Hi all,
I've seen a lot of popularity recently with this game but have only read a few small chunks about it, so here's what I think I know..
Its in space flying spacecraft.
Its not being developed by any kind of label.
Its being released in bits & pieces (as it's made)
Here's what I'd like to know..
What do you ACTUALLY do?
Is it worth buying now? Should I hold off for a while?
Does the £100 give an advantage over the £40?
How do I find you guys?
Thanks in advance
It is pretty far developed as you can tell from the number of ships now detailed and the pipeline in progress. It's a two part game, an FPS and an MMO. The FPS will be released later this year, the MMO (known as the 'PU' - persistent universe) will be released as pre-Alpha towards the end of this year. The MMO bit of the game is scheduled to be released sometime during 2016, but the intention is that we'll be playing it during Alpha and the development phase too.
This may also help: on 10th March I posted about the PAX presentation and the timeline Chris Roberts (CR) outlined:
NOW LIVE Star Citizen 1.1.0 FPS (note the new name, no more AC):
Multiplayer free flight
Optional gimbal mounts on most weapons (gimbal accepts weapon size minus 1)
The always good EA/Origin joke @3mins
Compares Old damage system with the New damage system (refers to 2GB vram issue)
The new way to teabag in SC @9mins
Retaliator hangar ready
FPS modelling & character animations (full muscle system and greatly improved)
Animation goals - battlefield simulation and zero-g
The iD joke @21:15
Armor goals (FPS will initially get the current 'old' system but this will be updated asap to the new armor models)
Weapon model updates
FPS game modes:
Gold Horizon Platform: traditional combat (like CSGO), 8v8
-map walk through @43mins
Astro Arena: zero-g, up to 16v16 competitive sport (capture the flag or eliminate enemy)
-zero training for the PU
-think Ender's Game
-grappling beam
-live demo @30:30
Star Citizen 1.1.2 Social Module
Planetside
Mid-2015
Multi-crew arena commander
-retaliator, constellation flyable etc
End of 2015
First episode of Squadron 42
-about 20 hours and 70 missions
Pre-alpha Persistent Universe
As for your questions:
What do you ACTUALLY do?
What do you *want* to do? There will be a massive range of play styles in SC when the PU goes live. Apart from the FPS aspect of Squadron 42, the PU will allow you to do multiple roles, be it racing, engineering, transport, finance, PVP (solo or coop), bounty hunting, escort duty for larger ships, trade, exploration, resource management (mining of minerals, gases, refining to fuel or other compounds), research, NPC-generated missions, player-generated missions etc, etc, etc. The possibilities are simply vast.
Is it worth buying now? Should I hold off for a while?
You do not need to buy it now. If you buy now you are simply backing the development of the game in advance of its release. The flip side of the coin is that you get a copy of the game when it is launched, can join in with the Alpha/Beta play and you get a ship (if it is one of the concept ship sales) which has Lifetime Insurance (LTI).
Does the £100 give an advantage over the £40?
Yes and No. Depends what you want to do. Generally the bigger ships 'have' more, but a £200 transport ship will suck donkey balls in PVP and will probably be beaten by a smaller & cheaper £60 fighter. The £40 craft is base entry level and CR has already said you will drop that ship pretty quickly, so you'd only buy that one if you want to buy into the Alpha/Beta play imo. If something catches your eye (either visually or from its described role) then that's the one to go for because you'll like it when you see it in the hangar.
How do I find you guys?
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/orgs/DMW
Create your account (you need to have bought a package to be eligible to join) and then apply to join us on the RSI site (and post in this section to let us know your RSI handle).
It's also worth mentioning that you actually get two games, not one: Star Citizen (which is the full-blown MMO) and Squadron 42 (which is a single player campaign 'prequel' to the MMO which has co-OP built in so your friends can help you through your military career, before mustering out into Star Citizen).
This video should give you a taste of what is currently playable, along with what is coming in the next 4 or 5 weeks:
[video=youtube_share;sbZLbb0_RBI]http://youtu.be/sbZLbb0_RBI[/video]
My view now I have a rig that can handle SC. I'd say that if you would put priority on team deathmatch in spaceships and beautiful graphics then pledge into SC now as there is a game worth playing and you should start learning the controls and dynamics asap. You will need a 970 level graphics card + to truly enjoy the quality of the visuals.
If you want the story side of things then again, it will begin before full launch and I'm sure dMw will not hold off jumping right in as a group. Pledge now.
For MMO pu may as well wait until 2016.
For any of it you'll need patience and perseverance and if you dislike complex controls ala Flight Sim level then it'll be a struggle. I've found the learning curve steep.
Quote from: albert;396902You will need a 970 level graphics card + to truly enjoy the quality of the visuals.
I can back that up - I just swapped out a crummy old OEM card for a GTX 970 at the game runs silky smooth on high settings, with astonishing detail (like the Mustangs flip open access panel under the cockpit) - at 1080 on a large TV. I think I've read that if you want to approach 4k resolutions then the 980 or higher are the way to go.
I'm running 2 x GTX770 in SLI to pixelate my 2560x1600 monitor with details all set to max. In AC the performance seems ok, but it struggles in hangar (although 1.1 is much improved now). My plan is to swap out those 770s once we get nearer a known launch date so that I get min 4GB RAM per card and more GPU processing power. CPU seems fine on SC, currently running an i4770K and even at stock speeds it still seems fine.
+1 for 1.1 Hangar. Its even better on my laptop.