Post by PoorRichard (AKA - The Guido) on Jun 13, 2014 21:29:28 GMT -8
Link for the Star Citizen Home Page
Ok, so this project has gone beyond a simple this is the next big space game. In short, Star Citizen is 3 things: First, what we have now, Arena Commander, is an "in universe, in fiction" video game. This idea came from the backers and the design team to make the Dogfighting module a part of the final game and not just an alpha test module. Secondly, we have Squadron 42. This will be what Wing Commander would've been if it were made today. SQ42 will be a single player/co-op military campaign that, if played and finished, will grant you some extra rewards upon entry into the Persistent Universe. The Persistent Universe (PU) is the sand box that we will all play in where we the players will make up a mere 10% of the total universe population. The PU will be composed of about 100 star systems at launch. Much of the universe will be procedurally generated and then "locked" into place, for lack of a better term. Systems will be able to be named by players if they discover these systems by discovering a jump point into a new system. The economy is going to be more than just supply and demand oriented like many other games of this type have been, but it is an economy and supply and demand is a major point for pricing of goods and such. Want to be a mercenary? a pirate? bounty hunter? a part of a private military company? a smuggler? Whatever you want to do, you can. However, we have chosen to go in the pirate direction, so keep that in mind. However, that doesn't mean we can't do smuggling, mercenary work, private bounty hunting, or even taking on the role of a private military company selling our services to protect smuggling operations etc for other organizations. Enough of me, lets see what Chris Roberts said over a year ago when he pitched this project to the community and the other videos that he put out regarding, Star Citizen. Link to playlist below Keep scrolling for the quick and dirty FAQ, if you prefer.
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVct2QDhDrB3ZFJgUystJmvMXivxG-r3V
Is this game pay2play, buy2play, free2play, what?
It's buy2play. Buy it once and never pay another cent, if you don't want to. There will be items to buy with real money, but those will likely be cosmetic and won't affect gameplay. Also, ingame currency, United Earth Credits (UEC) will be able to be bought using real money. This stirred the community a bit and the rules were laid down regarding this. Allowing the purchase of in game currency was viewed by the community as a possible pay2win scenario. The rules and thought around this by Cloud Imperium Games was that somebody who doesn't have a lot of time to play can make up for that lost time by purchasing in game currency. So to keep somebody from just purchasing a crap load of UEC, there will be a cap as to how much a player can purchase in a given amount of time.
What's with purchasing ships? Is this the only ship I'll have in game?
Purchasing a ship is purchasing a game package and, most importantly, supports the development of the game. All ships, weapons, etc will be purchasable in game with in game credits. Buying a ship now or buying multiple ships just means that's what you are going to start with.
What ship/game package to purchase?
First off, be sure you're looking at Game Packages and not just the ships. Think about what role you want to play in game and how much money do you want to spend? Do you want to be a fighter? Cargo Hauler? Multi-purpose? Keep that in mind when looking at the ships. A Freelancer may pack a punch but it's main purpose is hauling freight. A Cutlass is damn near purpose built for piracy in the fact that it packs a punch, has a docking port with a hull cutting device built in, a tractor beam built in, and double the maneuvering thrusters than a Freelancer. The Cutlass is very comparable in size to the Freelancer, but has different capabilities. This is just an example, so more on the ships and their roles: Here
What is a Jump Point?
A Jump Point is essentially a worm hole that allows us to make our way to other star systems. These jump points require a jump engine to access and a nav system capable of navigating them. More advanced navigation systems will be able to navigate and record data from newly discovered Jump Points so the player can return that data to the proper authorities and get paid for the discovery.
What do weapon mount classes mean and how will ship systems work?
The short answer is, each class mount is it's own type. A Class 1 mount is a fixed mount that's not supposed to move. A Class 2 has movement within a small arc. Class 3 are missile racks. Class 4 are generally turrets. Ship systems will be complex but not to the point that we're saying "Holy shit, Batman! What do I do now?" Basically, ship systems are more than a game mechanic, they are actual functioning systems that are simulated and not just scripted. For a better explanation, check out this comm link from RSI.
Engineering: Ship Components Systems
Anything else anybody can think of to add to this, let me know and I will add it! And here's a couple videos outlining Star Citizen and ship purchasing. The first one is from TheXPGamers which delves into why this will be awesome and goes over some of the main points of Star Citizen. The second is from STLYoungblood and gives a good overview of the ships available to purchase, their roles, prices, and why somebody might buy whatever ship. Also, for more in depth answers to these questions and others, check out this post in the RSI forums: link
Ok, so this project has gone beyond a simple this is the next big space game. In short, Star Citizen is 3 things: First, what we have now, Arena Commander, is an "in universe, in fiction" video game. This idea came from the backers and the design team to make the Dogfighting module a part of the final game and not just an alpha test module. Secondly, we have Squadron 42. This will be what Wing Commander would've been if it were made today. SQ42 will be a single player/co-op military campaign that, if played and finished, will grant you some extra rewards upon entry into the Persistent Universe. The Persistent Universe (PU) is the sand box that we will all play in where we the players will make up a mere 10% of the total universe population. The PU will be composed of about 100 star systems at launch. Much of the universe will be procedurally generated and then "locked" into place, for lack of a better term. Systems will be able to be named by players if they discover these systems by discovering a jump point into a new system. The economy is going to be more than just supply and demand oriented like many other games of this type have been, but it is an economy and supply and demand is a major point for pricing of goods and such. Want to be a mercenary? a pirate? bounty hunter? a part of a private military company? a smuggler? Whatever you want to do, you can. However, we have chosen to go in the pirate direction, so keep that in mind. However, that doesn't mean we can't do smuggling, mercenary work, private bounty hunting, or even taking on the role of a private military company selling our services to protect smuggling operations etc for other organizations. Enough of me, lets see what Chris Roberts said over a year ago when he pitched this project to the community and the other videos that he put out regarding, Star Citizen. Link to playlist below Keep scrolling for the quick and dirty FAQ, if you prefer.
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVct2QDhDrB3ZFJgUystJmvMXivxG-r3V
Is this game pay2play, buy2play, free2play, what?
It's buy2play. Buy it once and never pay another cent, if you don't want to. There will be items to buy with real money, but those will likely be cosmetic and won't affect gameplay. Also, ingame currency, United Earth Credits (UEC) will be able to be bought using real money. This stirred the community a bit and the rules were laid down regarding this. Allowing the purchase of in game currency was viewed by the community as a possible pay2win scenario. The rules and thought around this by Cloud Imperium Games was that somebody who doesn't have a lot of time to play can make up for that lost time by purchasing in game currency. So to keep somebody from just purchasing a crap load of UEC, there will be a cap as to how much a player can purchase in a given amount of time.
What's with purchasing ships? Is this the only ship I'll have in game?
Purchasing a ship is purchasing a game package and, most importantly, supports the development of the game. All ships, weapons, etc will be purchasable in game with in game credits. Buying a ship now or buying multiple ships just means that's what you are going to start with.
What ship/game package to purchase?
First off, be sure you're looking at Game Packages and not just the ships. Think about what role you want to play in game and how much money do you want to spend? Do you want to be a fighter? Cargo Hauler? Multi-purpose? Keep that in mind when looking at the ships. A Freelancer may pack a punch but it's main purpose is hauling freight. A Cutlass is damn near purpose built for piracy in the fact that it packs a punch, has a docking port with a hull cutting device built in, a tractor beam built in, and double the maneuvering thrusters than a Freelancer. The Cutlass is very comparable in size to the Freelancer, but has different capabilities. This is just an example, so more on the ships and their roles: Here
What is a Jump Point?
A Jump Point is essentially a worm hole that allows us to make our way to other star systems. These jump points require a jump engine to access and a nav system capable of navigating them. More advanced navigation systems will be able to navigate and record data from newly discovered Jump Points so the player can return that data to the proper authorities and get paid for the discovery.
What do weapon mount classes mean and how will ship systems work?
The short answer is, each class mount is it's own type. A Class 1 mount is a fixed mount that's not supposed to move. A Class 2 has movement within a small arc. Class 3 are missile racks. Class 4 are generally turrets. Ship systems will be complex but not to the point that we're saying "Holy shit, Batman! What do I do now?" Basically, ship systems are more than a game mechanic, they are actual functioning systems that are simulated and not just scripted. For a better explanation, check out this comm link from RSI.
Engineering: Ship Components Systems
Anything else anybody can think of to add to this, let me know and I will add it! And here's a couple videos outlining Star Citizen and ship purchasing. The first one is from TheXPGamers which delves into why this will be awesome and goes over some of the main points of Star Citizen. The second is from STLYoungblood and gives a good overview of the ships available to purchase, their roles, prices, and why somebody might buy whatever ship. Also, for more in depth answers to these questions and others, check out this post in the RSI forums: link