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'Star Citizen' switches to Amazon's game engine
Star Citizen is still far from being ready, but it now has a more solid underpinning. Cloud Imperium has revealed that it has switched both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 from Crytek's CryEngine to Amazon's Lumberyard engine as of Star Citizen's just-launched Alpha 2.6 release. It was an "easy and smooth transition" due to Lumberyard's CryEngine roots, but both secures the "long term future" of the games and promises some distinct advantages. It taps directly into the cloud through Amazon Web Services, for instance, and makes Twitch streaming easy.
'Star Citizen' solo game will cost you extra after February 14th
Right now, pre-ordering Star Citizen gets you both the open, massively multiplayer namesake game and Squadron 42, its recently established single-player counterpart. However, it won't be that good a deal before long. Weeks after announcing the separation of the two games, Cloud Imperium has revealed that Star Citizen and Squadron 42 will officially require separate purchases on February 14th -- yes, they're splitting up on Valentine's Day. From then on, you'll have to buy Squadron 42 either by itself or as an add-on to the title that started it all.
'Star Citizen' gives backers their first taste of a fuller game
To date, what little you could play of Star Citizen has existed in bits and pieces: a dogfight module here, a hangar there, but not the cohesive interstellar experience promised from the start. At last, though, things are coming together. Roberts Space Industries has given backers an Alpha 2.0 release that represents the "first true slice" of the crowdfunded (and much-hyped) game. You can travel between multiple locations around a planet, and first-person ground combat is possible for the first time. Space walks are even an option, if you dare leave the safety of your ship.
