Star Citizen - media blowout, Chris Robert's new game

Letter from the chairman:
Greetings Citizens,

It’s good to be home! After a fourteen hour flight home from Australia, it was a nice surprise to see that Star Citizen’s backers had once again hit another milestone. It’s hard to express here how deeply everyone at CIG appreciate what the community has done, and is doing… We all thank you!

The $61 million stretch goal unlocks the Espera Prowler, a Tevarin-designed UEE ship. I’m excited to see where our concept artists take this one, as they’re going to have to design a new style for another alien race and then adopt it for human use. It should be an interesting process. Here’s the description:

Espera Prowler – Named after the UPE military designation, the Prowler is a modernized version of the infamous Tevarin boarding craft from the First Tevarin War. With the recent discovery of the lost Tevarin planet in Kabal System, Espera’s engineers were given unmitigated access to examine the preserved ships found in several of the caches, before meticulously recreating the design choices. The Prowler’s effectiveness as a rapid personnel deployment vehicle was mainly due to its silence. The boarding was constructed using a variety of techniques to minimize its signatures and get close to unsuspecting vessels before quickly deploying their boarders via EVA. With the updated Prowler model, you will find the perfect fusion of two culture: the elegance and effectiveness of the Tevarin war machine combined with the reliability of modern UEE technology. (While lacking some of the upgrades of the modern version, vintage Tevarin-built Prowlers restored for modern spaceflight are prized by owners lucky enough to locate them.)
The winner of the ultimate wave four ship poll was the third starter. When we say a ‘starter’ ship in Star Citizen, it doesn’t mean one you ditch as soon as you can… it just means a smaller, less expensive ship that will introduce you to the Star Citizen world. We had similar starter ships in Privateer and Freelancer, and plenty of players opted to stick with their old reliable hulls for the whole game! Star Citizen’s starter ships tend to be more ‘jack of all trades,’ allowing you to sample different activities in the ‘verse.

When we sat down to choose the ideal third starter we went in knowing that it needed to stand out the same way the Mustang differed from the Aurora without being dedicated to a specific role. What we couldn’t decide on was who was going to make this new ship. We already had starters from RSI and Consolidated… so who gets the next one? A pirate-oriented starter from Drake, a military one from Anvil or Aegis, or perhaps a small luxury craft from Origin or a commercial one from MISC?

In the end, we put together outlines for four possible ships, one from each ship builder (representatives from the fifth company, Origin, turned down our request; apparently, they just won’t build an inexpensive ship!) And now we’re giving backers the ability to choose which one we develop into Star Citizen’s third starter. Here are the options:

Drake Dragonfly: You don’t so much as climb into the Dragonfly as you do put it on around you. In short, it’s the closest thing to strapping an engine and a weapons mount to your spacesuit… or, as the advertising campaign claims, it’s the closest thing to riding the vacuum yourself. Occupying somewhere in the pantheon between a snub fighter and an Aurora, the Dragonfly is a speedy, maneuverable ultralight designed to be cheaply constructed in large numbers and to be readily customized by hobbyists. Dragonfly’s have become the favorite of a particular brand of enthusiast that frequently gather together to share their modifications, off-track race… and other less legitimate “hobbies.”

Aegis Terrapin: A literal tough nut to crack, the Terrapin is the most heavily armored of the base-priced spacecraft on the market. Originally designed for long-range survey missions in dangerous star systems, the Terrapin’s design philosophy involves wrapping the ship in additional layers of armor and reserving a significant amount of engine power to host the largest shield generator in its class. Terrapins are popular among private miners, with an equipment mount and a small storage hold that can be converted for valuable minerals.

Anvil Hurricane: Some ships avoid dangerous encounters with speed, some with stealth and others with maneuverability. The Anvil Hurricane’s philosophy is that it should be able to blast anything that gets in its way out of the sky. The Hurricane won’t win any races and its electronic signature won’t let you sneak behind enemy lines… but it features a wide array of fully customizable small bore weapons hardpoints plus the ability to customize weapons types in several ways. Hurricanes are often used by militia squadrons and private organizations seeking to add a “heavy” to their lineup.

MISC Reliant: With the success of the Freelancer “Built for Life” campaign, MISC has moved to join RSI and Consolidated in the single-seat introductory starship arena. Their silver bullet? A starter ship with more than one seat… and their ace in the hole: Xi’An technology. Where the Aurora is a pure utilitarian platform and the Mustang is a delicate, maneuverable personal transport, the Reliant is MISC’s most Xi’An tech-heavy ship to date. Featuring impossibly sleek lines, two separate crew seats and a vertical fuselage design, the Reliant’s streamlined cockpits glow with some of the finest xenotechnology available!

Please let us know what your favorite is in the poll below; the winner will be Star Citizen’s third starter… and the others will go back in the vault for future reference (I can already see backers writing in to ask if we might ever see the runner ups again; we don’t have space on the schedule for multiple new starters at the moment, but never say never!) I think that any of these four ships would make a great addition to Star Citizen’s lineup, and so I’m confident in letting backers make the choice!

I’ll announce the winner in my next letter. Until then, I’d like to thank you again for your continued support. Our backers are the most incredible group of people in the world, and every time I see how creative you are in supporting the game and spreading the word, I’m all the just more grateful that this has all come together. Thank you.

— Chris Roberts
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So far, misc is leading at 50%. This will be pretty awesome for a cheap 2 seater.
 
That sucks, I figured more people would be voting for the Drake Dragonfly. I was looking forward to zipping around in a space motorcycle and splattering my brains all over an asteroid.
 
I like both of the concepts for Drake and MISC, although I do like the MISC option a little more. I think the Anvil and Aegis are kind of mehhh, we got enough low end combat oriented ships already.

And it looks like they tried to deliver my dog tags and hour after I left for work :( you can never count on the mail man to come on time when you need him to lol, and today he was an hour late.
 
I actually like all the concepts and hope they all get made sooner or later (hopefully sooner, I'd really like to see more going on with the smaller single seat ships in general). I voted for the Dragonfly personally... the bit about it being a highly tunable/modifiable for the enthusiast/hobbyist appeals to me the most.

I'm actually least interested in the Reliant... no idea what role that ship actually is actually supposed to fill, other than a cheap two seater . So far the whole Xi'An tech thing with MISC has been kind of a bust if the Freelancer is anything to go by. Vertical ships do sound kind of cool though.
 
The space bike sounds like a hilarious way to get yourself killed. I still voted for the MISC. Allowing new players to jump right into teamwork play with a two-seater ship seems like a good idea.

The comment about Origin not wanting to build an inexpensive ship is pretty funny. Don't want to taint their brand image. I've been playing around with the 325a in AC and it's been fun to fly with this latest patch.
 
315p in the patch friday, wonder how that will perform with the TR4 it is supposed to have.
 
I'll probably melt my 325 to try the 315. No LTI so I don't have to worry about losing anything. The 315 seems like the kind of ship I'd want to actually play the game with. Jump engine, tractor, scanners, and still has Omnis.
 
Ritorix said:
I'll probably melt my 325 to try the 315. No LTI so I don't have to worry about losing anything. The 315 seems like the kind of ship I'd want to actually play the game with. Jump engine, tractor, scanners, and still has Omnis.
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That's why I grabbed it. Seems like it suits quite a few different styles of play. Decently fast, jump engine, salvage and exploration friendly, decent weapons. I've actually been waiting to play this until it's in, so this is pretty exciting.
 
Wildace said:
315p in the patch friday, wonder how that will perform with the TR4 it is supposed to have.
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The specs for what the 315p is shipping with hasn't been finalized yet and says "coming soon", max size equip-able is a TR4, but that is the same for all the other 300i which all come stock with TR3.
 
Not sure where you are looking. The 315 page shows a TR4 engine in the TR4 slot, whereas the other variants have a TR3 in the TR4 engine slot. Sure you can upgrade it, but I don't know how that will affect power balance, and the upgrades won't be covered with insurance.
 
Wow. I got shipping confirmation from SC about shipping goodies. Not sure what is shipping, but something is heading to me I guess.
 
RangerXML said:
The specs for what the 315p is shipping with hasn't been finalized yet and says "coming soon", max size equip-able is a TR4, but that is the same for all the other 300i which all come stock with TR3.
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the 315p was always intended to have a larger efficient TR4 pre installed to aid in its exploration role from the start.
 
Ritorix said:
I'll probably melt my 325 to try the 315. No LTI so I don't have to worry about losing anything. The 315 seems like the kind of ship I'd want to actually play the game with. Jump engine, tractor, scanners, and still has Omnis.
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I'd lose alpha access :-\... 325A was my initial pledge package.
 
I hope they start getting the Aurora versions in next, got several of my friends to buy LNs and it'd be nice if they could use them.
 
Scratch my original comment, read the Reverse the Verse summary and Ben mentioned that the 315p might be the fastest 300i (except the 350r), so this may mean TR4, but even Ben said we'll have to wait until the patch tomorrow.
 
Tup3x said:
I'd lose alpha access :-\... 325A was my initial pledge package.
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if you would really prefer the 315p try to contact support about getting alpha moved into a 315p package.

they would likely have you melt the 325a package and buy the 315p with credits and then add alpha to the new 315p package.

or if you have another package without alpha they can move it into one of those packages leaving you with the 325a package to melt.

they have moved my alpha access a few times, once from a hornet package into a 350r package and again from the 350r package to finally resting in an AMD Omega package that i cant melt because its worth 0 store credit so i told them that was the best place to store the alpha access so i didn't have to ask them to move it again later if needed.

not sure if i am just getting special treatment from having Concierge service tho.

but one of my AMD packages is sitting with Alpha/Beta access.
 
They were originally going to make Alpha part of our account, I really wish they would revisit this idea, like one of your packages you could click and apply Alpha and that package would loose Alpha.
 
Wildace said:
if you would really prefer the 315p try to contact support about getting alpha moved into a 315p package.

they would likely have you melt the 325a package and buy the 315p with credits and then add alpha to the new 315p package.

or if you have another package without alpha they can move it into one of those packages leaving you with the 325a package to melt.

they have moved my alpha access a few times, once from a hornet package into a 350r package and again from the 350r package to finally resting in an AMD Omega package that i cant melt because its worth 0 store credit so i told them that was the best place to store the alpha access so i didn't have to ask them to move it again later if needed.

not sure if i am just getting special treatment from having Concierge service tho.

but one of my AMD packages is sitting with Alpha/Beta access.
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I'm not sure I dare to ask... I'm pretty sure that they have been bitching about people asking them to transfer alpha access.
 
I noticed the RSI subforum for Freelancer, which I've never played. I looked into it and...holy crap, how have I never played that game? It must have came out during my gaming 'lost years' playing WoW. :p

A few graphic mods later and it looks pretty good, I can definitely see how SC would be an evolved version of that.
 
Ritorix said:
I noticed the RSI subforum for Freelancer, which I've never played. I looked into it and...holy crap, how have I never played that game? It must have came out during my gaming 'lost years' playing WoW. :p

A few graphic mods later and it looks pretty good, I can definitely see how SC would be an evolved version of that.
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I did hardware compatibility testing on Freelancer. That would have been around 2003. It's not a bad game. It was pretty simplistic, and could have been a bit more involved, but still not a bad game at all.
 
Tup3x said:
I'm not sure I dare to ask... I'm pretty sure that they have been bitching about people asking them to transfer alpha access.
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it never hurts to ask, worst case is they say no. best case is they say yes.

its not like they will punish you for asking.
 
I really wouldn't sweat 325a vs 315p right now. You'll be able to make one into the other with equipment swaps eventually and right now the 325a is better in AC as it has missiles and a gun that you can use now vs. a tractor beam and jump engine that will do nothing for a while.

They mentioned that we'll be able to earn AC credits to buy AC only items once they get the simulation pods in the game in the last RtV. I'm betting we'll see engine upgrades as well as just weapons shortly after that.
 
TroubleMagnet said:
I really wouldn't sweat 325a vs 315p right now. You'll be able to make one into the other with equipment swaps eventually and right now the 325a is better in AC as it has missiles and a gun that you can use now vs. a tractor beam and jump engine that will do nothing for a while.

They mentioned that we'll be able to earn AC credits to buy AC only items once they get the simulation pods in the game in the last RtV. I'm betting we'll see engine upgrades as well as just weapons shortly after that.
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i am interested to see how the hornets performance changes once it has access to low grade TR4 compared to the low grade TR3 it is using.
 
Finally home for the weekend. Did my first off-pump CABG this week, that's a coronary artery bypass with the heart still beating. When they came up with the words "tension" and "focus" that is exactly what they had in mind.

AC 0.9.2.1 released bringing the final 300i variant, the 315P, as a flyable option:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14304-Arena-Commander-V0921-Released

I can finally load my 350R with all the weapons of my 325A including missiles, gonna have to give that a try.
 
So how is the 315p with the larger engine i don't see anyone talking about it.

pic from sandi's face book showing some mining stuff
10552483_769746363078652_4949951565179734990_n.jpg
 
Ritorix said:
I noticed the RSI subforum for Freelancer, which I've never played. I looked into it and...holy crap, how have I never played that game? It must have came out during my gaming 'lost years' playing WoW. :p

A few graphic mods later and it looks pretty good, I can definitely see how SC would be an evolved version of that.
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Yeah there was this guy named Chris Roberts who wanted to make Freelancer - overpromised, delayed, got years behind schedule and then had to be removed from the project for it to be shipped. Killed him in the games industry and he spent the 00's pretending to be a filmmaker, was ultimately laughed out of hollywood. Look up his history with that project. He didn't see it through and lacked the skill to pull off any of his promises and the project management chops to lead the team effectively. If the same thing happens with SC, you won't be wondering why.

If he can deliver a playable Squadron 42, I'd forgive the $600 ships and all the other nonsense and be happy I had a playable game. But it's getting more and more hazy, the demands are piling up, the cracks in CryEngine are showing up bigtime, and his promises are sounding a LOT like the whole Freelancer debacle. You have to admit, it's a HUGE job they are taking on and the only way it's going to work smoothly is that if each and every department and subcontractor across the globe absolutely nails it. We're talking about human beings here. Good luck.
 
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Avenger must be real pain for CIG considering how long it takes for them to get it flight ready. I wonder how much it will change compared to what we currently have.
 
DPI said:
Yeah there was this guy named Chris Roberts who wanted to make Freelancer - overpromised, delayed, got years behind schedule and then had to be removed from the project for it to be shipped. Killed him in the games industry and he spent the 00's pretending to be a filmmaker, was ultimately laughed out of hollywood. Look up his history with that project. He didn't see it through and lacked the skill to pull off any of his promises and the project management chops to lead the team effectively. If the same thing happens with SC, you won't be wondering why.

If he can deliver a playable Squadron 42, I'd forgive the $600 ships and all the other nonsense and be happy I had a playable game. But it's getting more and more hazy, the demands are piling up, the cracks in CryEngine are showing up bigtime, and his promises are sounding a LOT like the whole Freelancer debacle. You have to admit, it's a HUGE job they are taking on and the only way it's going to work smoothly is that if each and every department and subcontractor across the globe absolutely nails it. We're talking about human beings here. Good luck.
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I be suprised if its out 2016.
 
DPI said:
Yeah there was this guy named Chris Roberts who wanted to make Freelancer - overpromised, delayed, got years behind schedule and then had to be removed from the project for it to be shipped. Killed him in the games industry and he spent the 00's pretending to be a filmmaker, was ultimately laughed out of hollywood. Look up his history with that project. He didn't see it through and lacked the skill to pull off any of his promises and the project management chops to lead the team effectively. If the same thing happens with SC, you won't be wondering why.

If he can deliver a playable Squadron 42, I'd forgive the $600 ships and all the other nonsense and be happy I had a playable game. But it's getting more and more hazy, the demands are piling up, the cracks in CryEngine are showing up bigtime, and his promises are sounding a LOT like the whole Freelancer debacle. You have to admit, it's a HUGE job they are taking on and the only way it's going to work smoothly is that if each and every department and subcontractor across the globe absolutely nails it. We're talking about human beings here. Good luck.
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I remember seeing the trailer on G4TV for Freelancer (may have been on Cinematech) and being blown away by the promised scope. I was given the game on release and was surprised it was missing quite a few features, but still was a great game. I backed this title early on hoping for a freelancer sequel, but I'm a bit leery now that the player hosted servers may not anything more than dogfight arenas.
 
PersonalJ said:
I remember seeing the trailer on G4TV for Freelancer (may have been on Cinematech) and being blown away by the promised scope. I was given the game on release and was surprised it was missing quite a few features, but still was a great game. I backed this title early on hoping for a freelancer sequel, but I'm a bit leery now that the player hosted servers may not anything more than dogfight arenas.
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Where have they said its only dogfight arenas?
 
A friend of mine gave me a jukebox for my hangar. I thought it would be cool. I linked my music collection to the JukeboxMusic directory. :(

Loading takes about a light year since every load it scans the entire directory - all 9500 songs - and then it won't play any of them. I can link smaller subdirectories and they'll work. They still make loading take longer, but they play. Loudly if you're standing next to the jukebox.

I wish they'd enable playlists for the Jukebox. <sigh>
 
Yippee38 said:
A friend of mine gave me a jukebox for my hangar. I thought it would be cool. I linked my music collection to the JukeboxMusic directory. :(

Loading takes about a light year since every load it scans the entire directory - all 9500 songs - and then it won't play any of them. I can link smaller subdirectories and they'll work. They still make loading take longer, but they play. Loudly if you're standing next to the jukebox.

I wish they'd enable playlists for the Jukebox. <sigh>
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jukebox is rather low priority atm, it will get fixed

also someone in the concierge forums gave me the Bar flair item the other day that was nice.
 
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