[Star Citizen News]Chris Roberts announces new Space Sim "Star Citizen"
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Why would they join a smaller server? Because people like having their own little place to play in. A place without strangers to mess things up or be an annoyance. Basically, some form of persistent coop.
There’s a reason why games like Minecraft have thousands of tiny servers with just a few people on each. If what you said was true, there’d only be a few huge servers, but that’s not what we’re seeing. Likewise, a lot of games offer coop, but few offer massively multiplayer gameplay, because it’s hard to build and it’s also hard to manage and make it friendly for everyone. You’re always best served by yourself.
Yes, there will be a lot of people on the official huge servers, but I don’t think that’ll necessarily imply none of them will play on private servers either. There’s been a huge outcry over how fewer and fewer FPS were bundling private servers, to the extent that this trend is slowly reversing. Private servers foster a sense of community and attachment that isn’t present on large MMO games. At best you’ll have a clan/guild, but even then it’s not the same.
I am not worried in the slightest about private servers not being popular. Chances are even if only 10% of the players used them, we’d have 10x the attendance we currently see on Freelancer. I am worried about whether the private servers will be gimped (there is some imprecision on that in the released features list), but am willing to give them a chance on those premises.
Instead of only seeing the negative and jumping at the first opportunity to bitch, perhaps it’d be a good thing to see the positives in such an endeavor. Its success not only means we get to play a new Roberts game, it also means we’ll likely see a whole bunch of space sims large and small, just like how Minecraft unleashed a plethora of block-based open world games. The more successful Star Citizen is, the better it is for all of us, regardless of your interest in that particular game.
So please, stop looking like angry old men on the internet and try not to make the Freelancer community look like a bunch of ungrateful jerks. This goes for all of you.
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Didnt he mentioned already that his new games requires more and better cpu’s and gpu’s than its in todays common PCs. This game looks really neat but the renderings were not done by a normal home PC. So surely it looks good. Thats what a majority is looking for. Its the first impression that counts to attract probably fund givers.
For me at the current progress its totally irrelevant to make speculations if this game will be splitted to hundereds of servers or if it will run on solely one server. Both of it has its advantages and its disadvantages.
Nevertheless i feel there is put a bit too much of enthusiasm into Chris Roberts. How much of FL is actually the way he intended it to be (i really dont know)? I remember that BP nearly had stimulated a lot of interest amongst several space sim communities. Their forums were full of players from Darkstar One and also a lot of Freelancer. BP had nice graphics, a good feature list but hum its dead, isnt it? Players were amazed by what they were shown in trailers. Didnt seem to have worked out well.
I really wish he will be able to make what he presented and i wish his team the success it deserves. But now what makes his game that much different because its Chris Roberts?
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i don’t feel so many complaints and passions coming along but maybe its just me who i mod freelancer just because i like doing it…
So there is a great new game coming alright. why don’t we just wait and see for ourselves before judging. after all, he announces it to be released in 2014 and i don’t even know what kind of hardware will be common then, how the internet will evolve or anything else.
what it definately is not for me, is replacing Freelancer. it is a new game and i’d gladly play and maybe even mod it. does it mean i quit other things for it? not at all, i may just as well keep playing around with freelancer, too.
now, does that again mean i refuse to move on? no, why? so what if someone hears classical music, that doesn’t mean he is stuck riding horses, does it?be cool gentlemen and be also mindful of your feelings and what you really base them on.
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Honestly, I only have two concerns, the massive crowd funding target, and the horrible thought that until you enter into an instance, the game might be like flying around in star trek online lol! The horror!
There are games like this that have been funded on kickstarter, and more spring up all the time, so don’t think we’ll be short of space games to play, but the budget for this one is scary huge in comparison. Really hope that translates into the finished product cos we’ll be beaming from ear to ear if it does.
Sorry, I should make it 3 concerns, cos we’re pledging for ships that are for multiplayer, but if they only raise enough for the storyline, then you’ll never see that ship. Bummer.
Apart from that, I just want to try and avoid getting hit by a bus in the next couple of years so I get a chance to play it.
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I see your point why people (in particular friends) would want to play it on small private servers… but i see less chances that private server would house 50 or more players and that something like server communities get a chance to grow… especially IF private server get only “the minimal package” while the official server(s) get the whole universe instead. My personal motivation as player would be to play the full game and not just a part of it.
Next to that there is still the question if we really get modding support (where we can change the game on our own) or if we are only limited to submit 3d models which get included into game updates if approved (just like it is written on the website).
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Black Prophecy died because of absolutely terrible networking (the lag was unbearable) and the most stupid monetization scheme I have ever seen (forcing non-paying players to sit around for hours on to “level up”, without actually being able to play during that time). It wasn’t because of the graphics or the base gameplay. Stupid decisions, bad networking, not enough development support and slow turnaround killed it. Roberts has more experience and most likely will have more money, so I doubt this is going to be an issue.
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4 concerns - we might not be able to buy a graphics card powerful enough to play it in the EU if the aholes have their way http://www.bit-tech.net/news/hardware/2012/10/15/ec-eco-design/1
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Well… lag to a large degree is result of server performance… and i believe i wrote already about that above.
The net code also plays a role… but to say that Chris Roberts has much experience is not really true. All his online games (and we are talking just about 2 games) had major problems in this area. I dont believe that Chris Roberts is better than any other developer. -
Crytek, however…
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SWAT_OP-R8R wrote:
Next to that there is still the question if we really get modding support (where we can change the game on our own) or if we are only limited to submit 3d models which get included into game updates if approved (just like it is written on the website).
The stretch goals are indeed confusing but I think they will make a comm link post soon to clarify it. In any way, the community manager has said that the stretch goals will only take longer if they are not reached, it does not mean that they will not be developed.
So with the 5 million stretch goal you would get the full game (with persistent world etc…) already in 2 or 3 years whereas if only 2 million are reached, it will just take longer for these parts of the game.
At least that’s how I understood it so far. Im sure they will clarify that soon.
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When you talk about the ‘huge’ funding - think about what the game’s production will cost. Chris will have to pay for at least 100 men to make that game. 100 men that cost $100.000/year each. So I’d expecxt he’ll need at least $20.000.000 to finish that game!
Atm it doesn’t look like he’ll get more than $3.000.000 from funding. Hm, is Chris Roberts the man always delivering in budget and in time?
There will be lots of investors which will have demands and I wonder if he’ll be able to make the game he dreams of (and promises to make).
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Xylander wrote:
When you talk about the ‘huge’ funding - think about what the game’s production will cost. Chris will have to pay for at least 100 men to make that game. 100 men that cost $100.000/year each. So I’d expecxt he’ll need at least $20.000.000 to finish that game!Humm…… Maybe…Kickstarter?
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They posted a FAQ:
http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/draft-faq/
Is Star Citizen an MMO?
No! Star Citizen will take the best of all possible worlds, ranging from a permanent, persistent world similar to those found in MMOs to an offline, single player campaign like those found in the Wing Commander series. The game will include the option for private servers, like Freelancer, and will offer plenty of opportunities for players who are interested in modding the content. Unlike many games, none of these aspects is an afterthought: they all combine to form the core of the Star Citizen experience.How will modding work?
Players will be given full control of their game! When operating private servers, players will be able and encouraged to mod the game. It doesn’t stop there, though: we hope to institute a ‘mod approval’ process that will allow the best of the best player created ships and other additions to be integrated into the central persistent world as well.Can you explain the stretch goals?
The purpose of the higher stretch goals is to ensure that the game-as-described is finished in the two year time period. We intend to build the game that Chris Roberts described at GDC Online regardless, but without additional funding we are going to have to do it one piece at a time, starting with Squadron 42, rather than as a single larger production. With more funding we can include more ships, systems, unique locations, animations and cinematic sequences.Is Star Citizen “free to play”? A subscription game?
To play Star Citizen you need only to buy the initial game. There will never be a monthly charge for usage. Some in-game items may be available as microtransactions, but we will NEVER sell anything that can’t be acquired through honest (and fun!) gameplay. -
Facebook Statement by Chris Roberts:
Hi, Chris Roberts here.
I’ve seen a few concerned posts on the Facebook stream about whether there’s going to be a single player game, and whether if the budget gets tight will that be the first feature that gets cut. I just want to be clear with everyone, Squadron 42 is an integral part of the Star Citizen experience and it will be the classic Wing Commander experience that everyone loved (without the FMV though!)
In fact the order of the development means that there’s no way that Squadron 42 will be cut, as the features for this, and multi-player dogfights are the first steps in building Star Citizen. The prototype that I showed already includes most of the functionality that I need for Squadron 42.There’s still a lot of polish to do on the dogfighting and assets to be created but Squadron 42 is not the difficult part of Star Citizen. The difficult part is building the open world that Squadron 42 fits inside. I’m confident of that too as I’ve built this open world twice, and have done a lot upfront technical design work to avoid some of the problems that I dealt with on Freelancer
So ambitious yes. Achievable? Most definitely!
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I guess in a few years we know more. My worries remain for now since I heard similar statements about Freelancer ages ago. However, for me its time to let this topic drop and concentrate again on more important topics like modding FL.
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From arecent interview with Chris Roberts (see http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/chris-roberts-answers-your-question/
The Wing Commander games didn’t allow much content creation, but Freelancer continues to flourish because of mods. What is your position on user-created content?
Absolutely for it! I love what the Freelancer community has done, and I’m impressed what other communities like the Skyrim or Team Fortress achieve with good tools. There’s a lot of talent and creativity out there and I fully intend to enable it and support it in my new game.
And another one from FAQ (see http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/draft-faq/)
How will modding work?
Players will be given full control of their game! When operating private servers, players will be able and encouraged to mod the game. It doesn’t stop there, though: we hope to institute a ‘mod approval’ process that will allow the best of the best player created ships and other additions to be integrated into the central persistent world as well.
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Something someone posted, probably relevant - or you can shoot it full of holes too.
Posted by another user on the RSI forum (Flashpoint) but I believe this is something all the Cynics should read.
……I posted this as a reply on another thread, as it suddenly dawned on me what the success or failure of this game actually means.
I thought it might be good to give it its own thread…I have a simple question for you lot: Do you like space sims? Yes or no?
If the answer is yes, be that the Wing Commander style or the Freelancer/Privateer style, then you MUST back this game.
Why?
Remember this…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZfURi4it5M
Look at the words at the beginning of that trailer and remind yourself how long it has been since the last AAA space sim.
Remember how many industry ‘experts’ said it was a dead genre. Remember how many times you’ve said to yourself, friends or forums that you’d kill for a new AAA space sim.This game is a challenge to those experts. It’s a blatant ‘prove you wrong’ piece and if it fails, a thousand developers, publishers and ‘experts’ will shake their heads and smugly say ‘We told you so’, and then the space sim WILL truly be dead.
If you don’t back this now (and remember that a pledge of just $30 gets you the finished game. How cheap is that???) for whatever reason you choose to dig up, if you don’t back it because the Wing Commander element comes before the Freelancer element or because the game might not be 100% exactly containing everything you exactly want, if you just let everyone else do it, then you lose the right to complain about no more space sims.
If Squadron 42 is a massive success, then Star Citizen will be a success like the PC has never seen. If this happens, there will be new space sims springing up all over the place. So even if Star Citizen ends up not quite doing what you wanted, the chances of someone else doing it increase exponentially.IF THIS IS A SUCCESS THERE MOST PROBABLY WILL BE THE FABLED FREESPACE 3 (A point which I am about to make to the SCP forums).
This is not 23 days to make this game viable, this is 23 days to save our genre.
If you don’t help to do it, you have nobody else to blame.
If we don’t do it, who will?I know there are cynics amongst the midst - the “it’s not Freelancer 2” folks, the “I don’t think he can do it” folks and the “argh it’ll interfere with my own dreams” folks.
Sadly being a cynic is almost a self fulfilling prophecy - if everyone was one. If no-one pledged money, then it’d go nowhere. Lastly, with enough coverage, we may well see the “death knell” of the genre. I hope some people’s enthusiasm isn’t negatively affected by others derision. Things will have their supporters, detractors, cynics, sceptics, fan boys etc. Make your own mind up, don’t be put off by criticisms - especially if they’re criticisms from sectors I’d label as “non professional” (i.e. those actively involved in development, or having extensive knowledge of, what is required to achieve his claims)
p.s. Related to hitboxes and so on. FPS games generally have relatively simple models and scenery I would admit. Yet they manage 50 odd players running around blatting weapons and more without any lag issues. Does that instantly translate to Space? Not really, but rest assured that clever folks can make many optimisations - and we’re talking 10 years since FL. The computational power increase is… insane.
With FL, a lot of “lag” was graphical - during big battles.
And yes, you can use “big” hitboxes too - because if something doesn’t intersect that hitbox, you have zero need to perform further calculations. If it does, then you can start calculating what it hits, or whether it actually misses.
For all the criticisms being levied I’d ask what are the qualifications to be in a position to really offer an insight into the troubles being faced. For instance, hosting for a persistent universe won’t be on a single box you know… nor on your home network either.
p.s.s Need to clarify. Not saying people shouldn’t be cynical - that’s their prerogative. What I am saying is that unless the cynics are offering up a reasonable base from which they’re cynicism is borne (if being mentioned) you should be simply not take what they’re saying as truth.
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Is that a threat?
So if it fails all those who didnt supported it have to be accused. Sure thats the thing how it works nowadays. I tend to like the space genre.
But honestly I support what i like to support and not because someone tends to accuse me that i am guilty if a thing fails or not. What happens if it fails? There will be a next trial of someone else. Earth does not stop rotating - and there are many centuries left on this earth to bring other space sims or try it
If its a success then well - congratulations. All involved deserved it then. And they shall have fun and enjoy it!
Sometimes its just as easy as that. Postings like the one Chips quoted wont bring me any closer to fund this project - more likely the other way round. They shall convince fund givers and not beg for it.
What wonders me a bit - why in gods name shall this game make everything different than all the others who failed until now? Just because Chris Roberts is involved? Lets assume the project reaches the total sum it requires - it still could fail. Who says it will be a success if all funds could be collected?
