It's been in development since 2012 and they still can't put out a deathmatch "module" of their space sim that doesn't suck shit, despite having hired a huge chunk of CryEngine's original developers. The "social module" is a joke. Of the ... four studios I think they now have working since firing Illfonic (Austin, California, Germany, UK), Foundry 42 has been involved in both Arena Commander and Star Marine and both have experienced massive schedule delays -- and that's the studio run by Erin Roberts, who actually has a track record of getting things done. Tony Zurovec's group in Austin is literally the only CIG entity that has hit a single target date. This is no way a AAA game, and it won't be. It's a cargo cult project.
This thing doesn't ever have to be finished to be a success economically, it's perfectly doable to be profitable in perpetual "Early Access". /c
Well, if they don't finish sometime this or next year the funding will dry up, nobody wants to play a half assed game forever. It could become the next Duke Nuke'Em if they're not careful. Personally i would stop development on everything that's not necessary for the space part of the game and finish that to a releasable state. After that you can use the team to develop any parts you want to give the game a broader scope. However that's me and my last name is not Roberts so what do i know about game design and production?
It looks like apart from the environments (which to be fair are gorgeous) the "social module" is basically a glorified chatroom. Is there more to it, or is that really it? (At the end of that video: "Chris Roberts has said that he now sees it as a First-Person Shooter with spaceships you can jump into." So they're aspiring to be a low-rent version of Destiny, basically. Oh dear. )
It's basically just the starbase from Star Trek Online: A lobby for people to chat and mingle. This "module" took three years to release. A Chris Roberts project has experienced considerable delays due to an inability to keep focused and a rapidly shifting scope with no concept of deliverability? Color me shocked.
I haven't followed that game closely, will the social module use matchmaking or will you play on a specific server and just meet people from that server's population?
Sadly, this is Chris Roberts' MO: an overly ambitious perfectionist. While I bought-in a long time ago (~ Citizen # 35000), I did so because I *loved* the Wing Commander and Freelancer series of games. While Star Citizen may become an awesome game, and I will give it a fair shake once it comes out, I am not holding my breath on it. I have Elite: Dangerous and Fallout 4 and Dishonored 2 to keep me company.
I would love to see an updated version of Freelancer, which is easily one of my most favorite games. I've used the mods and such, but a nice graphics overhaul, and a game better accommodated to newer systems would be nice. I figure that's what Star Citizen will be, but I'm not looking for something that complex, or requires a monthly sub.
If you're interested in better graphics in Freelancer, this may be of interest to you. I just went through that last weekend and it works great. The game looks much better. Probably your optimism that a decent, polished game will come out of this debacle. As a real apples-to-apples comparison, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain cost about as much to make as Star Citizen has raised, and while TPP is a pretty ambitious game, it's nowhere near what SC is trying to accomplish.
And even TPP is painfully unfinished. Star Citizen is being run by a legendarily terrible project manager, and it is attempting to be a space simulator (both multiplayer and with a full single-player campaign), an FPS, a planetside adventure game, an MMO and a partridge in a pear tree, all running on an absolute monstrous mess of an engine. Its chances are not good.
How so? I've only put about 9 hours in--gameplay wise, it's pretty damn good. Or do you mean the story never goes anywhere? I can believe that!
The gameplay's fine. The story is a mess after Chapter 1 (Chapter 2 contains an unacceptable amount of grinding, too) and from data mining and stuff contained in the Collector's Edition, a huge chunk of the game was cut, rendering much of the plot incomprehensible. By all indications they ran out of money.
It's probably true that they ran out of money, but more time and money would not have made a Kojima plot comprehensible.
Firstly, thanks for the link! I'll have to grab my CD of Freelancer and see how it works. Secondly, damn. I've had some doubts since hearing about the project, and I get occasional emails when there are updates, but I didn't know it was that bad off. Wow, I didn't know they were going that far with it. I figured it was going to be similar to a Freelancer/EVE Online type game. That's way too much for one developer to handle.
From earlier: they seem to have given up doing All the Things. However, what they've settled on doing isn't encouraging.