For the first time in, awhile, the Star Citizen funding total, didn’t blow through multiple millions in a week. Â That didn’t stop CIG from giving us a lot of information this week though.
Monday started out with another in the ‘Galactic Guide‘ series of comm-links, this time, treating us to an overview of the Goss system. Â Subscribers got the lowdown on Goss in last month’s Jump Point magazine. Â Goss is a system-wide tourist attraction due to it’s proximity to a massive nebula.
If you’re looking for some easy cargo hauling Goss might be a spot for you to check out:
Small-haulers are another story. Between hand-made Gossian goods, mountains of assorted tourist knickknacks and the rare life forms native to the system’s in- habitable worlds, there are plenty of high-demand goods available in small numbers. It’s a great way for an Aurora or a 300i pilot with a smaller cargo hold to supplement their vacation. Or, in the case of the more restricted life forms, a way for a pilot living outside the law to make quite a bit of profit.
Wednesday brought us an interview with CIG’s Sean Murphy (he designed the Midway in Wing Commander!), the Art Outsource Manager:
What are you most excited to see in Star Citizen/Squadron 42?
This is the realization of the dream we used to talk about in the old Wing Commander days – a fully playable universe that blurred the line between first person shooter, dogfighter, and role playing game.
What projects have you worked on? Have you worked with Chris Roberts before?
The list is too long to post here, but I worked on classics like Jimmy Neutron and Space Quest 5 (I actually played Roger Wilco in the video-capture sessions); at Origin I worked on a number of Wing Commander titles, some with Chris Roberts and some after he’d left. More recently I spent a year on SOE’s DC Universe Online and then at Vigil working on their canceled Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online project.
Thursday brought us an interview with Joshua Alway, who also made an appearance on last week’s Wingman’s Hangar.
What are you doing for Cloud Imperium?
My job at Cloud Imperium is primarily to create the basic effects for artists and gameplay programmers to manipulate. This means I spend most of my time writing shaders and the engine code feeding data into them. For example, I worked on the shader we currently use for creating our laserbolt effects, as well as several others which won’t be seen until later on.
What are you most excited to see in Star Citizen/Squadron 42?
I am quite excited to see what the end results of the economic and related simulation systems will be. Dogfighting and such is fine, but I’m more interested in the universe itself.
It’s interesting to me, to see the variety in what the two interviewees are looking forward to in the final game. Â I think it’s a good sign, it’s another step in helping get us the rich, deep experience that we all want.
Friday was the big news day for Star Citizen though…and, as per normal, it starts on Wingman’s Hangar. Â This week, with a special appearance by Chris Roberts!
Some of the notes I took from today’s Hangar:
- The long awaited signing of the lease for the new Austin location, has finally been signed! Â Sounds like the crew will be moving over the Christmas break (while closed).
- More PBR (Physical Based Rendering) shown off, this time, using the engine from the 300i.
- Update from Studio 42 (Manchester):
- They get a new office too.. they’re moving on Monday.
- Currently fleshing out design, mechanics, and the first few missions.
- CIG is working with Three Lateral (they did some of the face capture work on Ryse). Â Going to get hi-rez face scans, and do the face tracking thing.
- F-F-F-F-Forum Feedback!
- Overclocking power plants is doable, but will have risks (more heat, easier to detect..etc..)
- No “house”, but they are working on a Hangar expansion system that will include livable space.
- Upgrades (able to be applied starting today!) are single use only, and only one per ship.
New Chris Roberts segment “10 for the Chairman”. Â Chris will answer 10 questions from subscribers!
Q: Full recommended specs for HD/fUll quality
A: High end now will probably be mid-range next yearQ: Future Dev projects (SQ42 expacs?)
A: 100% focused on SC.. regular content updates planned for post launchQ: Radar shadow present?
A: YesQ: DFM ‘shoot ’em up only’, or objectives?
A: Initially, shoot ’em up arena style… maybe later have scenariosQ: CR’s preference for HOTAS
A: Pitch & Yaw, roll on ruddersQ: PvP Slider
A: Slider part of matchmaking system, PvE setting gives preference to matching vs AI.. There could be situations where NPCs are tougher than PCsQ: Cockpit redesign to suit Oculus Rift?
A: No, won’t redesign for one peripheral.. if OR works the way it should, shouldn’t be neededQ: Consumables in DFM, no $$ or store
A: Reloading/loadout adjustment done in hangar before entering DFMQ: what module is after DFM?
A: PlanetsideQ: SQ42/PU at same time?
A: SQ42, at least part..first. Possibly Episodic release of SQ42
Sandi is currently in Austin, interviewing CIG staffers for….something.
Initial overview of the new Organizations system also hit the site today via comm-link. Â Here’s some highlights:
When the organization system launches, group leaders will be prompted to select a name and a unique ID for their group. Once registered, you will be able to set up a public page for your group right here at the RSI site! Leaders will then be able to upload their own logo, banner and background for the site and choose a preset color theme. They can enter information to be displayed on their public site, including the organization history, manifesto and charter.
The different types of organizations are recapped as well (for anyone who doesn’t remember them from the CitizenCon stream):
- Corporation – a for-profit business entity. A corporation is a great choice for everything from shipping flo-pets to Goss II to organizing a hostile takeover of Origin Jumpworks.
- PMC (Private Military Company) – For organizations with a taste for combat. Focuses for PMCs include escorting cargo runs, hunting for pirates or helping the UEE take on the Vanduul.
- Faith – Organizations that have come together for a single cause or under a single banner. This could be rebels fighting for Terran independence… or the devout followers of the LAMP!
- Syndicate – Common interest groups for those who operate on the edges (or outside) the law. There’s safety in numbers when you’re moving contraband through Spider or preying on hapless cargo ships.
- Organization – Want to make your own way without any previous association? Feel free to leave your group’s archetype blank!
It looks like there will be 6 ‘ranks’ in each organization:
- Rank 0 – Recruit
- Rank 1 – Lieutenant
- Rank 2 – Captain
- Rank 3 – Lieutenant Colonel
- Rank 4 – Colonel
- Rank 5 – General
The titles associated with each rank, can be changed as desired by the organization lead.
My favorite part of the organization announcement, is that Chatroll is going away… to be replaced by the XMPP based system:
Goodbye, Chatroll! As part of the Organization launch, we will be introducing a new, XMPP-based, live chat system to the RSI website. This will eliminate the 500-user limit on chat and will enhance it in a number of other areas as well. You’ll be able to connect from outside the RSI site using any XMPP-compatible client. Like the Organization system itself, this chat will transition through to the communications system in Star Citizen and the future mobile app.
Hopefully, this will get CIG interacting more with the rest of the forums (especially during livestreams), instead of just the few hundred people that chatroll supports.
We’ll get our hands on the Organization system later this month in a testing capacity, with the actual rollout planned for January.
Speaking of forum changes… the new forum rules have been implemented as well. Â Make sure you head over here and read them all. Â Overall, no huge changes in the forum rules, and it still boils down to “Be nice”.
Saturday closed out the week, by hitting the $34 Million funded mark, unlocking the next in the series of community voted ‘role’ ships. This one will be oriented towards Smugglers:
MISC Hull C (Discreet) – Scaling from small “box trucks†to massive supertankers, the MISC range of cargo hulls (A-D) are the standard goods transporter in human space. Extremely configurable, MISC Hulls can be adapted for most any type of transport job: from standard bulk shipping on the patrolled spacelanes to armored cargo hauling on the frontier. While these pre-configured hulls are primarily used for legitimate purposes, the MISC Hull Cs have recently become the favorite for criminals who modify the ship with advanced sensor shadow technology, quick-decompress holds and a variety of hidden compartments without modifying the ship’s body so it will appear to onlookers as standard everyday transports.
Crossing the $34 Million mark, revealed the $36 Million stretch goal, which is the first in the series of community voted for locations!
Tamsa System – Located near the fringe of Banu space, Tamsa System features a massive central star that has collapsed into a black hole. Evidence suggests that there were at least two more planets in the system when the star collapsed before the ensuing black hole engulfed them. Only two planets remain in the system, a chthonian world and a gas giant located far from the black hole’s event horizon. Initial surveys indicate that the two outer planets are slowly being pulled towards the black hole, leaving the two as a risky proposition at best for any sort of colonization.
Voting is currently open for the next community chosen location, which will be our $37 Million stretch goal. So make sure you get your vote in!
Things to look forward to, for the coming week:
- Hangar update! Â The team is still looking to do 2 updates total before Christmas
- Wingman’s Hangar #49 (almost to the 1 year mark!)
- $35 Million mark? Can we do a million in a week, with no sale??