Allow me to answer all of your questions.
Will the squadron 42 part be story driven with WC type cut scenes between battles?
Or is it just going to be a MP with a kill board total?
Squadron 42 is the single player game, completely story driven, with cut scenes just like wing commander was. By the end of the year, Episode 1 of SQ42 will be released, it can be played 100% OFFLINE. You can also play ONLINE in coop mode with your friends dropping in as your wingmen to help you out in a mission. You will progress in story, they will not since it's your game, and they're the wingmen, but if you're a good friend, you'll drop into their game and lend a hand... Assuming you're both playing the story out. It's mostly compared to WC3 in style.
With all the money this game has gotten it should be finished by now....I'm thinking they are trying to do TO MUCH.
It's impossible to be finished by now unless you have exceptionally unrealistic expectations or don't have a single idea about how long it takes to staff up a project. Most/all AAA titles are in development for 3 to 4 years before they are even announced or have anything leaked about them. SC was announced before the project was even started, is currently in the beginning of year 3, and year 1 was mostly spent hiring people. So far, we have a hangar, we have lots of ships, we have various multiplayer combat/racing modes (including coop), and come Tuesday, a couple of first person shooter modes. One is your typical, run around and shoot each other coop that we're all familiar with, the other is the zero gravity arena that you have seen in the movie Ender's Game. If you haven't seen the movie, go watch it, it's pretty cool. This type of FPS hasn't been done before so work had to be done to figure out how to do it. This doesn't include the time spent not only basically rewriting the cryengine to be a 64bit program, as well as creating a way to run the game with drop in loading so that assets are loaded on the fly so you don't have sit sit through load screens all of the time, to creating an entirely new way to show damage on a ship dynamically and continue it with persistence rather then creating a bunch of models and meshes. The holy grail of damage modeling as some are calling it.
No way I'm giving a dime to walk around a hanger or arena type dogfights with no story/ purpose....
And that is a choice that is perfectly acceptable for you to make. You don't have to give a dime to the project until after the game and everything is completed and released. No one is forcing you to open your wallet. This thread is for the people who are willing to open their wallets though, but maybe just can't afford to do so. It's for those whom are interested, but maybe just need that last little nudge to jump in. I get it, I was that type, I knew about the project before Sinperium started this thread, and it still took me until April of the following year (6 months pretty much) before I budged enough to buy the cheapest package being offered. If you are not the type of person whom can be convinced, then please, keep your negative comments and judgements to yourself until after release, when you find yourself more willing to be a part of it, then by all means, comment and judge away. There is a purpose for these things though. To test and break shit. Basically, the general public is the QA and balancing department. What would you rather play? A game that has 30 or so staffers doing QA and balancing, or one that has hundreds of thousands of volunteers who are dedicating their time to making sure it works right? We've found so many bugs QA missed. We've found countless problems with ship designs and models, meshes making odd seams and doors that don't close just right and stuff. There was even a community discovered work around for older DirectX cards that allowed people with older systems to still load up the hangar... At least until it was locked down.
I bet Chris Roberts bought himself a nice chair to sit in on your dime. I'll wait five years till its done....
Well, I don't know how nice it is, but it's certainly better then mine, next time I visit the Santa Monica office, I'll be sure to ask if I can sit in it so I can report back my thoughts and impressions. In the mean time, feel free to watch any of the 10 for the chairman videos, you get a good look at his office, his chair, his wall decorations, his desk, his PC and his lamp... Oh and the decorations were all gifts from fans, so no money was spent on them.
If you're going to wait for 5 years for the game, that's your choice, but I'd ask that you withhold your thoughts and criticisms for 5 years as well. If you're not going to be a part of it, then it's not your place to openly badmouth it. Thank you.
Many AAA title are made with far more money than they have received, and who says they shouldn't aim high?
Not true, none are made using more money then they have received. Investors always foot the bill and get paid back with the sales. If sales are weak and the game makes less then it cost, the investors are shit out of luck and they lose money. If a game does really well, they get their money back, plus a little bit, and the rest goes to the company that made the game.
Besides which it takes 3-4 years at least to make a decent PC game, rushed jobs have proven that time and time again. Throwing more money often won't help with the quality side of it, that takes time.
Indeed.
We are just starting year 3 of development and the first episode of squadron 42 will be out by the end of the year (after only 1 year of Foundry42 even being in existence). Of course, we already have flyable ships, drivable vehicles, moveable characters, hangars, and space environments, Tuesday will add FPS, this summer we are expecting to get the social module, and by the end of the year, the PU alpha which ties all of these modules together and creates the first part of the universe (this timeline is established from the PAXEast event yesterday, you'll get to see the video on Monday). If all goes well, year 4 will be spent expanding that universe.
To me.....and I have been watching from afar..
it seems this game is exactly what it is ....a bunch of modules that have no center, nothing to connect the dots.
That is because you're too far away, and are clearly short sighted. Your observations are correct in that they are just modules, but each module is just a piece of the Persistent Universe. When it reaches a completed enough state when testing and balancing can begin, it's given to us, and we do our best to break things, find exploits, and get into even the oddest of places where bugs may be hiding. When we have all of the modules in place and under testing, and they're approaching a level of polish that most seem to be happy with, we get them all tied together with the release of the PU alpha. Then the real games begin.
Your following questions will be answered one at a time because there are two answers for every single one of them.
In SQ42, you are a UEE Navy pilot, you fly missions, success or failure determines your next mission, if you move up in the ranks, or if you're dishonorably discharged. We've already been promised a second single player game once work on SQ42 is finished, and the idea being kicked around was that you'd be a pirate and do pirate things. Both seem like a hell of a lot of fun. Oh, and your actions in SQ42 will carry over into the PU, so if you're an asshole and get booted out, don't expect to play nice with military NPC's in the PU. However, the less lawful types will like you more, so there is an advantage to that. Use some more long term vision and planning if you plan on going into the PU once you've completed SQ42. Actions have consequences, good and bad.
In the PU, you are whom ever you desire to be. The game is player skill based. This means if you're a shitty pilot, you should probably not enter into very many racing competitions. If you suck at running around and shooting at things, then it'd be best to avoid the FPS stuff when possible. Me? Well, I was excited for the racing, but after discovering I'm not exceptional behind the controls and would likely not win in a real competitive race, I've decided to make that more of a hobby, something that's best done on the amateur courses, and stick with the big three that I'm traditionally very good at. Mining, salvage, and long haul trading. I may have to focus more on one, but I've got the resources to make them all happen
In SQ42, that would be pirates and the Vanduul for sure, probably some Xi'An mixed in as well. No doubt there will probably be another Tavarin uprising that needs to be squashed. Foundry 42 is being very tight lipped about SQ42 for a reason, they want us to be surprised. The lack of information out there is a very good thing because I want to play the game and enjoy it, not hear all about it then finally get my hands on it 8 or 9 months down the road. Wouldn't you agree? It's gonna be a blast.
In the PU it is whom ever you've pissed off. It's some random person or NPC that's there just to make you have a bad day. Hell, depending on what you do and where you do it at, there may not be any bad guys. Bad is a purely subjective thing. Is Robin Hood a bad guy? To the rich, he's a bully and a criminal, to the poor, he's a hero. What about Jesus? To the Romans and the Jews that ran the temples, he was an outlaw, a rebel, even a terrorist. To the others, he was their leader, their savior, the son of God. Good and bad are whatever you make of it. I cannot answer that for you.
In SQ42, absolutely, and it branches, and we've been assured, that we'll want to replay missions after we've completed them to explore other options. What that is exactly, we'll start to find out when episode 1 is released later this year.
In the PU, it depends. There's always a story. You write one every day. All that matters is if you decide to include others in it, to tell the world about it, to be a part of someone's, or do you just keep everything to yourself and your story dies with you. Your call. No one is twisting your arm.
In SQ42, absolutely. It depends on what you did in your career. How it ends, we'll find out.
In the PU, nope. It will go on as long as there is a server, and with modding being a huge part of the game right from the conception stage, there will always be a server. The public server is expected to last for at least a decade, private servers will outlast the public server. People still play Freelancer, a good game you should check out to get a glimpse of how the PU will operate, only on a lesser functioning, more fundamental level.
Or is it a money machine for people to collect ships and kill boards.....
In Sq42, nope. There's nothing to buy in the campaign. The military has given you everything you'll need.
In the PU, to some, it's all about the killboards. To some, it's all about the 1st place wins. To some it's all about nothing at all. To some it's all about hanging out with your friends. I'm not you, I don't know what you're interested in, but I will say, once you do get in the PU, while you're trying to figure that out, I've always got room for more crew, and if you prove capable, maybe even a captain's spot.
Now a side note about real money here. This game is not pay to win, it's pay to get ahead for a little bit, or as I like to call it, pay to catch up, because lets be honest, I have a life, and a job, family, social obligations and what not, just like many others whom played wing commander way back in the day. We've all grown up. What I don't have is a whole lot of time. So in my case, I'm supplementing my lack of time, by funding development to make this the BDSSE (to get ahead in the early stages) and will probably be funding the continued operation of the servers for years to come as new stuff comes out and I lack the time to work my ass off for it. In this case, real world money will be spent to buy in game credits, which can then be used to buy anything in the game. However, for example, someone like Major Stress, doesn't have a whole lot of funding available at the moment, but may have a good amount of time. He earns in game credits, in game obviously, and buys the same shit I buy. The only difference is he put the time in and played the game, I went to work in the real world, and spent some of my income on catching up to him while I was away. In the end, he still holds the advantage because he played the game and gained more experience, got better at the controls, found a new little spot to earn the credits... Something like that I won't have and will have to rely on people like him to be nice enough to tell me, or at least sell to me.
People WANTED a new WC and I don't see anything that makes it one........
People WANTED a new game that doesn't leave them feeling ripped off at the end, that is made for the PC, not dumbed down for a console and then ported back to the PC that it was created on, that reminds them of the past but brings it all to a whole new level of fun and entertainment, that they can play over and over again should they desire to. YOU wanted a new wing commander. While a lot feel the same as you, there are a shit ton of Freelancer fans out there that want a game as well, and a whole lot of us that played and want both. Don't lump everyone into YOUR wants. That being said...
Star Citizen's SQ42 is the next wing commander that we've always wanted. Remember, Foundry42 is not releasing details intentionally so that we can all be pleasantly surprised and enjoy a good single player offline game (or an online coop if you so desire) which will be starting at the end of this year. I can't wait.
Star Citizen's PU is the next Freelancer/Starlancer that we've always wanted. A universe that will last and continue to be developed for years to come. A place for us to escape reality and make a living IN SPAAAAAAACE! (Read that with a deep announcer voice.) A place to hang out with friends and do fun things. A place to be a part of something bigger, or give it a go lone wolf style. A place to make a name for yourself or to be destined to be forgotten. I can't wait and I don't have to since I get to test the modules out as they are released as the basic funtionalities of the PU are being built.
See you in 5 years.
