Star Citizen: Difference between revisions

MMO first person space simulator game
VisualWikitext
imported>Alistair3149
(→‎Trailer: Use newer video)
 
No edit summary
 
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Cleanup|Outdated and missing citations}}
{{Infobox temp
{{Infobox temp
|title = Star Citizen
|title = Star Citizen
Line 12: Line 11:
|row 4 info = Microsoft Windows
|row 4 info = Microsoft Windows
|row 5 title = Engine
|row 5 title = Engine
|row 5 info = [[Star Engine]] (Heavily modified Amazon Lumberyard)
|row 5 info = [[Star Engine]] (Heavily modified [[Amazon Lumberyard]])
|row 6 title = Release
|row 6 title = Release
|row 6 info = {{ubl|TBD|Available now in Alpha}}
|row 6 info = {{ubl|TBD|Available now in Alpha}}
|row 7 title = |row 7 info = |row 8 title = |row 8 info = |row 9 title = |row 9 info = |row 10 title = |row 10 info = |row 11 title = |row 11 info = |row 12 title = |row 12 info = }}
|row 7 title = |row 7 info = |row 8 title = |row 8 info = |row 9 title = |row 9 info = |row 10 title = |row 10 info = |row 11 title = |row 11 info = |row 12 title = |row 12 info = }}


'''''Star Citizen''''' is an upcoming massively multiplayer online [[First Person Universe]] video game for Microsoft Windows developed by [[Chris Roberts|Chris Roberts']] company [[Cloud Imperium]], and is planned to be published by [[Roberts Space Industries (publisher)|Roberts Space Industries]]. The development started in late 2012, currently in development across four studios in the United States and Europe, and there is no official release date as of 2017.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite RSI|url=press|text=Star Citizen: Press Kit}}</ref>
'''''Star Citizen''''' is a crowdfunded massively multiplayer online first person space simulator game for Microsoft Windows, developed by [[Chris Roberts|Chris Roberts']] company [[Cloud Imperium]], planned to be published by [[Roberts Space Industries (publisher)|Roberts Space Industries]].  


The development includes a single-player campaign titled ''[[Squadron 42]]''.
It was announced in September 2012, is currently playable in alpha and there is no official release date as of 2024.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite RSI|url=press|text=Star Citizen: Press Kit}}</ref>


== Development ==
The development includes a standalone single-player campaign titled ''[[Squadron 42]]''.<ref name=":3" />
''Star Citizen'' is in open development by the [[Development Team|development team]] across 5 studios, [[CIG Austin]] and [[CIG Los Angeles]] in the USA, [[Foundry 42 Manchester]] and [[Foundry 42 Derby]] in the UK, and [[Foundry 42 Frankfurt]] in Germany. The team regularly share updates, behind the scenes videos and developer commentary, and also made early builds of the game available, so that the backers can test and provide feedback while it is in development.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>


Prior to the release of [[Star Citizen Alpha 3.0.0|Alpha 3.0.0]], the development team utilized the traditional [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterfall_model Waterfall] methodology for each build. Game builds are deployed when it's feature complete which results in moving deadlines, particularly the eight months gap between [[Star Citizen Alpha 2.6.3|Alpha 2.6.3]] and 3.0.0. After the release of Alpha 3.0.0, the development shifted to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agile_software_development Agile] to speed up the development time. Game builds are scheduled to be released quarterly, and features will be moved between builds if necessary.<ref>[https://youtu.be/qOjXfNnhxf0 Star Citizen: Building a Schedule for a Universe]</ref>
== Plot ==
{{About||a brief list of events in lore|Historical Timeline|a list of pages related to lore|:Category:Lore}}
Star Citizen is a science fiction game, with players taking the role of humans in the milky way 930 years into the future, with the [[United Empire of Earth]] ruling over dozens of systems, worlds and moons in the 30th century, and [[:Category:Alien Races|aliens]] controling their own systems and worlds. While billions of Humans live within the Empire, only a small percentage have earned the right to call themselves [[Citizen]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/star-citizen/universe|text=Universe|accessdate=}}</ref>  


=== Funding ===
==Gameplay==
Its development is 100% funded by a record-breaking [[crowdfunding campaign]]. It is the largest crowd funded project and game in the world (recognized by Guinness World Records in 2015), with more than $142 million raised.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=funding-goals|text=Star Citizen: The Stretch Goal}}</ref> Non-development related content such as behind-the-scenes shows, digital publications are funded by [[subscription]] revenue from the [[subscriber]]s.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=faq/subscriptions|text=Star Citizen: Subscriptions FAQ}}</ref>
The game will be a sandbox featuring 100 [[Planetary system|planetary systems]] to explore in their entirety, and a large variety of [[careers]]. Besides space itself, players can also play aboard [[Space station|space stations]] and on the surface of [[Planet|planets]]. A large number of diverse space and ground [[:Category:Vehicles|vehicles]] are or will be available to pilot, ranging from personal ships to large industrial ships or carriers, via tanks or an [[Titan exosuit|exosuit]]. Many vehicles require to be multicrewed by players acting as a team to be operated optimally, with the planned possibility to hire NPCs. Players can freely move around their vehicles and enter or exit them at will including in space, and spaceships can be boarded. Specific components can be destroyed and affect the functioning of the vehicle. Similarly, localized damage applies to players themselves, and prosthetics are planned to replace destroyed body parts.


=== Alpha modules ===
Immersion is an important element, affecting aspects of the game such as avoiding displaying health points or damage percentages in the UI. It favors a [[First Person Universe|first person universe]] approach, where players pilot and interact with spaceships rather than playing as the spaceships.


==== Persistent Universe ====
==[[Wing Commander: Privateer|Development]]==
{{About||the development timeline|Development timeline|more information about the development team|Development team|a list of pages related to development|Category:Development}}
 
Star Citizen is created by [[Chris Roberts]], who is known for creating the ''[[Wing Commander (series)|Wing Commander]]'' games as well as for games such a''s'' ''[[Starlancer]]'' and ''[[Freelancer (video game)|Freelancer]]'', and who described Star Citizen as ''Wing Commander'' and ''[[Wing Commander: Privateer|Privateer]]'' blended together.<ref name=":2" /> 
 
Pre-production started towards the end of 2011, with development starting in late 2012.<ref>[https://www.gamesindustry.biz/how-indie-film-financing-could-shape-the-future-of-games How indie film financing could shape the future of games], [[Ortwin Freyermuth]], gamesindustry.biz, June 23, 2014</ref><ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20160914002052/https://www.simplygon.com/news/cloud-imperium-games-chooses-simplygon When I was first prototyping Star Citizen back in 2011 I did a lot of research on various LOD processes]", Cloud Imperium games chooses Simplygon, simplygon.com, 28th April 2014, archived</ref><ref>"[https://web.archive.org/web/20160705061544/https://www.themittani.com/features/exclusive-interview-star-citizens-chris-roberts Basically I’ve been working with a small team over the course of the past year to get the early prototyping and production done. The team has varied in scale from just me, essentially, to about 10 people. That’s just the actual work though.]", Exclusive Interview: Star Citizen's Chris Roberts, themittani.com,  2012-10-19, archived</ref>
 
Initially intended to release in 2014, following the massive success of the crowdfunding, several stretch goals were added, and in September 2013 a poll was held including whether the fundraising should be stopped when reaching 23 millions, mission achieved, or if it should be kept up through development and continue to offer stretch goal rewards in addition to extra features and development milestones. The vote ended with 87% for the later.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13266-letter-from-the-chairman-19-million|text=Letter from the Chairman: $19 Million!|accessdate=2013-09-17}}</ref><ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13284-Letter-From-The-Chairman-20-Million|text=Letter from the Chairman: $20 Million!|accessdate=2013-09-26}}</ref> In December 2014, the fundraising reached 65 millions, reaching the last stretch goal.<ref name=":4" /><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160305121402/http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/dec/03/star-citizen-crowd-funding-record-65m-game Star Citizen sets crowdfunding record as players spend $65m on spaceships], The Guardian,  3 December 2014, archived</ref> Over the development, several modules and patches got delayed, and Chris Roberts eventually stopped announcing any release dates.
 
The team constantly share updates, behind the scenes videos and developer commentary, and makes early builds of the game available, so that the backers can test and provide feedback while the game is in open development.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/@RobertsSpaceInd Star Citizen], YouTube</ref><ref name="ReferenceA" />
 
''Star Citizen''  development is currently taking place across five studio, CIG Austin and CIG Los Angeles in the USA, CIG Manchester in the UK, CIG Frankfurt in Germany, and Turbulent in Canada.<ref>[https://cloudimperiumgames.com/join-us Join Us], cloudimperiumgames.com</ref>
===Funding===
{{Main|Crowdfunding campaign}}
 
The development of Star Citizen is funded by a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign. It is the largest crowd funded project and game in the world, earning a [[Guinness world records|Guinness World Records]] in 2015, with more than $657 million raised by the end of 2023.<ref name=":4">{{Cite RSI|url=funding-goals|text=Star Citizen: The Stretch Goal}}</ref>
 
The game costs 45.00 USD to buy and comes as a starter package with a ship.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/store/pledge/browse/game-packages/45?search=&sort=price&direction=asc|text=Pledge Store|accessdate=2024-01-02}}</ref> Despite being an MMO there is no subscription model to keep playing the game over time.<ref>"[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen No Subscriptions]", Star Citizen Kickstarter</ref> Anything bought beyond the starter package which includes the digital download itself is unnecessary and considered as a donation to support the game development, with a ship gifted as a thank you. This originates from the early game crowdfunding with crowdfunding tiers.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sth_Rfygkbc&feature=youtu.be Sandi Roberts Interview Part One...How Star Citizen Came To Be], Inforunners, YouTube, 25 Apr 2022</ref><ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYFCfRK4e6Y Star Citizen: An Interview With Chris Roberts] , Forbes, 18 May 2013</ref>
 
Non-development related content such as behind-the-scenes [[:Category:Video series|shows]] or digital publications are funded by optional [[subscription|subscriptions]] revenue from subscribers, who receive complimentary rewards such as access to [[Jump Point (magazine)|Jump Point]] magazine and [[Subscriber flair|flair]] items every month.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=faq/subscriptions|text=Star Citizen: Subscriptions FAQ}}</ref>
 
=== Alpha modules===
In 2013, Cloud Imperium Games began releasing parts of the game, known as modules, for players to try gameplay features before release.
 
====Persistent Universe====
{{Main|Persistent Universe}}
{{Main|Persistent Universe}}
The core MMO component of ''Star Citizen'' is referred to as the Persistent Universe.{{Fact}}


It is the spiritual successor to ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freelancer_(video_game) Freelancer]''.
The Persistent Universe is the core MMO component of ''Star Citizen'' in which players can create their avatars, freely navigate around the released parts of the universe, and play the sandbox as they wish including for example trading, mining, fighting, criminal activities or missions.<ref name=":5" />


The Persistent Universe can be accessed from the lobby.{{Fact}}
It is the spiritual successor to ''[[wikipedia:Freelancer_(video_game)|Freelancer]]'' and ''[[Wing Commander: Privateer|Privateer]]''.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/live/m9FmVWiUoFo?feature=shared&t=1544 Happy Hour Museum: Wing Commander Privateer], Star Citizen, YouTube, 31 march 2017</ref>


==== Arena Commander ====
====Arena Commander====
{{Main|Arena Commander}}
{{Main|Arena Commander}}
This in-fiction competitive arena-based space combat sim is available now.{{Fact}}


''Arena Commander'' can be accessed via the [[SimPod]] or from the [[Lobby]].{{Fact}}
Arena Commander is a competitive in-fiction arena-based space combat simulator currently available, in which players can fly ships in several game modes, be it against other players or AI opponents.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/module/arena-commander|text=Arena Commander|accessdate=}}</ref>


==== Star Marine ====
====Star Marine====
{{Main|Star Marine}}
{{Main|Star Marine}}
This in-fiction competitive arena-based FPS game will be available as of [[Star Citizen Alpha 2.6.0|Alpha 2.6]].{{Fact}}


''Star Marine'' will be accessed via the [[SimPod]] or from the [[Lobby]].{{Fact}}
Star Marine is a competitive in-fiction arena-based ground combat simulator, in which players can fight each other with [[:Category:Personal weapons|personal weapons]] on several maps in several game modes, such as elimination, last stand or capture and hold.


==== Private Server ====
It has been available since January 2017 [[Star Citizen Alpha 2.6.0|Alpha 2.6.0]].<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link//15653-star-citizen-alpha-260|text=Star Citizen Alpha 2.6.0|accessdate=2017-01-03}}</ref>
 
====Hangar Module ====
{{Main|Hangar Module}}
 
The Hangar Module enables players to explore or modify their released vehicles and to interact with the ship's systems. The hangar also features decorations and flair that can be placed and arranged within the hangar.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/hangar-module|text=Hangar Module|accessdate=}}</ref>
 
==== Private Server====
{{Main|Private Server}}
{{Main|Private Server}}
This aspect of ''Star Citizen'' will not be implemented until after release.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=comm-link/transmission/14339-10-For-The-Chairman-Episode-47|text=10 FOR THE CHAIRMAN - EPISODE 47, Question 10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite RSI|url=comm-link/transmission/14964-10-For-The-Chairman|text=10 FOR THE CHAIRMAN - EPISODE 67, Question 7}}</ref>


== Squadron 42 ==
Star Citizen will let the players run their own private servers, including modding and playing offline, which will be implemented after the game has been released and running for some time.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaoGxOxzAwc&t=6650s StarCast 108 - Disco Lando, Cap Richard, Bzerker, Cliffy & Domo], geekdomo, YouTube, 10 janv. 2016</ref><ref>{{Cite RSI|url=comm-link/transmission/14339-10-For-The-Chairman-Episode-47|text=10 FOR THE CHAIRMAN - EPISODE 47, Question 10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite RSI|url=comm-link/transmission/14964-10-For-The-Chairman|text=10 FOR THE CHAIRMAN - EPISODE 67, Question 7}}</ref>
 
==Squadron 42==
{{Main|Squadron 42}}
{{Main|Squadron 42}}
Although often bundled under the ''Star Citizen'' umbrella, ''Squadron 42'' is a standalone game.{{Fact}}


''Squadron 42'' is a cinematic singleplayer space game featuring space combat, FPS, and a branching plotline.{{Fact}}
''Squadron 42'' is a separate, standalone cinematic singleplayer campaign featuring space combat, FPS, and a branching plotline, taking place in the Star Citizen universe, and in which the player incarnates a member of the armed forces.<ref>[https://youtu.be/IRE2BBQR4tc?feature=shared&t=1021 Wingman's Hangar ep011 March 8, 201]3, Star Citizen, YouTube</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/squadron42|text=Squadron 42|accessdate=}}</ref>
 
It is notable among others for its cast which includes among others Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Jack Huston, Eleanor Tomlinson, Harry Treadaway, Sophie Wu, Damson Idris, Eric Wareheim, Rhona Mitra, Henry Cavill, and Ben Mendelsohn.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5194726/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm Squadron 42 Full Cast & Crew], imdb</ref>


It is the spiritual successor to [[Wing Commander (game)|Wing Commander]].{{Fact}}
It is the spiritual successor to [[Wing Commander (series)|''Wing Commander'']].<ref name=":2" />


''Squadron 42'' is slated for release in 2017 (or at least it was slated for 2016 and delayed).<ref>[https://youtu.be/XuDj5v81Nd0?t=1h7m18s YouTube - Citizen Con 2016 Presentation - Timecode 1h7m]</ref>
''Squadron 42'' was announced as feature complete at [[CitizenCon]] on October 22nd, 2023 and has entered the polishing phase.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/19453-Squadron-42-I-Held-The-Line|text=Squadron 42 i Held The Line|accessdate=2023-10-22}}</ref>


== Soundtrack ==
==Soundtrack==
{{Main|Star Citizen Soundtrack}}
{{Main|Star Citizen Soundtrack}}
The ''Star Citizen'' (excluding ''Squadron 42'') Soundtrack by [[Pedro Camacho]] is available with several pledge tiers{{Fact}} and also separately on the RSI Website{{Fact}}. It has yet to be released. However numerous tracks have been made public.{{Fact}}


== Hardware requirements ==
The ''Star Citizen'' Soundtrack by [[Pedro Camacho]] is also available separately on the RSI Website<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pledge/Add-Ons/Full-Star-Citizen-Soundtrack-Digital|text=Add-Ons - Full Star Citizen Soundtrack (Digital)|accessdate=}}</ref> and was available as a kickstarter reward for some tiers.<ref>[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cig/star-citizen?lang=fr Star Citizen], Kickstarter</ref> It has yet to be released. However numerous tracks are already available in game or have been released for various videos such as ships commercials.<ref>[https://soundcloud.com/pedrocamacho Pedro Macedo Camacho], soundcloud</ref>
Star Citizen is being developed for PC with planned Linux support.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=comm-link/transmission/14874-10-For-The-Chairman|text=10 FOR THE CHAIRMAN EPISODE 62, Question 10|trx=https://relay.sc/transcript/10-for-the-chairman-ep62}}</ref> The developers have stated that bringing Star Citizen to the consoles is not planned.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=comm-link/transmission/15368-10-For-The-Developers|text=10 FOR THE DEVELOPERS EPISODE 13, Question 13|trx=https://relay.sc/transcript/10-for-the-developers-episode-13}}</ref>
 
It's separate from the Squadron 42 Soundtrack by [[Geoff Zanelli]].<ref>[https://geoffzanelli.com/projects/star-citizen-2/ Star Citizen], geoffzanelli.com</ref>
 
==Hardware requirements==
Star Citizen is being developed for PC with planned Linux support.<ref>[https://youtu.be/53Iy5Dv-5dw?t=1327 PAX East 2014 Panel - "The (Incredible) Future of PC Gaming"], [[Chris Roberts]] at Pax East 2014, PC Gamer on YouTube, 12 Apr 2014</ref><ref>{{Cite RSI|url=comm-link/transmission/14874-10-For-The-Chairman|text=10 FOR THE CHAIRMAN EPISODE 62, Question 10|trx=https://relay.sc/transcript/10-for-the-chairman-ep62}}</ref> The developers have stated that bringing Star Citizen to the consoles is not planned.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=comm-link/transmission/15368-10-For-The-Developers|text=10 FOR THE DEVELOPERS EPISODE 13, Question 13|trx=https://relay.sc/transcript/10-for-the-developers-episode-13}}</ref> Telemetry is available to get a rough estimate of the performance of most system configurations so they can get an idea of what to expect.<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://support.robertsspaceindustries.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042417374-Star-Citizen-Minimum-System-Requirements|text=Star Citizen Telemetry Dashboard|accessdate=2024-01-02}}</ref>


{{Note|'''Last updated:''' {{Start date and age|2021|08|12}} (release version: [[Star Citizen Alpha 3.14.0]])<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://support.robertsspaceindustries.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042417374-Star-Citizen-Minimum-System-Requirements|text=Support: Minimum Requirements|accessdate=2021-08-12}}</ref> }}{{Note|'''Note:''' these requirements may change in the future. As the game is currently in Alpha, it is not optimized and some backers complain about very large drops in frames per second (FPS) even on high-end machines.}}
{{Note|'''Note:''' these requirements may change in the future. As the game is currently in Alpha, it is not optimized and some backers complain about very large drops in frames per second (FPS) even on high-end machines.'''Last updated:''' {{Start date and age|2024|01|02}} (release version: [[Star Citizen Alpha 3.22.0]])<ref>{{Cite RSI|url=https://support.robertsspaceindustries.com/hc/en-us/articles/360042417374-Star-Citizen-Minimum-System-Requirements|text=Support: Minimum Requirements|accessdate=2024-01-02}}</ref> }}


{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Minimum
|+Minimum
| Operating System
|Operating System
|64-bit Windows 8.1 / Windows 10 (latest service pack)
|64-bit Windows 10 (Latest Service Pack)
|-
|-
| rowspan="3" |Processor
| rowspan="3" |Processor
Line 90: Line 123:
|-
|-
|RAM
|RAM
|16 GB
|16 GB  
|-
|-
|Storage Space
|Storage Space
Line 98: Line 131:
{| class="wikitable"
{| class="wikitable"
|+Recommended
|+Recommended
|Operating System
| Operating System
|64-bit Windows 10 (latest service pack)
 
| 64-bit Windows 10 (latest service pack)
 
|-
|-
| rowspan="3" |Processor
| rowspan="3" |Processor
|Quad core
| Quad core
|-
|-
|Intel: Sandy Bridge or later
|Intel: Sandy Bridge or later
Line 119: Line 154:


==Trailer==
==Trailer==
{{#ev:youtube|m-Rz5PTMuaw}}
{{#ev:YouTube|m-Rz5PTMuaw}}
 
==Trivia==
 
*Star Citizen was originally called ''Space Trader''<ref name=":1">[https://youtu.be/Sth_Rfygkbc Sandi Roberts Interview Part One...How Star Citizen Came To Be], Inforunners, YouTube, 25 Apr 2022</ref><ref name=":0">[https://youtu.be/UCsA903qR4Y Star Citizen Addicts Anonymous - Interview with Sandi Gardiner pt  1], Nichole D'Angelo, YouTube, 2 Mar 2015
</ref>.<ref>[https://youtu.be/BbhgoSrDbsk SCAA Interviews 001 Ben Lesnick], Nichole D'Angelo, Nichole D'Angelo</ref> The final name was chosen maybe the night before the kickstarter, other names not working out for various reasons such as being existing company names or because of porn or the way it sounded etc. Star Citizen wasn't originally a favorite but it grew over time and felt right after the fact.<ref name=":0" />
*''Star Citizen'' was the original idea, the idea for ''Squadron 42'' came afterwards.<ref name=":1" />
*Chris Roberts said that if he still owned the rights to [[Wing Commander (series)|''Wing Commander'']] his would definitely be ''Wing Commander: Star Citizen'' or something like that. ''Star Citizen'' really is the spiritual successor to all of his work with ''Wing Commander, [[Freelancer (video game)|Freelancer]] and Privateer''. If he had to sum it up, it is essentially ''Wing Commander'' and ''Privateer'' blended together.<ref name=":2">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160705061544/https://www.themittani.com/features/exclusive-interview-star-citizens-chris-roberts Exclusive Interview: Star Citizen's Chris Roberts], themittani.com, 2012-10-19, archived</ref>


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
<references />


{{Short description|MMO first person space simulator game}}
[[Category:Development]]
[[Category:Development]]
 
[[Category:Video games by Chris Roberts]]
 
{{stub}}

Latest revision as of 16:31, 6 March 2024

Star Citizen
DeveloperCloud Imperium
PublisherRoberts Space Industries
GenreMassively Multiplayer Online (MMO) with First Person Universe
PlatformsMicrosoft Windows
EngineStar Engine (Heavily modified Amazon Lumberyard)
Release
  • TBD
  • Available now in Alpha

Star Citizen is a crowdfunded massively multiplayer online first person space simulator game for Microsoft Windows, developed by Chris Roberts' company Cloud Imperium, planned to be published by Roberts Space Industries.

It was announced in September 2012, is currently playable in alpha and there is no official release date as of 2024.[1]

The development includes a standalone single-player campaign titled Squadron 42.[2]

Plot

For a brief list of events in lore, see Historical Timeline. For a list of pages related to lore, see Category:Lore.

Star Citizen is a science fiction game, with players taking the role of humans in the milky way 930 years into the future, with the United Empire of Earth ruling over dozens of systems, worlds and moons in the 30th century, and aliens controling their own systems and worlds. While billions of Humans live within the Empire, only a small percentage have earned the right to call themselves Citizen.[3]

Gameplay

The game will be a sandbox featuring 100 planetary systems to explore in their entirety, and a large variety of careers. Besides space itself, players can also play aboard space stations and on the surface of planets. A large number of diverse space and ground vehicles are or will be available to pilot, ranging from personal ships to large industrial ships or carriers, via tanks or an exosuit. Many vehicles require to be multicrewed by players acting as a team to be operated optimally, with the planned possibility to hire NPCs. Players can freely move around their vehicles and enter or exit them at will including in space, and spaceships can be boarded. Specific components can be destroyed and affect the functioning of the vehicle. Similarly, localized damage applies to players themselves, and prosthetics are planned to replace destroyed body parts.

Immersion is an important element, affecting aspects of the game such as avoiding displaying health points or damage percentages in the UI. It favors a first person universe approach, where players pilot and interact with spaceships rather than playing as the spaceships.

Development

For the development timeline, see Development timeline. For more information about the development team, see Development team. For a list of pages related to development, see Category:Development.

Star Citizen is created by Chris Roberts, who is known for creating the Wing Commander games as well as for games such as Starlancer and Freelancer, and who described Star Citizen as Wing Commander and Privateer blended together.[4]

Pre-production started towards the end of 2011, with development starting in late 2012.[5][6][7]

Initially intended to release in 2014, following the massive success of the crowdfunding, several stretch goals were added, and in September 2013 a poll was held including whether the fundraising should be stopped when reaching 23 millions, mission achieved, or if it should be kept up through development and continue to offer stretch goal rewards in addition to extra features and development milestones. The vote ended with 87% for the later.[8][9] In December 2014, the fundraising reached 65 millions, reaching the last stretch goal.[10][11] Over the development, several modules and patches got delayed, and Chris Roberts eventually stopped announcing any release dates.

The team constantly share updates, behind the scenes videos and developer commentary, and makes early builds of the game available, so that the backers can test and provide feedback while the game is in open development.[12][1]

Star Citizen development is currently taking place across five studio, CIG Austin and CIG Los Angeles in the USA, CIG Manchester in the UK, CIG Frankfurt in Germany, and Turbulent in Canada.[13]

Funding

Main article: Crowdfunding campaign

The development of Star Citizen is funded by a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign. It is the largest crowd funded project and game in the world, earning a Guinness World Records in 2015, with more than $657 million raised by the end of 2023.[10]

The game costs 45.00 USD to buy and comes as a starter package with a ship.[14] Despite being an MMO there is no subscription model to keep playing the game over time.[15] Anything bought beyond the starter package which includes the digital download itself is unnecessary and considered as a donation to support the game development, with a ship gifted as a thank you. This originates from the early game crowdfunding with crowdfunding tiers.[16][17]

Non-development related content such as behind-the-scenes shows or digital publications are funded by optional subscriptions revenue from subscribers, who receive complimentary rewards such as access to Jump Point magazine and flair items every month.[18]

Alpha modules

In 2013, Cloud Imperium Games began releasing parts of the game, known as modules, for players to try gameplay features before release.

Persistent Universe

Main article: Persistent Universe

The Persistent Universe is the core MMO component of Star Citizen in which players can create their avatars, freely navigate around the released parts of the universe, and play the sandbox as they wish including for example trading, mining, fighting, criminal activities or missions.[3]

It is the spiritual successor to Freelancer and Privateer.[19]

Arena Commander

Main article: Arena Commander

Arena Commander is a competitive in-fiction arena-based space combat simulator currently available, in which players can fly ships in several game modes, be it against other players or AI opponents.[20]

Star Marine

Main article: Star Marine

Star Marine is a competitive in-fiction arena-based ground combat simulator, in which players can fight each other with personal weapons on several maps in several game modes, such as elimination, last stand or capture and hold.

It has been available since January 2017 Alpha 2.6.0.[21]

Hangar Module

Main article: Hangar Module

The Hangar Module enables players to explore or modify their released vehicles and to interact with the ship's systems. The hangar also features decorations and flair that can be placed and arranged within the hangar.[22]

Private Server

Main article: Private Server

Star Citizen will let the players run their own private servers, including modding and playing offline, which will be implemented after the game has been released and running for some time.[23][24][25]

Squadron 42

Main article: Squadron 42

Squadron 42 is a separate, standalone cinematic singleplayer campaign featuring space combat, FPS, and a branching plotline, taking place in the Star Citizen universe, and in which the player incarnates a member of the armed forces.[26][2]

It is notable among others for its cast which includes among others Gary Oldman, Mark Hamill, Gillian Anderson, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Jack Huston, Eleanor Tomlinson, Harry Treadaway, Sophie Wu, Damson Idris, Eric Wareheim, Rhona Mitra, Henry Cavill, and Ben Mendelsohn.[27]

It is the spiritual successor to Wing Commander.[4]

Squadron 42 was announced as feature complete at CitizenCon on October 22nd, 2023 and has entered the polishing phase.[28]

Soundtrack

Main article: Star Citizen Soundtrack

The Star Citizen Soundtrack by Pedro Camacho is also available separately on the RSI Website[29] and was available as a kickstarter reward for some tiers.[30] It has yet to be released. However numerous tracks are already available in game or have been released for various videos such as ships commercials.[31]

It's separate from the Squadron 42 Soundtrack by Geoff Zanelli.[32]

Hardware requirements

Star Citizen is being developed for PC with planned Linux support.[33][34] The developers have stated that bringing Star Citizen to the consoles is not planned.[35] Telemetry is available to get a rough estimate of the performance of most system configurations so they can get an idea of what to expect.[36]

Note: these requirements may change in the future. As the game is currently in Alpha, it is not optimized and some backers complain about very large drops in frames per second (FPS) even on high-end machines.Last updated: January 2, 2024; 4 hónapja ago (2024-01-02) (release version: Star Citizen Alpha 3.22.0)[37]
Minimum
Operating System 64-bit Windows 10 (Latest Service Pack)
Processor Quad core
Intel: Sandy Bridge or later
AMD: Bulldozer or later
Graphics Card DirectX 11 with 3 GB VRAM
RAM 16 GB
Storage Space 83 GB
Recommended
Operating System 64-bit Windows 10 (latest service pack)
Processor Quad core
Intel: Sandy Bridge or later
AMD: Bulldozer or later
Graphics Card DirectX 11 with 4+ GB VRAM
RAM 16+ GB DDR4
Storage Space 83+ GB SSD

Trailer

Load video
YouTube

Trivia

  • Star Citizen was originally called Space Trader[38][39].[40] The final name was chosen maybe the night before the kickstarter, other names not working out for various reasons such as being existing company names or because of porn or the way it sounded etc. Star Citizen wasn't originally a favorite but it grew over time and felt right after the fact.[39]
  • Star Citizen was the original idea, the idea for Squadron 42 came afterwards.[38]
  • Chris Roberts said that if he still owned the rights to Wing Commander his would definitely be Wing Commander: Star Citizen or something like that. Star Citizen really is the spiritual successor to all of his work with Wing Commander, Freelancer and Privateer. If he had to sum it up, it is essentially Wing Commander and Privateer blended together.[4]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Star Citizen: Press Kit
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Squadron 42
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Universe
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Exclusive Interview: Star Citizen's Chris Roberts, themittani.com, 2012-10-19, archived
  5. ↑ How indie film financing could shape the future of games, Ortwin Freyermuth, gamesindustry.biz, June 23, 2014
  6. ↑ "When I was first prototyping Star Citizen back in 2011 I did a lot of research on various LOD processes", Cloud Imperium games chooses Simplygon, simplygon.com, 28th April 2014, archived
  7. ↑ "Basically I’ve been working with a small team over the course of the past year to get the early prototyping and production done. The team has varied in scale from just me, essentially, to about 10 people. That’s just the actual work though.", Exclusive Interview: Star Citizen's Chris Roberts, themittani.com, 2012-10-19, archived
  8. ↑ Letter from the Chairman: $19 Million!. Transmission - Comm-Link. Retrieved 2013-09-17
  9. ↑ Letter from the Chairman: $20 Million!. Transmission - Comm-Link. Retrieved 2013-09-26
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Star Citizen: The Stretch Goal
  11. ↑ Star Citizen sets crowdfunding record as players spend $65m on spaceships, The Guardian, 3 December 2014, archived
  12. ↑ Star Citizen, YouTube
  13. ↑ Join Us, cloudimperiumgames.com
  14. ↑ Pledge Store. Pledge Store. Retrieved 2024-01-02
  15. ↑ "No Subscriptions", Star Citizen Kickstarter
  16. ↑ Sandi Roberts Interview Part One...How Star Citizen Came To Be, Inforunners, YouTube, 25 Apr 2022
  17. ↑ Star Citizen: An Interview With Chris Roberts , Forbes, 18 May 2013
  18. ↑ Star Citizen: Subscriptions FAQ
  19. ↑ Happy Hour Museum: Wing Commander Privateer, Star Citizen, YouTube, 31 march 2017
  20. ↑ Arena Commander
  21. ↑ Star Citizen Alpha 2.6.0. Comm-Link. Retrieved 2017-01-03
  22. ↑ Hangar Module
  23. ↑ StarCast 108 - Disco Lando, Cap Richard, Bzerker, Cliffy & Domo, geekdomo, YouTube, 10 janv. 2016
  24. ↑ 10 FOR THE CHAIRMAN - EPISODE 47, Question 10. Transmission - Comm-Link
  25. ↑ 10 FOR THE CHAIRMAN - EPISODE 67, Question 7. Transmission - Comm-Link
  26. ↑ Wingman's Hangar ep011 March 8, 2013, Star Citizen, YouTube
  27. ↑ Squadron 42 Full Cast & Crew, imdb
  28. ↑ Squadron 42 i Held The Line. Transmission - Comm-Link. Retrieved 2023-10-22
  29. ↑ Add-Ons - Full Star Citizen Soundtrack (Digital). Pledge Store
  30. ↑ Star Citizen, Kickstarter
  31. ↑ Pedro Macedo Camacho, soundcloud
  32. ↑ Star Citizen, geoffzanelli.com
  33. ↑ PAX East 2014 Panel - "The (Incredible) Future of PC Gaming", Chris Roberts at Pax East 2014, PC Gamer on YouTube, 12 Apr 2014
  34. ↑ 10 FOR THE CHAIRMAN EPISODE 62, Question 10. Transmission - Comm-Link
  35. ↑ 10 FOR THE DEVELOPERS EPISODE 13, Question 13. Transmission - Comm-Link
  36. ↑ Star Citizen Telemetry Dashboard. Knowledge Base. Retrieved 2024-01-02
  37. ↑ Support: Minimum Requirements. Knowledge Base. Retrieved 2024-01-02
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 Sandi Roberts Interview Part One...How Star Citizen Came To Be, Inforunners, YouTube, 25 Apr 2022
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Star Citizen Addicts Anonymous - Interview with Sandi Gardiner pt 1, Nichole D'Angelo, YouTube, 2 Mar 2015
  40. ↑ SCAA Interviews 001 Ben Lesnick, Nichole D'Angelo, Nichole D'Angelo
Retrieved from "https://scwiki.hu/index.php?title=Star_Citizen&oldid=176237"