Star Citizen Megathread - Fly FREE thru Dec 14th! Link in OP - Games

[QUOTE=Intoxicated Spy;46992742]I'm not, just I rather not have it into much of a combat role, it will be used for it, but its mostly going to be a base, I don't think having a star base is the brightest idea for an org. like I'm making, we will make enemies. Probally going to get more than 12 people tho. Now that I think of it, 12 might not work out right if not everyone is on.[/QUOTE] If you're just looking to use it as a base of operations you might want to wait until they show us some more ships. As for the existing ones the Caterpillar might be a decent choice. In it's base configuration it can't hold fighters, but if I recall correctly the initial description mentioned pirates using them as ad hoc carriers (modified of course). Other than that the Merchantman might be decent. I don't recall much about it, but just the size and fact that it's meant for hauling could make it a decent choice. Of course as others have said the Starfarer might work and has the ability to both refuel and actually refine any raw fuel sources you happen across. Then there's the Carrack due to size again and if you really want to go big there's the Panther escort carrier or whatever they renamed it to. The Panther is probably too big for such a small organization though. [editline]22nd January 2015[/editline] It all really depends on just what you want from a base ship. Do you want it to act as mobile resupply point or just a big fancy room for you guys to stand around and jerk each other off in?

[QUOTE=Dispenser;46992977]If you're just looking to use it as a base of operations you might want to wait until they show us some more ships. As for the existing ones the Caterpillar might be a decent choice. In it's base configuration it can't hold fighters, but if I recall correctly the initial description mentioned pirates using them as ad hoc carriers (modified of course). Other than that the Merchantman might be decent. I don't recall much about it, but just the size and fact that it's meant for hauling could make it a decent choice. Of course as others have said the Starfarer might work and has the ability to both refuel and actually refine any raw fuel sources you happen across. Then there's the Carrack due to size again and if you really want to go big there's the Panther escort carrier or whatever they renamed it to. The Panther is probably too big for such a small organization though. [editline]22nd January 2015[/editline] It all really depends on just what you want from a base ship. [B]Do you want it to act as mobile resupply point or just a big fancy room for you guys to stand around and jerk each other off in?[/B][/QUOTE] Sort of both. I really wish we knew more about how bigger ships were going to be, It would help me plan this shit out, and plan on how many people we need in my group.

From the current lineup I'd say the Starfarer or Caterpillar would be your best bets. Other than that all I can say is wait for more ships. If you really have your heart set on a capital ship then you'll probably be waiting a while.

[QUOTE=MuTAnT;46991806]Entirely depends on how inefficient npcs and computer controlled systems will be compared to a human player I guess. I reckon you won't suffer too much having less than the maximum crew as human players. All theoretical at this moment though.[/QUOTE] That is a very interesting debate. Should NPC be as good as or as near as good players? Take a look at this video, it shows the point very well. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbIaipw5CL4[/media]

But like the best bet if it is you and a group of friends, buy a Connie and just meet up as a group. Once you get your roots in and start gaining more people, that's when you expand. You buy what you need when you need it.

The NPC vs player argument when it comes to capital ships is something I've been thinking about ever since Star Citizen was announced. The crux of the matter is this: Would I rather have 6 people manning one multi-crew ship (2 pilots, 4 gunners) or would I rather have 6 fighters? The key to this question is in the turrets. If those turrets could be manned by NPCs, then all of a sudden everything becomes a lot more flexible and you aren't wasting an inordinate amount of manpower in one ship. With those 4 gunners now being freed, they can instead be put into 2 fighters and 1 more small capital, 2 small capitals, or 4 fighters. I find it highly doubtful that NPCs would so much worse than players at firing from a turret that committing players to manned turrets would be as important as people generally think it is. If anything, an NPC should be [I]better[/I] than a player manning a turret because manning a turret only requires you to shoot at a lead reticle. It's not even that engaging or skillful an activity for a player, and it's because of that that I've questioned the worth of having manned turrets in Star Citizen at all. The NPC crewmen thing has far reaching consequences and is very sensitive to how NPCs work in the game. It's the difference between blobs of one player, min-maxed, 100% NPC turret manned Javelins and blobs of min-maxed player Hornets at its most extreme for Star Citizen's endgame. It's difficult to tell at this stage what route Star Citizen chooses to go when it comes to balancing both capital ships, turrets, and NPCs, but no matter what they're going to have to make some hard decisions. Because of how many specific unknowns there are, it's hard to really talk about the subject without going into huge speculative depths. I've played games where this is a problem. I've balanced Freelancer mods where capital ship and turret power is a problem. This is a really big and in depth subject, especially when we lack a lot of the finer implementation details such as how smart and capable an NPC will be. [editline]23rd January 2015[/editline] Watching [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbIaipw5CL4]the Byronyk video darkgodmaste posted[/url], he gives a great summary of the problem. The only thing I want to point out is that extreme cost doesn't mean too much. All it does is delay the inevitable. I'm also a bit annoyed that he brings up Galaxies but does not bring up how multi-crew ships worked (or didn't).

there is an unofficial stream of pax here if anyone cares [url]http://www.twitch.tv/wtfosaurus[/url]

[QUOTE=Why485;46995827]words[/QUOTE] this is why I think turrets need to be much more powerful than they are currently will freelancers and cutlasses EVER have 2 people in them given the stats they have now? why would I want to sit in a limited visibility turret with [I]size 1 guns[/I] when I could be flying a fully loaded 300i as escort this can be balanced with costs and that, so that running a freelancer with 2 crew is more profitable than one with a hornet, but the biggest cost is still putting a live person in the seat when they could be doing something more productive so it makes a lot of sense to make npcs decent so that 90% of all turret/crew positions are done by npcs, but personally I don't like that. needing more crew is an important downside to some ships take the freelancer vs constellation taurus. the taurus has much more cargo, but without npcs it takes 3 people to man effectively while the freelancer can probably do ok with just 1. if those crew positions are easily filled by npcs that are as good or better than players, the taurus becomes a straight up bigger, badder, better version of the freelancer, with very little downsides

the load times getting into mp matches are kinda insane, anyone have an idea how to fix that? By load time i mean the length of the loading screen, not finding the match. by the time i get in it's either half done or almost over.

chris showed a video of a jumppoint on pax [vid]http://3kv.in/~techbot/ShareX/2015/01/24/745367.mp4[/vid] (video taken from [url=http://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/2tfkkr/pax_south_live_updates_im_analog_dan_and_ill_be/]here[/url])

Someone got a better quality version and both halves of that clip. Callback to the DFM demo at PAX East 2014 when CR flew straight into the platform first thing. :v: [video=youtube;lfpaOIRl7hM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfpaOIRl7hM[/video] I'm gonna have a fucking BALL in these things with my Xi'An Scout.

Oh man that looks awesome, getting some good farscspe wormhole vibes and its fantastic.

gamers nexus just uploaded this vid [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQpl2kt8zEA[/media]

[QUOTE=Techbot;47002233]gamers nexus just uploaded this vid [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQpl2kt8zEA[/media][/QUOTE] I hope you fistbump with the shop owner to send them money.

[QUOTE=elixwhitetail;47000547]Someone got a better quality version and both halves of that clip. Callback to the DFM demo at PAX East 2014 when CR flew straight into the platform first thing. :v: [video=youtube;lfpaOIRl7hM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfpaOIRl7hM[/video] I'm gonna have a fucking BALL in these things with my Xi'An Scout.[/QUOTE] nolan should have taken some visual cues from these guys when he made interstellar.

Just had quite the game. Me in a stock 300i trainer, an aurora, a 325i, and an avenger against 4 superhornets. I keep getting these matchups, it's kinda annoying but then i wouldnt get games like these. One guy was from the top 10 on the leaderboards. We managed to pull off a victory despite the first 10 minutes just being me in a one winged 300i and the aurora vs 2 superhornets [url]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/16970274/Screenshots/StarCitizen%202015-01-26%2004-27-37-05.png[/url] two of the superhornets left a minute before the end, probably upset their pay to win strategy was ineffective, and a 300i loaded in 30 seconds from the end spoiling my win screenshot. You can do some fun things in AC if you know how to take advantage of your ship. Im not such a big fan of the 300i but it's quite good at outmaneuvering hornets, if you yaw strafe towards their bottom none of their turrets can track you very far and g's arent a problem, just put a lot of power towards your engines and boost like hell. Your weapons don't need the power anyway, on the stock 300i heat will be more a problem for the omniskys than energy. When you run out of good positioning and energy, reverse throttle and back up while strafe dodging perpendicular to your enemies and it's very hard to hit you, then go in for another round till he's dead. If you can, aim for the cockpit first.

Star Citizen - Persistent Universe Module Unveil & Jumpgate Footage [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Qf_5d78yqo[/media] [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] Star Citizen Chris Roberts at BAFTA LA Januari 2015 [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ej6u1h7ZEg[/media] [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] STLYoungblood [b]Star Citizen: Captain's Log[/b] The series is designed to help you become a better pilot through understanding of your ships, loadouts, maneuvers, and advice. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHeBIvJ7oBo&list=PL-g2bRjGQpvEacb2VtSqv1B-432CmxGM3[/media]

[URL="https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/226252/ship-body-of-mustang-delta-does-not-receive-damage"]So, Deltas are partially invincible right now.[/URL] :v: TL;DR version: Deltas don't take damage in the main ship body, you have to snipe the pilot or missile kill them. The wings will come off as normal, but the central fuselage doesn't register damage. Also, here's the cockpit of the P-52 Merlin (the Connie snub fighter): [t]http://walther.be/screenshot0006.jpg[/t] The concept art for comparison: [t]https://robertsspaceindustries.com/media/ujtsua337urndr/source/Rsi_p52_merlin_cockpit_visual.jpg[/t] Looks like a faithful reproduction except for the swapping of the central dash panel for a holographic emitter. [URL="https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pledge/ships/p52-merlin/P-52-Merlin"]Here's the P-52's store page for concept art and info.[/URL]

Another ship sale is on today. Jan. 26th. So if you wanted certain ships or so, like the Super Hornet, today's the day.

If you want to pickup anything in Europe before the required VAT change of 1 Feb now is the time. Packages/Ships will require VAT starting 1 Feb making them more expensive. [url]https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14449-Limited-Ship-Sale[/url]

VAT fucking sucks.

[url]http://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/2tfkkr/pax_south_live_updates_im_analog_dan_and_ill_be/[/url] Social modual and multiplayer hangars coming in March/April. -Chat system, friends list, elevator to city, sim pod, multiple shops, limited NPC activity. -Sim Pod [img_thumb]http://i.imgur.com/ITm3tJn.jpg[/img_thumb] [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] - At night, there will be less security. Events in dark alleys. - Back alleys at night can be dangerous even on Terra Prime. "Shades of grey" instead of yes combat or no combat. It will be nice to have a more flexible system than the usual "guards either shoot you on sight for littering or let you murder people freely" [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] - Planetside instances will have matchmaking. Griefers will have their own instances. Applause. Meaning: assholes will be instanced with other assholes. - Sim pod coming very soon to enter AC. It's the replacement for sitting in your ship and bringing up the AC menu, or just hitting escape and bringing up the AC menu. To actually get into any of the virtual environments (like AC), you go into the sim pod, awhile back they said there will be sim pods on large ships so that you can access AC when you are out in space. I assume they will have them on planetside locations for everyone to use when you are away from your hangar. Like a 30th century equivalent of an arcade. [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] -About making multicrew ships fun: many occupations will benefit "tremendously" from having help from other players. Mining is dangerous, so having help is important and valuable. Scanning operator for figuring out which asteroids are unsafe and/or valuable. Beam operators directing lasers. -Cheaper NPCs will be worse at helping you. Higher paid NPCs will be better. -NPCs will learn and get better. [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] - It will be difficult to jump away from battle since you must charge your drive. - Jumping with your quantum drive can be disrupted if someone gets in your path. - Crossing star systems will take between 8-10 minutes to cross diameter. Spool up time could increase this time. - Jump gates will require more dexterity than quantum jumps. Some ships will fit through smaller jump points. Smaller, more maneuverable ships can take shortcuts bigger ships can't. CR compares them to mountain passes. - Jump points must be updated since they gradually degrade and disappear. [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] - Economic model is scaled, spring-based to prevent insane inflation on things like ammo. - 1 player can have significant impact on smaller planets and outposts. - Day night cycle will be faster than real life. Several hours. - Even with no one online, universe will be living and breathing. - Players transporting goods becomes a mission for players who want to hijack goods. [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] - Chat system, friends list, elevator to city, sim pod, multiple shops, limited NPC activity. - Can invite friends to hangar. - Big technological step toward getting players into PU. Scope will be expanded mid-year this year. - First social release MIGHT have a basic Arc Corp. Working toward it--at Chris' request--but not certain. - "Several months" of optimization is needed to allow 50, 60+ players at once. - Initial friends system is very rudimentary. Expect more robust system mid year with better social module. - Org chat will be the one "magic, FTL" thing in the game since people would use TeamSpeak or something anyway. Chris has stated before that it will take time for information and data to travel across the universe to add realism. Meaning that when a station gets attacked depending on the distance/range of the response force the attack can be over before reinforcements arrive. - 3 PU modules this year: 1st is visiting friend's hangar and Arc Corp. 2nd is more persistence, have a persistent inventory, leave planet. 3rd (end of year) is mini version of PU with around 5 systems (maybe more with modular work efficiency). [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] - Question: "How does inventory/loot work?" - CR: "If you kill someone with items on them, you can loot the body." - Q: "Will you be able to manually change instances? Is there one global server?" - A: CR: "Can't manually change instance. Servers move you around between servers." People will be instanced by geographic location (NA players more likely to be instanced with other NA players). Party system will override this, obviously.

[QUOTE=darkgodmaste;47012694] People will be instanced by geographic location (NA players more likely to be instanced with other NA players). [B]Party system will override this, obviously[/B].[/QUOTE] Thank fuck. I literally have to play Elite Dangerous with a proxy to play with NA friends.

So... mini PU is scheduled for the end of the year. I haven't followed the development lately. What do you guys think? Is that realistic or can we expect to wait a year longer? I think when I first backed this, AC was to be out in 2013, and finished game to be released by now. (The kickstarter page said "estimated delivery Nov 2014) I know the scope of the game has grown about tenfold in the meantime, but going from "finished game by late 2014" to "late alpha by end of 2015" is a considerable change, and they already missed their deadline for the first playable alpha by like half a year. tl;dr is "mini PU by end 2015" realistic? I'm not naysaying or even complaining. The game will be done when it's done. I'm just wondering if they've gotten a grip on their development schedules by now.

I think June of next year at the earliest, but I'm generally pessimistic about Star Citizen's pace of development. Plus, if the release of anything in the past is any indication, it'll probably be horribly broken and buggy when it comes out. I wouldn't expect it to be very playable or fun until a few months after its release. Arena Commander took like 6 months before the ships were even controllable in any practical sense.

I hope it will have a mini PU by the end of 2015. However like Why485 said, if the previous release represent anything then that schedule will probably get delayed, time will tell.

Oh my gosh so much hype. I am glad to be apart of this. It is awesome seeing this game progress.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlK3nzZ3o7Q[/media] [editline]26th January 2015[/editline] Avanger varient, for pirates or hacker. Able to stop distress signals.

Screenshots I took today in AC while playing with some friends. [t]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd330/Alsojames/StarCitizen%202015-01-26%2016-53-40-35_zpsas5qph1k.jpg[/t] [t]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd330/Alsojames/StarCitizen%202015-01-26%2017-04-38-41_zpsmdw0uyph.jpg[/t] This one I didn't take, but it's a picture of me after ejecting :P [t]http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd330/Alsojames/EVA_zps1jkqgfnw.jpg[/t]

Why does AC keep tossing me into a game 1 minute before the end? Why would they make it possible to join a game so close to ending?