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Star Citizen's Roberts on how to crowd-fund
If you're looking for a master class in crowd-funded game development, who better to teach it than the man responsible for the most successful crowdfunding project of all time? Star Citizen guru Chris Roberts took the stage at this week's GDC Next to share insights from year one of his space sim sandbox renaissance. "It's not just about raising money," Roberts explained. "This is the mistake I see a lot of other campaigns make. The best thing about crowdfunding is that you get to build your community early." He said that the keys for Cloud Imperium's runaway success were building and managing its own fundraising apparatus on its own website as well as involving players in as much of the development process as possible. "There's the game that people are going to be playing, and the one they'll have watching the game get built. The dream is the final game, but the journey is a lot of fun," he said.
Stick and Rudder: What if Star Citizen fails?
As Star Citizen's crowdfunding totals spiral ever higher, so too do the cries of the naysayers, negative nancies, and the ne'er-do-wells who seemingly exist to rain on the space sim sandbox's parade. Some of this hand-wringing is probably justified since with each new stretch goal, fan expectations for SC increase exponentially. Regardless, what the game has already accomplished is worth celebrating, and two of the most common reasons I've seen cited for remaining skeptical simply don't make sense.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding October 20 - November 2, 2013
The news meter for crowdfunding keeps right on ticking. The last two weeks have seen a score of changes in the realm of community funding initiatives, with some titles experiencing success, others not meeting their goals, and even more joining the ranks. One big name in gaming, Brad McQuaid, is even planning on launching a campaign in the near future. The zombie-centric The Living was unsuccessful, and Story Quest Online failed for a second time. Mixmaster Online removed itself from the field and canceled its campaign. On the other hand, 8BitMMO met its first stretch goal, ensuring that a Mac edition of that game will be available for players. And then there's City of Titans, which is climbing closer to doubling its goal with only two days left. Finally, there are all the progress updates for those already-funded campaigns, conveniently rounded up right here for you in Make My MMO.
Star Citizen surpasses $25 million, eyes next stretch goal
Star Citizen backers have once again propelled the space sim sandbox past a million dollar crowdfunding stretch goal barrier. The latest mark to fall is $25 million, and it will allow Cloud Imperium Games to greatly expand the title's upcoming alpha test. CIG founder Chris Roberts offers more details in his latest Letter from the Chairman, which also outlines the game's $27 million stretch goal. Much like the previously achieved $23 million goal, the $27 million target will allow the dev team to expand alien spacecraft, only this time it's the Banu instead of the Xi'an. "Even though we've fully funded the base game, every extra dollar helps to make the experience better," Roberts writes. "The content we talk about in these stretch goals isn't 'feature creep;' it's elements we've been building and planning that will be all that more impressive with additional resources. In essence, you're putting things we've already discussed for the future into development now."
The Daily Grind: Do you want crowdfunding to succeed?
Star Citizen passed the $25 million milestone in its ongoing crowdfunding campaign over the weekend. While this is cause for celebration for backers, the devs at Cloud Imperium Games, and really anyone who wants to see more options, specialization, and high quality core titles in the gaming industry, the space sim sandbox has also generated a backlash of sorts. Just about every SC-related article we publish features a handful of comments that are highly skeptical of CIG's ability to deliver on its stated goals. There are also a few vocal people who seemingly want to see the game fail for the lulz. Now, this could be nothing more than the usual trolling that accompanies every highly anticipated title. But it could be something more, and so today we ask you if you actually want crowdfunding in general to succeed? If not, why not? 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!
The Daily Grind: How closely do you follow an MMO's development?
Even if space sims aren't your thing, it's hard not to be impressed with the sheer amount of information available regarding Star Citizen's development process. Aside from releasing various game modules to backers as they reach a playable state, the team is also offering an unprecedented look behind the scenes on a AAA dev project including extensive chats and real-time interaction, videos galore, and the weekly Wingman's Hangar web show. Keeping up with it all can be a challenge, particularly if Star Citizen isn't the only game you're following! What say you, Massively readers? How closely do you follow an MMO's development? Do you soak up everything the dev team releases, or do you try to keep abreast of roundups or less frequent updates? 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!
Latest stretch goal speaks to Star Citizen's 'immersive, world-building experience'
Earlier this week Cloud Imperium released both a brochure and an in-engine video devoted to Star Citizen's Anvil Aerospace Hornet. Apparently the info dump was well-received, as the crowdfunded space sim passed the $24 million mark shortly thereafter. As per usual with each $1 million milestone, CIG head honcho Chris Roberts responded with a Letter from the Chairman and a sneak peek at upcoming stretch goals. This latest milestone unlocked public transportation, and while that may sound somewhat -- ahem -- pedestrian at first, consider Roberts' description. "A public transportation system may not seem as sexy as a new bomber or a cruiser, but it speaks directly to the goal of making Star Citizen an immersive, world-building experience," he says. "Instead of having a simple fast travel option like an MMORPG, Star Citizen will feature a living, breathing system to support that gameplay requirement... a system that will be impacted by the economy and player actions in all sorts of exciting ways!" Roberts also unveiled the game's $26 million stretch goal, which takes the form of expanded capital ship systems like damage control teams, bulkheads to slow boarders, and various navigation and engineering console management options.
CIG releases Star Citizen Hornet commercial, brochure
It's a fine day to be a Star Citizen immersion nut, as Cloud Imperium has released a new spaceship commercial and a glossy spaceship dealer brochure to match. The subject of all this adulation is Anvil Aerospace's F7C Hornet, a multipurpose craft that serves both military and civilian pilots in Star Citizen's galaxy. The new video is rendered "100 percent in-engine in real time at 4k resolution," according to CIG's website. "We scale everything for the super-high resolutions that will be the basis of tomorrow's gaming experience; our assets are designed with high poly-counts instead of having details baked into their textures," the company explains. See for yourself after the break!
Stick and Rudder: Ten space sims to fill your Star Citizen void
This week I'd like to throw around a few ideas for enjoying yourself in Star Citizen's absence. Yeah, there's the hangar module, and it's pretty spectacular for what it is. But after dorking around in cockpits and doing a few I'll-be-in-my-bunk Jayne Cobb impersonations as I wedge my avatar into my Aurora's sleeping compartment, I ache to spool up those engines and go somewhere. Fortunately there are a ton of worthy space sims that we can use to while away the next couple of years. Or the next couple of months, because dogfighting alpha!
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding October 6 - 19, 2013
This was quite a fortnight in the realm of crowdfunding, and for once we don't mean just Star Citizen news! More than one game met its funding goals, with one title proving that fans can be a very passionate lot: City of Titans reached its lofty goal within days. On top of that, two other games joined the fight for funding. Conversely, Alteil Horizons pulled its campaign at literally the last minute to avoid the stigma of an unsuccessful stamp and plans to launch again. Want the scoop on all these stories and many more? Learn the latest right here in Make My MMO.
Yep, Star Citizen's still raking in the money
Cloud Imperium founder Chris Roberts has announced Star Citizen's latest monetary milestone in a new letter from the chairman. The crowdfunded space sim topped $23 million this week, which unlocked a new Xi'an scout plane. "The goal here isn't simply to add an extra ship to the game, but to add a new type of ship which can be expanded upon as we go," Roberts writes. "Once we've put the effort into building an alien experience for the Khartu, we can apply it to other Xi'an ships moving forward. Essentially, the extra funding lets us build an even more immersive universe." Roberts also announced the game's $25 million stretch goal, which is basically a wider alpha testing net that will ensure extra servers and worldwide infrastructure for the game's early testing. The company will also be expanding the number of remaining alpha user slots.
In-character Star Citizen Aurora ad released
It's been a while since we've seen one of Star Citizen's in-character ship trailers. Fortunately Cloud Imperium released another one over the weekend. The focus this time is on the Roberts Space Industries Aurora, which is something of a newbie ship in terms of gameplay but is nonetheless highly customizable as you'll see when you watch the vid. The clip clocks in at a smidge under two minutes in length and shows off various loadouts followed by in-engine footage of the Aurora departing from a planetary hangar before blasting into orbit and braving an asteroid field. Have a look-see after the break!
Star Citizen unleashes the Next Great Starship design contest
So you've already pledged your Kickstarter funds, but now you want to be even more involved in the development of Star Citizen. What's a fan to do? Luckily, Cloud Imperium Games has announced a new competition that gives any potential player the chance to design, model, and rig Star Citizen's next spaceship. The modding contest will see three-person teams compete for a grand prize of $30,000, the inclusion of the winning ship design in the game, models of the ship, 3D modeling software, and more. Registration runs from October 31 through December 31 with the grand prize being announced in June. Check out the video after the cut and the main site for more information. [Source: Cloud Imperium press release]
Watch Cloud Imperium's CitizenCon livestream right now
One year ago today, Chris Roberts set space sim fans' hearts all a-flutter with news of his impending return to the game genre he put on the map. The ensuing 12 months saw Star Citizen mushroom into the most successful crowdfunding project of all time and expand its scope far beyond the initial Squadron 42 reveal. To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the announcement, Cloud Imperium is hosting its inaugural CitizenCon In Austin, Texas. Click through the links below to watch the livestream comment section while CIG gets its technical issues sorted out.
Roberts debunks Star Citizen 'feature creep' theories, announces next stretch goal
Star Citizen's crowdfunding total is chugging steadily past the $20 million mark. As such, Cloud Imperium boss Chris Roberts has authored a new letter from the chairman that outlines the next stretch goal and addresses a host of other interesting topics. The goal in question is realistic facial capture technology, which will officially unlock at the $22 million mark. Roberts also took the time to debunk allegations of "feature creep" regarding Star Citizen's ambitious and expanding gameplay functionality. There are two types of stretch goals, he explained. The first are goals that involve features we already have planned or have implemented, but we couldn't create content because of budgetary constraints. The first-person combat on select planets is a great example of this type of goal. We already have FPS combat as part of the game in ship-boarding, and we already have most of this already functional thanks to CryEngine, as we essentially have Crysis3 functionality out of the box. But creating all the environments and assets to fill them is a huge task, so we were planning on not doing any planetside combat initially, simply because of its cost, with the idea that we would slowly roll it out once the game is live. But with the additional funds we can now afford to create some of this content earlier rather than later. The second sort of stretch goal is typified by the facial recognition functionality, "where [the devs] identify technology and equipment that will make the game better and allow us to be more nimble and economically efficient in continually creating content," Roberts explains. In both cases, he says, "we don't commit to adding features that would hold up the game's ability to go live in a fully functional state. Also remember that this is not like a typical retail boxed product -- there is no rule that all features and content have to come online at the same time!"
Star Citizen's AMD trailer sizzles
There's no question that Star Citizen is truly the crowdfunding king; it took the crown long ago. But that doesn't mean Cloud Imperium Games is resting on its laurels -- or pile of funds as it were. No, the team takes that support and gets right back to work creating a game that many are eagerly anticipating. And you can see just where some of that financial support is being used in the game's latest video. Created for Chris Robert's AMD presentation, this trailer is dubbed Sizzle Reel. Watch it for yourself and tell us if you think the moniker fits.
Star Citizen crowdfunding campaign breaks $20 million
The runaway locomotive that is Star Citizen's crowdfunding campaign is still chugging along at full speed, it would seem. In its most recent press release, Cloud Imperium Games has proudly announced that the game's faithful backers have broken the $20 million mark. As if that wasn't insane enough, the studio notes that of that $20 million, $10 million was raised in the past four-and-a-half months alone. The studio's CEO, Chris Roberts, is quite pleased -- and more than a little surprised -- by the campaign's success. "Honestly, we never dreamed we'd reach this point so quickly," he says. Of course, it wouldn't have happened at all without the game's dedicated fans who Roberts calls "the best community in all of gaming." Despite this monumental milestone, Cloud Imperium's gaze is fixed firmly ahead. The press release promises "plenty of game updates" in the near future, including "some surprise announcements" coming on October 10th. [Source: Cloud Imperium Games press release]
Roberts on Star Citizen's exploration gameplay, publisher-free development
Gamasutra has just published an interview with Cloud Imperium head honcho Chris Roberts. Much of the piece is old news if you've followed the game closely (also, the interview was conducted over a month ago at Gamescom), but there are still some juicy quotes from the space sim guru regarding his dream game's non-combat mechanics and publisher-free development cycle. Community interaction and open development is allowing CIG to build a more relevant title, Roberts says. "We had all of these things like bounty hunter, mercenary, pirate, merchant, explorer. And I was shocked that 67 percent of the people [Cloud Imperium surveyed] said that they wanted to be an explorer," Roberts said. CIG wouldn't have known how many players prefer non-combat gameplay under the old design-your-game-in-a-vacuum model. Roberts also talks at length about the benefits of developing publisher-free. For one thing, Roberts says, developing SC at EA or Activision would require $40 to $50 million, whereas doing it at a more efficient indie outfit allows him to get the same functionality for half that cost. "I do feel like there's a shift in the business with what's happening right now, with the ability to be online and connect directly to the community and the fans," Roberts says. "We essentially don't need any publishing functions because we're connecting directly to people, and normally that's what a publisher would do for you."
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding September 8 - 21, 2013
In the oft changing world of crowdfunding hopefuls, faces come and faces go... and sometimes they come back again. If one of the newcomers to this edition of Make My MMO looks familiar, that's because the game ran a shorter, unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign last July. With a longer run this time around, perhaps Story Quest Online will fare better. On the flip side, one campaign flipped sections: We congratulate StarCraft Universe on meeting its goal and joining the ranks of the fully funded. Plenty of other news came from the funded ranks as well, from the crowdfunding king hit more funding goals (again) to progress reports and new feature reveals. You can catch all the details right here.
CIG patches Star Citizen's hangar, puts Caterpillar on sale
Cloud Imperium has released a new patch for Star Citizen's hangar module. The update "contains over 100 changes based on feedback [...] from backers experimenting with the module." Fixes include flickering decals, missing cargo pallets, character sitting and running animations, and more. A complete list of patch notes is available via the SC launcher. CIG is also running a weekend-only promo on the Drake Interplanetary Caterpillar. The cargo and pirate support ship will set you back a cool $225.00, but keep in mind that like all SC pledge ships, the proceeds go directly to development costs and the ships themselves will be earnable via gameplay if you choose not to pre-purchase.
