CitizenCon Hype!
Let's get this out of way first - Squadron 42 has been officially confirmed for release in 2016! Watch this opening cinematic before going on (done with a heavily modified Cry Engine, in real time):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EC4WHPxnrk
A few things of note here:
- We are AT WAR! The Vanduul are at our gates! We will survive!
- Featuring a cast including: Gary Oldman (!), Mark Hamill (!!!), John Rhys-Davies, and too many others to properly give time to.
- Seriously - Commissioner Gordan, Luke Skywalker, Gimli, Scully, The Onion Knight; talk about an all-star cast!
Look at what I found! It's a demo of the Persistent Universe!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrpeLpQWzTk - just bask in it for a few minutes. This reminds me a lot of the multicrew demo CIG showed a while back. We see many of the same features (multiplayer first/third person, ship entry and exit, quantum jumping, EVA, ship and first-person combat; it's amazing to see all the work they've been doing really come together and form something playable. Anyone who has doubts about the progress and future of Star Citizen would do well to watch this video.
Is that...is that a new ship? Is that the
Aegis Sabre? Why, yes. Yes it is.
Part of Aegis Dynamics’ Phase Two of new ship models, the Sabre was designed as a space superiority fighter for those situations where you need to leave a lighter footprint. While no one will deny the Hornet’s place as the UEE Navy’s brawler, the Sabre offers an elegant and nimble alternative to handle an ever-evolving combat landscape. Designed to be a rapid responder, the Sabre is more than capable of establishing battlefield dominance for any number of combat sorties.
Engineers looked equally to the past and the future to build the Sabre . Incorporating Aegis’ battle-tested power distribution systems into their dependable ship-hull construction while developing cutting-edge flight and system technology, the Sabre is truly a next generation fighter that represents the new Aegis.
Aegis Dynamics has designed the Sabre in response to a United Empire of Earth Navy’s request for proposal for a next-generation fighter capable of outmatching the Vanduul STINGER-class heavy fighter in speed and turning. While the Navy has not yet accepted the the Sabre bid, Aegis has opted to make a run of production prototypes available to licensed civilian operators.
Behold, the
ARK Starmap! Warning: CIG is not known for being kind to your computer. Those with older hardware, ye have been warned.
Here's the video.
The
Ship Upgrade System is now up and running. You should be able to switch between, upgrade, etc ships much easier with this new interface and functionality.
You can see the CitizenCon Full Presentation, or various parts of it,
here.
I've been following the whole Escapist article controversy. This presentation alone buries many of the points Lizzy (as well as Derek Smart) seem to be spewing. The tech is there; the gameplay is there; the funds are growing; the hype is never-ending. What we saw was nothing more than a hit-piece targeting CIG and Sandy, written by an inexperienced journalist who's only sources were anonymous. Sources, I might add, which were shown to be lying about employment (a la the employee ID), pulled from an anonymous Glassdoor review, and heavily mirroring the agenda Derek smart has been fruitlessly pushing for months. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and the Escapist has published none of that. Perhaps the allegations are true, or at least parts of them hold merit. But if you're going to accuse a large company of violating Federal laws regulation discrimination and personally attack the Head of Public Relations, you had better be damn sure that your sources are air tight. The Escapist
failed to uphold their own standards of journalistic integrity.
We are backers for a reason, and
current CIG employees do not agree with what was said in the article. This mud slinging went to far as to elicit an
official response from Chris Roberts himself about the baseless claims being made. The most unfortunate part of this is how it's pulling him away from working on the game, and forcing him to fight ignorant and hateful claims from people who have absolutely no idea what's going on inside the company.
It's no surprise that Star Citizen is getting the kinds of hate that we're seeing now. As Sq42 nears completion in the coming year, I expect that Fear, Doubt, and Uncertainty campaigns to be present in full force. When we see the Persistent Universe near completion, it will be the same issue. What ultimately matters is that CIG has promised to deliver the Best Damn Space Sim Ever, and they are doing everything in their power to make that happen. Let their game stand - or fall - on it's own merits. Running stories about disgruntled former employees does not affect the game. Believing DS propaganda does not affect the game. Rumors about money mismanagement do no affect the game. Stand back, let them work, and judge that work for what it is, and for what they've promised it will represent. At the end of the day, this is a video game about flying space ships and shooting things; let's not get so entrenched in rumors, hearsay, and propaganda that we lose sight of the point of this entire
Endeavor - to make a fun, long-lasting, immersive space sim.