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Cloud Imperium shows off Star Citizen character motion video
Star Citizen's developers recently wowed us with an extensive look at the game's spaceship customization. Fortunately, the team isn't skimping on the title's character models either. A new video released yesterday demonstrates the range of motion for human avatars, and Cloud Imperium says that this is a good approximation of how characters will function in the finished game. The company also notes that the clip is "real-time, in-engine movement and not a pre-rendered video." Have a look after the break.
Stick and Rudder: A guide to Star Citizen's community
Welcome aboard pilots, privateers, and pillaging pirate queens; you've found Stick and Rudder, the gaming press' first Star Citizen column! I'm putting all pretenses of objectivity aside today because I'm terribly frackin' excited for this game. That's why we're here, now, talking about it way out in front of its release. With all of this expectation comes the potential for massive disappointment, of course, but the good news is that Cloud Imperium is being pretty open about its development process. This has the added benefit of giving us lots to chew on while we sit through the agonizing months leading up to launch. Anyway, now that some of my fanboy gushing is out of the way, let's get down to brass tacks and carry on the time-honored Massively tradition of kicking off a new game column with a community guide.
GDC 2013: Chris Roberts expounds on Star Citizen's crafting, economy
This week we have a special GDC edition of Some Assembly Required. I had the opportunity to sit down with Chris Roberts and talk about his highly anticipated space sim sandbox, Star Citizen. We talked lore, the game's PvP/PvE sliders and living universe concepts, guilds, and when players can expect to get in some dogfighting. Roberts also delved deeply into the crafting and economic aspects of the game. If you miss the days of carving out a name for yourself and your wares and/or cornering the market and building an economic empire, you'll definitely want to keep an eye on Star Citizen.
Star Citizen adding modules up to 2014 beta launch, 'hangar module' expected in August
Star Citizen will go into "full beta" by the end of 2014, adding modules along the way as part of its buy-in alpha model. Roberts Space Industry head Chris Roberts told Joystiq at GDC the first module – called the "Hangar Module" – will be available this August to paid-up citizenry of the stars."You won't be able to fly [ships], but you'll be able to see them," Roberts told us, describing something akin to the Spore Creature Creator. "You'll get to see your ship, probably be able to customize it to some level, play with it and visualize it in the engine."In December, the studio plans to launch the "Dogfighting Module.""It will allow you to take the ship you pledged for and dogfight, sorta deathmatch style with other people," explained Roberts. "It won't have the persistent universe, it won't have the story, but we'll use it to balance the combat, the weapons, the ships also stress-test the online infrastructure."
Pimp your space ride with Star Citizen's customization systems
Star Citizen is shaping up to be a lot of things, but at its core it's a spaceship game. As such, Cloud Imperium has released a meaty new FAQ designed to introduce ship components and the mechanics that tie them together. It's a dense read thanks to all of the systems involved (hull, avionics, power plant, thrusters, and intakes, just to name a few), and it's clear that both resource management and a certain amount of micromanagement are major design goals. Interestingly, though, Chris Roberts and company say that drilling down deep into the ship mechanics is optional. "If you're itching to get out there and fight or explore or trade, grab a factory model, add the few parts that you absolutely need, and head for the stars," the update explains. If you do decide to do a bit of research and customization alongside your flying and fighting, Cloud Imperium says that you'll end up with a singular ship of dreams. "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," the company says. "You will have a sense of pride when you pilot your craft, knowing that while there may be many like it, this one is your own, unique in the universe."
Cloud Imperium previews spiffy Star Citizen marine concept
Star Citizen may be a spaceship game at heart, but Cloud Imperium's recent updates have begun to focus on the title's sexy sci-fi character models. The latest example is the UEE Marine pictured above, which Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts showed off at last weekend's SXSW panel. The artwork, which includes a full-body shot and helmet closeups, was done by artist Rob McKinnon. Star Citizen's website says that more info on Roberts' panel appearances will be available later this week. In the meantime, you can click past the cut to see all the art.
Star Citizen base character model teased
Cloud Imperium has given us our first real glimpse of Star Citizen's avatars. The game's website features an early look at the human male head model that will serve as the starting point for character customization. But wait, Star Citizen is a space flight simulator, isn't it? Well, yes, but players will also have a fully customizable avatar for use in boarding actions and bipedal combat as well as a hangar full of ships. Cloud Imperium says that more character details will surface later this week.
Roberts: Star Citizen to be 'a pretty well-realized world on all levels'
Space sim godfather Chris Roberts chatted up the game journos at Rock, Paper Shotgun recently, and the Star Citizen mogul touched on everything from cutting out the publisher middleman to the potential oversaturation of the space genre to what sets his game apart from the crowd. "Yes, you're flying around in space, but you're also down on planets. You're talking to people. You're trading. I think you're going to feel like Star Citizen is a pretty well-realized world on all levels," Roberts explained. He also outlines his thoughts on the eternal PC vs. console debate, saying that he's always played on consoles as well but prefers to develop on an open platform. "It's not so much about, 'I'm part of the PC master race and you're a puny console person.' It's more a matter of whether you're open or you're closed. It's why you've got League of Legends and all those. They're on the PC because it's open. It's not an issue for them to distribute." There's plenty more, including thoughts on the game industry, the film industry, and of course some crowdfunding discussion. Head to RPS for the full interview.
Star Citizen tops $8 million in crowd-funding
Star Citizen continues to leave other crowd-funded gaming projects in the dust, according to the latest Cloud Imperium press release. Chris Roberts' highly anticipated space sim sandbox just passed the $8 million mark, which means that it's garnered an additional $1.75 million over and above its original Kickstarter campaign that concluded last November. As of today, the project boasts more than 142,000 pledges. Over 3,400 new accounts have been created, and more than $500,000 has been raised in the last two weeks alone. "The amount of support we are seeing from our fans is nothing short of amazing," Roberts says. "Our backers are totally connecting with the development team and it just gets them so excited to come in to the office every day and work to make the next great space sim." [Source: Cloud Imperium press release]
The Daily Grind: Do you care about pre-launch lore?
So I'm kinda interested in WildStar now, and I'm completely obsessed with Star Citizen. What the heck do these two games have in common? Well, not much aside from the fact that both of those wily dev teams are drip-feeding delicious bits of lore to ravenous fan bases. On the one hand I love that Roberts Space Industries and Carbine are devoting time and energy to fleshing out their respective backstories and doling out small details while we wait. On the other hand, there's something to be said for absorbing all your world lore in-game via quests, cutscenes, and the like. So how about it, Massively crew? Assuming you care about MMO lore, do you scarf up all the pre-launch tidbits on your next big thing, or are you holding off until you can actually play? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Star Citizen's death mechanics to create 'a sense of mortality and history'
Chris Roberts has revealed the death mechanic for his upcoming Star Citizen sandbox. In a lengthy missive on the game's official site, he outlines his plans for "a universe where time progresses, characters die, and new ones come to the front." He also talks at length about the the sense of accomplishment that's missing from games that let you save every five seconds. As such, the single-player portion of SC known as Squadron 42 will function much like Roberts' old Wing Commander and Privateer games in terms of death (i.e., you'll need to survive and complete missions, with no mid-mission saving, to advance). The persistent version of Star Citizen calls for a different approach, though. Roberts acknowledges the immortal pod pilot lore and mechanics of EVE Online, calling CCP's method "clever" but ultimately saying that he's "not interested in making EVE 2.0 with cockpits." He stops short of calling SC's mechanic permadeath, but he does note that every "death" will affect your avatar. "Eventually, after too many deaths, your character's body will just give out," he explains, "and instead of waking up in a med bay, you'll be attending the funeral of your fallen character from the eyes of the beneficiary you specified when originally creating your character." There's much more to it, of course, including plenty of "death" examples and a FAQ, but you'll need to read Roberts' full blog entry for further details. [Thanks to Eric for the tip!]
Some Assembly Required: Kick(start)ing the sandbox genre
Sandbox aficionados are known to reminisce about the "good old days." You know, that time long lost in the past when the greats of open-world play like Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies (pre-NGE of course) enjoyed their heyday. Many a lamentation has also been heard about how things have never been the same, or how nothing has filled that void. Of course, the sandbox never died. In 2012 we started the year off with a guide to games sporting sandbox features to scratch a variety of virtual world itches and we ended with a look at some promising upcoming titles for 2013. With plenty of choices abounding, why are sandbox fans still decrying the lack of a home? It could be because they want one home for everyone to settle in together, basically one game to rule them all. But how realistic is that? Even with the plethora of offerings now, many folks want to play their ideal sandbox, and everyone has their own idea of what the perfect one would be (and conversely, what would kill it). Perhaps the answer, then, is to forget about a single universal home that accommodates the masses and actually create a number of niche games where people find exactly what they are looking for. Wait, that's already happening? Enter Kickstarter.
2012: The year of the MMO Kickstarter
Kickstarter is perhaps the biggest story in the world of gaming since the birth of the home video console or the integration of online components into consumer entertainment. No new product, innovation, or invention has carried with it such immense potential for shifting the way the industry plans, builds, and delivers its products. And with projects covering everything from hardware to companion apps, it's almost impossible now to imagine a gaming world without Kickstarter, even though it was our reality just a few short months ago. The legacy of Kickstarter is one that we're witnessing in real-time. Most of the major successful projects are slated for late 2013/early 2014 releases, giving us plenty of time to speculate on what may or may not go wrong with the crowd-funding model and the products it bears. Over the next year, games will either make it to market or they won't. Developers will squander their budgets or release on time. It's all up in the air. With that in mind, we thought now would be a good time to look back on some of the biggest MMO Kickstarter projects of 2012. The fate of some of these titles is inexorably tied to the fate of Kickstarter as a viable game-creating platform -- and maybe even crowd-sourcing as a whole.
The Perfect Ten: New MMOs to watch in 2013
Oh, I had a great Perfect Ten prepped as the first list of the year, but my meanie-face editor slammed on the veto button and told me, point-blank, that I was going to be counting down the best MMO prospects for the year. Then she drove a lawnmower through a Nordstroms while huffing paint thinner and throwing empty cans at the security personnel. Even so, her idea is probably more interesting than what I had. Let me give you a few notes on today's list because I sense that I'm going to tick more of you off than normal here. My goal was to sift through the possible releases for 2013 and pick the 10 most promising, both in "will it actually launch this year?" and in its potential for success. The combination makes it a tough call because some of these will undoubtedly be delayed to 2014 or beyond and some of these we still don't know as much as we'd like about them. But who cares? Let's have some fun and kick this year off right. Here are my picks for new MMOs to watch in 2013.
MMO Blender: Mike's spaceflight of fancy
You know what I love? Space. Not real space, so much; real space is a vast expanse of horrors that generally confound and cripple the mind if considered too seriously. I'm talking about "space," as in the setting of some of our favorite movies, games, and cancelled television properties. The problem with space, of course, is that it is a setting and not a story. You can't prime an audience by simply shouting, "Space!" The space needs context. Is it "final frontier" space? Is it the space in which your screams go unheard? The greatest space tales have always used the deep black as a backdrop, not a subject. My perfect MMO would almost certainly take place in space, but the way in which the space is used is what makes it worth playing.
The Daily Grind: Do you support Kickstarter projects you don't plan to play?
Yesterday's news of Chris Roberts stumping for rival Kickstarter projects was interesting both for its subject matter and for some of the responses it provoked. It also got me to thinking about crowdfunding in general and its long-term future from a gamer's perspective. For every runaway success like Star Citizen, it seems there are a dozen projects that fail to meet their fundraising goals (and even more that offer up half-baked ideas, poorly communicated). The service does give passionate gamers a way to speak directly with their wallets, and it can neatly bypass the red tape inherent in game publishing as Roberts explained. It can also be a money pit, though, and I suspect that folks like Roberts who support multiple projects for the good of the industry are a rarity. What do you think, Massively readers? Assuming you pledge to Kickstarter projects, do you support only those you plan to play or are you backing multiple games in order to change the way games are made? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Star Citizen's Roberts supports Elite, Project GODUS, says you should too
Star Citizen head honcho Chris Roberts may be busy heading up the revival of the space sim genre, but he's not too busy to make a case for a couple of high profile Kickstarter projects. In a lengthy post on SC's official site, Roberts shows his support for Elite: Dangerous and Peter Molyneux's Project GODUS and urges backers of Star Citizen to do the same. Roberts outlines a number of reasons why SC's overwhelming Kickstarter success has invigorated the dev team, chief among them the sense of satisfaction stemming from the ability to send a message "to the business and marketing machines that normally decide which games are made. You said they are not the taste makers for you, that you want your voice heard on what kind of game you play and you want to have a greater involvement and connection to the development of that game." Both Elite and GODUS are well short of their Kickstarter goals and nearing the end of their fundraising window. Roberts outlines what each game brings to the table and even touches on Molyneux's tendency to over-promise and under-deliver before ultimately concluding that Elite and GODUS are worthy of support for both gameplay reasons and the opportunity they're affording gamers to continue changing the industry. With crowdfunding you cut the middle man out. No retailer. No publisher driven by the demands of its shareholders for quarterly profits. Instead you build the game directly for the audience that wants the game for the right reasons -- because they want to play it. This is an exciting shift in the dynamic and something gaming needs unless everyone wants no other choice other than to buy yearly sequels to one of a limited number of gaming brands that the big publishers focus on. [Thanks to Ken for the tip!]
Star Citizen's Roberts: 'We'll compete with any AAA game out there'
Star Citizen wasn't always first on Chris Roberts' to-do list as he pondered his eventual return to the video game industry. The Wing Commander guru originally thought he'd need to make some sort of console game to reestablish himself while developing Star Citizen's technology concurrently. In a new interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Roberts explains how and why he skipped the appetizer and went right to the main course. "I was thinking, 'Do I really want to spend three years working on a next-gen console game that would ship just after the new consoles are out to a very small customer base?' It would get a month's worth of play and they'd be on to the next thing. So I cut out the first step," Roberts explains. The emergence of crowd-funding enabled the rapid realization of Star Citizen's development team, and the project's success has also given rise to new notions of community involvement with gamemakers. "We're going to treat our backers essentially as we would a publisher, where you work towards milestones and then have a show-and-tell on the new features and the latest build," Roberts says. "The community has financed the game, so it should get that level of respect." Going it alone, or at least without a publisher, will also allow Cloud Imperium Games to eliminate slow decision-making and get more value out of SC's $7 million in pledges. "I'm confident now that we'll be able to compete with any AAA game out there," Roberts says.
See more pics of Star Citizen's Constellation (and its detachable starfighter)
Last month we reported on Star Citizen's Constellation Mark III, a freighter that boasts its own detachable snubfighter. Today Cloud Imperium has updated the comm-link portion of its website with some additional renderings of both ships. The update also offers a bit of clarification on Star Citizen's soon-to-be segmented website. Once all of the data from the game's Kickstarter pledge drive has been integrated with the Cloud Imperium pledge drive, the website will be divided into three access levels: public, backer, and subscriber. The public version is available to anyone and everyone, while the backer and subscriber tiers will be restricted to customers who supported the pledge drive(s) or are currently subscribing, respectively. Head to the SC site to see what content is viewable under each tier.
Roberts shows off Star Citizen's Freelancer ship
Even though Star Citizen's official fundraising drive ended a while back, the title continues to rake in donations from interested space sim fans (over 100,000 of them in fact). Chris Roberts' sandbox multiplayer title has topped $7 million in pledges and to help celebrate, the devs have released a brief clip starring Roberts and concept artist Jim Martin. The pair spend a couple of minutes chatting up the prototype MISC Freelancer ship, which is a community-approved design that is currently transitioning to the 3-D modeling stage. Check out the clip in its entirety after the cut.
