Star Citizen

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Star Citizen

Star Citizen logo
Developer(s) Cloud Imperium Games, Behaviour Interactive,[1][2] CGBot,[3] voidALPHA[3]
Publisher(s) Cloud Imperium Games
Director(s) Chris Roberts
Producer(s) Eric Peterson
Designer(s) Chris Roberts, Eric Peterson, Rob Irving, Nathan Blaisdell, Pete Mackay
Programmer(s) Chris Roberts, Jason Spangler, Brendan Jackson, Tom Sawyer
Artist(s) Chris Olivia, Jim Martin, Mark Skelton, Bryan Brewer, Chris Smith, Ryan Church[4]
Writer(s) Dave Haddock
Composer(s) Pedro Macedo Camacho[5]
Engine Modified CryEngine (4th generation)
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Release date(s)
  • 2015 (Est)
Genre(s) Space trading and combat simulator, first-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer
Distribution Digital distribution

Star Citizen is an upcoming space trading and combat simulator video game for Microsoft Windows. Star Citizen will consist of two main components: first person space combat and trading in a massively multiplayer persistent universe and customizable private servers (known as Star Citizen), and a branching single-player and drop-in co-operative multiplayer[6] campaign (known as Squadron 42). The game will feature Oculus Rift support.

Both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 are set in a 30th-century Milky Way centered around the fictional UEE (United Empire of Earth), an analogue of the late Roman Empire. A central theme of the game is citizenship (or lack thereof) in the UEE, which must be earned through player actions (such as completing a period of military service). It is anticipated that Citizens will enjoy certain in-game benefits, for example paying a reduced tax rate or having easier access to interspecies trade,[7] but the exact details are yet to be determined.

A strong focus will be placed on player interaction, with player behaviour influencing and being influenced by a dynamic economy system.[8][9]

Star Citizen is currently being developed by Chris Roberts' Cloud Imperium Games, founded in 2011.[10] Roberts' previous works include games such as Wing Commander,[11] Privateer,[12] Starlancer and Freelancer.

Funding

In October 2012, the developers of the game started a crowdfunding campaign on their own website using IgnitionDeck, a crowdfunding plugin for WordPress.[13] Just over a week into the campaign, they also started raising funds via a supplemental Kickstarter campaign.[14] Funding quickly surpassed initial target goals[15] and subsequently additional stretch goals have been added to the funding campaign, most promising more or expanded content at release.[16] The initial end date of the funding campaign on the RSI website was later extended by 10 days to match the Kickstarter end date, both to enable additional funding as well as a joint special event for the end of the crowdfunding campaigns.[15] On November 17, 2012, two days before campaign closure, the game achieved the record for highest crowd-funded game project with over $4.2 million.[17] At initial pledge campaign end, the total pledge amount was above all goals initially set by Cloud Imperium Games and reached $6,238,563.[17] The pledge amount of $2M raised in the last two days exceeded nearly every other Kickstarter project on its own.

After the initial campaign, funding has continued through the game's website. When it passed $10 million in June 2013, Star Citizen became the highest raising crowd-funded project ever.[18] Current funding has surpassed $38 million as of February 5, 2014.[19] The game will continue to collect crowd-funded donations until its release.

Development

The development of the game started in 2011 on a modified version of the CryEngine 3 game engine.[20]

Star Citizen is being developed using a modular approach, with the first module (dubbed the "Hangar Module") released August 29, 2013 in order to coincide with the games appearance at the 2013 Gamescom trade fair.[21]

The initial release of the Hangar Module allows backers of the project to explore their virtual ships from a 1st person perspective within CryEngine 3, later updated with the 4th generation CryEngine. Subsequent updates to the Hangar Module will include the ability to add upgrades and modifications to players' ships and allow players to invite friends to their hangar. The module system is intended to be iterative in nature, with updated version of modules being released as and when additional functionality and content are finalized.

Other modules which have been mentioned by the developers (if not officially confirmed) include:

  • The Dogfighting Module Alpha (estimated Q1 2014[3]) will allow backers to playtest the ship combat portion of the game against other players.
  • The Social/Planetside Module Alpha (estimated March–April 2014) will allow backers to experience the 1st person non-combat planet based environment, consisting of various shops and bars.
  • Squadron 42/Single Player – little is known at this stage, but it is understood that the branching single player campaign (known as Squadron 42) will be released in chapters before the Persistent Universe.
  • Persistent Universe Alpha (estimated end of 2014[3]) – again little is known at this stage, but it is understood that this module will allow backers to access an early version of the massively multiplayer persistent universe (known as Star Citizen).
  • Final Release (estimated 2015[3]) – Full commercial release of both Squadron 42 and Star Citizen.

Persistent universe

Star Citizen will continue to develop after commercial release via a combination of emergent gameplay generated by players and new content which will be developed by Cloud Imperium Games on an ongoing basis. Players will also have the ability to command "persistent" ships and stations that will remain in the game even if they log out. Select "lawless planets" will feature ground based combat using infantry style weapons. Personal armaments can also be used to board disabled ships and stations.

Players will not be separated by different realms or shards. A matchmaking and instancing mechanic will handle how players connect to each other.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Media Advisory: Come Meet Chris Roberts at Behaviour and Learn More About the New Star Citizen Game". Green Technology News. GreenTechnologyWorld.com. Retrieved December 12, 2012. 
  2. ↑ "new space sim game with legendary designer Chris Roberts". News. Behaviour Interactive. Retrieved December 12, 2012. "A team will be set up in Montreal to start working on the project in early 2013" 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Letter from the Chairman: On Dogfighting – Roberts Space Industries". Cloud Imperium Games. Retrieved December 16, 2013. "We have smaller groups of people supporting these efforts from CGBot in Austin & Monterrey, Mexico and Void Alpha in San Francisco." 
  4. ↑ "Wingman's Hanger Episode 5 Q&A". Cloud Imperium Games Corporation. Retrieved January 25, 2013. 
  5. ↑ "Star Citizen Music". 
  6. ↑ "About the game – Star Citizen". 
  7. ↑ "Writer's Guide: Part Two". 
  8. ↑ Anthony Gallegos (October 10, 2012). "Star Citizen: Chris Roberts' Next Frontier". IGN. Retrieved October 11, 2012. 
  9. ↑ "Updated FAQ". Cloud Imperium Games Corporation. Retrieved January 20, 2013. 
  10. ↑ Richard Mitchell (October 10, 2012). "Chris Roberts' new game is Star Citizen". joystiq. Retrieved October 11, 2012. 
  11. ↑ Anthony John Agnello (October 10, 2012). "Wing Commander creator reveals Star Citizen, his first game in a decade". Digital Trends. Retrieved October 11, 2012. 
  12. ↑ Rainier (October 10, 2012). "'Star Citizen' Announced – Screens & Trailer". Worthplaying. Retrieved October 11, 2012. 
  13. ↑ Christenson, Shawn. "Crowdfunding a Video Game". IgnitionDeck. Retrieved September 15, 2013. 
  14. ↑ Star Citizen at Kickstarter
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Chris Roberts (October 26, 2012). "Stretch Goals Revealed!". 
  16. ↑ "Comprehensive Stretch Goals". Retrieved November 4, 2012. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 "Stretch goals update". November 17, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012. 
  18. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (August 2, 2013). "Star Citizen raises an astronomical $15 million". Eurogamer. Retrieved August 6, 2013. 
  19. ↑ Roberts, Chris (2014-2-5). "Letter from the Chairman". 
  20. ↑ Tyler Wilde (October 10, 2012). "Star Citizen preview: the open-world space sim from the creator of Wing Commander". PCGamer. Retrieved October 11, 2012. 
  21. ↑ "Hangar Module Released – Roberts Space Industries". 

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