Star Citizen Media Musings

[dsmart]

Star Citizen’s facial recognition tech is horrifyingly realistic - Polygon

Star Citizen Gamescom 2017 Event Report - PC Invasion

[David-2]

PC Gamers write-up Star Citizen: expressive faces, space fashion, and boldly going beyond 3.0

I'm not a gamer - I'm a long-time software developer interested in this ongoing trainwreck - but maybe a gamer will explain to me:  What's the big deal to gamers about buying clothes for your avatar and choosing which clothes to wear in the morning and dressing your avatar before going out to select a ship?  I don't get it.  Are the kind of people who want to play space sims, space combat, space "careers" like cargo, mining, etc., or FPS-in-spacesuits whether on a station or boarding a ship the kind of people who want to dress up their dolls?  I wouldn't have thought so, but this article makes it sound like a major feature, which I don't get.

[David-2]

BTW, as I just mentioned in the previous comment - I am a long time software developer.  Compilers and dev tools, desktop apps back when desktop apps were the thing, major scalable backend services for e-commerce companies, etc.

So when I tell you that reading the transcript of CR explaining how far they've gotten with SC and what's being shown and what's coming was without a doubt the most transparent and poorly done and blatant session of all off-the-cuff excuse making/obfuscation/bullshitting/outright fabrication I've ever heard then I mean the most over all the hundreds if not thousands of such things I've listened to from junior and senior developers and program managers over 40 years.  (And I've done it a few times myself over that period, though, better, I flatter myself.)

Also: Stuff. Stuff. Stuff.  And more stuff.

[Spunky Munkee]

This article referenced above  cannot be misconstrued to place Star Citizen and its progress in a positive light. https://www.pcinvasion.com/star-citizen-gamescom-2017-event-report
 I am glad to see neutral and factual reporting for once. Far too often articles are written and only if you know what they are really talking about and read between the lines can you see what they are hinting at.

If it keep fresh victims out of Roberts grasp it will be a good thing. Sadly the CIG press machine was running at full bore on Youtube extolling the virtues of the game. Nauseating. I hope new players do their due diligence before joining the cult. I had thought that I had but was mistaken. I got to play what little they had and it cost me nothing but some aggravation. Others won't get off so easily in time.

I hope this disastrous show will slow the funding. I know, there is a new ship to buy and many will. Those people are all past saving. The people who see the lies and the lack of progress  and hate the community, those people we can reach.

[Aya Reiko]

PC Gamers write-up Star Citizen: expressive faces, space fashion, and boldly going beyond 3.0

I'm not a gamer - I'm a long-time software developer interested in this ongoing trainwreck - but maybe a gamer will explain to me:  What's the big deal to gamers about buying clothes for your avatar and choosing which clothes to wear in the morning and dressing your avatar before going out to select a ship?  I don't get it.  Are the kind of people who want to play space sims, space combat, space "careers" like cargo, mining, etc., or FPS-in-spacesuits whether on a station or boarding a ship the kind of people who want to dress up their dolls?  I wouldn't have thought so, but this article makes it sound like a major feature, which I don't get.

It doesn't.

It's just another way for CRoberts to exploit the whales before they wise up (:3: *giggle*) or the bottom finally falls out of this mess.

[Orgetorix]

I'm not a gamer - I'm a long-time software developer interested in this ongoing trainwreck - but maybe a gamer will explain to me:  What's the big deal to gamers about buying clothes for your avatar and choosing which clothes to wear in the morning and dressing your avatar before going out to select a ship?  I don't get it.  Are the kind of people who want to play space sims, space combat, space "careers" like cargo, mining, etc., or FPS-in-spacesuits whether on a station or boarding a ship the kind of people who want to dress up their dolls?  I wouldn't have thought so, but this article makes it sound like a major feature, which I don't get.

Have you ever seen the movie Tron? Most games now are going for that ideal. You have a digital character that is a reflection of what you want it to be in the digital space. It's "you", but how you want "you" to be seen by everyone else. It's keeping up with the Jones, 21st century style. 

Croberts scam was promising the world to the backers, literally. Go read the stretch goals. His promise to the backers was that he was going to create a persistent world in space where the "fidelity" was real life. That's what the "whales" are buying into mostly. That they can live their life in the game world.

Mining, cargo boxes, nice pretty ships, gravity poo, perfectly modeled liquid dynamic's in a glass, facial animations, custom costumes, serving drink until you can afford your own ship, and everything else that their fat, ohhh so fat wallets can provide...

[Motto]

Eurogamer: Forget VOIP, Star Citizen has FOIP that maps your face's movements onto a character in real-time

And then they have the audacity to write Star Citizen head honcho Chris Roberts also demonstrated FOIP in a much longer and very impressive gameplay presentation video. However, in the comments, people are not sharing that opinion  :D

[dsmart]

Watch Star Citizen's impressive face-tracking in action - PC Gamer

Another GC2017 interview. It's all the usual rubbish. Completely.

Someone on Spectrum did a transcript.

Is it possible to stealth hijack a ship so all the oxygen goes out?

CR: You mean decompress the ship? Yeah, it will definitely be possible. If you blow a door open, then all the atmosphere inside will go out

So everybody dies?

CR: Well they need a suit on, if they have a suit on they won't die. But if they don't have their helmet on, they better get one on very quickly. Depending on the scale of the ship you would probably be able to vent the ship from the pilot's seat. That won't be in 3.0, but in 3.0 you will be able to blow doors and atmosphere will go out of the ship.

And is player stealth going to be possible?

CR: Yeah we're definitely going to be modeling stealth in terms of if you're quiet you can also keep your signature low. Certain suits, light armor, they'll be much better than medium or heavy armor which would have bigger EM signatures and also worse for trying to keep quiet. So yeah, stealth is definitely part of our plan. It's not going to be fully in 3.0, but after 3.0.

How does the Reclaimer processing room work? Is there a minigame to salvage ships or is it automatic?

CR: No, we're gonna have actual gameplay. First of all if you see wreckage you need to go out there and separate the items. Like a gun attached to a blown up wing you'd have to detach the gun and recover it as an item you can sell. Then you can salvage the actual debris and turn that into the equivalent of iron ore and then you can go sell it.

How about docking? Is it still there?

Yes, we are planning on doing docking. I don't know if we showed on the Idris but there's a whole docking airlock and docking collar. Like if you have an Idris and you park at a space station, it's too big to park at an actual pad. So like an airplane at an airport, you have an air-bridge, we have a version of that.

What about the soundtrack? Will the soundtrack be released before SQ42 or after?

CR: We'll do a soundtrack for SQ42 on release of SQ42, but we're also seeing a lot of music in SC. We'll probably have several releases along the way with that.

Are you working to expand Star Marine?

CR: We're working on an additional Star Marine level that will involve planetary combat. So that will be fun. We're always working on FPS features. Our goal on the FPS side is that you can try out Star Marine in competitive matches but also so it works in the the PU is to have the FPS we're doing equivalent to even what a dedicated FPS does. But on a slower more tactical/realistic side. As in [?] all the way to ARMA or something, but it's not just straight Call of Duty. That's why we're having stamina, suit punctures, stealth.

Is Death of a Spaceman still accurate for today's plans?

CR: Still the same plans. We're gonna do that.

Can we still hire NPCs to help man our ships?

CR: Yes, there will be, not in 3.0, but we are planning that. Like we showed the Idris which had 12 players and it was 6 on each ship and it was nice and close. In Squadron we have 18/19 NPCs just on the ship manning it. I suspect for the bigger capital ships like the Idris and above, and even the smaller ones, you'll have an NPC crew as well as your friends playing with you. So yes, you will be able to hire NPCs.

Will there be Russian localization?

CR: I don't know. Honestly it's just too early to say. We're building in the ability to do localization, but in terms of plans right now, it's too early to say. It also depends how we do it. If we can get community helpers to do it, maybe we can localize in more languages.

Yes, we can help.

CR: Well that's great, we just need to put a system in place for it. We're still working in support. So not quite yet, but that's our goal.

[Flashwit]

I have to say, it must be great for him to just be able to say YES to everything as long as he caveats it with "not in 3.0". Not in 3.0 and definitely no idea when, but the concept exists in his head! Almost as good as being in the game.

[StanTheMan]

I have to say, it must be great for him to just be able to say YES to everything as long as he caveats it with "not in 3.0". Not in 3.0 and definitely no idea when, but the concept exists in his head! Almost as good as being in the game.

Most backers must think game development is like a novice watching someone do a Rubiks Cube.   

It all looks a complete mess with a fleeting glimpse here and there of progress .. then suddenly, click it is all done !

Not enough people are saying .. "hang on a minute you can't even create a buggy and a ramp for it to drive up correctly.  How the fark are you going to create all this other stuff?"

[FredBloggs]

moved

[dsmart]

Erin was interviewed (FF to 23:30) by a German (who else?) mag. He claims, as I had previously reported, that SQ42 is going to be the main highlight for CitizenCon 2017 and that it would be shown.

[dsmart]

Just so we don't lose it, and can refer to it later, I am posting [redacted] (Shillizens) write-up about their June 2017 studio visit. Read it. It's amazingly hilarious, now that we've seen what happened at GC2017.

 

[StanTheMan]

Just so we don't lose it, and can refer to it later, I am posting [redacted] (Shillizens) write-up about their June 2017 studio visit. Read it. It's amazingly hilarious, now that we've seen what happened at GC2017.

hmm

A revenue stream for them will be selling UEC for the game once it’s live, some people will play a lot OR grind mission to earn credits

Aaah now i get it.

They are going to be able to pay for all these servers by selling UEC to players. 

The fewer missions players complete the more likely they are to buy UEC from CIG.     

This explains all the challenges they had trying to complete the mission in the Gamescon Demo.

You are meant to fail it and crash your buggy so you have to buy UEC instead of earn it.

[dsmart]

Just so we don't lose it, and can refer to it later, I am posting [redacted] (Shillizens) write-up about their June 2017 studio visit. Read it. It's amazingly hilarious, now that we've seen what happened at GC2017.

hmm

A revenue stream for them will be selling UEC for the game once it’s live, some people will play a lot OR grind mission to earn credits

Aaah now i get it.

They are going to be able to pay for all these servers by selling UEC to players. 

The fewer missions players complete the more likely they are to buy UEC from CIG.     

This explains all the challenges they had trying to complete the mission in the Gamescon Demo.

You are meant to fail it and crash your buggy so you have to buy UEC instead of earn it.

Sounds plausible.