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So will this have the simplicity of Freelancer or will it be more like X2/3 etc?

There is still nothing IMO that beats Freelancer. I played Freelancer again a few months ago and boy its still good.

So will this have the simplicity of Freelancer or will it be more like X2/3 etc?

There is still nothing IMO that beats Freelancer. I played Freelancer again a few months ago and boy its still good.

That's where I'm at. I can't get into X3 because of the occasionally extremely stupid AI. I'd guess X: Rebirth (being on a new engine instead of the same one they've used for ages) will be more intelligent, but we'll see....meanwhile, can't wait for this...despite the name. :p

Some great information from the draft FAQ:

Is Star Citizen an MMO?

No! Star Citizen will take the best of all possible worlds, ranging from a permanent, persistent world similar to those found in MMOs to an offline, single player campaign like those found in the Wing Commander series. The game will include the option for private servers, like Freelancer, and will offer plenty of opportunities for players who are interested in modding the content. Unlike many games, none of these aspects is an afterthought: they all combine to form the core of the Star Citizen experience.

How will modding work?

Players will be given full control of their game! When operating private servers, players will be able and encouraged to mod the game. It doesn?t stop there, though: we hope to institute a ?mod approval? process that will allow the best of the best player created ships and other additions to be integrated into the central persistent world as well.

Is Star Citizen ?free to play?? A subscription game?

To play Star Citizen you need only to buy the initial game. There will never be a monthly charge for usage. Some in-game items may be available as microtransactions, but we will NEVER sell anything that can?t be acquired through honest (and fun!) gameplay.

Can you estimate the system requirements for Star Citizen?

There will be a lot of optimization in the next 24-months, plus the usual fast pace of technology, so it is hard to say absolutely. At the moment you will be able to play it on a 4GB dual core PC with a GTX 460 or greater, but not with full fidelity. If you?re running an i7 2500, 2600, 2700 or better with a GTX 670 or greater you will get the full experience and we will only scale up from there. You will need a dedicated GPU. Since the game is built on CryEngine, their system requirements will stay roughly the same as ours.

http://www.robertssp....com/draft-faq/

Mod support (with popular mods possibly being added officially), support for private servers, and single-player mode without having to go online... I'm definitely going to buy a new gaming PC for this game.

What are the max quality system requirements for CryEngine 3?

If Crysis 2 is any indication, then you'll need a GeForce GTX 670 or Radeon HD 7950 to run it at 60 FPS in DX11 mode with all settings maxed out (1920x1080). Star Citizen won't be out until 2014 so the performance of high-end video cards out now will shift to mid-range video cards later on.

Star Citizen, Wing Commander creator says PC held back by consoles; ?no one?s really pushing it?

Star-Citizen-Carrier-610x239.jpg

?The power of a modern PC in terms of realising heavy visual fidelity is great,? says Chris Roberts, boss-man at Roberts Space Industries, the dev behind the upcoming, hugely ambitious space game Star Citizen. ?Basically I can do stuff that a few years ago you?d have to pre-render on workstations.?

Even if Star Citizen is some way off being a fully working game, it?s already proof that current high-end tech is capable of much more than is often asked of it. We?ve seen Star Citizen running in real time with our own eyeballs ? and in terms of polygons alone it outstrips a lot of current day games by a substantial factor. Roberts himself puts that factor at ten.

?Because I?m not worrying about current day consoles, there?s a level of detail I can do that wouldn?t otherwise be possible,? he says. ?Just the memory it would take to store these textures ? you just don?t have that on the consoles.

?I made my name on the PC and I?m really sad that the PC isn?t being pushed the way it used to: I want to get back to that Wing Commander thing: ?Yeah, upgrade your machine to play this.? I don?t want to make a mobile game.?

[...]

http://www.pcgamer.c...lly-pushing-it/

I agree with Chris Roberts and I felt this way about PC gaming as far back as 2007. As a PC gamer, it's frustrating when developers cater to the lowest common denominator: consoles. PC hardware is so much more capable but a lot of that power isn't being utilized. I miss the days when developers would quickly make the jump to a new version of DirectX. Now, most developers haven't made the transition to DX10/11. Almost half the users on Steam have DX11-capable systems and over 80% have DX10-capable systems.

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As a PC gamer, it's frustrating when developers cater to the lowest common denominator: consoles. PC hardware is so much more capable but a lot of that power isn't being utilized. I miss the days when developers would quickly make the jump to a new version of DirectX. Now, most developers haven't made the transition to DX10/11. Almost half the users on Steam have DX11-capable systems and over 80% have DX10-capable systems.

MS caused this disaster but it's gone on way too long. DX9 had a really long run and Vista (and DX10 really) being as unpopular as it was didn't help.

But yeah, I'm sick of the wait for this transition. It's past time. Fortunately, we're seeing a hell of a lot more DX11 games this year and undoubtedly more next year. I'd expect there'll still be some high profile DX9 releases next year but nowhere near as many.

The same Chris Robert of Wing Commander and Origin fame? That is a big trip down memory lane but that brings some good memories.

The one and only :D if anyone can pull this off is Mr Roberts. Ive allready pledged $40 solely because its Chris Roberts, the guy is a legend of mine

the whole concept is mindblowing!

I really look forward to this. i pledged because its chris roberts but also becuase this looks awesome as a fun game. Wing commander 1-4 were awesome and i still play them all the time. Awesome work from just what he has shown.

  • 3 weeks later...

Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium have received more than $3 million in pledges for Star Citizen, and they still have ten days to go.

Wing Commander developer Chris Roberts and his new company Cloud Imperium said on Thursday that their cloud-funding efforts for the upcoming space sim for the PC, Star Citizen, has surpassed three million dollars in pledges.

According to Cloud Imperium, this is a combined number stemming from the company's self-managed crowd funding program which has received more than 2 million pledges, and the Kickstarter program which has brought in more than 1 million. So far there are around 44 thousand backers, and both crowd funding projects still have another 10 days to go.

"It?s hard to believe we?re already at this important milestone," said Roberts. "It?s far beyond our initial objective and well into some of the stretch goals?and we still have 10 days left in the campaign. This amazing success is all thanks to our incredible fans.

"This is extremely exciting for me and our team because it will enable us to create the game we?ve been talking about to our fans over the past month. But we can do even more. I?m still hoping that we?ll reach four million dollars before we close. This will allow us to do more sooner, especially on things like our modder tools."

The support Cloud Imperium has received should speak volumes about the PC gaming community's desire for more AAA, high-class titles. For years PC gamers have seemingly been tossed aside as publishers and developers have flocked to the consoles, citing piracy among other hardware and financial reasons. Even Microsoft, which launched Windows 8 a few weeks back, released the fourth installment of its flagship Halo franchise just days ago without producing a PC counterpart.

After spending ten years in the Hollywood film industry, Roberts has returned to the PC gaming sector to create the game he wanted to make back when he was still developing the original Wing Commander in the early 1990s. His current endeavor, Star Citizen, has been in the works for the past 12 months, and will be launched exclusively for the PC platform.

"[it] will include all the Chris Roberts hallmarks that fans of his games have come to expect over the years: high quality cutting-edge visuals and technology, a virtual world that is immersive and detailed, a sophisticated storyline that is wide in scope and visceral, heart-pounding space combat," the company said on Thursday.

Earlier this week, Cloud Imperium launched a pledge referral program. Current backers are encouraged to enlist their friends in the crowd funding efforts. In turn, they'll have a chance to win prizes like an Alienware Aurora desktop computer, Oculus Rift headsets, Nvidia Geforce graphics cards and Logitech joysticks and gamepads.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Star-Citizen-Chris-Roberts-Cloud-Imperium-Cword-Funding-PC-Gaming,19032.html

Have any games actually been made from crowd funding money? I see plenty of games getting funding but I can't think of one that has actually been made.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
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