, or at least they stopped selling that. And rightly so. But I think I'm entitled to a full refund if the product is not as advertised anyway...

Just for perspective because I checked again today....
View attachment 140198

Did it count down from last time? If so, all is well

Just to put that in perspective we were promised the game in 2012 then they announced Squadron 42 and therefore the game would release in 2014 it is now 5 years later. In terms of content yes I agree with you but what is the point of all of this content if you cannot actually play the real game. I too would love to have $20000 of disposable income to buy that Capital ship(s) they are offering. Don't get me wrong Space Sims are one of my favourite genres but SC reeks of a true lack of logistics.

See this is the sentiment I don't quite understand. Did you log in yet?

The game is being developed with a wide open build for the community. As in, alpha. You can actually SEE the progress that is being made and anyone who's gone into it, I'm sure has to agree there is quite a lot already done. I mean, I've already played deathmatches in FPS mode, I've walked around space stations in a live player hub and I could dogfight with other players at a glorious 100+ FPS in max settings and with impeccably detailed ships all around. What's really missing, in the larger scheme of things, is the actual content. But really, that is the easy part. The harder part is creating the framework to build your content around and they did start from scratch; no assets from past titles, no nothing, and even some mid-development engine woes with CryEngine > Lumberyard and also major adaptations to it.

Another thing that will have likely happened with Lumberyard is a performance/graphical shift. When dev work started, the scope for GPU development and the progress in it was different from today. Also, new API's have come round. Windows 10 is now the thing instead of 7. Etc etc. All of these things pile onto a long dev cycle.

Regardless, what we've been getting lately has been regular new builds with actual content updates, new things, and fixes. This points at work being done, at a decent 'burn rate' for the project tasks, which translates to actual progress towards a set end goal. Teams and projects need those goals, and trust me they have them, otherwise you can't run a project.

Now, does Roberts keep wanting more? Sure! Will he get everything? Hell no. Is some of it purely there to milk more? Obviously, I dare say most of it. But, the crowd seems to be a fantastic cash cow so far. What more can you ask for as a project leader, when you can just conjure up more budget?

The moment those sales start to die down is the moment we oughta worry, and thát will be the moment Roberts is forced to shut the hell up and get product out. You have to understand: this is a crowd funded project. If the crowd stops funding, the project must finish. The alternative really isn't pretty for the gaming biz, for Roberts, faith in the industry and all of its employees, etc. I doubt that's the intention.

 

[bug]

Sure but then I never set a 'due date' for myself when I tossed my 35 bucks at Roberts. I did that only because of the brilliance and scope of the concept, as it read like a dream coming true - with the knowledge most dreams are called as such because that's what they are

Regardless, legally, I do believe I was sold a service/product with a summary of things it contained and SQ42 was in it along with the starter ship and early access. In fact most if not all pledges were like that. The earliest versions also included a lifetime insurance on the included in it, but that was somehow altered, or at least they stopped selling that. And rightly so. But I think I'm entitled to a full refund if the product is not as advertised anyway...

I might have done the same had I not had this rule that says "if you must show support, wait for the beta at least".

 

[INSTG8R]

Did it count down from last time? If so, all is well

It does continue to decrease, at least someone knows how to stick to schedule

 

[Whitestar]

Impressive tech

 

[R-T-B]

Impressive tech

Meh. As far as scale Elite has already had the entire milky way for years now, hard to contend with that.

I don't wish it ill, mind, I hope you do all get a game. My point is it's "impressive featurelist" is slowly being implemented elsewhere, making it less impressive overall.

 

[AsRock]

Meh. As far as scale Elite has already had the entire milky way for years now, hard to contend with that.

I don't wish it ill, mind, I hope you do all get a game. My point is it's "impressive featurelist" is slowly being implemented elsewhere, making it less impressive overall.

yeah i don't think should even aim any thing close to ED size as the content required as it would need a epic amount.

Recently been getting the itch to play that game again, only reason i stopped playing was due to getting controllers that i liked with it.

They would added a to of new things since i last played too. started to notice more people from here playing it as of late.

I do not even dare to check what's changed over the last 16 months or i being wanting a new controller again haha, already have 1147 hours in it and it was a blast even more when they added landing o other planets.

 

[Ferrum Master]

I just checked up yesterday late night. It was pretty stable btw and full of active people.

 

[Whitestar]

As far as scale Elite has already had the entire milky way for years now, hard to contend with that.

I don't really think of it as one competing with the other (even if they might be in reality), just two different games with different features/experiences.

I don't wish it ill, mind, I hope you do all get a game.

Why "you"? Don't you want it yourself? I don't have any money invested in it btw.

its "impressive featurelist" is slowly being implemented elsewhere, making it less impressive overall.

Do you have any specific game in mind, or do you just mean dev tech progress in general? Either way I still think this tech is impressive, regardless of how many others are making use of it.

 

[R-T-B]

Why "you"? Don't you want it yourself?

No, not really. There are some design decisions that bug me. I personally got what I wanted with Elite.

 

[Splinterdog]

According to PC Gamer, Star Citizen is free to try for eleven days. Quite how you do that is anyone's guess because this page asks for your money, or maybe I'm getting this wrong?

 

[Eskimonster]

The saga of 300 mill $ continiued..... i cant even imagine how to waste soooo many money..

 

[Vayra86]

According to PC Gamer, Star Citizen is free to try for eleven days. Quite how you do that is anyone's guess because this page asks for your money, or maybe I'm getting this wrong?

Yeah, no, that link doesn't really go places for me Just a 45 dollar package

So... 3.9 now huh. I've kinda lost interest here, or, just blocked it out until I see some news post about it going live at last Is there a milestone ahead of us now where they might move to that point? Or still in limbo? Anyone?

No, not really. There are some design decisions that bug me. I personally got what I wanted with Elite.

Yeah that impression is growing with me too. Do I really need a PU and hyper detailed ships...I wonder. Its not like Elite is lacking in the flightsim department, or immersion wise... and the game is pretty fleshed out now.

Impressive tech

Really cool and blindingly obvious that they NEED something like this to populate the universe. Which inevitably leads us to the harsh conclusion this is likely to devolve into the same RNG we know procedural games for; if you've seen every tile set, you've seen everything. Even No Man's Sky still can't avoid that problem today. Its a fundamental issue of procedural generation... we are too good at recognizing things, patterns, structures. If its not unique, we will notice.

 

[Dinnercore]

Even No Man's Sky still can't avoid that problem today. Its a fundamental issue of procedural generation... we are too good at recognizing things, patterns, structures. If its not unique, we will notice.

My hope is that the PU-MMO can fill the gap, like it does in EVE. Huge player-based Corps building bases, structures, politics.

 

[r.h.p]

The saga of 300 mill $ continiued..... i cant even imagine how to waste soooo many money..

i was 1 of those , in 2012 i gave 40 bucks as a startup backer , haven't even tried to play it for 5 years lol

 

[Chrispy_]

i was 1 of those , in 2012 i gave 40 bucks as a startup backer , haven't even tried to play it for 5 years lol

I am a backer since 2014 with (apparently) a:

• Mustang Alpha
• 1,000 UEC
• 3 Month Insurance
• Digital Star Citizen Manual
• Star Citizen Digital Download
• Squadron 42 Digital Download

It seems that what I backed for $39 is now selling for $78.00. I guess Squadron 42 has been split out from Star Citizen and they decided to charge once for each?

Apart from one brief wander around an empty hangar a few years ago, I haven't actually loaded the game. Is it even remotely worth downloading yet?

 

[Dinnercore]

Apart from one brief wander around an empty hangar a few years ago, I haven't actually loaded the game. Is it even remotely worth downloading yet?

Depends what kind of experience you are looking for. If you want to get a grasp of what Star Citizen is doing at the moment it is worth the download. There is a lot to see and a few things you can do in the alpha at the moment, but it is still rather limited.
For some fun dog-fights and testing out your ship or getting some nice screenshots of beautiful environments its well worth the time.

Your ship is flight-ready so you can join on the alpha and go explore it.

If you want to actually play something, don't bother. There are a few test-missions but no progress is really saved, there will be another big wipe clearing everything atleast once before the beta rolls out and while that is still far away you might regret building up credits now, buying some ships ingame only to find out you will loose it all again.

Sadly you also just missed fleet-week. A free-fly event where you can join the game and test out a few of the flyable ships for free. (well maybe not so sad that you missed it, it was a connection nightmare with server errors left and right).