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Developets: A tribute to the four-legged friends of indie developers
Chris Chung with the family cat, Nippy At the start of the 2013 7DFPS Game Jam, Chris Chung was given the challenge of creating a unique first person shooter within seven days. No other rules, requirements, or qualifications; just complete creative control over a project and a week's worth of time in which to complete it. This task in mind, Chung began brainstorming ideas, trying to come up with something that could be both unique and feasibly accomplished. He remembers the idea forming in his mind during a long car ride on the first day of the jam. "I was thinking of what kind of interesting first-person game I could make that I hadn't seen before, and 'cats' was the first thing I thought of."
The Daily Grind: Have you created any pro-quality MMO fan content?
I spent part of the weekend listening to Star Citizen's blowaway-badass unofficial soundtrack. It's unofficial because award-winning composer Pedro Camacho has been tapped to score Cloud Imperium's space sim sandbox opus for realz. Fortunately, though, that hasn't stopped an enterprising group of musicians from creating their own pro-quality digital album and releasing it for free on the SC forums. What about you, Massively readers? Have you created any noteworthy fan content for your favorite game? 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!
Watch Star Citizen teams design the next great starship
Star Citizen's Next Great Starship contest is down to 16 teams battling it out to get their designs into the upcoming space sim. Cloud Imperium has released the fifth episode of the contest in which the judges and participants talk about the various concept art that has been submitted. If you've got an hour and a desire to see some of the possibilities for the game's starships, hit the jump and give it a watch!
Star Citizen tops $39 million, adds $41 million goal
Chris Roberts' upcoming space epic Star Citizen has surpassed yet another crowdfunding milestone, by attracting over $39 million to the game's development to date. As with previous funding milestones, topping $39 million adds a new feature to the game. Specifically, a star system known as UDS-2943-01-22. "The object, once thought to be a single massive star, is actually a trinary star consisting of two white dwarfs and an active pulsar orbiting one another," reads the developer's official description. "Because of the complex gravitic factors at work, it is now believed that a jump point leading to the system likely exists in or near explored human space. Beyond the bizarre stellar makeup, the composition of the system is all but unknown." With $39 million out of the way, Star Citizen fans can now set their sights on the next stretch goal. If Star Citizen attracts over $40 million in funding, developer Cloud Imperium Games will add an additional two star systems to the game. Beyond that, the development team has also added a new stretch goal at $41 million that will fund a team of developers to create procedural generation technology for "future iterations of Star Citizen." [Image: Cloud Imperium Games]
Stick and Rudder: Star Citizen's backlash effect
Can someone help me understand the Star Citizen backlash effect? I mean, seriously. If Chris Roberts and his Cloud Imperium developers announced that the game's next stretch goal was a cure for cancer, the first comment on the resulting news article would be some variation on "bullsh#@!" Followed closely by "that's not possible" and "feature creep!" My question, though, is why?
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Mafia designer's medieval RPG raised nearly $2M in crowdfunding
Kingdom Come Deliverance is part of an elite group of games-to-be that've raised more than $1 million on Kickstarter. Warhorse's medieval European first-person RPG, creatively led by Mafia and Mafia 2 designer Dan Vávra, galloped to just over £1.1 million in funding this week. That converts to something like $1.84 million, and according to Kickstarter's own list it's the 26th most funded project on the site to date. Not to mention that's in addition to the $1.5 million in investment raised privately by Warhorse prior to the campaign, so that's one heck of a launchpad for the Czech developer to work from. It brings an end to what's been a heady few days of announcements for Warhorse, who started the week by revealing Microsoft and Sony have given their approvals to Kingdom Come Deliverance. That means the game's CryEngine 3-powered open world is on the way to PS4 and Xbox One, as well as PC - Warhorse had already stated it wanted to bring the game to next-gen systems, but that was the first word of official confirmation. That was followed by news of a partnership with another prolific fundraiser, namely Chris Roberts of Star Citizen. The move will see the Star Citizen team share some of its tech with Warhorse, and vice versa, and while it's hardly the first of its kind in the industry, it's still an alliance that should be interesting to watch unfold. As for when the game will make good on its Deliverance, as it stands it's going to be a long wait. It's a Q4 2015 release window for Windows, Mac, and Linux, with no word yet on when to expect it on PS4 and Xbox One. In the meantime, backers and fans can make do with a livestream that showcases 57 minutes of a playable build. [Image: Warhorse Studios]
Star Citizen devs mind-melding with Kingdom Come's Warhorse team
Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts has penned a new dev blog announcing Cloud Imperium's cooperation with fellow indie outfit Warhorse. Warhorse is currently building a single-player RPG called Kingdom Come: Deliverance that's set in medieval Europe, and Roberts was so impressed with the project that he both backed it himself and sought to exchange ideas with its developers. Both Star Citizen and Kingdom Come are built on the CryEngine, and Roberts says both dev teams will be collaborating going forward. "Star Citizen doesn't need peasants and knights," he explained, "but it does need a robust character creation system for the persistent universe. And that technology is exactly what Warhorse is building for the CryEngine.
Star Citizen's hangar module gets a functionality patch
If you haven't peeked at your Star Citizen hangar in the last couple of weeks, today would be an ideal time to do so. Why's that? Well, because Cloud Imperium has patched the hangar module to include a number of bug fixes and a tad bit of new functionality. Cutlass and Freelancer owners will be glad to know their ships have been updated, and everyone else will be glad to know that their holotables now display ammo and their firing range targets will now move. The full list of patch notes is available on the Star Citizen website, as is the hangar client download provided that you're a backer.
Some Assembly Required: Is this really the sandbox renaissance?
It's funny, but this whole sandbox renaissance feeling has got me a little worried. I'm of course ecstatic at the number of sandbox MMOs currently in development, and I'm even happier that one triple-A outfit has finally acknowledged that MMOs are supposed to be sandboxes. EverQuest Next and Landmark aren't the only reasons to be amped, either, as games like Star Citizen, Elite: Dangerous, and The Repopulation are all putting their own spin on emergent virtual worlds and standing on the shoulders of genre giants. It's not all roses, though, and amidst the cautious optimism on display from starving sandbox fans, I feel the need to remind myself of the various personal pitfalls that still need to be addressed.
Stick and Rudder: OK, so Star Citizen might be a PvP game
A few weeks ago I outlined why I think Star Citizen is more a PvE title than a PvP title. I'm sure most of you disagreed, so this week I'd like to examine the other side of the debate. Sorta. See, I still think SC is mostly for PvE types, given Chris Roberts' design sensibilities, but I also went back and studied the Roberts PvP quote highlighted in the previous piece as well as the full wall o' text that surrounded it. Roberts, according to that interview, believes that SC will be both a PvE and a PvP game. Fair enough. We often hear devs speaking grandly in the pre-alpha stages of a project and swearing up and down that it's going to make everyone happy. Can it really, though?
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding January 26 - February 8, 2014
The crowdfunding train just keeps rolling right along, with passengers always coming and going. New passengers hop aboard while others hop off at their desired destination. Sadly, some have to disembark early -- such is the case with Universe Rush and Antilia. Although the Kickstarter campaign fell far short of its goal, Antilia does plan to continue development on its own. On the brighter side of things, some passengers reached their stop; Tales From The Strange Universe reached its goal, and both it and Novus AEterno (which brought in over 3.5 times its initial goal) will now take their places in the funded category. The Repopulation, earning over 175K during this latest Kickstarter run, disembarks at Betawatch station thanks to its ongoing alpha testing. Catch up on all the news for all these titles as they journey through crowdfunding here in Make My MMO.
Star Citizen's starship design competition down to 24 teams
Star Citizen's Next Great Starship competition is getting serious. A total of 270 teams from 65 different countries entered the event with hopes of seeing their spaceship design realized inside of Chris Roberts' upcoming space sim sandbox. The judges have eliminated all but 24 teams, with the next round of cuts scheduled for January 31st. You can watch some of the judging via the Roberts Space Industries YouTube channel at 6:00 p.m. EST on the 31st. "The quality of the entries has been amazing," said Roberts via press release. "And we had quite a variety of entrants including a husband-and-wife team, a father-and-son team, several high school level teams, automotive designers, bartenders, DJs, filmmakers, and of course several professionals from the gaming industry." [Source: Cloud Imperium Games press release]
Stick and Rudder: It's the Massively Star Citizen guild
I love me some guild management tools, which is strange since I don't manage guilds all that often. It's a bit of work, see, as one look through the titles and topics in our Guild Counsel category will make clear. At any rate, I can't stop playing around with Star Citizen's recently launched Organization stuff.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding January 12 - 25, 2014
After a sleepy holiday season, the crowdfunding crowd has woken up and gotten down to business. And amidst that new bustle of activity, Make My MMO's ranks are altering a bit. Two games leave our listing, but each for different reasons; the cross-platform space sim Space Unfolding folded after missing its goal, and Face of Mankind moved along to Betawatch to join the ranks of the games in testing. And now that War of Omens' campaign has wrapped up, it moves into the fully funded category. Some campaigns have really kicked into high gear. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen joined the crowdfunding race and has delivered a slew of nearly daily news. Novus AEterno has nearly tripled its goal and is closing in on yet another stretch goal these final days of its campaign, while The Repopulation has also blown away its initial goal and is aiming for its eigth stretch goal (not to mention revealed plenty of juicy new bits). A smaller title, Tales From The Strange Universe, is more than halfway to its modest goal with a week left. And newcomer Star Rider also jumps on the Kickstarter bandwagon. Unfortunately, others aren't faring as well. Things aren't looking promising for Antilia or Universe Rush, whose campaigns end soon and are still over $85K and $98K short of their respective goals. Want more details on these stories or an update on all the already-funded projects? We've got the round-up right here.
Star Citizen's Organizations get their engines humming
Cloud Imperium Games have run a thorough pre-flight check and flipped the switch on Star Citizen's clan system, referred to as Organizations. Eager citizens can now register or join an Organization, but you only get to align yourself with one for now, so choose wisely. Organizations will get their own URL and customizable websites (think of it like Facebook for space flight aficionados) where users can interact with one another and ... well ... organize themselves. The launch of Organizations also brings with it a new Live Chat system, which allows users to separate themselves into their own rooms, so that the rest of the universe doesn't have to know what you and your crew are up to. Organizations are pretty basic right now, but Cloud Imperium Games notes on the announcement page that they have "extensive long-range plans" to improve the experience over time. "Our goal with the Organization system, like the Hangar and Dogfighting modules, is to allow the Star Citizen community to get a foot in the door and start experiencing (and expanding) the Star Citizen 'verse as soon as possible," the post states. "Remember: organizations isn't just about letting you group together with friends and gamers, it's about backers beginning to shape Star Citizen's lore!"
The Daily Grind: How much thought do you put into guild creation?
Star Citizen's Organizations rollout caught me a bit unprepared this week. I knew it was coming, but I hadn't set aside any time to come up with a guild concept, a set of goals, or even a name. Heck, I don't even know if I want to lead a guild when Cloud Imperium's sci-fi spacesim sandbox launches, but it's nonetheless neat to get in on the ground floor and play around with some of the Organization admin tools. What about you, Massively readers? Assuming you lead MMO guilds, how much thought goes into your guild creation process? Do you make the same guild in every MMO? Do you come up with different concepts for different games, or are you just looking for people to help you clear content? 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 passes $37 million, Org system tops 4,900 in 12 hours
Cloud Imperium has now collected over $37 million in crowdfunding for its Star Citizen space sim sandbox. CIG chairman Chris Roberts penned a thank-you letter for the latest milestone, during which he also calls attention to the game's new Organization system that launched earlier this week. Over 4,900 orgs were created in the first 12 hours of the system being online, and Roberts says it's another example of how "the Star Citizen community continues to astonish." The $37 million stretch goal unlocked the Tanga System, and there's a new poll on the SC website that will allow backers to choose the $39 million goal.
Discussing guild functionality with Star Citizen's Benoit Beausejour
Today Cloud Imperium publicly unveiled Star Citizen's organization functionality, and Massively managed to snag a quick interview with developer Benoit Beausejour from Turbulent, a Montreal-based studio that is developing SC's web tech. Head past the break for the full organization press release as well as Beausejour's answers to our questions.
Stick and Rudder: Five reasons Star Citizen isn't a dedicated PvP game
Is it just me, or does a new PvP-vs.-PvE fight break out on the Star Citizen forums every five minutes? In fairness to everyone involved, the jousting we've seen over the past few months is pretty typical of every early adopter MMO community. There's plenty of preening, pseudo-intellectualism, and outright trolling on both sides of the aisle as two player groups make their preferences known early and often in a blatant attempt at influencing game developers to develop something more to their liking. With Star Citizen, though, and with the all-PvP-all-the-time crowd in particular, I'm constantly left wondering whether these people have bothered to research the game they're backing.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding December 29, 2013 - January 11, 2014
Was 2013 the year of Kickstarter? Whatever you think personally about the funding model, you can't argue with the fact that over $480 million was pledged through the crowdfunding platform in the last calendar year. That's definitely one hunk of change! But whether or not that figure translates into a tidal wave of awesome games has yet to be seen; the jury will remain out until even more funded games actually release and players get to experience what they backed. As for specific MMO news this past fortnight, the bulk of it involves new titles vying for a slice of 2014's crowdfunding pie. The CCG War of Omens has already grabbed a piece; it met its goal and has moved on to stretch goals for the last couple of days. Other hopefuls include more two space strategy games. Learn more about all of these, as well as the news from the funded front, right here in Make My MMO.
