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Star Citizen working to develop ships faster than before
In a new monthly report, the makers of Star Citizen said that they have restructured their internal process so that they can pump out new ships even faster. Some of these new ships include the Herald, Carrack, Reclaimer, Avenger variants, and 890 Jump. "We have been hard at work refining our process and improving our workflow so that we can develop ships more quickly and more efficiently than we have ever done before," the team writes. "The creation of new ships for Star Citizen is an incredibly complex and detailed process, so it made sense to move it to LA where Chris [Roberts] can maintain oversight and provide direction to everyone involved." The report also touched on the fleshing out of Arena Commander, preparations for upcoming conventions, the hiring of new personnel, and improvements to ships' HUDs. One thing to look forward to is a brand-new cinematic that should arrive within the week.
Star Citizen hits 55M in crowdfunding, sets a new Guinness record, and rolls out Arena Commander v0.9.1
Ready to command the heck out of the arena? Star Citizen has just rolled out the latest patch to the Arena Commander module, which includes the welcome introduction of customizable keybindings. If you find the default controls for dogfighting or racing to be not to your liking, you can change them now. The keybinds currently support mouse and keyboard options as well as joysticks and and controllers; moving forward, the team wants to allow for options like allowing double-tap bindings and device-specific tuning. This update also includes a fix for SLI/Crossfire display drivers and an option for backers to control exactly which ships appear in the hangar for use. Of course the full patch notes also explain some other assorted balance tweaks and bug fixes, but we imagine no shortage of people will be happy just by virtue of being able to set up the control scheme just the way they like it. In more meta Star Citizen news, the game officially crossed the $55 million crowdfund threshold last evening. In his ensuing letter from the chairman, Chris Roberts noted that according to Guinness World Records, the game is now not just the largest crowdfunded game of all time but "the largest crowdfunded anything of all time!" [Thanks, Cardboard and Oliver!]
Real space battles would be more 'Asteroids' than 'Star Wars'
You're probably aware that most sci-fi space battles aren't realistic. The original Star Wars' Death Star scene was based on a World War II movie, for example. But have you wondered what it would really be like to duke it out in the void? PBS is more than happy to explain in its latest It's Okay To Be Smart video. As you'll see below, Newtonian physics would dictate battles that are more like Asteroids than the latest summer blockbuster. You'd need to thrust every time you wanted to change direction, and projectiles would trump lasers (which can't focus at long distances); you wouldn't hear any sound, either.
New Oculus Rift, the Blackberry Passport and other stories you might've missed
It's the weekend, ya'll. So while you sit back and relax, check out our news highlights from the last seven days -- we took the new Oculus Rift for a spin, went hands-on with the Blackberry Passport, made an Ello account, and more. Oh, and be sure to subscribe to our Flipboard magazine!
Star Citizen hits $54 million with a letter from Chris Roberts
Star Citizen's ongoing funding drive has put the game up to $54 million now, and that means another feature off of the stretch goal page and into the full game. Chris Roberts addressed the community in a letter following this most recent landmark and explained that this level of funding will allow the game to launch with advanced AI behavior from NPCs in planetside environments. He also showed off a new video highlighting the Retaliator bomber, demonstrating the level of detail inside the ship that players can anticipate. Roberts went on to detail the cannon that will be awarded to every backer who joins before the game hits $55 million and offered another poll for players to determine what rewards they'd prefer for the next million-dollar increment. You can check out the Retaliator video just past the break. [Thanks to Oliver for the tip!]
Almost all the sci-fi spaceships you know are on this massive chart
If you regularly follow geek culture, you've probably seen early versions of Dirk Loechel's spaceship comparison chart, which shows the relative sizes of vehicles from science fiction games, movies and TV shows. Well, it's finished -- and it's even more authoritative than the last time around. Get the full-size version and you'll see Babylon 5's Vorlon Planet Killer, Mass Effect's Normandy and seemingly everything in between. The chart even includes a real vessel, the International Space Station -- at 328 feet long, it seems downright puny next to its make-believe counterparts. Some story franchises have better representation than others (EVE is full of colossal ships), and you won't see moon-sized spacecraft like Star Wars' Death Star, but it's otherwise hard to imagine a more complete view of sci-fi transportation.
Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has struck a deal with Boeing and Lockheed to build space rockets
Wondering why NASA gave Boeing the lion's share of its space taxi funding? Jeff Bezos could have something to do with it. Shortly after NASA awarded Boeing $4.2 billion in funding, the Wall Street Journal claimed the company padded its bid with a partnership with Bezos' Blue Origin. Turns out, the WSJ was right: today Blue Origin and the United Launch Alliance (a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin) entered an agreement to fund and build the Blue Origin BE-4 rocket engine. Basically, Boeing is going to build NASA's space taxi capsules and Bezos' rocket company is going to launch them out of our atmosphere.
Boeing is expected to build most of NASA's space taxis (update: official)
NASA may have been even-handed when it started doling out money to contractors for its space taxi program, but there are hints that it's about to play favorites. The Wall Street Journal hears from anonymous officials that Boeing is now the odds-on favorite to get the majority of NASA's astronaut transportation business. SpaceX, once thought to be the frontrunner, would be relegated to a "second source" alongside Sierra Nevada. Reportedly, the agency sees Boeing's CST-100 capsule as the easy choice -- it carries relatively few risks, and is more likely to be ready for business in three years than SpaceX's Dragon V2. Update: Sure enough, NASA announced its contracts today. Boeing will get the lion's share of the business with $4.2 billion in funding, but SpaceX isn't exactly a bit player here -- it's getting $2.6 billion. Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser won't be part of the picture, however.
You can race your Star Citizen spaceship today
Before I get too deep into this news post, I'd like to take a moment to thank Cloud Imperium for releasing Star Citizen's racing module on ArcheAge's launch day. Now that that's out of my system, let's see here. Arena Commander 0.9 is officially patchable right now. It brings with it the Murray Cup racing simulator, co-op play, leaderboards, and "too many bug fixes to list," according to CIG's announcement post. [Thanks Oliver!]
Citizen Con 2014 celebrating SC in LA on October 10
Are you a Star Citizen fan? Will you be in Los Angeles on October 10th? You might want to grab some tickets to this year's Citizen Con if you answered both of those questions in the affirmative. The two-year(!) anniversary of Star Citizen's announcement will serve as a platform for Cloud Imperium to "celebrate the progress of the game's development to date and honor the contribution of the community." There will be a livestream, a recap of what's been accomplished thus far, and a sneak peak at what's upcoming. Tickets go on sale tomorrow. They're $40 each, but there are only 300 available so mark it on your calendar! Further details are available via the links below.
Star Citizen answers a new round of subscriber questions
Ready for another round of answers about Star Citizen's mechanics? Because that's what you're going to get in the video just past the cut. Chris Roberts picks out 10 questions from the game's subscriber base, talks a bit about the community, and then answers all of them in as much detail as he can provide. Rather fittingly given recent events, he starts off with questions about electronic warfare, data hacking, and stealing data from ship databases and the like. Other questions ask about being able to take jobs on NPC ships, using rovers on different planets and for different purposes, and the encounter slider for ships crewed by players who prefer different sorts of content. There's also an in-depth discussion of some of the guiding principles used to make decisions and solve problems when crafting the game's fictional environment. Hop on past the break to watch the full video, although you may want to wait until later if you're pressed for time right now (it's nearly half an hour).
Star Citizen updates backers on the status of Arena Commander V0.9
Star Citizen's latest update to the Arena Commander module has not come out yet. Yes, V0.9 is being held back slightly, but there's a good reason for that. A recent dispatch from the development team explains that the update just had not been rigorously tested enough to release, especially with the overall goal of making fast progress from V0.9 to V1.0. Of course, the V0.9 update also offers a significant number of upgrades to the experience as a whole, which makes the change that much more understandable. Improvements include the addition of the Murray Cup Racing Mode and the Vanduul Swarm Co-op Mode, leaderboard functionality, and improvements to existing hangars. The update also includes the M50 and 350R ships for all modes and adjustments to make flight options more robust. So you'll have to wait a little longer for the update, but the hope is that it's more than worth the wait. [Thanks to Cardboard for the tip!]
Here's what Star Citizen's devs accomplished in August
Wondering what Star Citizen's devs accomplished in August? The latest monthly report is written with you in mind. As always, it's a wall-of-text comprised of reports from the heads of Cloud Imperium and contractor studios around the world. The TLDR version boils down to "massive progress on everything from the first-person shooter module to the soon-to-be-playable racing mode." Don't forget to watch Star Citizen's Gamescom presentation, if you haven't already. It's embedded past the break. [Thanks Cardboard and Oliver!]
Roberts discusses Star Citizen's inventory system, balancing, and factions
Star Citizen fans can get some answers from Chris Roberts, assuming that the questions they have match up with the five questions featured in the latest video. There's nothing fancy about this one, just Roberts sitting down and answering top fan questions about the game as collected from the game's Reddit directory. Roberts starts off by discussing inventory and how it will be influenced by player outfits, along with the different inventories for ships, player characters, and the like. He also talks about balancing with weapons and items in the present and in the future, the interplay of organization membership with enemy NPC factions, ship durability, and the details on the Caterpillar. If you want to hear about all of that, jump on past the break to watch the full video; it's only eight minutes long, but it contains plenty of information for fans to consider and discuss in depth.
Star Citizen's Arena Commander V0.9 patch delayed
If you were hoping to get your hands on Arena Commander V0.9 this weekend, you've probably guessed by now that that's not happening. Star Citizen's website published an update blurb that details the reasons behind the delay. It's also worth reading if you're a casual SC follower and weren't aware of all the stuff that 0.9 will bring to backers. There's the new Murray Cup racing map and game mode, a co-op Vanduul Swarm mode, and two new flyable ships (the M50 and the 350R). The update also features Star Citizen's first stab at private match functionality and a few other bells and whistles. Cloud Imperium says that it "will be working around the globe through the holiday weekend to deliver on the promise of V0.9." [Thanks Cardboard!]
Star Citizen's next stretch goal is a player dispute staff position at CIG
If you missed Star Citizen at Gamescom this year, Chris Roberts' latest Letter from the Chairman is worth parsing both for its written content and for the one-hour video embed that hits the highlights. Roberts explains how Cloud Imperium's Gamescom goal was to demonstrate how SC will grow beyond dogfighting. The big focus over the weekend was co-op crewed ship play, centered around the Constellation, which Roberts says is something he's wanted to achieve since his Wing Commander days. He also thanks backers for pushing the game past the $50 and $51 million stretch goals before outlining the next two goals. The $53 million milestone is the most interesting, as it seeks to establish a staffed position at CIG for dealing with in-game player disputes "without leaving our world." Click through the links below to read more, and don't forget about the Gamescom embed after the cut. [Thanks Cardboard!]
Roberts talks Star Citizen's flight model, story, and more
Chris Roberts is back to answer another batch of Star Citizen subscriber questions in this week's episode of 10 for the Chairman. He touches on quite a lot of stuff during the video's 22-minute running time, most notably flight model concerns and single-player story elements as they relate to both the persistent universe and the Squadron 42 campaign. "If I was going to pitch [the S42 story] to you I would say that it would be the opening of Gladiator, mix it with the Ninth Legion and Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now, all set in space," Roberts explains. In terms of the flight model, Roberts talks about the current implementation vs. the upcoming "additive mode" that will basically allow for inputs without autocorrect centering tendencies (and thus true six-degrees-of-freedom control). Cloud Imperium is aiming for a best-of-both-worlds solution, with players able to switch between assisted flight, temporary decoupled 6DoF for certain maneuvers, or full 6DoF as the situation requires. You can learn more by watching the video after the break. [Thanks Cotic!]
The Daily Grind: What was your favorite Gamescom reveal?
Gamescom 2014 came and went, but not before a handful of interesting MMO-related news blurbs made their way from Cologne, Germany to your monitor. My personal favorite was Star Citizen's quartet of new videos, not to mention a fifth that showed off a multiplayer-crewed Constellation fighting for its life. What about you, Massively readers? What was your favorite Gamescom reveal? Or did nothing much catch your eye this year? 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!
Gamescom 2014: Star Citizen gets racing, FPS, hangar, and Connie teasers
Star Citizen fans, we hope you're sitting down, because Cloud Imperium released not one, not two, not three, but four separate trailers during its Gamescom livestream. Let's see, there's one about racing, one about the upcoming hangar update, a commercial for the Constellation, and oh yeah, how about some FPS combat footage? Feast your eyes after the cut! [Thanks Cardboard!]
Star Citizen's Roberts talks trial accounts, the persistent universe, and more
Cloud Imperium has published the 33rd episode of 10 for the Chairman, which is a video show hosted by Chris Roberts that's designed to answer fan-submitted questions about Star Citizen. Roberts talks up everything from the game's persistent universe to a unique take on a trial account system to the various systems behind hirable NPCs. There are also bits about the game's Murray Cup racing mechanics, missile lock options, and more. Click past the cut to have a look!
