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Chris Roberts addresses Star Citizen PS4 hullabaloo
If you were part of the throngs worrying over the weekend that Star Citizen was jumping ship from the PC to the PS4 because a devkit for the console was spotted on a dev's desk, you can breathe easier. Creator Chris Roberts addressed this wild speculation in a new dev post, stating: "Star Citizen IS a PC game. It will NEVER be dumbed down for a lesser platform. We will NOT limit the input options or supported peripherals to the lowest common denominator. We will NOT pass on features and technology just because they will only run on some hardware configurations." So lay those console fears to rest; the PC is the platform for Star Citizen. Is there some snippet of possibility that the game could also be available via a console at some point in the future? Roberts answered yes: He'd consider it if certain conditions were met. He'd require that his devs be able to update their code without any restrictions and the community be able to interact freely across platforms.
Stick and Rudder: How to be an informed Star Citizen
Massively's podcast fielded a listener question about Star Citizen and various other Kickstarters a couple weeks back, and while I answered it on our weekly show, I'd like to expand on it in more detail here. Call it a public service for people who are mildly interested in Cloud Imperium's space sim but not interested enough to scarf up the considerable amount of news flowing out of the studio these days. The question, in a nutshell, was how can a 30-person dev team make a triple-A title. There was more to it, including the usual concerns about crowdfunding, trust, and bits about investing vs. donating, but the dev team portion is the portion that I want to highlight.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding November 3 - 16, 2013
A quiet fortnight in the land of crowdfunding these past two weeks have not been. In fact, with the popularity of this funding model, it may never be quiet again. The past two weeks have had their share of campaigns starting, campaigns closing, and campaigns obliterating goals and funding records alike. Three new prospective games have popped on the radar (including one for those with impeccable manners!), and one has disappeared. But even that game isn't gone for good; although pledges had climbed to over $86K, Trials of Ascension canceled its campaign in order to "regroup, rework, and return." Another title, City of Titans, is taking its place among the fully funded crowd. And there there is Star Citizen, which proved that a single fortnight can't go by without the game's gathering another million or two. All that information and more can be found here in Make My MMO!
Star Citizen breaks $27 million
Star Citizen, the crowdfunded space sim helmed by Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts, continues to demonstrate its incredible ability to generate enormous sums of money. Roberts today announced that Star Citizen has officially passed the $27 million mark, an amount that makes it possible for Cloud Imperium to add new ships and technology based on the Banu race of tradesmen. Roberts also announced the next stretch goal; at $29 million, Cloud Imperium will add more resources to the single player campaign such as an epic opening battle and more animations.
The Daily Grind: Do you like staggered or modular launch schedules?
Regardless of your feelings toward Kickstarter or crowdfunding in general, you have to admit that it's starting to have an impact on the way games are made. More specifically, two of the larger crowdfunding projects -- Shroud of the Avatar and Star Citizen -- are doing away with a traditional launch date in favor of a staggered release schedule. Star Citizen has already released a playable piece of pre-alpha content, and just yesterday we learned that Shroud of the Avatar's initial client will be available as early as next month. What do you think about these newfangled rollouts? Do you like the opportunity to see games in their raw, pre-beta states, or do you prefer to wait on a more traditional or feature-complete release day? 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 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!
EVE Evolved: Merging Valkyrie with EVE Online
Ever since its release in 2003, EVE Online has been bombarded with requests for direct flight controls and dogfighter-style gameplay. Most ships in EVE are huge lumbering hulks compared to real-world aircraft, more akin to large sea-faring ships than nimble jetfighters. Even tiny agile Interceptors can't be controlled directly, instead having the player issue commands to fly in a particular direction or move toward or orbit an object. As a result, combat in EVE has become much more heavily about the strategy of directing fleets of dozens or hundreds of ships than any kind of piloting skill or twitch control. This year's EVE Fanfest gave players a glimpse into the world of immersive twitch combat with the announcement of a new dogfighting game set in the EVE Online universe. Originally starting out as an virtual reality experiment by a few developers in their spare time, EVE Valkyrie has now become a full game in its own right and an example of what's possible with the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. It was always assumed that Valkyrie was an EVE game in name and theme only, but recently developers have revealed that they'd like it to tie into the actual EVE Online universe itself. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at recently revealed information on EVE Valkyrie and speculate on how it could be integrated into the EVE universe.
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 developer introduces The Next Great Starship design competition
Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts and his development team Cloud Imperium Games announced a new design and modding competition, in which fans create their own starship for Star Citizen. Called "The Next Great Starship," the contest will award one team of three people with a $30,000 prize along with their winning entry being included in the game. Starship designers can register for the contest starting on October 31 until December 31. The first challenge tasks teams with "the making of a fully designed wave particle cannon," submitted via YouTube. The entries will be narrowed down to 16, leading into weekly episodes of The Next Great Starship, slated to air on the Robert Space Industries YouTube channel starting January 31, 2014. The final live competition between two remaining teams will commence on June 8, 2014 in Los Angeles.
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]
