Star Citizen - The E.L.E.

[dsmart]

The thing is that Chris can't pull it off any longer. He claimed at GC16 that 3.0 was nearly there. He claimed an mid December release - hopefully. Then at GC17 still no 3.0 and what he showed there was crap. After GC17 they started removing everything out of 3.0 that doesn't work just to be able to release a 3.0 and report some progress. There is no way that the final 3.0 will actually deliver progress at all. The only progress is that it will be labelled 3.0 and everybody will ask what the progress is. If 3.0 is going to be 2.6.3 with fewer glitches, it won't fly with the backers. The 3.0 will need to have new stuff implemented. That's the progress people want and that's what they're not going to get. Now if they actually believe the 3.0 and hold on to 3.1, Chris will have gained nothing, because the 3.1 will be more of the same. Those stupid enough to stick around even after 3.0 will come to the other side then. It's a rinse and repeat by now and there are not many repeats left. Even without refunding, the moneyriver will dry up and without delivering what he promised, Chris has to pay back every last penny.

That's precisely it. I don't believe they are going to move large things into 3.1. For 3.x, they will do what they've always done, just keep releasing updates via 3.0x.

In this article I wrote about the early access announcement, their release schedule is all over the place.

STAR CITIZEN MAJOR MILESTONE BUILDS

3.0 (w/ planet/moon access etc), ??/??/??
2.6.3, 04/27/2017
2.6.2, 03/31/2017
2.6.0 (w/ Star Marine fps module), 12/23/2016
2.4.0 (/w/ ArcCorp shopping), 06/08/2016
2.0  (w/ Persistent Universe, Multi-Crew Ships), 12/11/2015
1.2 (w/ ArcCorp social module), 08/28/2015
0.8 (w/ Arena Commander dogfighting module), 06/04/2014
0.x (w/ Hangar module), 08/29/2013

[dsmart]

Landing on moons with millions of square kilometres to explore is certainly progress and it will keep a lot of people happy.

Where exactly did you see it that they were going to have "landing on moons with millions of square kilometers to explore" in 3.0?

I'd bet we'll see a Squadron trailer or vertical slice at Citizencon and whadda ya know, more progress on display.

You guys have been making such predictions since 2015.

[dsmart]

So...they went from 26 Must Fix bugs to 7.

How many of the 26 bugs were actually fixed?
How many of the 26 bugs were actually not fixed, recategorized, and placed on the shelf waiting to be fixed another day?
How many new bugs were found while they were supposedly fixing the 26 bugs?

Smoke and mirrors, my Commandos.

Yes. It's called magic. Hilariously, this is precisely how some devs lie to publishers about the progress of games in dev.

[dsmart]

MOVED

[Greggy_D]

Benjamin Anders (System Designer):

So every flight controller is its own AI. When you hailing a tower to request landing or takeoff, you're gonna be in contact with an actual SUBSUMPTION DRIVEN AI which, um, has... depending on the station a unique voiceline or a generic one...

Freelancer Alpha One Dash One, you are cleared to land.  (Microsoft Freelancer, circa 2003)

[Motto]

CIG Pre-Alpha Three Dot One you are clear to crash and burn (Star Citizen, circa 2017)

[N0mad]

I don't know about anyone else but the ATV was excruciating to watch, a bit like a particularly bad episode of The Office.

Star Citizen is just one large joke now, they don't even seem to be trying hard any more.

[dsmart]

I don't know about anyone else but the ATV was excruciating to watch, a bit like a particularly bad episode of The Office.

Star Citizen is just one large joke now, they don't even seem to be trying hard any more.

Yes, it was horrid. And that's saying something, considering the other cringe-worthy ones of late.

[ChrisIhao]

One thing I never saw mentioned anywhere, regarding the idiotic waste of resources that is the glorified webcam/face motion tracker, is that this über cool technology directly conflicts with using head tracking technology like trackir or VR goggles. I have played sims for over two decades now on and off, and I would never ever ever ever go back to needing to turn my head with a joystick (or numpad; lol). In fact I basically skip titles that dont support VR at this point, or wait for them to implement this, as to me its SO much more immersive. Anyone who have played Elite in VR know what I'm talking about.

In fact trackir hasnt been working properly even from before 2.6.2 (https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/617pni/trackir_in_262_what_a_disappointment/). This is imho a tremendous oversight from a company that proclaims they are creating "the best damned" space sim. I dont know of any simmers today who dont use headtracking in any shape or form, but cig seems to think, in particularly after seeing their newly found love for face expression tracking, that this is no big thing.

For those not aware of it; cig had trackir support as a part of its funding stretch goals already at 4.5 million usd. I guess it got pushed back then... At 12 mill they promised Oculus support for the hangar module. Oh, well...

Chris even makes a big point about how the Rift is the future of gaming in this letter from the chairman: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13783-Letter-From-The-Chairman-41-Million.



"Wheeee, I think I will create a glorified webcam to track my face while playing SC with my Oculus!"








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[Backer42]

Head tracking is a niche, even for simulation. If simulation is a 2-3 % audience, the users of tracking devices are are 2-3 % audience within that audience.

[ChrisIhao]

Head tracking is a niche, even for simulation. If simulation is a 2-3 % audience, the users of tracking devices are are 2-3 % audience within that audience.

I think you just pulled those numbers out of your ass. Go to SimHQ and ask who many half-serious flight simmers dont use head tracking (except those who have built their own cockpits etc.), and I think you'll be disappointed. Dogfighting without headtracking is like trying to hit fish with a open hand under water.


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[Backer42]

"Half-serious flight simmers" aren't the total audience of simulators, but a pretty hardcore fraction of the audience going all in on their hobby. It's the same with racing simulators, where only a small group within it actually goes for a steering wheel/pedals/shifter setup.

CIG knows that and such are their priorities. It doesn't cost them money to ignore us. That doesn't mean I consider a certain feature being unimportant, in fact TrackIR being broken in 2.0 was just another reason for me to refund SC. Still most people play games like Elite Dangerous with a gamepad.

[ChrisIhao]

Ok, I'm willing to agreed with you that its somewhat of a niche, but considering they were touting that "you will NEED a hotas, or at least a joystick to play our game" just a few years ago (even planning to release a SC stick with Saitek), they were sort of aiming at hardcore players in the first place. They even claimed that mouse aiming would NEVER be an option. That obviously didnt last. Having played War Thunder for some time, I know how fun it is to play with a HOTAS against mouse players.

PS: a facial capture camera is hell of a niche product as well.

[Motto]

You seem to forget that it isn't about the game or the gamers. The FOIP was added because that company was willing to pay Chris to implement their software/hardware in exchange for exposure and by that and hopefully additional sales of the hardware. That's the only reason it's in there. Money.

[ChrisIhao]

Yeah. Money. Dont have enough. Cant get enough...