Yeah, but what's happening here is that there is a $30 limited tier, a $35 limited tier, and a $40 unlimited tier. Kinda lol imo!
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STAR CITIZEN, Chris Roberts' (Wing Commander) New Game [$25 million funded]
- Thread starter Ashodin
- Start date
Yeah, but what's happening here is that there is a $30 limited tier, a $35 limited tier, and a $40 unlimited tier. Kinda lol imo!
Yeah, it's a bit much. Overall though, I think the site isn't that bad, compared to some of the more over-zealous Kickstarters I've seen. The expanding sections help, I think. Instead of a giant wall of text, it's a giant wall of captioned pictures.
Still, I ain't touching this 'till it hits Steam or GoG. Since they're not bound by Kickstarter rules, I wouldn't be surprised if the real investors kick in to push it over the edge anyway, to make up for the site being down for days.
I sure hope the game gets made. I would love to play it for sure. I'll gladly pay 60 bucks for this if it's available at retail in stores or on Steam. I'm not going to back it at this stage though. Too many uncertainties, and while a developer trying to do the entire crowdsourcing thing on their own to be free from Kickstarter's fees and cutting out another middle man is a noble ambition, the way they've handled it so far just rubs me the wrong way.
There is no way in hell that this game wont be made now, too much recognition and too much press is going on. Its just matter how much funding will they get, so how ambitious it will be at launch.
I think that 30$ for ability to be in alpha and beta is good price even if someone is on edge.
I think that 30$ for ability to be in alpha and beta is good price even if someone is on edge.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
Is the checkout process broken for anyone else? It errors out when I try to get to the page.
D
Deleted member 22576
Unconfirmed Member
You guys are gonna be so sad when were flying high in our spaceships. There's gonna be some real can kicking and arm folding. It's gonna be soouuur.
Ditto. They fucked up the launch of the fundraising campaign, otherwise I really don't see any major reasons for complaining. You're buying a dream anyway, it's the nature of the thing.
Draft FAQ just got posted, answers some good questions:
http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/draft-faq/
http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/draft-faq/
I guess that is as big as they will go? And here I was dreaming about being the captain of my own kickass carrier.
"Action stations."
Cameron122
Member
Ya I would have to agree, there will be bigger ones but you have to play through the game. The guys who pledge more just get a significant advantage both in credits and in ship.
If you read into exactly what he stated there:
This implies that it is the best ship available in the pledge campaign, not in the game.
a secret-boss
Banned
SPACE SIM! TAKE MY MONEY
Oh, I know it was for the pledge campaign, but so far I have just heard of mentioning this medium sized ship or "You will be able to control your own Millenium Falcon-thingie." Havent heard much mention about larger ships.
A massive ship won't be that exciting to fly if you think about it. Unless you are going for a tactical rts sort of gameplay
Was thinking more it would be in the style of Nexus or Bridge Commander when helming a larger ship. And knowing I was the captain of a huge ship would be exciting enough for me.
Cameron122
Member
Was thinking more it would be in the style of Nexus or Bridge Commander when helming a larger ship. And knowing I was the captain of a huge ship would be exciting enough for me.
Having the game move into a Homeworld style interface whenever in control of a carrier? Almost too incredible of an idea.
Now that you mention it, would actually be pretty cool if you gave movement commands by using the giant holographic display on the bridge shown in the trailer. Interact with it and you focus the camera on it and it shows a abstract version of the field around with your ship in the middle and then you, like Homeworld, give it a movement order to control where to go. This when doing tactical maneuvering. When doing more large-scale movement like system to system, a simple map showing different stars or the local system you are in would be enough and you select your destination.
Beautifully Shaped Monsters
Member
I like the idea of getting together with a few friends to man a carrier or a big battleship.
Now I just need to find some friends...
Now I just need to find some friends...
Heh, "a few" he says.
Their main site is dead again, but twitter feed is reporting that they will soon reach 1 million. They will collect 2 mill without a problem. I will most probably pledge in a week or two.
edit - $932,304, 10,478 pledges, 46.6% funded in a week.
I have described this to friends as my dream game in the past. First-person stuff for exploring the stations, a la Deus Ex, fighter stuff like TIE Fighter or whatever for fighters, and Homeworld-style interface for the huge ships.
BigJonsson
Member
I'd pitch in money if we got Kilrathi and Mark Hammil
Maybe if you controlled more than one cap ship. But just one sounds pretty dull.
Didn't you only control one in Homeworld? Or do carriers count as Cap ships?
It seems like their plan was to go on their own so they don't have to pay the % fee for Kickstarter to host their fundraiser. But instead of investing on a solid platform designed to meet the requirements of such of a funding process, they used a free wordpress plugin instead, and probably have the site hosted on a cheap server.
This just goes to show that you usually get what you pay for. Kickstarter might take a cut, but you're also paying for stability, peace of mind, and much higher visibility among an audience who are actually interested in funding stuff.
This is the kind of thing that would rival Obsidan's project for me (TAKE MY MONEY ALREADY) but my initial impressions of Star Citizen's pitch have soured on the whole thing. I'm down for the bare minimum and I'm not even sure I'll stick with it.
Regroup and relaunch, please. And if this is being funded by anyone other than the crowd sourcing, I'm going to need a lot more transparency on that front.
Regroup and relaunch, please. And if this is being funded by anyone other than the crowd sourcing, I'm going to need a lot more transparency on that front.
Yep statistically that's when they make the most money.
They reported that they were on track to beat the record for most funded on the first day before the site went down.
That trend means they should have made about 1.5 million in the first day and a half. At least 2 million by the second or third day.
Now that you mention it, would actually be pretty cool if you gave movement commands by using the giant holographic display on the bridge shown in the trailer. Interact with it and you focus the camera on it and it shows a abstract version of the field around with your ship in the middle and then you, like Homeworld, give it a movement order to control where to go. This when doing tactical maneuvering. When doing more large-scale movement like system to system, a simple map showing different stars or the local system you are in would be enough and you select your destination.
Ha. This image reminded me. While I am all for a new space sim (I need one in my veins right now!) there are certain particularities about this one which make me not be an early adopter.
One would be the mood & art direction. It's classic space-sim, that is to say it's "US Navy in space". Which is nice, and connects well with a lot of childhood experiences - but really, I've seen it, I've played it, I've been there. Let's do something new? It's not like the well of ideas just goes dry when it comes to space, ships & hard science fiction.
The second would be all the holodisplays in the pitch video. While I understand working with a small team & something of a budget, stretching the image of a screen over a sphere (and sometimes, not even this) does not make a holodisplay. That was so bloody obviously amateurish that it kind of cast a shadow on the rest of the art - is it more about cutting corners then delivering what needs to be delivered?
And the third would be the whole shebang about the funding, and going around Kickstarted and all that. Again, they go for cheap solutions (with a not-so-great justification) instead of the good ones.
So, I don't know. I want a space sim, but I don't want Red Baron/US Navy in space & cheap solutions. I'm slightly confused.
Dictator93
Member
Twas just an alpha footage. I would not be too bothered by things like hologram graphics and what not.
BUt the other stuff is looking good and your hesitation is waranted. I donated 35 bucks non-refundable because I really want to see this game come in to light. I do not even play space sims but I feel that the PC needs this kind of game. I will play whatever product is given to me and I am confident it will be of quality.
You don't even make sence to me. This pitch was all about small details. You noticed that their display is not holographic but you didn't saw things like a lot of moving things on ship, you missed that it will be physic based flight, you missed that you can go from bridge to hangar to space without loading, you missed their fantastic fully animated cockpits and you missed probably that this is only work of very small team in year time.
But let's focus on this sphere display because that is most important part about immersion.
Sarcasm aside, that pitch trailer was fucking amazing in therm of immersion.
I hope they will reach 2 mln because i want space opera sim game.
Sure, that's why I said "particularities". Just a few things which scratched me the wrong way. I understand their context.
The second part of your reply - I'm not sure what you're on about. While I agree they need to develop a "product", as a potential customer I am allowed not to care about that too much, and focus a bit on my own needs. Which are not addressed by what I see.
I am not interested in (only) quality. It's perfectly needed, agreed, but taking enjoyment out of something only because it's well made -- sounds almost like the erotic dream of an artisan. And I'm not here for that either.
And I do have this weird reaction in my gut when reading your words - are you trying to sell me "putting money on the product"?
Is the pitch the problem, or simply site and crowd-funding choice issues?
Because you really shouldn't let the latter affect what you think of the former.
As far as I can tell, this is probably the most polished pitch video of a videogame seeking crowd funding to date; it's well into development and shows off actual assets running on an actual engine at an extraordinary level of detail.
Despite the bungling on the funding side of things, that video makes me feel extremely confident that they can achieve most of what they're setting out to do; because it's already shown you that they've actually produced something (rather than just reassured you with their reputation and smooth kickstarter campaign).
It looks like they'll need more content; and content at that fidelity looks expensive... but hey, that's why they're asking for so much money.
If we use credentials and kickstarter campaigns as an indication of the professionalism used to give us an indication of the quality of the final product... it seems that we've gone out of our way to throw out the baby with the bathwater here in ignoring the pitch video and its contents; in lambasting the less than optimal crowd funding campaign that they've run so far.
(Although I quoted Epmode specifically, I'm really addressing all the doubters with this post. Can someone point me to a pitch video for a crowd funding game showing off more complete assets then what Christ Roberts and RSI produced here?)
Really?
You don't know, maybe they threw together holo screens to get the video out there. It is pre alpha, that kind of stuff happens to art assets.
Just seems like a really strange thing to care about. especially since it will have no effect on the actual gameplay. None.
Hey guys. I don't feel like funding. When they went over the ships cafeteria they were eating stroganoff. Its just so amateurish to serve stroganoff, so I'm not going to fund the game.
Its a fallacy but stroganoff and your holo sphere have about the same effect on the overall game...nothing
Yeah, yeah. Let me say the word "particularities", again. It was just something so obviously cheap that it hit me more than the rest. Allow me to have my opinion, I'm not encroaching yours.Maybe this detail jumped out a bit more for me because the rest, while good quality in execution, is very poor in imagination. Aside from the promises about the open world, nothing was fresh - just higher res than what has been done before.
And this lack of imagination also shows up when getting the answer to "how will the holodisplays look in our pitch movie?"
The pitch video is excellent. I'm concerned about:
The awful site which seems to have been used so they can avoid a 5% fee and allows them to take money before the 30 days are even up.
The incredibly vague and unrealistic stretch goals which have been somewhat clarified.
The lack of information on the third party funding. I need more assurance that the game will be adequately funded to completion and that these mystery investors will keep their hands off the game development.
Those are fair enough concerns, but the nature of the game is somewhat open ended. It's unlike a single player RPG or adventure game where the features and stories intertwine and necessarily need to be wholly funded from the outset in order to achieve the actual vision.
It seems like they'll take as much as they can get to build as many of the features as they want to as soon as they can. If they don't reach the stretch goals, then those additional features will come later. If they don't reach the target, then they'll have to reduce the project in scope (no SP campaign?)
There are a number of vectors they could take funding... personally, I think they should do the Minecraft/Overgrowth style alpha preview funding with continuous addition of features.
Yeah, I like this method for certain games and it would probably work well here. The game looks pretty far along at the moment even if it's probably not very well optimized, and the constant discussion as features are added can really build a fanbase.
The only real issue I see is the campaign mode, which had better not be half-assed in comparison to the freeform mode.
Dictator93
Member
Yeah I was in a rush when i wrote that reply earlier so it is kinda jumbled and shitty.
In regards to this:
"And I do have this weird reaction in my gut when reading your words - are you trying to sell me "putting money on the product"?"
I am personally investing 35 bucks just so that the idea of the product which has been pitched has a chance at getting some light. I feel that the video presented combined with passion from the game creator will create a product I would like to play. So I am kind of investing blindly, yes, even "putting money on a product" as you put it. I fail to see how one would give these guys money otherwise... There has to be some small leap of faith (the future is can be uncertain).
If you do not like the idea or even aesthetic vision then there is not much I can say to persuade you
How much bigger is Star Citizen's team than something like Firefall or Mechwarrior Online? Firefall in particular is very ambitious and the closed alpha/beta has been a good time.
It would work on top of investor and crowd funding and be used to build continuous hype and feedback and iteration.
Plus the amount of money that has been paid to Notch for Minecraft development is something any team would be happy with.
Cameron122
Member
They announced this at a bad time. I'm supposed to be playing XCOM, but instead I'm thinking about this game.
Problem is, that they need probably those 6-7m$ to get to alpha, and Notch started to charge from the first, broken builds and kept charging for 2 years. Its not the same scale of development.
But i dont doubt that they could still provide some kind of 'kickstarter' model like Grimdawn is doing on their site, after this initial funding.
Looks like they are going to break $1,000,000 today.
I'm sure plenty of media outlets will cover it, generating more hype.
They stated that Chris was going to do a Reddit AMA very soon about this game, reddit is insanely popular and that will generate awareness as well.
Hopefully they will get a bump in revenue.
I'm sure plenty of media outlets will cover it, generating more hype.
They stated that Chris was going to do a Reddit AMA very soon about this game, reddit is insanely popular and that will generate awareness as well.
Hopefully they will get a bump in revenue.
What they've shown off, they could already release to an enthusiastic subset of fans for testing and feedback. It has enough features to do stuff in it (get in ship, pilot ship, shoot lasers, good enough!)
They've already used millions to get to this point, so it seems sensible to use this point to get further.
Of course the Minecraft/Overgrowth alpha funding model couldn't work for a large scale ambitious game like this; if it weren't already at the stage that it's been shown to be at.