STAR CITIZEN: JEU PRÉFÉRÉ DE VOMKRIEGE

[chronovore]

"CASH ONLY"? Holy hells, how sketchy is that?

When lighting maps, thought went out to how it would have been lit - ie. how would the pirates have lit this?

 

HOW INDEED

Pirates are, historically, very discerning about lighting. It only makes sense to extrapolate that sensibility into the future. In fact, if you look at Ice Pirates, it's quite well lit.

[Dickie Dee]

Pirates wore eyepatches so they could go below deck in the darkness and still come back above into the light with one eye not dampered by nightvision

CIG knows Pirates know lighting. Verisimilitude confirmed 

[VomKriege]

"CASH ONLY"? Holy hells, how sketchy is that?

Pirates are, historically, very discerning about lighting. It only makes sense to extrapolate that sensibility into the future. In fact, if you look at Ice Pirates, it's quite well lit.

"Welcome to the latest Around the Verse !"

[Joe Molotov]

An Ice Pirates reference in 2016??

I like it.

[VomKriege]

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7209297/#Comment_7209297

CIG needs to stop slacking and start selling real estate.

I know many will protest but come on guys you know it has to be done. First person universe, the game with everything needs everything. Big potential for all concerned, devs and players. Search your feelings you know it to be true.

Absolutely!
Real estate sales would be a winner, there already were several threads in the past about it.
I would definitely go for it, even though I fear that the cheap marketing tactics would apply in this sector as well.

So we've almost reached the "Selling timeshares of Moon JPEGs" stage ?

Those cash only discounts are not playing too well on the official forums... Apologists out in full force to damage control now.

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7210220/#Comment_7210220

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7210297/#Comment_7210297

This statement makes you sound like an abused wife. Keep taking punches to the face but stay loyal to your "loving" husband.

Im sure your wife also knows what its like to be abused. Amazed you kept that MPV status with the attitude you have.

o_O

Well he shouldn't have been running his mouth

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7210417/#Comment_7210417

Secondly, the price remains the same. There's simply a $20 savings if you use new money.

Kaedan, logic twister extraordinaire.

Still, a quick read through the thread makes evident that CIG is quickly burning through some of the trust they had from old backers...

[bluemax]

"Let's go play Eve, let's go play a space game that's actually good."

https://www.twitch.tv/sevadus/v/99224701?t=01h20m48s

7 minutes in and its still a black screen and someone tells him to mention Derek Smart, brilliant.

"CASH ONLY"? Holy hells, how sketchy is that?

When lighting maps, thought went out to how it would have been lit - ie. how would the pirates have lit this?

 

HOW INDEED

Pirates are, historically, very discerning about lighting. It only makes sense to extrapolate that sensibility into the future. In fact, if you look at Ice Pirates, it's quite well lit.

The cash only thing is pretty much a direct response to the grey market that's grown so big. People trading ships for in game credits and or things in the real world so money isn't flowing back to RSI and since RSI's burn rate is so astronomical they have to constantly be trying to get more.

[VomKriege]

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7210581/#Comment_7210581

A comic to explain the current heated debate.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

"Interesting... so you do see that company as your dad ? And yourself as a deformed child ? Mmmmmh."

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7208363/#Comment_7208363

[VomKriege]

Stop Citizen on Citizen violence !
https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/354580/brake-a-promise-how-can-we-trust-you-discount-sales

[Joe Molotov]

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7210581/#Comment_7210581

A comic to explain the current heated debate.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

"Interesting... so you do see that company as your dad ? And yourself as a deformed child ? Mmmmmh."

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7208363/#Comment_7208363

So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.

[VomKriege]

As usual, difficult to assess particular claims but can be read on Reddit :

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/5bgsoy/hear_me_out/d9p1um2/

I for one had $11,000 USD put into this project and was a proud content creator to boot making Star Citizen cinematic videos for both INN and [REDACTED]. All of which is totaly gone now with any confidence that C.I.G can pull this project off. After being part of the tech crew that visited C.I.G Austin in Feb this year to conduct recorded interviews with both the marketing and development teams I soon came to notice a repeating pattern, only that I had to sign an N.D.A I would release the details of these conversations.
Shortly after returning I had both my financial advisers and lawyer retrieve my $11,000 pledge from C.I.G. I still wish the project all the best of luck and hope this game is built, but one thing is for sure, disrespect and mislead people who have injected the cash to build your project; the REFUND option will become very real for a lot of backers.

The information I was given was given under a signed NDA so I can not speak publicly about it. I can say it was to do with the so called NETCODE though.

[VomKriege]

Backers Hate Him ! Those 8 Rumors About Star Citizen Will Blow Your Mind :

[VomKriege]

Affordable spaceships for all, America made great again !

The Esperia Prowler will go on Concept Sale on Friday, November 18th during the Anniversary Livestream for the introductory price of $425. It will have LTI.

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7230246/#Comment_7230246

The real reason Star Citizen keeps getting delayed :
http://www.gameskinny.com/x2mq2/the-real-reason-star-citizen-keeps-getting-delayed

The "ultimate space sim": that is what Freelancer was always supposed to be. (...) This was Roberts' vision and his dream. It also began in 1997, a time where video games were still quite primitive in comparison to what we have today. Perhaps his vision was simply too ambitious for that era of video games. (...) The reason for the delays from my perspective is that he sees this as his last chance to fulfil his ambition to create the best space sim ever made. Back in the days of Freelancer, creating such a game was practically impossible due to the limitations of technology. Today, there are no such restrictions or limitations in video game development.

There is another article, which has been uploaded a few weeks ago, then pulled after some controversy and now up again with minor tweaks... The problem is that it describes Star Citizen features as if they were already implemented :

http://weeklybeeper.com/behind-the-scenes-at-star-citizen-hq/

I feel trapped in computer games. I can’t always do what I want. Sure, there’s a certain amount of freedom in many games, but not enough for me, I hate being constrained by the narrative framework built into the game. I get frustrated when there are not all the freedoms, options and choices I want. No, I don’t really like computer games. (...)

Born solely from a crowd funding project – the biggest ever according to the Guinness Book of Records – Star Citizen has changed what the computer game is, and what it can be. Roberts maintains that he didn’t just want to produce another computer game, stating ‘I want to create a universe’. Well, he’s pretty much done that. (...)

If you land on a planet you can walk around and interact with locals and other players, whether you chooses to pick fights, trade, co-crew starships together or just chew the fat. (...) And each world is unique and genuinely has its own feel and character. (...) You need to keep be aware of differing atmospheric conditions and gravitational effects, all of which are scientifically sound, but add to rather than detract from the drama of the game.(...) The feeling of realness and authenticity extends beyond the physics. The politics and economics of the game worlds respond to player actions.

Disclaimer : to my knowledge, none of that is actually in the alpha.

[Cerveza mas fina]

Vom why do you care so much about this scam?

[benjipwns]

I don't think he care-cares, just finds it amusing and checks in on the project from time to time to see how it's going.

I certainly wouldn't see some of this stupidity otherwise because I'm not paying any attention to it other than his posts and links.

Or maybe I'm unfortunately attributing to him my type of behavior.

[Cerveza mas fina]

OhI enjoy checking up on this thread too, just Vom takes it up a notch

[VomKriege]

The addiction, it feels bad man

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I have a monkey on my back for some of the stuff going on with Star Citizen, so I do feel rather strongly about it.
It is a rather exceptional and unique project and a great cautionary tale for crowdfunding.
There's also plenty of drama and stuff coming out of the dev, often funny or worthy of note.
But yeah it's not 100% healthy on my side either I guess.

[close]

[Yeti]

I appreciate Vom posting all the juicy tidbits of Star Citizen gossip because I otherwise have no interest in the game and wouldn't be bothered sifting through the muck of Star Citizen news to find it.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Vom is my brother at arms. Loves a train wreck.

[bluemax]

At least he's not Derek Smart reporting on unrest on different Star Citizen fan sites.

[VomKriege]

A coup d'état was narrowly avoided at the most prominent Star Citizen fansite !
http://imperialnews.network/2016/11/and-were-back/

The longform version of "but why ?" is here :
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/5csytn/inn_lets_clear_some_things_up/

Most of the staff will be setting up a new site.

[Cerveza mas fina]

phew i hope no one got hurt

[a slime appears]

Vom is our resident war correspondent, reporting from the front lines of the Star Citizen wallet genocide.

 

[VomKriege]

Do not diss negative threads by others especially those who have been around a while, they are not all by REDACTED, in fact if you reply to a non positive thread with 'hi REDACTED' does that make open you up to a ' hi Chris' or 'hi Lando'

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/355961/thinking-about-investing-in-star-citizen

Moderator reply :

redacted some words in OPs thread that have no place to be discussed on these forums

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7239905/#Comment_7239905

DEREK SMART DEREK SMART DEREK SMART

[VomKriege]

Anniversary stream coming up and CIG is saying they'll be playing 2.6 LAN. Not certain what to expect.
Backers are certainly eager to see some progress and the mood of the official forums has soured a bit (this page provides an example : link). A recent pool conducted is showing that almost half the backers over there may think Chris Roberts has broken his pledge.

Earlier that year, before I spooked wsippel with the negativity ( ), I stated I would be impressed if CIG delivered on their promises to have a 3.0 alpha with a complete star system, etc... before 2017. Can't say I'm too shocked it's in all likeliness not happening.

However, funding is still going strong according to the tracker, they are on par with last year (25m raised at November 1st both in 2015 and 2016). In 2015 they pulled 10m in the two final months. So maybe the confidence crisis is overblown.

[seagrams hotsauce]

What's the grand total for crowdfunding thus far?

[Great Rumbler]

$130 million

[VomKriege]

Stream starting strong :

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/5dnbru/now_live_alpha_26_lan_party_livestream/da5vxco/

"2.6 is not ready yet, it is a very early build"

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/5dnbru/now_live_alpha_26_lan_party_livestream/da5vj68/

So many Star Citizen tattoos, what do they do, brand their employees?

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/259596-The-Star-Citizen-Thread-v5?p=4794132&viewfull=1#post4794132

Ships going on sale but with price bumps
890 Jump - increase from $600 to $900
Idris-P - increase from $1250 to $1500
Javelin - increase from $2500 to $3000
Caterpillar - increase from $245 to $295

 
Lots of backers were pissed at the cash discounts and the fact that the ships were maybe less expensive to new backers (contrary to the promise that the earlier you back, the better the deal...), so maybe CIG is just steering hard the other way... Or they need the funds.

To be fair : An internal demo of the FPS should be shown and the flight model changes are being demonstrated.

[VomKriege]

There isn't much on the stream so far, if I am to believe reports.

https://gfycat.com/ColdClearcutHarvestmouse

But there's an interesting development : CIG has put online a page for schedule progress ! It only took 4 years, but good for the vocal backers that demanded it a bit more forcefully recently.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/schedule-report

The graph says they expect to deliver Alpha 2.6 by December 8th, with the first version of the FPS module. But those are "aggresive" internal estimates yadda yadda. There's also a new Letter from the Chairman that confirms that discounts for fresh cash will continue though in a more defined perimeter.

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/356476/no-apology-from-cig-and-continuing-cash-sales

Going forward, these cash sales will focus on newly introduced concept ships and top tier limited capital ships.

EDIT :

Well, they have a FPS and they're really playing it (in LAN). Seems like run & gun fare but it's an actual bit of a game.

[bluemax]

Well then.

[VomKriege]

I laughed but I hope Toby won't lose his job.

[VomKriege]

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/259596-The-Star-Citizen-Thread-v5?p=4803002&viewfull=1#post4803002

Another... Homage, I guess...

[VomKriege]

The anniversary sale is proceding and the funding train is still ongoing at his usual pace.
Not a lot of drama right now. The most important info is that the number of employees increased between October and now (377 as per the latest letter from the Chairman).

Judging by the mandatory filings made to the Crown administration, the UK office roughly used 20m£ from commencing operations in 2014 though 2015 (December 31) which translates to somewhere between 24 to 28m$ (the change rate dived since Brexit). We also know they had 52 employees at end of 2014 and 132 at the end of 2015.

[VomKriege]

Not a whole happening. 2.6 was apparently delivered to the Evocati (the closed club of advanced testers). There was a really confusing and obnoxious argument between Derek Smart and others about the FPS module being selectable from the main menu, a rather byzantine debate filled with I AM RIGHT yelling, I honestly didn't understand it (and I'm still not clear on if the FPS module has been launched, apparently some people hacked it from the offline files ?).

Some Crytek employees are not getting their paycheck for several months now -yes... again- but at this point it's unclear if a Crytek demise would even affect Star Citizen since they, by their own claim, been tickering it so much they can't upgrade CryEngine anyway.

So here's a funny bug :
https://gfycat.com/HealthyUniformLadybird

[benjipwns]

The Crytek implosion has really gotten undercovered from what I can tell. I don't know if it's because they are based in Germany or what. Maybe I should search and see if someone has really covered it.

Also the rumors that they may have had up to a thousand employees at one point before they dumped off Homefront onto Deep Silver at a bargain price and started slashing jobs.

That's probably a bigger clusterfuck than Star Citizen now that I think about it.

Meanwhile their tech head replaces Carmack and helps put out Doom.

[chronovore]

I guess you can see where the talent was at that operation, then. Probably their CTO was a linchpin employee, and with that person gone CryTek was unable to actually produce.

The whole thing honestly seemed like some magical tech but a very shady situation. Anyone else remember when they were exposed for running their business on pirated copies of 3D software?

[benjipwns]

I have read and heard offhand for years that Crytek's support for CryEngine was worse than if it didn't even exist.

[Rufus]

I guess you can see where the talent was at that operation, then. Probably their CTO was a linchpin employee, and with that person gone CryTek was unable to actually produce.

The whole thing honestly seemed like some magical tech but a very shady situation. Anyone else remember when they were exposed for running their business on pirated copies of 3D software?

That was in 2004 while they were working on Far Cry. Their offices were raided by police, acting on what Crytek managment believed to be a tip-off from a former employee*. Apparently they got away with a warning the first time (despite the police estimate of six digits in damages), but a second raid a month later found that they still hadn't acquired licences. I assume they settled, can't find any further references (i.e. too lazy to search for another 15 minutes).

*The second raid was accompanied by a statement from the BSA, who were apparently offering reward money for just this thing around the time. If Wikipedia's references are to be believed, it was 200,000$ in 2006, increased from 50,000$. Back pay pay back, eh?

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I amuse myself.

[close]

[bluemax]

Derek Smart is frothing at the mouth at the upcoming financials for the EU based aspects of RSI. He apparently is gonna use it to reveal how Chris Roberts used shell companies to funnel money to his family and friends or something.

[VomKriege]

Derek Smart is frothing at the mouth at the upcoming financials for the EU based aspects of RSI. He apparently is gonna use it to reveal how Chris Roberts used shell companies to funnel money to his family and friends or something.

Yeah that's another thing I took a look at, he had some confusing graph on how the different entities are interlinked or something. Really the only thing of note to me was that apparently there's three separate entities in the UK (plus the German office which is a subsidiary of one of those). It's not new that the company setup is incredibly obtuse (It's not even clear if it should be called Roberts Space Industries or Cloud Imperium Games), but it's yet another sign and while not in itself proof of foul play not a very good one.

Otherwise there's a livestream due very soon, backers expect at least to receive the 2.6 alpha before Christmas.
Funding is reported to be stable, may even top last year's results. November 2016 was, if I can trust the fan spreadsheet, their second best month ever with 7.7m$, so despite all the drama, confidence still runs high I guess ? Really I'm surprised by how resilient the model is. Them claiming 200m$ raised is a possibility (October 2018 at a constant rate).

[bluemax]

Derek Smart is frothing at the mouth at the upcoming financials for the EU based aspects of RSI. He apparently is gonna use it to reveal how Chris Roberts used shell companies to funnel money to his family and friends or something.

Yeah that's another thing I took a look at, he had some confusing graph on how the different entities are interlinked or something. Really the only thing of note to me was that apparently there's three separate entities in the UK (plus the German office which is a subsidiary of one of those). It's not new that the company setup is incredibly obtuse (It's not even clear if it should be called Roberts Space Industries or Cloud Imperium Games), but it's yet another sign and while not in itself proof of foul play not a very good one.

Otherwise there's a livestream due very soon, backers expect at least to receive the 2.6 alpha before Christmas.
Funding is reported to be stable, may even top last year's results. November 2016 was, if I can trust the fan spreadsheet, their second best month ever with 7.7m$, so despite all the drama, confidence still runs high I guess ? Really I'm surprised by how resilient the model is. Them claiming 200m$ raised is a possibility (October 2018 at a constant rate).

Meanwhile today Derek is saying the shoe is about to drop and we're about to find out they are out of money and it would need another $100mm to finish it.

[VomKriege]

Meanwhile today Derek is saying the shoe is about to drop and we're about to find out they are out of money and it would need another $100mm to finish it.

You won't escape this time, Roberts !


I think Smart has lost all credibility or sense of measure with regards to the expected financial status of the project. RSI/CIG/Chris Roberts has swindled along people this far, least we can do is admit they do know how to put lipstick on a pig for their audience. I doubt they're going to meltdown in public especially at this time of year just before the last push for money in 2016 (that could top 2015 and provide a good marketing talking point for next year : "Doing better than ever, donate !"). The only thing they really have to disclose now is the state of the 2.6 alpha update : not delivering on that could erode trust but that's about it, IMHO.

[VomKriege]

Derek Smart is gloating, the stream was pretty bad it seems. From Gaf

TL;DR for anyone who missed it - stream quality was really bad, lots of segments had no audio, they kept cutting to the wrong thing and having to stall for time. Also there were lots of pre-recorded bits with cringey comedy attempts. No new info in the stream at all, everything is on the monthly report or store page.

SQ42 seems really far aware, the Vanduul are still in the concept stage with them unable to show off a finished armoured model, and there's a laundry list of stuff still to do:

Item 2.0, Subsumption AI, Subsumption Mission System and asynchronous Object Container Streaming are all core systems that will power Squadron 42. In addition, there is some significant low level animation and lighting tech that we need to finish up to realize the goal of real time player interactions and conversations.

3.0 got talked about only a little, but also seems rather far away, they mentioned the procedural planets was like the only finished bit, only just started working on atmospheric volumes, so nowhere on stuff like atmospheric flight model. They're also reducing the size of the landing zones to make them more feasible.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=226727274&postcount=7779

The official newsletter has some more to say...

After we made the decision before CitizenCon that the Squadron 42 vertical slice wasn’t ready to be shown publically, we spent some time on reviewing how far off we were and what we wanted to achieve in order to be comfortable showing a full chapter of S42 gameplay. After all the effort we expended for CitizenCon, we didn’t want to spend additional developer time polishing intermediate solutions if it wasn’t going towards the final product. A slick demo isn’t that helpful if it pushes back the finished game, so we decided that the priority should be completing full systems over getting the vertical slice into a showable state. (...) One of the lessons we learned from the last CitizenCon was that by attempting to show both the VS and Homestead, we overloaded our pipeline.  (...) So while it may be disappointing not to see something this year on Squadron 42, I believe it’s the best choice for the long term good of both Squadron 42 and Star Citizen. It’s critical that we focus on finishing up the core systems we’ve designed to handle the needs of both games, as without them, other parts of the development team are blocked from finalizing key gameplay.

They're still working on the core of the game

[VomKriege]

Holy shit at that community podcast  Straight at the first second.
https://www.twitch.tv/relay_sc/v/107887729

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7361022/#Comment_7361022

After that stream I'm going home to hug my kids and tell them i love them very much. There aren't enough bar citizens that'll keep me happy after that mess. I need comfort.

/facepalm

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7360849/#Comment_7360849

       

Dear CIG,
fire your head of the marketing department.
Im sending in my CV today.

They can't fire the chairman's wife.

Chris can certainly fire his wife. But a man who fires his wife, typically won't be her husband for long.

https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/7360626/#Comment_7360626

This was the most disappointing, cringeworthy thing CIG has ever done.

They should have told us they weren't going to show any Squadron 42 or 3.0 stuff as soon as they knew that was the case, rather than waiting until 10 minutes before the event to tell us about one of those things, and leaving us guessing until the end of the event for the other. Tell us when things go right, and tell us when things go wrong.

http://twitter.com/dsmart/status/809874017712832513

[VomKriege]

https://www.twitch.tv/starcitizen/v/107852817?t=69m00s

https://www.twitch.tv/starcitizen/v/107852817?t=155m31s

https://www.twitch.tv/starcitizen/v/107852817?t=26m55s

https://www.twitch.tv/starcitizen/v/107852817?t=13m09s

https://www.twitch.tv/starcitizen/v/107852817?t=3m55s



140 MILLIONS DE DOLLARS AMERICAINS

[VomKriege]

For once, a post I found interesting (if perhaps overreaching) and not just cackling :

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/259596-The-Star-Citizen-Thread-v5?p=4910717&viewfull=1#post4910717

Star Citizen will make history (at least in the gaming community) because:

- insane example of the short hype of the kickstarter-concept before the fall

- insane example of how calculated hyping in videogaming is a never ending thing even after so many cases of consumer deception (especially noteworthy if you look at the fanbase of Star Citizen, many white, male people from the US and Europe who probably experienced many of these cases)

- insane example of the post-fact age we entered with the popularization of social media where you can make stuff up constantly and there is a reality-bubble for every strange interest (from cat-fetishization to conspiracy theories to Star Citizen)

- insane example of male domination in video games with Star Citizen being some strange virtual world that attracts men by enabling them to create an hypermasculine identity (big machines, big guns, big tasks, funnily a lot of male dominated working class activities like delivering cargo, killing other men etc.) (not only are female avatars absent, but in in this 'living and breathing' universe there is not one stereotypical female activity offered; everything associated with femininity is completely absent; the only activity in this context was the stewardess job that obviously did not survive)

x btw: actually I think the masculinity in Star Citizen plays a big role in its financial success. If you regard the game as a playground for masculinity where men compete with other men over being successfull (only ways of success in the game are basically killing other guys and making more cash than other guys) and you regard the space ships as the most important status markers that are visible to other players then one could reason that the race for bigger ships is actually a competition over masculinity (which is connected to power). It might make sense that some men heavily invested in the game and its implicit masculine competition (they take it serious) are motivated to spend a lot for powerful space ships to be in a better position within the competition. (Indeed, I have never heard of any female gamers who spent insane amounts of money on this strange game)

The aristocrats patriarchy and all that but there's probably some underlying dynamics at play in the community

[bluemax]

For once, a post I found interesting (if perhaps overreaching) and not just cackling :

https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/259596-The-Star-Citizen-Thread-v5?p=4910717&viewfull=1#post4910717

Star Citizen will make history (at least in the gaming community) because:

- insane example of the short hype of the kickstarter-concept before the fall

- insane example of how calculated hyping in videogaming is a never ending thing even after so many cases of consumer deception (especially noteworthy if you look at the fanbase of Star Citizen, many white, male people from the US and Europe who probably experienced many of these cases)

- insane example of the post-fact age we entered with the popularization of social media where you can make stuff up constantly and there is a reality-bubble for every strange interest (from cat-fetishization to conspiracy theories to Star Citizen)

- insane example of male domination in video games with Star Citizen being some strange virtual world that attracts men by enabling them to create an hypermasculine identity (big machines, big guns, big tasks, funnily a lot of male dominated working class activities like delivering cargo, killing other men etc.) (not only are female avatars absent, but in in this 'living and breathing' universe there is not one stereotypical female activity offered; everything associated with femininity is completely absent; the only activity in this context was the stewardess job that obviously did not survive)

x btw: actually I think the masculinity in Star Citizen plays a big role in its financial success. If you regard the game as a playground for masculinity where men compete with other men over being successfull (only ways of success in the game are basically killing other guys and making more cash than other guys) and you regard the space ships as the most important status markers that are visible to other players then one could reason that the race for bigger ships is actually a competition over masculinity (which is connected to power). It might make sense that some men heavily invested in the game and its implicit masculine competition (they take it serious) are motivated to spend a lot for powerful space ships to be in a better position within the competition. (Indeed, I have never heard of any female gamers who spent insane amounts of money on this strange game)

The aristocrats patriarchy and all that but there's probably some underlying dynamics at play in the community

It would be interesting to see a demographical breakdown of Star Citizen's backer community. I also wonder what the cross section of backers and fans of games like Euro Truck Simulator are.

[bluemax]

They pulled the stream from Youtube:

http://www.pcgamesn.com/star-citizen/star-citizen-star-marine-patch-26

[Tasty]

[a slime appears]

Fuck I couldn't watch that, it's way too embarrassing. Cringe-fest the whole way through.

[benjipwns]

does his wife really have a Star Citizen tattoo or does she just put a temporary on for this stuff?

lol when she suddenly appears randomly during the FPS match

[zomgee]

[Trent Dole]

http://www.polygon.com/2016/12/23/14062698/star-citizen-amazon-game-engine
'More than four years into development Star Citizen changes game engine
Game will now run on Amazon’s Lumberyard instead of CryEngine'

[VomKriege]

http://www.polygon.com/2016/12/23/14062698/star-citizen-amazon-game-engine
'More than four years into development Star Citizen changes game engine
Game will now run on Amazon’s Lumberyard instead of CryEngine'

 
"We've been in contact for Amazon over a year" but didn't feel the need to inform the backers through the openest development ever.

Otherwise I guess it's one way to try to upgrade the engine. God only knows how much stuff have been binned because of it though... Users on Reddit are thinking more of a Frankenstein engine of some sort, borrowing the online from Lumberyard.

They also have a big charm offensive through yet another preview in that German mag, screenshot and rough translations can be read here :

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/5jz740/squadron_42_and_star_citizen_alpha_30_sneak_peek/

[nudemacusers]

how do i hold all these lols


the post mortem of this thing will be amazing.

[wsippel]

http://www.polygon.com/2016/12/23/14062698/star-citizen-amazon-game-engine
'More than four years into development Star Citizen changes game engine
Game will now run on Amazon’s Lumberyard instead of CryEngine'

Stop reading Polygon...

Lumberyard is a fork of CryEngine 3.8 with improved netcode/ cloud integration for MMOs (because that's what Amazon is building on Lumberyard). StarEngine is a fork of CryEngine 3.8 with modifications for a spaceship game. They don't switch to a different engine, they switch to a different, more fitting fork of the same engine. It's unlikely that they had to bin or rewrite much if anything in this transition.

[nudemacusers]

yeah I was reading that further, seems less extreme than the headline indicates. damn you polygon!

[Coax]

Two in-game missiles for $70 real bux, still no way to earn the currency to buy them in-game, and users calling the price 'cheap' vs how much they'll cost buying them later.



The mods are just as smug as GAF:

[The Sceneman]

I guess the next logical step was selling virtual ammo, but holy shit. With fireworks, you pay money to see shit light up and entertain you. These are virtual fireworks, for a system which currently does not even have the capacity to use them yet

The meetings at this company must be insane. "How do we keep the money coming in?" Make some shit up!

[benjipwns]

now i'm having a tough time trying to decide if video game arguments or political arguments employ worse metaphors

[a slime appears]

As much as I like to sit here and laugh at the well documented clusterfuck that is Cloud Imperium Games and Chris Roberts himself; it's actually pretty shitty.

It's misguided game studios like these that ruin it for the rest of the game industry. There are indies and real game development teams out there who work hard to secure funding and when this shit blows up, which it will, it'll add yet another reason for investors (angel/VCs/banks/etc) to second guess funding individual games or publishers.