The end of the year Star Citizen update from Chris Roberts looks back at this year’s achievements, and while they were probably less than most backers had hoped for, it’s been an interesting twelve months.
Roberts pays some attention the huge amount of cash the game has raised this year with it having reached more that $102 million in crowfunding. The cash and lack of a complete game has been what the media has been focusing on but Roberts is adamant that it’s being put to good use.
“With big numbers comes big attention. Some people look at the number and say “Why should they have all that money?” Well it’s because you want to build a big, bold game that doesn’t compromise! This is the secret. The additional money that comes in doesn’t go towards dividends for shareholders or making analysts happy with our profitability. It gets invested into making Star Citizen the best it can be. Hiring the best talent possible and allowing them to reach for the stars. Your contributions are going towards making the game better for you and all your friends. How could that possibly be a bad thing?
“But Star Citizen isn’t really about the money, that’s just what’s allowing us to build a game of the ambition and fidelity that people thought wouldn’t be possible.”
The major milestone came with the launch of 2.0 and it was a bigger step forward for the project. It gave backers a better idea of what Roberts is aiming for.
“Star Citizen Alpha 2.0 is the first time that you can see how the various elements; space combat, FPS, social interaction, huge play spaces will all fit together into one seamless holistic game experience. You can really see the dawn of the first person universe. Combining the fidelity that we are aiming for with the scale we want has always been our biggest technical challenge. We’re aiming for detail that is as good or better than any AAA first / third person game but that can go from picking out details from several centimeters away to seeing planets hundreds of thousands of kilometers in the distance, all simulated and rendered from the 1st person view of your avatar that can go anywhere.
“2.0 shows the naysayers it can be done!”
Having messed around in 2.0 I think it may be a stretch to say it “can be done” but we’ll have to take his word on that. Next year we’ll know for sure.
The plan now for CIG is to release more data driven patches once a month and January should bring 2.2. Roberts will also be spending a large chunk of his time in the UK next year to help get Squadron 42 completed which he says “is how I would have made a next generation Wing Commander”.
It all sounds like a solid plan, but as with everything Star Citizen, it’s best to not get to excited about it and just enjoy what is released slowly but surely.
The full letter can be read over on the official site.
