Star Citizen modding competition to design a spaceship – Win cash

Fans of Star Citizen are being given the opportunity to design a ship for Cloud Imperium’s Star Citizen.

The contest will involve designing an eship which will then be integrated into the game by Cloud Imperium. Teams of up to three people can take part and there’s a prize of $30,000 up for grabs.

The Next Great Starship contest first stage will run from 31 October right through to 31 December with a preliminary challenge of creating a fully designed wave particle cannon which had to be submitted via Youtube. Members of the Star Citizen team including Chris Roberts, members of Crytek and “celebrity judges” will ultimately choose the winner of this stage.

The initial entries will then be whittled down to 16 and Star Citizen backers will then choose the winners. From 31 January onwards, episodes of The Next Great Starship  will be shown on the Star Citizen YouTube channel each week with finalists sharing their progress reports. The final episode will run on 8 June.

“Our fans have been clamoring for a way to get even more involved in the making of Star Citizen and I think we’ve found the ideal solution,” said Chris Roberts. “What better way to become part of the game than to create a spaceship that you and your friends can actually fly and take into battle. The winners of this contest will have to travel through an amazing process to get to the end, but there will be no doubt after navigating the weeks and months of tough competition that these three individuals will deserve the crown as designers of The Next Great Starship.”

The prize pool is as follows:

• GRAND PRIZE: $30,000 in cash for the team members. Your Great Starship is included in Star Citizen and each member of your team receives the first production models off the press!  As well as Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite, Maya Premium and one high-end AMD based system with Radeon R9 290X (for each team member)
• SECOND PLACE: $10,000 in cash for the team members. Alienware laptop, Autodesk Maya 2014, AMD Radeon R9 290X (for each team member)
• THIRD PLACE: $5,000 in cash for the team members. Autodesk Maya LT, AMD Radeon R9 290X (for each team member)
• SPECIALTY PRIZE: (to the most valuable player out of the remaining contestants among the final three teams voted on by the judging panel): One Cintiq Companion, the new Windows 8 “Make the World your Studio” tablet from Wacom
• FINALIST TEAMS 4 THROUGH 16: $250 in RSI Credits (non-transferable/non-refundable)

Not a bad prize fund there but entrants will have to work hard to be in with a chance.