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Other Games - Star Citizen Hangar Module Reveal
crypticarmsman
Member Posts: 4,115 Arc User
Hey folks, some may or may not be aware of Chris Roberts Star Citizen (currently in development); but for the crowdfunding project backers (of which I'm one); they are getting ready to release their first Alpha (yes, the're trying something new, and letting backers look at, test, and provide feedback on stuff when it's still in early Alpha - they may be insane, but it should be an interesting ride) version of the Hangar Module (where all, your ships are stored when not in space):
http://www.twitch.tv/roberts_space_ind_ch_1/c/2809927
[Note: the actual presentation where you start to actually see the Hanger Module and ship starts at about 19+ minutes in - so if you want to skip ahead past the obligatory intros, self congratulations, etc; that's the point you want to click to.]
(FYI - If something like this is against the rules, Mods, please feel free to delete. SC is still 2 to 3 years out, but Kickstarter/Crowdfunders who pledged past a certain level are getting access to their Alpha Phases, and hey, there are so few Science Fiction spaceship space games these days, I thought some people here might be interested.)
http://www.twitch.tv/roberts_space_ind_ch_1/c/2809927
[Note: the actual presentation where you start to actually see the Hanger Module and ship starts at about 19+ minutes in - so if you want to skip ahead past the obligatory intros, self congratulations, etc; that's the point you want to click to.]
(FYI - If something like this is against the rules, Mods, please feel free to delete. SC is still 2 to 3 years out, but Kickstarter/Crowdfunders who pledged past a certain level are getting access to their Alpha Phases, and hey, there are so few Science Fiction spaceship space games these days, I thought some people here might be interested.)
Formerly known as Armsman from June 2008 to June 20, 2012
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
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I personally feel Cryptic should be a little concerned right now. Maybe start thinking of what changes they need to make to offer more immersion, rather than chucking more ships in the C-Store.
Star Citizen looks to offer everything STO should have offered from day one. Just from everything I have seen, it's more Trek than what we currently play. The great thing is that ground combat is going to be in the game and I've seen some of the footage from Terra Prime.
I've also read they are going to make this work with the Oculus Rift, which will be amazing when sat in your cockpit.
Can't wait!
I'm a big fan of Star Citizen (pledged in the initial crowdfunding campaign in october of 2012, have a Freelancer pledge package and a Origin 325A add on ship).
That said, SC isn't more 'Star Trek' then STO, because that's not what it's focusing on. It's persistent universe will be a sandbox (meaning it's the players that drive what's going on - either delivering cargo, pirating, bounty hunting, etc.); with their small personal ships.
As one of the stretch goals they are making the Bengal class carrier a player usable ship (will require a 40 person crew, and you can hire AI NPCs) - BUT, it's not a ship you can buy/earn in game outright - they've said players will have to capture it to acquire it and that it will need to be a group effort, etc; and their could be repercussions, etc. (they're still developing the game, but the 'no buy/need to earn in game/won't be easy at all' is what will remain for getting access to one.
The game is primarily space focus; and heavily on the personal piloting aspect. Planet access will be limited to landing terminals and hangars (where you ships are stored); and they will be where you can talk to NPCs to pick up cargo runs and bounty missions. There will be no real open ground exploration of planets (existing, or recently discovered. A newly discovered planet may have a small open area where you can land, but once reported the UEE may put a facility there, etc. (Again, it's part of the stuff still TBD as they make the game; but ground will basically be social/NPC merchant/safe ship storage.
The only ground style combat will be via ship boarding - and they have also said 'boarding' in this fashion will have a complicated set of requirements that need to be met before open combat for the ship will be allowed (IE they are not going to allow people to just sneak on board, or come as a passenger to just shoot the owner in the back and take his ship.)
There is a crowdfunding stretch goal (that hasn't been met yet, but probably will) that will allow shootouts on non-UEE controlled or newly discovered planets between players; but again, it's all still in development.
The game is probably best described as 'more Star Wars than SWToR' in all honesty.
There will also be a single player campaign attached (like the original 'Wing Commander' series of space sim games, that can be played completely stand alone; BUT if you start a new Persistent Universe character; and play the campaign while logged into the PU server (so it can track your progress, and success/failure, etc.- at the en, when you 'muster out' you'll have more in game/in game cash/maybe some extra equipment than if you just started a new character on the PU server without running through the SQ42 campaign.
BTW - there will be no 'levels', no player character skills to advance; and combat is all 'twitch-based' with your skills behind the joystick. The death penalty will be more similar to EVE Online too (IE if you get blown up; your ship doesn't just respawn itself.) If you manage to eject and survive, you'll need to have purchased insurance on your ship beforehand, file a claim; and the new ship you get will be basic 'showroom' model with factory stock equipment (EG any upgraded or special equipment you had got blown up with your original ship.) Also, there WILL be 'perma-death' in that if your character 100% dies; then you 'will' your existing stuff (any ships, including any ship insurance policies, so they can again claim a new ship for the one with you in it that was lost) to a relative/descendant - who then is the character you use from that point forward. If they 100% die, they will the stuff, etc, etc. (Chris Roberts feels that type of death system will help add a living history aspect to the PU server - and it's definitely something no other MMO type game has tried.)
Exploration is taking a ship and scanning for new Jump Points (and then cataloging, reporting, and getting paid by the UEE for the discovery.) It's been said they will NOT be randomly generated, but added by the team as they make new systems. Some will be announced/found by the UEE directly; but there will be other for player explorers to find (and players can even keep them secret and not tell anyone, but if you do that and another player finds and reports it, HE gets paid by the UEE and the perks for the discovery, etc.)
They've also said i t won't be like EVE where a group of players can fully lock down a star system or jump point. (As big as you are, you're just a small trader/bounty hunter/pirate to the UEE government, and if your group cause too much disruption that grows, the UEE will send a large military force to 'clean things up' and restore order. It may take longer if your out on the fringes of newly explored 'lawless' space; but they've said that they'll be monitoring the servers and will 'make it happen' if your guild, etc. makes a huge disruption to 'regular' commerce, etc.
And again, the game is still 1 1/2 to 2 years from actual public launch; but GIG is letting backers have access to the pre-alpha stuff when CIG decides it's appropriate; and is letting us give feedback at all stages of game development (something no other MMO developer before has tried); and they're ALSO trying to do it 100% 'crowdfunded' (IE no outside investors or publishers); and CR believes they can get the launch version of the game completed in they get $21 million (It's at $18.7 million and growing daily.)
Remember though, until the game actually launches most of it is VERY 'in flux'; and there is still always a chance (getting more unlikely as time passes and more is developed) the game MIGHT NOT get finished. That said,if you liked the old 'Wing Commander' or more opened ended 'Privateer' PC games from the 1990ies (Chris Roberts, the founder and head of CIG is the guy who made those games while working at Origin BEFORE it was gobbled up by Electronic Arts); this is about a close to a Wing Commander/Privateer themed MMO as we'll get. Also, CR is NOT making this game in standard MMO fashion in that he's not concerned with making something that runs on 'low end' PCs. He's flat out said that he's pushing the hardware envelope, and trying to do the highest texture and image fidelity h can achieve. Thus in 2015 (the projected launch frame); to run the game on highest settings, you'll need a high end rig at that time (with whatever the best stuff that's out.)
He expects the tech that's available now (Intel I7 CPU/Nvidia GTX770) to be able to run the finished game okay on medium settings. (The current graphics settings available are Low, Med, High, and Very High - and most monitor resolutions from 1024X768 to very large are supported atm - I run at 1920X1080 myself.)
The base hardware reqs to just run the alpha version of the Hangar module are:
- Windows 7 (or 8) (64 bit version) OS
- 8 GB system Ram
- Nvidia GTX460 or better with 2 GB on board VRAM.
- DirectX 11
(and there is the possibility the final full game will need 16 GB on board system ram)
Someone did post a hack (that CIG is aware of) that will allow players to run the hangar module on Nvidia GTX 295 cards (and DX10.1 - but they get really low FPS under 10 even on low settings) - but CIG has said, they don't support it, and as they continue to expand the game functionality, there may come a time when the hack no longer works - and at that point, the only option is to finally upgrade your stuff.
So, yeah, I too am excited about 'Star Citizen' but no one should go into thinking it'll be another 'standard type' MMO - you'll need both high end hardware, and good reflexes to do well. It WON'T be a 'themepark' type MMO either; and at this point, their going with a 'Buy to Play' model where you do pay up front for the game client; and instead of buying items from a cash shop directly, you buy in game cash, and then buy the items in the game. (Right now they do have actual items and ships for sale, but that will not be the case post launch.) They also stated they will have a cap on how much UEE currency in RL you can buy per day; and that the better items will have to be salvaged; or you may need to travel outside of civilized space to find the better/modified items (IE he's trying to make money, but not become 'pay to win' - more pay for convenience and still have to really take risk/play the game for the better gear.)
I think it's been an interesting ride so far, and I really do hope CR can get most of what the wants in the final game, but with 2 years to go, I'm sure some stuff will either not make it (for tech limitation or other reasons); or some stuff will be changed (based on gameplay testing/player feedback, etc.)
Honestly, while I think Cryptic and a lot of others are looking at how this all turns out (as no one has really developed any game in the way CIG is developing Star Citizen); I don't think STO has a lot to fear, as they are really two VERY different games both in tome and execution.
If there's an MMO/Developer that might be a bit nervous, I'd say that would be CCP, the makers and administrators of EVE Online (and again, while it's probably the game most like SC; it's very different in enough respects (IE twitch based combat vs EVE's 'point and click'; and being a 'small fry' as opposed to an Empire builder; and griefing NOT encouraged in game); that hardcore EVE players may not find SC to their liking.)
Still I for one am eagerly looking forward to the game (with cautious optimism); and hope Star Citizen turns out good, and will be something I want to play for a long time - but time will tell.
PWE ARC Drone says: "Your STO forum community as you have known it is ended...Display names are irrelevant...Any further sense of community is irrelevant...Resistance is futile...You will be assimilated..."
I will wait until/if it actually launches before seriously considering.
the 'first looks' look cool....but too many games going the "pay before the product is even close to being viable" route IMO.
gonna wait and see where it goes..
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---- FIRE EVERYTHING ! ----
First off. Excellent post. I'm familiar with everything you've said and I hope that the at 20 Million Dollars you will be able to take part in "First person combat on select lawless planets. Don?t just battle on space stations and platforms? take the fight to the ground!", then maybe later on we'll get some ground exploration, who knows!
I've also read that any store items will be purely cosmetic and not content related, which is great and I think a lot of people need to understand that it's not required to buy a pack pre-alpha/beta before the game is released. This is simply making a donation to support the project and by doing so will grant you some goodies to get started with when you begin to play. I've also read something about insurance being made to cover contents as well for any addons for your ship etc.
I still in my opinion feel this delivers many aspects of space exploration that Star Trek Online doesn't. That is why I make the statement of it being more Star Trek than STO. So many of the things you'll be able to do yourself or with a group of friends in game on SC can only be done via the DoFF system.
You'll have to work to earn your ships and not have content thrown at you that you can simply throw cash at to get right away (I know the packs give you ships straight away, but hey your donating to something before it's release). When they were in the earlier design phases Chris Robert's assumed going based on Wing Commander and Freelancer that most players would be interested in Piracy & Smuggling. When he did a survey around 67% wanted exploration, so they decided, "Ok, I guess we better add exploration".
Exploration, discovering new planets, naming systems, smuggling, trade, mining. I even noticed a list of clubs & bars on different stations, planets (2 being in New York). The space combat is done exactly how I always wanted STO. So all these things that we can do in Star Citizen, for me is what Star Trek is all about. You can command a small ship of a few crew members like the Maquis or eventually (based on what you said) have a 70 Player Carrier that (when I checked) has over 700 crew.
There are just many things I keep seeing in SC that need to be done here. Things can change over time, but with someone like Chris Roberts at the helm, I think they'll pull through. I'm personally glad it's not going down the MMO route as our fleet intends to run it's own private server without any mods so we can stay connected to that persistent universe.
I may be upgrading my motherboard next year as it only has 1x16 slot for my GPU and just in case I want to stick another GPU in for Star Citizen, it'll be a handy upgrade. Already running a 7950 that runs Crysis 3 on max, so hoping I'll be ok.
Still.... this game will probably consume a lot of my gaming time when it comes out lol
And that will also depend on just how expensive it'll be at launch.
Hopefully, STO will still be around at that point, just in case S.C. ends up being beyond my level of entertainment funds.
<shrug>
I Was A Trekkie Before It Was Cool ... Sept. 8th, 1966 ... Not To Mention Before Most Folks Around Here Were Born!
Forever a STO Veteran-Minion
For STO it's mostly about the story activity. People might say they want STO to be sandbox but for the most part they really just want more Mission Content. Most STO players aren't going to want to mine ore for hundreds of hours. Most STO players don't want to find a new star just to see what items they take from it to buy new equipment or a bigger ship.
A STO player wants to find a star with a civilization that leads to adventures while dealing with that civilization. STO players want to save a lost tribe of Indians or get infected with an ancient virus that is going to blow up their ship if they don't fix it. STO players need the story, not the activity. Grinding Rep is an activity.
Ah, but none of that exists in STO. Except for the Alt-killing Rep Grind
Even the Federation missions have you conduct yourself closer to the Terran Empire than you are to the TV show / movie depicted Federation.
"Thanks to you, we have discovered one of our Admirals of Starfleet is an Undine infiltrator! Something must be done! There has to be more! We're sending you to the ruins of the Romulan homeworld and initiate an unprovoked war with the Romulans!"
"Sir, what does that have to do with the Und-"
"Your orders are given, Captain, carry them out."
I'm sure even Cryptic understands that the lack of end-game Missions are hurting the game. But having seen all the Missions they added in LoR it's clear Cryptic can make Mission Content if they are properly incentivized. The trick is just for them to find a way to add Mission Content that also gives them a way to make money.
For the most part, though, the people who want an Eve experience are playing Eve.