Star Citizen

[SilverlightPony]

(Forgive my feeble attempts at waxing eloquent here; I'm just really excited for this game. Also, for some reason I'm using variations of the word "initially" a lot. *shrug*)

Anyone who enjoyed some of the old-school "space sim" games back in the day—Wing Commander, Elite, Privateer, Starlancer, Freelancer, etc.—will probably recognize the name Chris Roberts. He was one of the biggest names behind a lot of those games, particularly the Wing Commander and Starlancer/Freelancer series. After Freelancer became the victim of executive meddling (it still wound up being a pretty good game, but a lot of the features Roberts and his crew wanted had to get scrapped), Roberts took a hiatus from making games until he thought he could make the game he wanted to make it the way he wanted to make it.

Well, he's back. 10 years after Freelancer, Roberts is working on a new game. Those 10 years of advances in computer technology and the advent of crowdfunding have allowed him to begin work on what may, hopefully, be the ultimate entry into the Space Sim genre.



Initially crowdfunded exclusively through the Roberts Space Industries website, with a concurrent campaign on Kickstarter added after RSI's servers buckled under unexpectedly high demand, Robers' initial goal was $2,000,000 USD. By the time the initial crowdfunding drive ended, his team had raised over $6,000,000, meeting all the initial set of stretch goals. Since then, the total amount pledged has grown, and is currently approaching $10,000,000.

Gameplay will be similar to the old space sim games, with each player directly controlling a single character, mostly via a first-person perspective from the pilot's seat of a space fighter or other starship. However, players will be able to get out of their ships when landed on planets, or docked with space stations or carriers, and walk around, as well as walk around their own ship if it's big enough. Some of the ships even have extra control stations so other players can operate turrets, handle engineering tasks, etc.

I'd go on, but I've probably rambled on long enough. If you're excited for this game, post here so we can be excited together. If you're intrigued and would like to know more, click the logo above, browse the game's website, and watch the videos.

[Shady_steps]

I AM EXCITED TOO! looking forward to the fact that there will be shooter gameplay in it so i can board ships with jet packs and smash windows like a BAWWS!!!

[SilverlightPony]

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It's worth mentioning that, aside from the open-universe gameplay, there will also be a single-player/co-operative campaign called Squadron 42. When you start the game, you can choose to either play through the Squadron 42 campaign, or jump straight into the open universe; if you choose the former, you'll be able to take your earnings and whatnot from the campaign into the open universe when you're finished.

Here, have a cinematic trailer for Squadron 42 while I'm at it.

[Scorch_Mechanic]

Huzzah!

Good sirs and madams, Citizens one and all I say to you huzzah!

I am excited. You are excited. Let us be excited together.

Huzzah!

[f1r3w4rr10r]

That...sounds pretty neat! I always wanted a less spreadsheet heavy EVE Online or a X with multiplayer mode. ^^

[SilverlightPony]

That...sounds pretty neat! I always wanted a less spreadsheet heavy EVE Online or a X with multiplayer mode. ^^

Then this is definitely the game for you!

[Scorch_Mechanic]

Hmm
Maybe I'll just lend one or more of y'all my Freelancer disk so y'alls can get a feel for it.

[SilverlightPony]

I played the shit out of Freelancer a decade ago.

Anywho, I read some interesting stuff about character creation and character death in Star Citizen yesterday.

When you first start, you'll be in first-person perspective on foot, looking at two restroom doors, one for men and one for women. Which one you walk through will determine your character's gender. You'll walk up to the sink and look in the mirror, which will be fogged over. As you adjust your appearance, the character will gradually wipe away more and more of the fog on the mirror, revealing his or her face. Once that's done, you walk back outside to a UEE (United Empire of Earth) Navy recruiting terminal, where you'll fill in the character's name, etc., including the name of a next-of-kin or beneficiary. This comes into play later.

With all the information filled out, you can either preliminarily enlist with the UEE Navy (this way to the Squadron 42 campaign), or back out and go straight into the open Star Citizen universe. This choice is NOT locked in immediately; you can choose the Navy route, go through basic flight training, and then back out and go wander the galaxy. Only if you continue into advanced flight training is that character "locked" into the Squadron 42 campaign.

Now, on the subject of death.

Roberts wanted to strike a balance between the "death is a slap on the wrist" mechanics of EVE Online and "you died, tough luck, start from scratch" levels of realism, and I think he pulled it off.

If you're in a ship, and it's about to be destroyed, you have the ability to eject in an escape pod. The pod will float in space, presumably with no significant means of propulsion. Once there are no enemies in the immediate vicinity, you can activate your rescue beacon, and the screen will fade to black, display "Some time later..." and fade back in on the last planet or station you landed/docked at. If your ship was insured, a new one will be waiting for you. if you bought extra insurance, some of your equipment and/or cargo may have been replaced.

If you fail to eject, or your escape pod is destroyed, or if you are shot in the head during a boarding action, you will wake up in a medical facility, and your character will be a bit the worse for wear. Depending on the circumstances of your "death", your character may be scarred, burned, or have organic or cybernetic replacement parts.

There are a limited number of times this can happen before the character is killed off for real, and different circumstances of "death" will push a character closer to final-death than others. There are ways to regain some "lives", but if you "die" enough, you will eventually be treated not to waking up in a medical bay, but to your character's funeral—from the point-of-view of the previously-named next-of-kin or beneficiary. This is your new Player Character.

Presumably (it's not outright stated in the article I read), you'll get to go through the same character creation process with the new character. All of the previous character's belongings, as well as some of their faction reputation, will be transferred to the new one. If you were unhappy with the previous character's reputation, this is a great chance to change it.

At first I was leery of this system, as I tend to get quite attached to any character I can customize, but after pondering it for a while, I like it quite a bit. What do you guys think?

[f1r3w4rr10r]

I think this is pretty awesome. Too many games nowadays don't punish dying hard enough in my opinion. Most of the time it's just a short break. (Not that much with MMOs) And you might loose some money, but this sounds like a pretty good concept.

[Shady_steps]

sounds good, now for 100000000 shady clones XD, plan to be a agent border type player so i think i will die lots :<