Hav posted:

Kinda like the old empire collapsing in Foundation.

The New Era has you working as a group of technologically advanced people attempting to rebuild in essentially the hostile universe with all your computers effectively turned into expert systems with human airgaps. It's actually a neat way to resolve the technology into more of a 1990s setting.

TrustmeImLegit posted:

I love that you'd only know this thing exists from a rando website, not CIGs or any of their several shows. Its deliberate, this is for new suckers.

Mirificus posted:

Mirificus posted:

SelenicMartian posted:

Hav posted:

System Shock might have been contemporary with Traveller:TNE. I suspect that Portal owes more to System Shock in terms that GlaDOS is a subversion of the evil AI. I'm not a fan of Portal the game, but Portal the story in the game is pretty drat awesome.

Another cute concept was the bank from Pratchett's early sci-fi outings. This was effectively a planet that had become accidentally sentient through an arrangement of crystals in the crust, and had offered to become a galactic bank.

Daztek posted:

pls get a ticket and downvote these devs irl

http://www.pcgamer.com/star-citizen-and-squadron-42-will-take-to-the-stage-at-the-pc-gamer-weekender/

Sarsapariller posted:

Here, journalists, I have researched a list of convenient questions for you to ask Chris Roberts in your next totally-not-a-paid-placement interview! No need to thank me- just be sure to read them verbatim.


At Gamescom in April of 2016 you demo'd the "Alpha" of Star Citizen's 3.0 patch, which was slated to introduce NPC's and a larger game world. At the time you indicated that this was set to release before the end of the year.
At the moment, it is 2 months into 2017, and several statements by employees have given the impression that you have not even begun working on 3.0. Is that the case, and if so, what was it that you showed off last year at Gamescom? What prompted you to give late-2016 as a release date?

In an interview with Forbes in 2013, you said: "[Then] an alpha of the single-player game, and then finally a beta of the persistent universe by the end of the year (2014)." Now obviously that was wildly off the mark.
What was behind your estimates at that time, and what has changed to push the release date back by 3+ years with no end in sight? Are you addicted to that little tingle that comes from making declarative statements?

On your forums in 2014, Ben Lesnick, then director of community engagement and content strategy, said: " [... We] plan to launch the Persistent Universe sometime in 2015 and expect to have all the features we’ve talked about to date implemented and functioning (with the help of the community which will be testing them) over the course of the ensuing year." In an interview with Geekdomo in April 2014, Erin Roberts said: "For the first chapter [of Squadron 42], we're aiming for it to be towards the beginning of next year (2015)."What was behind their estimates at that time? It appears that in each of these quotes, the strategy when discussing release dates was just to say something approximately 12 months ahead of the current moment. Would you say your company has some kind of issue with estimating more than 5-6 months out? Would you say that the "Con" in CitizenCon does not, in fact, stand for "Convention?"

In this video, you begin waving your hands while describing procedural generation for star citizen in 2014. In this video, you begin waving your hands while describing procedural generation for star citizen in 2016. These appear to be the same mechanics you've been waving your hands and describing for 2 years. What have you actually accomplished, you intolerable waste of skin?

In september of last year, you angrily denied rumors that the SQ42 was delayed. Less than a month later, you did a complete 180 on that statement and announced that the game was delayed, and promised an update in the near future. It's been 4 months since then and it is increasingly apparent that you weren't anywhere close to finishing the smallest part of this project. When you lie so blatantly, do your testicles kind of shrink up into your body or have you lost the ability to feel shame?

Virtually everything in this timeline is wrong. Are you a loofah-faced poo poo gibbon?

The Titanic posted:

I personally like how the interview questions slowly get more and more hostile.

Tijuana Bibliophile posted:

You betcha

What, the entire all-star cast, including whatsisface and that random dude? Who's left making the game

The Titanic posted:

I hope somebody can get to the lingering question of:

Who is that person so important your whole company stops when they break their wrists in an unexpected biking accident?

Because whoever that person is is probably the only one making the game.

Ol Cactus Dick posted:

It's like the opposite of the Peter Molyneux interview where they just opened up with calling him a liar.

peter gabriel posted:

You need to link these so I can drive by downvote the fuckers

Tijuana Bibliophile posted:

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/5t6vjs/261a_released_to_ptu/

o7

Ol Cactus Dick posted:

OK so say CIG isn't lying, they are just so incredibly inept they can't predict a date within a 3 year window. That is good for Star Citizen.

AP posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqgzG8pupa0

intardnation posted:

Mokinokaro posted:

Someone get Derek there in a Genji mask.

Beer4TheBeerGod posted:

Unfortunately CIG's art direction, like everything else, is limited by the imagination of its creative director. Color is just one example. There's little inspiration with respect to any aspect of the game, from the appearance of characters to the starships to even the lore itself. It's pretty sad when the story of Star Citizen (the project) is more interesting and immersive than the story of Star Citizen (the game).

I feel like a lot of it is that Star Citizen has no soul. It has no defining characteristics or rules that dictate how things look or how the universe operates. If you look at something out of Star Wars or Star Trek you can associate it with that universe. Firefly did the same thing by focusing on a western, frontier aesthetic. Elite has largely done the same thing (although I think the Guatamaya ships are a bit out of synch). Wing Commander (the game) did as well with their jets in space and open hangars trying to create a WW2 look within the limitations of the technology. In WC1/2 the ships were bright and colorful, with distinctive silhouettes that attempted to evoke the look of a WW2 space plane. Between WC1 and WC2 the emphasis was placed on increasing the style by using the extra pixels to add paneling in a manner that suggested a riveted warbird. This aesthetic was also transitioned over to the Kilrathi ships, which had a distinct look but retained a "riveted together" appearance. Privateer also follows this aesthetic even with the alien Selkath craft which have a paneled look. The same thing is visible in the cut scenes, and in the inside of the cockpits. Incidentally the limited viewspace of the cockpits was a technical trick; the less you could see out the window the less you had to render.



Curiously Privateer shows an interesting turning point for Wing Commander. While the ships are still sprites they were clearly based off of 3D models. If you compare the difference between ships featured in the first WC and Privateer you can clearly see that the color palette is now muted. We see the same thing happen in later WC ships. As more freedom allows for more detail, it seems to come at the expense of color. This continues in the Wing Commander movie and ultimately now in CR's latest release.

Unfortunately the technological freedom of Star Citizen has resulted in a mish-mash of creative ideas with little in the way of a unifying appearance. Vanduul, Xian, Banu, and Human ships have little to suggest they're part of the same universe. Even the different Human manufacturers take wildly different approaches and leave a lot to be desired. Why does a Hornet have massive "hydrogen scoops" and wings but the Aurora has neither but relies on fans? Why does Drake have everything from a wingless stump of a ship in the Herald to a Cutlass to a space-jet Buccaneer? Where is the unifying theme? What universal rules bring everything together? I would argue there are none, and instead the various ships reflect the lack of vision of the creator. Given the freedom to do anything, Chris Roberts chooses to do everything.

Beer4TheBeerGod posted:

CIG kept a 2016 release date on their site after they knew SQ42 would be pushed back to 2017. That's a loving lie.

Not that it matters.

Xaerael posted:

If people funded it, I'd mass produce V for Vendetta style Derek Smart masks.

Sappo569 posted:

Beer have some sympathy. They're just a small indie firm with a handful of people working , it takes time to update things like that

Xaerael posted:

If people funded it, I'd mass produce V for Vendetta style Derek Smart masks.

ManofManyAliases posted:

I don't get it. If they have 3XX people performing various tasks, and some were hired specifically for work on flight mechanics, art, ships, etc., why can't these people just do that? Does every need to be pulled off to work on tasks outside of their job responsibility?

ManofManyAliases posted:

I don't get it. If they have 3XX people performing various tasks, and some were hired specifically for work on flight mechanics, art, ships, etc., why can't these people just do that? Does every need to be pulled off to work on tasks outside of their job responsibility?

What's key for the next few updates are:

-Delta patching
-Network code refactor
-Zoning/instancing in the mega-map
-3.0

i have it on good authority that there's supposed to be some sort of decent update to the network code by the time 2.6.2 drops. And, I don't think we'll see many more updates to 2.6.xxx until 3.0. Other than that, I'm thinking that they are still chugging away on intricate systems without divulging too much of those details to the general public. They've received ridicule enough for unveiling something pivotal too early, so outside of evocati, I cannot imagine they'll do it again.

ManofManyAliases posted:

I don't get it. If they have 3XX people performing various tasks, and some were hired specifically for work on flight mechanics, art, ships, etc., why can't these people just do that? Does every need to be pulled off to work on tasks outside of their job responsibility?

What's key for the next few updates are:

-Delta patching
-Network code refactor
-Zoning/instancing in the mega-map
-3.0

i have it on good authority that there's supposed to be some sort of decent update to the network code by the time 2.6.2 drops. And, I don't think we'll see many more updates to 2.6.xxx until 3.0. Other than that, I'm thinking that they are still chugging away on intricate systems without divulging too much of those details to the general public. They've received ridicule enough for unveiling something pivotal too early, so outside of evocati, I cannot imagine they'll do it again.

ManofManyAliases posted:

What's key for the next few updates are:

-Delta patching
-Network code refactor
-Zoning/instancing in the mega-map
-3.0