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Star Citizen Pre-Alpha: Hangar Module

I'm not sure I really understand what this game is attempting, can anyone point me toward something that would vaguely explain it? OP is fantastic, but I want to make sure I entirely understand this before taking the plunge.
 
You will be able to purchase (the primary) in-game currency with money, but it is artificially capped and intended to be used by people who want to achieve certain things with credits but don't have a lot of time to spend.

This is what I wanted to hear. I'm fine with people buying ships because they don't want to spend time. I thought it might be similar to EVE where (for the short ftp demo I played) I felt like I would have to sink a ton of real money into the game for ships and such.
 

At the risk of asking another horribly stupid question that has no doubt been asked countless times in the past, is this actually going to turn out this way?! I've never seen anything so incredibly ambitious, to the point that I have to admit I'm rather skeptical.This seems to be perhaps objectively the coolest thing ever (excuse me for being way LTTP here).
 

Zabojnik

Member
At the risk of asking another horribly stupid question that has no doubt been asked countless times in the past, is this actually going to turn out this way?! I've never seen anything so incredibly ambitious, to the point that I have to admit I'm rather skeptical.This seems to be perhaps objectively the coolest thing ever (excuse me for being way LTTP here).

Who really knows? Chris Roberts usually knows what he's doing and he's got the ambition, vision, money and people to do it. Will everything be there on day one? No, but hopefully it'll get there. The persistant universe part of Star Citizen is a long term project, which will evolve and grow over time. No MMO-type game got everything right on the first try and SC won't be the exception.

As long you keep your expectations in check (which is admittedly easier said than done), you probably won't be disappointed.
 
Even if it did fail at over half its goals, whether in execution or quality, at least it's a game that is trying.

Major MMOs or online sci-fi in general is severely lacking, and blockbuster projects have become increasingly generic in design and safe in scope.

I've barely followed this particular game, and in truth I saw your question by odd chance. I don't really know how development or alpha is going, or even if alpha is technically the stage it's at. I only check in on this game or thread once every few months. I'm not sure if the setting appeals to me, if I would personally like joining the game day one starting from scratch as a non-funder, or if the quality will be there for it to be fun. I don't know yet. But I applaud that at least someone is trying something like this. And I pray that it inspires others to follow suit. When I look at the new or lack of MMOs, RPGs, sims, etc on the development horizon these days, I typical feel hopeless. I think of the early 2000s with games like Star Wars Galaxies, Shadowbane, World of Warcraft, and so forth. Regardless of execution, those were exciting times to dream as an online sim or RPG gamer. We were excited to dream about those new possibilities in new worlds. But these days, outside of indies, no one is trying anything exciting anymore. I'm never excited by the ideas of games anymore -- it's only their production values that generate hype these days.

Regardless if this game delivers on the ideas, I am excited that they are at least trying.
 

fresquito

Member
Today I uploaded a video commenting on why I joined the project (and showcasing my shitty Aurora MR+). Long story short, I want to be part of this project because it's going to be historic no matter what. If it goes as desired, it will be a fantastic game and the biggest success for crowfunding ever. If it fails, then I will be part of one of the biggest failures in videogames history, probably only second to Atari ET.

Here's the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCEAZAHa25E
 

KKRT00

Member
At the risk of asking another horribly stupid question that has no doubt been asked countless times in the past, is this actually going to turn out this way?! I've never seen anything so incredibly ambitious, to the point that I have to admit I'm rather skeptical.This seems to be perhaps objectively the coolest thing ever (excuse me for being way LTTP here).

Check EVE Online. There are ambitious games that are successful and yes, it was answered countless times.

You can also check Chris Roberts' presentation from GDC 2012.
 

Mindlog

Member
Regardless if this game delivers on the ideas, I am excited that they are at least trying.
This is the biggest reason why I threw in. Having this project reach these levels and combined with the Oculus Rift the genre has more life to it than it has had in quite some time.

Mission Accomplished.

The game is already a success in my eyes. I have a good half-dozen games to look forward to now and perhaps even more projects looking to join fray.
 
"I don't care one way or the other, but all these announcements that are then reversed is getting a bit old."

It doesn't sound like it's a reversal of anything.
 
"Originally you could only join one organisation."

They clarify that it is only for the first implementation of organizations in the article and that the intent has always been to be able to join multiple organizations later on.
 

Dead Man

Member
"Originally you could only join one organisation."

They clarify that it is only for the first implementation of organizations in the article and that the intent has always been to be able to join multiple organizations later on.

Reversal may not be right if you believe that, but shithouse communication surely is in that case.
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13418-All-About-Organizations
Keep in in mind that while players can come and go as they please, they can join only one organization at a time.

If it was always their intention for people to be able to join multiple organisations, they should either have not said that, or said that was only a temporary limitation.

I have no doubt the game will be fantastic, but they need to be more careful with their announcements.
 

MrBig

Member
Ben and others have talked about joining multiple organizations before, this is not a reversal, and in any case why would you then decry them for changing something for the better? Right now they're building the framework for organizations and the features will expand over time of course, but orgs will be account based at first since no one has any characters, once you can create characters then your characters can join whatever they want.
 

Jackben

bitch I'm taking calls.
MrBig has there been a major sci-fi game where you weren't one of the main contributors/posters on NeoGAF about?

lol
 

MrBig

Member
MrBig has there been a major sci-fi game where you weren't one of the main contributors/posters on NeoGAF about?

lol

:lol most of my other gaming interest don't involve a lot of community interaction, but imaginative and ambitious games are what draw me in
 

Dead Man

Member
Ben and others have talked about joining multiple organizations before, this is not a reversal, and in any case why would you then decry them for changing something for the better? Right now they're building the framework for organizations and the features will expand over time of course, but orgs will be account based at first since no one has any characters, once you can create characters then your characters can join whatever they want.

I'm, not decrying them changing it for the better, I am also not sure it IS for the better. But I don't really have an opinion either way. What I am decrying is them making either misleading statements, or statements they are not sure will be the case.

And yes, that system of development makes sense, but given their initial statement it was non obvious that they intended multiple orgs at once.
 

Smiley90

Stop shitting on my team. Start shitting on my finger.
From how I see it, this is how it went

1) let's do organizations! One at a time.

2) tell community, community points out multiple organizations would be much better (guild wars 2 style), since it allows for more "specialized" organizations (think police, trading company, roadside assistance, emergency, hiring bodyguard, etcetc) and the community was already in full swing of forming those. This also allows more interaction between playes (not restricted to single organization)

3) devs see that it's true that more is better, change the plan.

4) profit

For clarity: i'm not sure i believe them when they say they wanted to make multiple organizations accessible at once before this announcement already, but i'm of the opinion that it doesn't really matter.


I honestly see nothing at all wrong with this. Its not like they changed a game feature BECAUSE THE GAME ISNT OUT YET. They're planning and listening to feedback from the community before rolling out features, which is great. Are there people that will be unhappy with anything? Of course. Is it good that they're not set in their ways? Yes.
 

Dead Man

Member
From how I see it, this is how it went

1) let's do organizations! One at a time.

2) tell community, community points out multiple organizations would be much better (guild wars 2 style), since it allows for more "specialized" organizations (think police, trading company, roadside assistance, emergency, hiring bodyguard, etcetc) and the community was already in full swing of forming those. This also allows more interaction between playes (not restricted to single organization)

3) devs see that it's true that more is better, change the plan.

4) profit

For clarity: i'm not sure i believe them when they say they wanted to make multiple organizations accessible at once before this announcement already, but i'm of the opinion that it doesn't really matter.


I honestly see nothing at all wrong with this. Its not like they changed a game feature BECAUSE THE GAME ISNT OUT YET. They're planning and listening to feedback from the community before rolling out features, which is great. Are there people that will be unhappy with anything? Of course. Is it good that they're not set in their ways? Yes.

It's not bad that they are listening to feedback, it is just confusing when they explain a feature or ship design with very concrete language then change the design after feedback. If they said things like 'This is how we are thinking it will work' or something I would finds it much less discordant.

Anyway, I have great faith in the game, I just don't trust any design feature they explain to remain that way at all. Which makes it hard to get excited about some of the things I really like the sound of. All things are subject to change though, I realise that :)
 

MrBig

Member
It's not bad that they are listening to feedback, it is just confusing when they explain a feature or ship design with very concrete language then change the design after feedback.

Expect to feel this way for the next year if you continue to follow SC development.
 

Dead Man

Member
Expect to feel this way for the next year if you continue to follow SC development.

Oh, I do :) I will still follow though. I may bitch a lot, but I've also given them a lot of money and have faith that the final product will be fantastic. The process is just killing me :)
 

Zabojnik

Member
Oh, I do :) I will still follow though. I may bitch a lot, but I've also given them a lot of money and have faith that the final product will be fantastic. The process is just killing me :)

Just let it go and go with the flow, maaaan. You'll enjoy the process much more. /hippie
 

Moff

Member
ok guys, although I despise pay to win and this is as pay to win as it gets, I feel I'm breaking soon
and since I dont do half measures, I think if I go pay to win, I might even do it right and buy that 275$ RSI constellation.
of course I want a ship that handles well, I had a look at the ship spezifics on the official page but that doesnt really tell me much
I thought about waiting for the dogfight module and watch how the ships handle, since I definitely dont want to be weak in dogfights, but its alpha and it will probably change a lot anyway. damn
when will they stop letting us buy ships?
 

Mondy

Banned
ok guys, although I despise pay to win and this is as pay to win as it gets, I feel I'm breaking soon
and since I dont do half measures, I think if I go pay to win, I might even do it right and buy that 275$ RSI constellation.
of course I want a ship that handles well, I had a look at the ship spezifics on the official page but that doesnt really tell me much
I thought about waiting for the dogfight module and watch how the ships handle, since I definitely dont want to be weak in dogfights, but its alpha and it will probably change a lot anyway. damn
when will they stop letting us buy ships?

It is not pay to win. You are buying the ship you will be traversing the verse with. You can't compete in a race unless you buy a car to race in.
 

Moff

Member
It is not pay to win. You are buying the ship you will be traversing the verse with. You can't compete in a race unless you buy a car to race in.

according to the stats, some ships are clearly better than others. we'll see how they handle themselves in the dogfight module.
and yes, there are different categories of ships, some can hold more cargo, some travel further, others can fight. but we still can buy the best for each category.
imagine if there was some new MMO where you could buy endgame armor and gold even before the game launches. there would be an uproar. there is no worse form of pay to win.

if you tell we will switch out those ships after an hour in game its not pay to win, but I doubt that very much.
as I said, I'll probably have a look at how the ships handle themselevs in the dogfight, I'll make my decision then.
 

Raticus79

Seek victory, not fairness
I gave up on trying to predict ship viability and just went with the Constellation pack because it's essentially the "collector's edition" of the game. The Constellation's also pretty much the best all-round ship at that price point -solid for combat and really agile for a freighter. Seemed silly to spend the same amount on individual ships and not get the collector's edition stuff. I think the insurance costs are going to be relatively trivial so I'm not worried about missing out on it.

I held on to my second account just in case there are some benefits for trade (e.g. keeping an eye on two places at once) and hiring additional NPCs (since it looks like there's going to be a limit per account).

Re: pay-to-win - yes, I think people are definitely paying for a head start and there's some advantage to LTI. The organizations starting out with the better fleets are going to have more power in the early universe and set the stage for how the rest of the game plays out, and I think that's a great motivator for a certain kind of competitive power gamer.
 
Expect to feel this way for the next year if you continue to follow SC development.

It's why I stopped keeping up with SC updates unless it will be something major like actual gameplay. I gave them my share, now time to wait to reap the rewards.

according to the stats, some ships are clearly better than others. we'll see how they handle themselves in the dogfight module.
and yes, there are different categories of ships, some can hold more cargo, some travel further, others can fight. but we still can buy the best for each category.
imagine if there was some new MMO where you could buy endgame armor and gold even before the game launches. there would be an uproar. there is no worse form of pay to win.

if you tell we will switch out those ships after an hour in game its not pay to win, but I doubt that very much.
as I said, I'll probably have a look at how the ships handle themselevs in the dogfight, I'll make my decision then.

I see the ships more like Forza or GT rather than MMO endgame stats. And that's a big problem right now where the community is equating the ships as if they're MMO gear. Mind you, there's been bitching about that too especially with Forza 5 and GT6 regarding the credit grind and cash cards; it honestly will depend on the actual grind - that will make or break the game.
 

Grief.exe

Member
Oh man, X52 Pro just popped up on Craigslist near me for cheap, going to check that out tomorrow.

Just in time for the dogfighting module and Free space 2 sale on gog.
 

Dead Man

Member
according to the stats, some ships are clearly better than others. we'll see how they handle themselves in the dogfight module.
and yes, there are different categories of ships, some can hold more cargo, some travel further, others can fight. but we still can buy the best for each category.
imagine if there was some new MMO where you could buy endgame armor and gold even before the game launches. there would be an uproar. there is no worse form of pay to win.

if you tell we will switch out those ships after an hour in game its not pay to win, but I doubt that very much.
as I said, I'll probably have a look at how the ships handle themselevs in the dogfight, I'll make my decision then.

They have stated a couple of time that the weapons on the ships that we are getting are pretty crap compared to what will be available to buy in the universe. And the list of ships released is not definitive, there will be more ships than 10 in the universe.

And if all you want to do is dogfight, get a hornet, be happy.
 
Hopefully Chris Roberts will make the right decision and delay the dogfighting module to focus on getting it all ported onto the actual game engine rather than wasting time creating a bespoke Cryengine version just to keep people happy.

One fairly substantial hangar update for Christmas would be fine for me.
 

Grief.exe

Member
I'm pretty sure it done slipped already. I personally think all the dates are a little optimistic.

I would agree as well. They don't just have to develop the game, they have to hire entire teams to help with this effort. Its going to be a tough job, especially in the beginning where they are still hiring and implementing the framework.

This may sound harsh, but the majority of video game fans are incredibly stupid. Just go browse Steam forums or Youtube sometime. Here is the problem, if you miss the date those posting on the forums are rarely objective and will make a big uproar.
 

-tetsuo-

Unlimited Capacity
I would agree as well. They don't just have to develop the game, they have to hire entire teams to help with this effort. Its going to be a tough job, especially in the beginning where they are still hiring and implementing the framework.

This may sound harsh, but the majority of video game fans are incredibly stupid. Just go browse Steam forums or Youtube sometime. Here is the problem, if you miss the date those posting on the forums are rarely objective and will make a big uproar.

I was telling my friend that they are going to get all kinds of hell. This being crowdfunded is great, but it is not some perfect blessing. Having even just a small number of the 300k+ backers going berserk on your forums everyday because you pushed one of the modules back or even the game release is probably worse than having a publisher breathing down your neck.

I like to think I have mentioned that in my post.

Yes, there are still best ships for each category. There will be a best cargo ship, a fastest ship, a best dogfighting ship but they cant do anything else, really. A 350R can't out fight a Super Hornet on paper but that Hornet will never catch it or hold any kind of spoils.
 

Grief.exe

Member
I was telling my friend that they are going to get all kinds of hell. This being crowdfunded is great, but it is not some perfect blessing. Having even just a small number of the 300k+ backers going berserk on your forums everyday because you pushed one of the modules back or even the game release is probably worse than having a publisher breathing down your neck.

At least the publishers will be professional, and for the most part, rational about it. They will also have experience in the medium so will understand the issues, and likely have an education.

My thoughts? We are on PC, go play some of the best games of all time that are, inevitably, in your backlog.

P4ujPav.jpg
 
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