[Megathread] Star Citizen

[Kyanion]

2024 is highly optimistic.

The game is like technically half way ready. Content wise they are in square one. At this pace 2028 looks more likely.

Come on now, it was a typo, it meant 2034....?

[Coombs]

I really, really, really hope that on release day the game is played by astronauts relaxing on their off hours on the moon station.

[Serenity91]

Where did I say anything about what kind of framerates I was getting? Oh wait, I never made that claim. I said it runs just fine on my system and it's far from a high end rig, and it wasn't when I built it.

I'd suggest running off and crying in the corner like the dope in your avatar, because that's basically what you are doing complaining about FPS optimization in a mid development and public testing environment.

"just fine" means what exactly? 27FPS with horrible frame timings? 60FPS smooth? 144hz@4k?

[Beazy]

So you are ranting about not having an optimization patch while saying you haven't installed the game in a year.
Well surprise in 3.4 they doubled the FPS numbers

About the investment:
That's why CIG was valuated, because the whole company was put under a microscope before they were given 46million investment.

They could triple the frame rate and the game still wont run at a steady 60 fps. Have you even been a part of the kick starter and played this game? Have you watched their live demos? Seriously, what the hell are you talking about?

And wtf does a company being "valuated" or put under a microscope have fuck all to do with bad investments? Where are you going with this?

[Malibutomi]

They could triple the frame rate and the game still wont run at a steady 60 fps. Have you even been a part of the kick starter and played this game? Have you watched their live demos? Seriously, what the hell are you talking about?

And wtf does a company being "valuated" or put under a microscope have fuck all to do with bad investments? Where are you going with this?

For an unoptimized alpha it runs 60-100 FPS for me now except Lorville where it's 35-40 ...which is a new location they haven't done optimization on it (4770k+GTX1080 on a 1440p 75Hz monitor, very high settings) Also they are constantly improving on it. 3.4.2 again runs better than 3.4
Before these patches i had 30-40 FPS all around.
You know usually betas and even released games going through optimizations because that's the last part of the development. For an alpha SC runs fine now.
And yes i was part of the KS andplaying the game but you don't as you said so why are you arguing about it if you haven't tried it since the improvements​?

About the investment: the company valuation going over the books, looking into their working is a part of decision-making about an investment. As it stand it showed they are stable in goid shape ando well i guess if after that this guy decided to put 46 million in it.
He doesn't just spent money for fun, and he knows how business works.

[Puupi]

About the investment: the company valuation going over the books, looking into their working is a part of decision-making about an investment. As it stand it showed they are stable in goid shape ando well i guess if after that this guy decided to put 46 million in it.
He doesn't just spent money for fun, and he knows how business works.

No, not for fun - it's called a high risk investment.

[kenn9530]

Was this staffing roadmap made clear to backers at the beginning?

Added for fun:

considering the scale of the game was changed way back during the kickstarter with a vote from backers then the 2014 release is irrelevant, at least do some basic research first.

Which is it? 2 years or 5-6? Also no one in fucking hell is going to give the disaster that is SC credit for only being in development for 2 years because they weren't "fully manned". What is "proper" development?

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Dude go do some research about big money investors, they have shit fail all the time and many of them have lost more than 46 million in projects. It happens, to make super big money they gotta risk big money.

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Then report them to the mods if that is what you feel. I mean you are wrong and they are free to talk about whatever they want in regards to the game. There is no launched game to discuss. The game has been in development hell for years.

How long would if take a game like GTA 5 for example to be developed starting with a team of 10 and having to generate its own income for development, it took 5 years with 1000 staff to create GTA 5, GTA 5 is tiny compared to star citizen that has less than half the staff to produce a game significantly more indepth and detailed. If you want to compare development times then Star citizen is coming along very well.

There is a more than good version of the game currently playable that has very good performance and plenty of things to do currently in game, so stating there is no launched game is factually incorrect.

[Eleccybubb]

Was this staffing roadmap made clear to backers at the beginning?

Added for fun:

Yeah sadly the backers decided they wanted it to take longer to come out so eh.

Prime example of the customer is not always right. If Blizzard listened to every single customer or majority votes then WoW would be a mess and expansions would be delayed.

Not that it excuses CiG and the mess they've been making of the project either.

[CogsNCocks]

Yeah sadly the backers decided they wanted it to take longer to come out so eh.

No we decided we wanted a more ambitious game which naturally takes a lot longer to make. The original pitch was a different game for all intents and purposes so your bizarre logic implys that somehow we could have somehow recieved the same game being developed now earlier on but backers for some reason decided to artifically extend development time just for the hell of it.

Prime example of the customer is not always right. If Blizzard listened to every single customer or majority votes then WoW would be a mess and expansions would be delayed.

Agreed the customer isn't always right but in this case the product includes backer feedback being considered as part of ongoing development so if you don't like that then choose another product from someone else that doesn't included that option. Backer participation has been there from the begining so I don't understand what you're so upset about? Dat weirdly inappropriate sense of entitlement is still going strong I see.

Not that it excuses CiG and the mess they've been making of the project either.

Explain how it's a mess.

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How long would if take a game like GTA 5 for example to be developed starting with a team of 10 and having to generate its own income for development, it took 5 years with 1000 staff to create GTA 5, GTA 5 is tiny compared to star citizen that has less than half the staff to produce a game significantly more indepth and detailed. If you want to compare development times then Star citizen is coming along very well.

It's astounding that people are still struggling to understand this.

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They could triple the frame rate and the game still wont run at a steady 60 fps.

lol you have some catching up to do. The game for the most part now runs at a steady 60 fps or higher except for a few extreme circumstances like pilling loads of ships into the same area or some unoptimized areas of Lorville.

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No, not for fun - it's called a high risk investment.

Please give an example of anything outside of buying shares in Fortune 100 companies and property that isn't a high-risk investment. Otherwise I don't understand what point you're trying to make. The investor is a entertainment media magnate who makes these kinds of investments all the time and he didn't become a billionaire by making uninformed decisions.

[Odeezee]

upcoming Daymar Rally Promo video (really well done imo):



Origin M-50 over the trash biome on the planet Hurston at sunset (the ship looks gorgeous):



a wing of Gladii in formation at sunset/rise on the planet Hurston (getting those movie vibes) if you are a backer you get to fly a Gladius for free for the next 3 days in celebration of Australia Day:

[Kyanion]

(getting those movie vibes)

Dude they are screenshots, just like all the others you post, that is all they really are. There aren't "movie vibes" there.

[Eleccybubb]

Dude they are screenshots, just like all the others you post, that is all they really are. There aren't "movie vibes" there.

I mean they are literally pictures of ships. None of the images posted in this thread have any "movie vibes" at all.

[CogsNCocks]

Dude they are screenshots, just like all the others you post, that is all they really are. There aren't "movie vibes" there.

Um no there's plenty of cinematic vibes in those screenshots.

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I mean they are literally pictures of ships. None of the images posted in this thread have any "movie vibes" at all.

"It's just ships"

Let me try.

"It's just orcs".

"it's just a cave".

"It's just a sword".

"It's just a table"

"it's just a castle"

"It's just a whiny sad windbag called EleccyBubb".

I still can't for the life of me figure out what your actual problem is besides just liking to have a good moan and cry about everything for reasons unknown to anybody...

[Majestic12]

No we decided we wanted a more ambitious game which naturally takes a lot longer to make. The original pitch was a different game for all intents and purposes so your bizarre logic implys that somehow we could have somehow recieved the same game being developed now earlier on but backers for some reason decided to artifically extend development time just for the hell of it.

I wanna jump in here. Excuse my absence everybody, I had account issues ever since the data-migration. I hope you missed me.

I'll admit I was among the few(very few to be precise) who voted against increasing the scope of the game. I just wanted my game, and that was that. Despite the outcome I felt relatively safe since CIG allowed refunds and this was reinforced even with the new TOSes -- I was always bound by the old one. I became sceptical after the scope continued to grow and release dates were announced (and missed) repeatedly. That brings me to the next point.

Explain how it's a mess.

One thing I will mention regarding this is the fact that most of the crowdfunded money has been spent and no game whatsoever has been delivered. The cause for this is simple: Chris decided to re-do everything (not uncommon to hear about) and set everybody back : despite QA had allegedly played through all missions in 2016.

In truth, I'd be quaking in my boots right now because of the above fact that nothing was released. Think about it for a second: Without the private investment, this would have been the end of the line. Right here.

Plus, I doubt anybody will argue that burning through 200m of backer-money and then relying on securing private investment was part of the plan. CIG was hanging off the edge of the cliff, literally, and a savior and his son appeared which allow CIG to continue a bit longer.

Therefore I will agree with his assertion that the project is/has been a mess. The core gameplay loops still aren't fleshed out, not even for a 2020 beta. The project simply has too much baggage, mostly due to Chris Roberts: Nothing he says being trustworthy and him being unable to put his foot down.

Anyway, stoked for more Mark Hamill when it's time!

[Malibutomi]

It's astounding that people are still struggling to understand this.

Agreed..especially if you compare SC to Cyberpunk teh first answer you would get is "it wasn't in full development until they finished Withcer 3 and it's DLC. Just pre-production"

So the comparison for them is:

Cyberpunk:
- announced early 2013 so 6 years ago (BUT IT WAS ONLY IN PRE-PRODUCTION WITH A FEW DEVS IN THE FIRST YEARS!!)
- made by an established studio (THIS DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE REASONS!!)
- only a single player (THIS DOEASN'T MATTER BECAUSE REASONS!!)
- 6 years from announcement ( BUT IT WAS JUTS IN PRE-PRODUCTION......!!!!)

SC+SQ42:
- announced in 2012 november (BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER CIG ONLY HAD 10 DEVS AT THE TIME IT WAS IN FULL DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE REASONS)
- made by a startup (THIS DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE BUILDING UP THE COMPANY, CONSTANTLY ADJUSTING TO INCOME, AND SETTING UP THE WHOLE WORKFLOW DOESN'T TAKE TIME AT ALL)
- MMO + SINGLEPLAYER (THIS DOESN'T MATTER BECAUSE THEY SHARE ASSETS, AND WE ALL KNOW MMOS ARE NOT HARDER TO MAKE THAN A SINGLEPLAYER) LOL
- 6 years and a bit from announcement (BUT IT IS ACTUALLY 8 YEARS NO!!! IT 9 YEARS BECAUSE 2011!!!) - dismissing the fact CIG licensed Cryengine end of 2012 (fact) so they could't work on the actual game before just put together a demo with Crytechs help.

[MrAnderson]

Before financials showed:

Chris Roberts it's pocketing everything and buying porches and moving to a private island with all the money backers give! Scam Scam dur dur

After Financials showed:

They've spent it all!! They are almost out of money! Doom Doom dur dur

You folks calling it "DOOM DOOM" are missing a key component!

They're still taking in money.

The $14M is their reserve, not "what's left." They made over $40M a year for the last 3 years (with no product!!), and continue to expect to take in that amount over the next several years as well - that's what their graphs are saying. They may eventually get to the point that their income is so negative to their spending that they blow their reserves and have to cut back or stop production, but that is not any time soon, at least according to the numbers they are showing. I think the point of these graphs is to say: we're not hording money, we're reinvesting nearly all of it - and look how healthy we are overall.

The company has earned the support of it's backers by providing year after year palpable progress. It's not by chance that it's so played and popular even at alpha stage.

[Elim Garak]

There seems to be some sort of confusion. It's a kickstarter game so the "customers" are INVESTORS. Investors can make a mistake but they have a right to do it. Unlike customers. This game has no customers as of yet. It hasn't shipped as a product.

[Gorsameth]

Wonder what next game people are going to turn to try and deflect when Cyberpunk releases.

The comparison is already getting tenuous with Cyperpunk being expected to release this year and SC not anywhere close.

[Afrospinach]

It's a kickstarter game so the "customers" are INVESTORS.

No, better described as pre purchase not investing.

For example, wasteland 3? had a separate "investor" category through fig with some interesting disclaimers and corporate structure to get around some legal things. But if all went well you did indeed own part of the revenue stream from the game after a certain point.

Categorising someone as an investor comes with a bunch of legal obligations. People that go into kickstarters are indeed throwing money at the game devs. Short of outright fraud you have no comeback. They are most definitely not "investors" even if they are technically invested in the game. Legally they will be called stakeholders, as all customers are.

[Elim Garak]

No, better described as pre purchase not investing.

For example, wasteland 3? had a separate "investor" category through fig with some interesting disclaimers and corporate structure to get around some legal things. But if all went well you did indeed own part of the revenue stream from the game after a certain point.

Categorising someone as an investor comes with a bunch of legal obligations. People that go into kickstarters are indeed throwing money at the game devs. Short of outright fraud you have no comeback. They are most definitely not "investors" even if they are technically invested in the game. Legally they will be called stakeholders, as all customers are.

Investors are stakeholders, as well, but one cannot be a customer before one becomes a customer, so I fail to see your point. This is investing, legality aside. One can invest without the legal framework. When the investment is small and its loss insignificant to the investor - no legal stuff is requried, in fact it will be a burden. The Fig stuff is for major investing.