Space, er, I mean, Star Citizen

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:41 am

A new Chris Roberts space sim???

Here. Take my money.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:42 am

He won't- it's going to be free to play. Looks like it could be pretty amazing.

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:48 am

Smoove_B wrote:He won't- it's going to be free to play. Looks like it could be pretty amazing.

Well, he's going to take some of my money...

The game won't require a subscription, but rather will sell as a single purchase, sort of like Guild Wars 2.

Plus, he's going to be running a kickstarter campaign (not sure if he's using KS or not) and giving out ships based on the level of your backing. According to that article.

killbot737 · Post by **killbot737** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:15 am

I hope it's better than Black Prophecy.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:45 pm

I don't know how much I'd enjoy playing as someone else's turret.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:48 pm

hentzau wrote:Plus, he's going to be running a kickstarter campaign (not sure if he's using KS or not) and giving out ships based on the level of your backing. According to that article.

They are doing their own thing.

http://robertsspaceindustries.com/" target="_blank
or http://backup-na.robertsspaceindustries.com/" target="_blank

$30 for the first 5000, $35 for the next 5k then $40 after that for the basic gimme the game level.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 2:38 pm

This is so weird to see Chris Roberts back making a space sim. I mean it is AWESOME but still strange. Glad to see it though. I'll play it. God I miss those 1990's years.

I wonder if he is running low on funds and just said "Hey I can make a space sim and earn some easy money." I mean it's what he is known for ...it's what he does and does well. I swear I haven't heard a thing from him as a director of movies.

I don't care as long as we get a well made space sim. I wish to hell they would let Volition make a Freespace 3.

EDIT: Watched the video. That is beautiful. I was irked at the fighter having fans on the front and him using a console controller but other than that Im ready for it

I forgot how much I missed these games.

killbot737 · Post by **killbot737** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 5:11 pm

Paingod wrote:I don't know how much I'd enjoy playing as someone else's turret.

Obviously you have never played Planetside! It's crazy f-ing fun!

And then you get shot up and have to respawn, but it's still crazy fun.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Wed Oct 10, 2012 10:53 pm

Good or bad, at least it keeps him away from making movies.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 6:31 am

hentzau wrote:A new Chris Roberts space sim???

Here. Take my money.

You must be thinking of another game because Chris Robert's new game is Star Citizen

hentzau · Post by **hentzau** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 8:40 am

Grifman wrote:
hentzau wrote:A new Chris Roberts space sim???

Here. Take my money.
You must be thinking of another game because Chris Robert's new game is Star Citizen

I have no idea what you're talking about...

tals · Post by **tals** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 1:56 pm

His video is incredible, I want to seem some system specs before I put down money and I am a little disappointed he didn't use kickstarter which is more open and does have some legal ramifications behind it.

But yes Welcome Back Chris you have been missed

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:52 pm

I do have interest in this but he's basically asking for a 2 year interest free multi million dollar loan with no guarantees. Thats really too far out for me to throw money at him. No big deal though, I'm sure he will manage to get the funding. I'll check it out when it gets closer to reality.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:55 pm

Is this like Kickstarter where if he doesn't make the amount needed or he doesn't make the game does everyone get a refund?

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:57 pm

Daehawk wrote:Is this like Kickstarter where if he doesn't make the amount needed or he doesn't make the game does everyone get a refund?

Not really, sorta. You can check a box to get a refund if the goal isn't met, minus processing fees. KS never actually takes your money if the project doesn't fund.

tals · Post by **tals** » Thu Oct 11, 2012 4:02 pm

coopasonic wrote:
Daehawk wrote:Is this like Kickstarter where if he doesn't make the amount needed or he doesn't make the game does everyone get a refund?
Not really, sorta. You can check a box to get a refund if the goal isn't met, minus processing fees. KS never actually takes your money if the project doesn't fund.

Agreed and with Kickstarter there is a legal blurb that gives people the right to sue should the guy just take the money and run

unic · Post by **unic** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:38 pm

Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/ga ... en-preview" target="_blank

Surprisingly informative, given that it's not a gaming site.

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:51 pm

I'll pass along PAR's comments about this game: http://penny-arcade.com/report/editoria ... -promises-" target="_blank

I agree with them. He's promising a LOT more than we should believe he is capable of. I'd be really cautious with this potential Duke Nukem Forever money pit.

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:14 pm

Kick Starter is up:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen" target="_blank

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:22 pm

Sepiche wrote:Kick Starter is up:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen" target="_blank

Thanks for the heads up. Wow have you seen how fast that thing is going up? It was like 32 backers and one thousand or so just 40 min ago. Now it's moving as I watch it. 1128 people and 45,450 cash. And they are only asking 500k on Kickstarter.. It's gonna blow it out. Awesome.

I just reinstalled Freelancer to get in some practice

EDIT: How do you link a Kickstarter counter graphic that auto updates to this board?

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 8:57 am

Hmm, they should have started it a bit earlier in the week but I guess they wanted to out-wait Eternity. You want the first two days to be weekdays if not the first five.

Again, this guy is asking for far too little money for the scope of the project he's promising. It is something to be wary of. Sure, contribute money, but don't promise anything you can't afford to lose without ANY return.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:12 pm

Gavin wrote:Again, this guy is asking for far too little money for the scope of the project he's promising.

The money is to prove to investors there is support for such a game, not to fund creation of the entire game.

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 1:41 pm

Grifman wrote:The money is to prove to investors there is support for such a game, not to fund creation of the entire game.

Yes, I understand the premise of this. But the actual things he's promising are significant. Far beyond what we have right now. They sound fantastic because they are.

Again, I'm not the only one of this opinion: http://penny-arcade.com/report/editoria ... -promises-" target="_blank

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 2:47 pm

Gavin wrote:
Grifman wrote:The money is to prove to investors there is support for such a game, not to fund creation of the entire game.
Yes, I understand the premise of this.

If you understand the premise of this, then why did you assert that he was raising too little money, when you now say you understand that this is really just seed money to attract investors?

But the actual things he's promising are significant. Far beyond what we have right now. They sound fantastic because they are.

Again, I'm not the only one of this opinion: http://penny-arcade.com/report/editoria ... -promises-" target="_blank

I agree the project is extremely ambitious. But you're moving the goalposts. Your original statement was that he was asking for too little money to do the project. Your new argument is that the project is too ambitious. That's all well and good but it was not your original argument

Gavin · Post by **Gavin** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:21 pm

Grifman wrote:
Gavin wrote:
Grifman wrote:The money is to prove to investors there is support for such a game, not to fund creation of the entire game.
Yes, I understand the premise of this.
If you understand the premise of this, then why did you assert that he was raising too little money, when you now say you understand that this is really just seed money to attract investors?

But the actual things he's promising are significant. Far beyond what we have right now. They sound fantastic because they are.

Again, I'm not the only one of this opinion: http://penny-arcade.com/report/editoria ... -promises-" target="_blank
I agree the project is extremely ambitious. But you're moving the goalposts. Your original statement was that he was asking for too little money to do the project. Your new argument is that the project is too ambitious. That's all well and good but it was not your original argument

I mean that this project is ambitious enough to require the kinds of money you'd look to AAA game producers for. Even then, I'm not certain a AAA producer would be able to pull off everything he's promised on any reasonable development cycle. Even with millions of dollars to initially contribute, I do not see how this would translate into major producers trusting him with money. I think Duke Nukem's original development team already pulled this trick. But, to be fair, we do live in a world where a man actually named "Madoff" can be given huge amounts of money for unrealistic returns without being questioned up front for several years. So yeah, I guess he can find someone.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:26 am

Looking on the Star Citizen page just now I see their goal is 2 million and they have raised 6.8 million already. My god!

That should be enough to make it without any other investors hahaha.

If this continues to look like one micro transaction after the next then I'll be forced to skip it....even as bad as I want it .

TiLT · Post by **TiLT** » Mon Nov 26, 2012 5:59 am

Gavin wrote:
Grifman wrote:
Gavin wrote:
Grifman wrote:The money is to prove to investors there is support for such a game, not to fund creation of the entire game.
Yes, I understand the premise of this.
If you understand the premise of this, then why did you assert that he was raising too little money, when you now say you understand that this is really just seed money to attract investors?

But the actual things he's promising are significant. Far beyond what we have right now. They sound fantastic because they are.

Again, I'm not the only one of this opinion: http://penny-arcade.com/report/editoria ... -promises-" target="_blank
I agree the project is extremely ambitious. But you're moving the goalposts. Your original statement was that he was asking for too little money to do the project. Your new argument is that the project is too ambitious. That's all well and good but it was not your original argument
I mean that this project is ambitious enough to require the kinds of money you'd look to AAA game producers for. Even then, I'm not certain a AAA producer would be able to pull off everything he's promised on any reasonable development cycle. Even with millions of dollars to initially contribute, I do not see how this would translate into major producers trusting him with money. I think Duke Nukem's original development team already pulled this trick. But, to be fair, we do live in a world where a man actually named "Madoff" can be given huge amounts of money for unrealistic returns without being questioned up front for several years. So yeah, I guess he can find someone.

You'll notice that they're using CryEngine 3 for this game, which is going to both make the game much easier to develop as well as make it easier to market. With an engine of this power and with this degree of support in place, adding otherwise overambitious features like "walk around inside starships and fight off invaders" suddenly seem pretty reasonable. Of course, this engine costs money too, but they've clearly got that part under control. The power of the engine really becomes apparent when you look at the quality of the material they've shown us at this early stage of development. With two more years to work on it, they'll be able to pull off some pretty awesome things as long as they are a reasonably competent team.

Edit: It's also my understanding that, with the combination of Kickstarter funds and investors, Star Citizen already has over 25 million dollars to spend on development. They're the most well-funded Kickstarter game ever, by a large margin.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:26 pm

Just had a friend on MWO suggest this and mention many of his merc corp buddies are palnning a group.

May be interested, certainly sounds cool.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Mar 07, 2013 4:14 am

I just noticed they have 8 million now and met all stretch goals wome which sound cool.

http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/star-citizen/" target="_blank

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat May 25, 2013 5:21 am

All these years later....

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Sat May 25, 2013 6:00 am

Who are those guys? I don't know the industry guys by face yet.

But more importantly, who is the girl doing the interview?

Looks like people who miss space sims are really latching on to this project on the long term.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sat May 25, 2013 10:59 am

Is that Chris Roberts and Richard Garriott? I always forget that RG was involved in Wing Commander.

EDIT: Ah, yes. He's wearing some kind of Quest-of-the-Avatar bling jewelry there.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Sat May 25, 2013 12:45 pm

Holman wrote:Is that Chris Roberts and Richard Garriott? I always forget that RG was involved in Wing Commander.

EDIT: Ah, yes. He's wearing some kind of Quest-of-the-Avatar bling jewelry there.

Yes, that is Garriott. Who is the girl interviewing...

Seriously though, is there a link to this interview. That looks pretty interesting to see two PC luminaries in one place.

Nevermind, I found it:
Game Changers:
http://ultimacodex.com/2013/03/richard- ... -changers/" target="_blank

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sat May 25, 2013 5:05 pm

Just woke up. I post a pic of a girl and everyone finds that normal and meh. I post a pic of two of the biggest names in the gaming industry and everyone wants to know who the girl is . It's Sandi Gardiner. And yes that Richard 'Lord British' Garriott and Chris Roberts who made Wing Commander and Privateer.

It's been 20 years. They looks a lot the same yet have changed as well. They are around my age. Richard is a little older but I think Chris is my age or so. They do look different though...20 years....sigh.

I gotta say Im looking forward to both their new games. Maybe the space one a little more these days. But Ill play both. I hope the Avatar one has more 3/4 overhead view play. I miss that.

I think Richard and Chris should start a new company and call it We Create Worlds. It's sorta like Origin is coming back but they are doing everything separately. God I miss Origin. They made the best games.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Sat May 25, 2013 6:56 pm

Daehawk wrote:Just woke up. I post a pic of a girl and everyone finds that normal and meh. I post a pic of two of the bihhest names in the gamines industry and everyone wants to know who the girl is . It's Sandi Gardiner. And yes that Richard 'Lord British' Garriott and Chris Roberts who made Wing Commander and Privateer.

It's been 20 years. They looks a lot the same yet have changed as well. They are around my age. Richard is a little older but I think Chris is my age or so. They do look different though...20 years....sigh.

I gotta say Im looking forward to both their new games. Maybe the space one a little more these days. But Ill play both. I hope the Avatar one has more 3/4 overhead view play. I miss that.

I think Richard and Chris should start a new company and call it We Create Worlds. It's sorta like Origin is coming back but they are doing everything separately. God I miss Origin. They made the best games.

I asked about the interviewer because I know who the guys are!

Chris is around 44, I think. Garriott is 51. Hard to believe that, actually. It was right around my 13th birthday when Ultima 7: Black Gate came out in 1992. I remember that I got a sound card for my birthday and, for the first time on my machine, the Guardian's voice boomed out "AVATAR! AVATAR!" I was awestruck. That is the sucky thing about modern gaming, so far I have not had any moment quite that iconic with a gaming experience recently, given that things like sound and 3d graphics are not par for the course.

I very much look forward to Shroud of the Avatar and RSI: Star Citizen. I even backed them at a fairly substantial level.

I was surprised by Chris Robert's accent. He is an American-born, but British raised guy, so he has the perfect sort of merger of both Californian and Manchester, UK.

Turtle · Post by **Turtle** » Sat May 25, 2013 6:57 pm

One thing you have to realize Daehawk is that these luminaries of the game industry came up in a time before the internet got as strong and popular, let alone image based media on the internet.

Chris Roberts went fully into movie producing after Wing Commander (apparently he's been doing okay at it). Richard Garriott is the closest thing we had to a rich eccentric gaming millionaire.

baelthazar · Post by **baelthazar** » Sat May 25, 2013 7:01 pm

Turtle wrote:One thing you have to realize Daehawk is that these luminaries of the game industry came up in a time before the internet got as strong and popular, let alone image based media on the internet.

Chris Roberts went fully into movie producing after Wing Commander (apparently he's been doing okay at it). Richard Garriott is the closest thing we had to a rich eccentric gaming millionaire.

To be fair, Richard Garriott used to put some self-aggrandizing pictures on his games' boxes (usually with a sword and wearing a leather vest and poofy sleeves). So many of us, as youngsters, did know what Garriott looked like.

Can't say I knew Chris Roberts as a kid, though. I did not really play the Wing Commander series.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sat May 25, 2013 9:10 pm

I never knew what Chris Roberts looked like until his recent Kickstarter video, but Richard Garriott used his image (the Renaissance Festival version, anyway) as part of his branding. In fact, since he styled himself "Lord British" even in the game credits, I knew his face before I knew his real name.

I was already a D&D'er when the Ultimas arrived, and I remember the feeling of gobsmacked excitement that a computer might actually serve as a storytelling DM. Lord British was up there with Gary Gygax for a few years in the early 1980s.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 4:23 pm

I don't normally buy into the hype, but this video looks damn good.

Arkon · Post by **Arkon** » Sat Jun 22, 2013 4:34 pm

Smoove_B wrote:I don't normally buy into the hype, but this video looks damn good.

And with that Chris Roberts has successfully sucked even more money out of my wallet...damn him!