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[Vigilant Walrus]

To clarify, I believe the stuff in the article is already an indication of mismanaged backer funds, insofar as the toxic work community, lack of realistic goals, the CryEngine rabbit hole, and internal miscommunications have set the project back years, and during this time many millions of dollars has been spent. I just wish we had something more concrete in terms of the actual numbers. 2/3rds was indeed a hypothetical, but not an implausible one.

The problem with what you're saying here is that toxic work community, lack of realistic goals and internal miscommunications are loaded labels that befits every major game development studio that has projects with many hundreds of people in teams all over the world.
I don't work in games, but having worked in software I promise you- I absolutely promise you that this is the norm, and it is hell. It can be a living nightmare to work in this industry. Overwork, managers who ask the impossible, inefficent beaucracy across the entire structure.
The reason why this is apparent here is because Star Citizen has had a open ended transparent development.




That doesn't mean there is not legitimacy to the accusations- or at least some of them. But I am sure there are many comparable testimonials from developers who worked on Destiny, Metal Gear Solid, GTA, Assassin Creed and others. You always don't have enough time. The goals are always to high. You're ALWAYS being asked to deliver the impossible and things get rushed, and things are not done logical.

I wish I wish I wish so much that many gamers could see what it is like- To see the level of complete and utter chaos and abuse done by the grunt designers and programmers who have to slave to make the leads vision come to pass.
Every game has major features and systems cut. Every game starts out with a unrealistic spec sheet.


What you got here is a man- who has no investors saying when he has to stop. It's not like with Molyneaux or Kojima- Who eventually are forced to compromise on their vision. They have the perfect game in their head. There is no doubt about it. But the management and scope of the project is such that there is no way to fulfill it. Microsoft/EA/Kojima says "enough!" and the thing gets released- finished or not finished.
But we see games all the time that continues. FFXV- The Last Guardian. Entire gameplay systems gets scrapped. Months and quarters worth of tech and development gets wasted and things get rebooted. And the more ambitious the project the harder it is to realize.




I think this game is absolutely stunning. It's insane. Not since Shenmue have we seen a game of this level of ambitious and detail. And the usual stop blocks don't apply because roberts is not answering to nobody. I really hope he pulls it off.

I am optimistic. It's not that many months ago when they first showed the FPS module and it looked absolutely atrocious. But have you seen the new videos? Its like a different game. It looks as smooth as Crysis 3- It's responsive, the animations are more seamless. the reloading looks good. there is some very nice particle effects and that laggyness seems to be gone.
It's still a demo- But it went from looking "dear god no" to really damn good in a manner of months.


And what I take away from all this is that the iderative process- the process of showing something when it is dogshit and then fixing it slowly as the months roll by needs to be met with a certain level of patience. This is why developers polish alpha and beta versions to outragous levels. gamers run with it and pass judgment before the product is done. Its a shame because it hinders the level of feedback that could otherwise be achieved from the community if they could show the game in earlier stages without creating such levels of conspiracy and rapid judgment on a product that is so far from being finished.

 

[Spirited]

They confirmed a while back that all that money comes from 500k people. That 1.5m citizens number? Those are just registered RSI accounts. I mean, we see it in every thread "I'm waiting on a finished game before buying in". The only reason they wouldn't buy in when it's finished if it isn't a good game after it's done, in which case of course they're not going to sustain development.

If it is a good game? I see no reason they couldn't sustain their current development numbers from just selling the game. I mean, they plan to keep funding the game after launch by selling SQ42 campaigns for $60 each and Star citizen itself also for $60. If it's a hit that's a lot of revenue. If it's just okay, that's still a lot of potential revenue regardless, they just might have to scale down their studios.

Yeah. I have an account and I'll buy it if it's ends up good.
A small personal anecdote is that many of my friends are in the same place with the game so I really don't believe that star citizen is even close to drying up.

The problem with what you're saying here is that toxic work community, lack of realistic goals and internal miscommunications are loaded labels that befits every major game development studio that has projects with many hundreds of people in teams all over the world.
I don't work in games, but having worked in software I promise you- I absolutely promise you that this is the norm, and it is hell. It can be a living nightmare to work in this industry. Overwork, managers who ask the impossible, inefficent beaucracy across the entire structure.
The reason why this is apparent here is because Star Citizen has had a open ended transparent development.




That doesn't mean there is not legitimacy to the accusations- or at least some of them. But I am sure there are many comparable testimonials from developers who worked on Destiny, Metal Gear Solid, GTA, Assassin Creed and others. You always don't have enough time. The goals are always to high. You're ALWAYS being asked to deliver the impossible and things get rushed, and things are not done logical.

I wish I wish I wish so much that many gamers could see what it is like- To see the level of complete and utter chaos and abuse done by the grunt designers and programmers who have to slave to make the leads vision come to pass.
Every game has major features and systems cut. Every game starts out with a unrealistic spec sheet.


What you got here is a man- who has no investors saying when he has to stop. It's not like with Molyneaux or Kojima- Who eventually are forced to compromise on their vision. They have the perfect game in their head. There is no doubt about it. But the management and scope of the project is such that there is no way to fulfill it. Microsoft/EA/Kojima says "enough!" and the thing gets released- finished or not finished.
But we see games all the time that continues. FFXV- The Last Guardian. Entire gameplay systems gets scrapped. Months and quarters worth of tech and development gets wasted and things get rebooted. And the more ambitious the project the harder it is to realize.




I think this game is absolutely stunning. It's insane. Not since Shenmue have we seen a game of this level of ambitious and detail. And the usual stop blocks don't apply because roberts is not answering to nobody. I really hope he pulls it off.

I am optimistic. It's not that many months ago when they first showed the FPS module and it looked absolutely atrocious. But have you seen the new videos? Its like a different game. It looks as smooth as Crysis 3- It's responsive, the animations are more seamless. the reloading looks good. there is some very nice particle effects and that laggyness seems to be gone.
It's still a demo- But it went from looking "dear god no" to really damn good in a manner of months.


And what I take away from all this is that the iderative process- the process of showing something when it is dogshit and then fixing it slowly as the months roll by needs to be met with a certain level of patience. This is why developers polish alpha and beta versions to outragous levels. gamers run with it and pass judgment before the product is done. Its a shame because it hinders the level of feedback that could otherwise be achieved from the community if they could show the game in earlier stages without creating such levels of conspiracy and rapid judgment on a product that is so far from being finished.

Thanks for the write-up! Really interesting stuff.

 

[malboroking]

What sacked Sausage_Carius exactly? His posts were alright.

He was a pompous jackass. When I read that post about how every game nowadays from AAA developers is worthless garbage my eyes nearly rolled out the back of my head. Then he tris to pull the "well I guess I'm just more intelligent and mature than everyone else" card.

Give me a break.

 

[inkls]

He was a pompous jackass. When I read that post about how every game nowadays from AAA developers is worthless garbage my eyes nearly rolled out the back of my head. Then he tris to pull the "well I guess I'm just more intelligent and mature than everyone else" card.

Give me a break.

Thats an odd reason for a ban

 

[Eolz]

The problem with what you're saying here is that toxic work community, lack of realistic goals and internal miscommunications are loaded labels that befits every major game development studio that has projects with many hundreds of people in teams all over the world.
I don't work in games, but having worked in software I promise you- I absolutely promise you that this is the norm, and it is hell. It can be a living nightmare to work in this industry. Overwork, managers who ask the impossible, inefficent beaucracy across the entire structure.
The reason why this is apparent here is because Star Citizen has had a open ended transparent development.


That doesn't mean there is not legitimacy to the accusations- or at least some of them. But I am sure there are many comparable testimonials from developers who worked on Destiny, Metal Gear Solid, GTA, Assassin Creed and others. You always don't have enough time. The goals are always to high. You're ALWAYS being asked to deliver the impossible and things get rushed, and things are not done logical.

I wish I wish I wish so much that many gamers could see what it is like- To see the level of complete and utter chaos and abuse done by the grunt designers and programmers who have to slave to make the leads vision come to pass.
Every game has major features and systems cut. Every game starts out with a unrealistic spec sheet.


What you got here is a man- who has no investors saying when he has to stop. It's not like with Molyneaux or Kojima- Who eventually are forced to compromise on their vision. They have the perfect game in their head. There is no doubt about it. But the management and scope of the project is such that there is no way to fulfill it. Microsoft/EA/Kojima says "enough!" and the thing gets released- finished or not finished.
But we see games all the time that continues. FFXV- The Last Guardian. Entire gameplay systems gets scrapped. Months and quarters worth of tech and development gets wasted and things get rebooted. And the more ambitious the project the harder it is to realize.


I think this game is absolutely stunning. It's insane. Not since Shenmue have we seen a game of this level of ambitious and detail. And the usual stop blocks don't apply because roberts is not answering to nobody. I really hope he pulls it off.

I am optimistic. It's not that many months ago when they first showed the FPS module and it looked absolutely atrocious. But have you seen the new videos? Its like a different game. It looks as smooth as Crysis 3- It's responsive, the animations are more seamless. the reloading looks good. there is some very nice particle effects and that laggyness seems to be gone.
It's still a demo- But it went from looking "dear god no" to really damn good in a manner of months.


And what I take away from all this is that the iderative process- the process of showing something when it is dogshit and then fixing it slowly as the months roll by needs to be met with a certain level of patience. This is why developers polish alpha and beta versions to outragous levels. gamers run with it and pass judgment before the product is done. Its a shame because it hinders the level of feedback that could otherwise be achieved from the community if they could show the game in earlier stages without creating such levels of conspiracy and rapid judgment on a product that is so far from being finished.

Great post!

 

[WaterAstro]

And we got a great game

You didn't get a Star Citizen.

 

[Aselith]

What sacked Sausage_Carius exactly? His posts were alright.

He just wasn't adding much to the discussion in general. He just kept saying that he saw so much misinformation and never really addressed it or posted examples. There are like 10 posts in here of him telling people they are wrong without anything specific and then one informational post. I thought he had turned a corner to actually discussing things when he made that nice big post but then he was right back into the saltiness.

You don't go on to a discussion board and then just keep saying there's "too much" to discuss. No one cares if you don't want to add anything.

You didn't get a Star Citizen.

No but the technology has advanced enough to make it possible now. Elite Dangerous is in a lot of ways Star Citizen without the cinematic bent and the budget.

 

[BradleyLove]

What sacked Sausage_Carius exactly? His posts were alright.

I honestly would like someone just once to surprise me with their maturity on this board.

Disappointment is something I have gotten quite used to.

.

 

[tuxfool]

He just wasn't adding much to the discussion in general. He just kept saying that he saw so much misinformation and never really addressed it or posted examples. There are like 10 posts in here of him telling people they are wrong without anything specific and then one informational post. I thought he had turned a corner to actually discussing things when he made that nice big post but then he was right back into the saltiness.

I think the italics should speak for themselves.

 

[Chipopo]

The problem with what you're saying here is that toxic work community, lack of realistic goals and internal miscommunications are loaded labels that befits every major game development studio that has projects with many hundreds of people in teams all over the world.
I don't work in games, but having worked in software I promise you- I absolutely promise you that this is the norm, and it is hell. It can be a living nightmare to work in this industry. Overwork, managers who ask the impossible, inefficent beaucracy across the entire structure.

etc.

I think we are in agreement that dysfunction is the norm, not just in the videogame industry but in most human endeavor. In every large scale project there are so many moving parts that snags are inevitable. It is truly an exceptional company that can pull together all the disparate elements necessary to comprise a AAA videogame. And this article does very little to reassure me that Chris is capable of being exceptional in that sense. Instead it looks like he has the ambition to be a modern AAA auteur (he is constantly comparing his game to CoD, Grand Theft Auto, Naughty Dog's stuff, etc.) but falls way short on the execution.

I am not reassured by the recent gamescom demo because CIG has been putting out hyperbolic promotional material since their inception. Frankly, the disparity between what you can play in the Alpha currently and what was going on in that demo is worth being suspicious about. And I imagine if we ever do get to play it, it will not be at the end of this year as stated. Soon it will be tacitly acknowledged that Q1 2017 will be the actual release, then Q4 2017, then something will drop that will be well short of what they've hyped, and then the process will begin anew, well after a tidy sum of money has been raised based on the generated hype.

I don't mean to sound cynical, but this is exactly what CIG has been doing for a long time. I'm perfectly comfortable waiting for some tangible proof that they've righted this ship that's more than the superficial hope that because a guy has an idealistic vision and is tough on his staff that he is the next Steve Jobs. Everything about this project screams No Mans Sky Part Deux, but on a much larger and potentially more industry-damaging scale.

 

[Aselith]

I think we are in agreement that dysfunction is the norm, not just in the videogame industry but in most human endeavor. In every large scale project there are so many moving parts that snags are inevitable. It is truly an exceptional company that can pull together all the disparate elements necessary to comprise a AAA videogame. And this article does very little to reassure me that Chris is capable of being exceptional in that sense. Instead it looks like he has the ambition to be a modern AAA auteur (he is constantly comparing his game to CoD, Grand Theft Auto, Naughty Dog's stuff, etc.) but falls way short on the execution.

I am not reassured by the recent gamescom demo because CIG has been putting out hyperbolic promotional material since their inception. Frankly, the disparity between what you can play in the Alpha currently and what was going on in that demo is worth being suspicious about. And I imagine if we ever do get to play it, it will not be at the end of this year as stated.

Do you think it would make you feel better about the game if the stuff from the Gamescom demo got rolled into the PU around the end of the year or would that not be sufficient to reassure you at this point?

 

[Nohar]

When everything will be said and done and the game released or not, we will have a very interesting subject of analysis regarding game development and crowd funding for years to come.

I'll stick to my stance regarding this game: ignore it until it is done or it falls under its own weight. If there is one thing I learned about this game, it is that people are even more passionate (and kinda insane) than usual when defending their side of the argument.

In any case, that article was a very interesting read.

 

[Spirited]

I don't mean to sound cynical, but this is exactly what CIG has been doing for a long time. I'm perfectly comfortable waiting for some tangible proof that they've righted this ship that's more than the superficial hope that because a guy has an idealistic vision and is tough on his staff that he is the next Steve Jobs. Everything about this project screams No Mans Sky Part Deux, but on a much larger and potentially more industry-damaging scale.

You don't mean to sound cynical? Are you serious?! You sound extremly jaded and you make up shit that sounds like the worst case schenario and paints it like that's going to happen and that there's no other way it'll go.

Then you go and compare it to no man's sky which got hyped because they showed almost zero, nill, of the game or the development and fans believed the few statements that the head of the studio told them outright. Star citizen shows new stuff every week and is *pretty* transparent about what they are working on.

I just can't agree with you at all and your sentiment is far from leading on a discussion with this extreme hyperbole(Game will be cancelled and industry will go under level of hyperbole), extremly dumb(as in taken out of the ass) estimates both of budget and releasedates/delays and completly off-target comparisons with other games.

 

[Aselith]

When everything will be said and done and the game released or not, we will have a very interesting subject of analysis regarding game development and crowd funding for years to come.

I'll stick to my stance regarding this game: ignore it until it is done or it falls under its own weight. If there is one thing I learned about this game, it is that people are even more insane than usual when defending their side of the argument.

Yeah, I threw in my $60 bucks and I haven't followed it closely since but I check in occasionally and I'm glad there are people out there keeping a really close eye on it to make new threads on the super interesting stuff.

If nothing else, it seems like the game is going to help push advances in technology so in that sense even if the game were to suck ass, it will be worth the money for me. Obviously, I'm hoping for a fun game too though

Moddability is the super important thing for me personally. There is enough interest in this game that, as long as it's easyish to mod, people will make a fun version of it regardless of how the base game comes out. X3 really benefited from how much work the community was willing to put into it to make it better and it didn't have nearly the breadth of devotion that SC does.

 

[Chipopo]

Do you think it would make you feel better about the game if the stuff from the Gamescom demo got rolled into the PU around the end of the year or would that not be sufficient to reassure you at this point?

If CIG starts hitting their stated release dates, which in this case means 2.6, SQ42 and 3.0 all by the end of this year, and they more or less have the suggested content, then I will start to take them seriously again, yes.

 

[XPE]

Do you think it would make you feel better about the game if the stuff from the Gamescom demo got rolled into the PU around the end of the year or would that not be sufficient to reassure you at this point?

People will always find a reason to dislike this game.

 

[Chipopo]

You don't mean to sound cynical? Are you serious?! You sound extremly jaded and you make up shit that sounds like the worst case schenario and paints it like that's going to happen and that there's no other way it'll go.

Then you go and compare it to no man's sky which got hyped because they showed almost zero nill of the game or the development and fans believed the few statements that the head of the studio told them outright. Star citizen shows new stuff every week and is *pretty* transparent about what they are working on.

I just can't agree with you at all and your sentiment is far from leading on a discussion with this extreme hyperbole(Game will be cancelled and industry will go under level of hyperbole), extremly dumb(as in taken out of the ass) estimates both of budget and releasedates/delays and completly off-target comparisons with other games.

The fact that this article exists and took 7 months of work to put together suggests that CIG are in fact not all that open about development. If nothing else this article shows that whatever we get out of CIG is marketing fluff compared to what's going on behind the scenes.

I'm not saying any of this is inevitable, I just see a pattern of behavior and I haven't seen sufficient evidence that it's changed yet as people are suggesting. Only time will tell.

 

[Jinkies]

Wanted to buy this game.
Went to his website and saw a 14000 dollar ship.
Decided to not spend any cash at all.
Will buy it when finished in a sale.

This is the kind of ignorance that makes haters really look crazy to fans.

What you are describing does not exist, and never existed.

Even if it did, you can still buy the game for more cheaply than any other AAA title.

The reaction to this game by the general community is a disappointing mix of ignorance and insanity.

People will always find a reason to dislike this game.

Precisely. I would even call this a form of bigotry or prejudice in a way. The rabid, ignorant hatred for this game and its fans must at least share a few of the same neurons as bigotry.

 

[Geist-]

The fact that this article exists and took 7 months of work to put together suggests that CIG are in fact not all that open about development. If nothing else this article shows that whatever we get out of CIG is marketing fluff compared to what's going on behind the scenes.

I'm not saying any of this is inevitable, I just see a pattern of behavior and I haven't seen sufficient evidence that it's changed yet as people are suggesting. Only time will tell.

Well, I have some bad news for you, if you expect any game to give out accurate release dates before the game is practically done/in Beta, you're in for a bad time.

 

[ffejeromdiks]

I own close to 500 steam games.

I'm not missing anything.

Yeah really.

Pretty sure you're missing Gaf right now...

I mean you only have yourself to blame, if you do something idiotic like throw 13 grand on a fucking video game then it's not the kind of thing you should flaunt around on message boards, there's no situation where you can relay that information and come off as anything other than a massive tool.

 

[apav]

This is the kind of ignorance that makes haters really look crazy to fans.

What you are describing does not exist, and never existed.

Even if it did, you can still buy the game for more cheaply than any other AAA title.

The reaction to this game by the general community is a disappointing mix of ignorance and insanity.



Precisely. I would even call this a form of bigotry or prejudice in a way. The rabid, ignorant hatred for this game and its fans must at least share a few of the same neurons as bigotry.

Yea, it boggles my mind that a lot of people understand what this game is trying to accomplish and are actually hoping it will fail.

It's an unfortunate side effect that being so open will perpetuate a bad rap for the company if it's constantly under scrutiny. Every company has these sort of issues, but the difference here is they are behind closed doors and the public will never hear about most of them. When a game is put under scrutiny this often, regardless of the reason or the validity of the claims, people who have no attachments to the game may start to develop a negative mindset towards it. Seeing a game with a lot of perceived controversy being frequently discussed certainly would cast a lot of uncertainty and hesitation in me. The good gets overshadowed by the bad and it gives off this idea that the game and developer are more troubled than they really are.

Still, it was a great article. If you'd like to read another unbiased article or watch the interview they had with Chris Roberts, check out one that just came out today. This one is a little more optimistic that discusses the roadmap for the future. Next week they'll interview Sean Tracy.

 

[Dash Kappei]

It's nonsense because it's quite clearly no where near impossible, and has already been surpassed within the game.

No it hasn't lol

 

[Disxo]

Can someone cut it at the beginning, its an awesome gif for reactions xd

 

[StereoVsn]

If CIG starts hitting their stated release dates, which in this case means 2.6, SQ42 and 3.0 all by the end of this year, and they more or less have the suggested content, then I will start to take them seriously again, yes.

I can see 2.6 happening this year, 3.0 maybe Q1 and SQ42 later then that. There is very little chance of 3.0 hitting this year and no chance, IMO, of SQ42 coming this year.

 

[iHaunter]

He was a pompous jackass. When I read that post about how every game nowadays from AAA developers is worthless garbage my eyes nearly rolled out the back of my head. Then he tris to pull the "well I guess I'm just more intelligent and mature than everyone else" card.

Give me a break.

Not ban worthy IMHO...

 

[Eolz]

I can see 2.6 happening this year, 3.0 maybe Q1 and SQ42 later then that. There is very little chance of 3.0 hitting this year and no chance, IMO, of SQ42 coming this year.

I wonder what will be the global reaction if 3.0 hits this year. Hope there'll be a bit more coverage than usual...

Not ban worthy IMHO...

I don't think so either, but you should try avoiding discussing bans in topics (especially when you're still a junior).

 

[usp84]

It's simple for me.

I will just pretend the game doesn't exist unitl they release it fully for $60.

Then i will judge it for what it is

 

[Jinkies]

Yea, it boggles my mind that a lot of people understand what this game is trying to accomplish and are actually hoping it will fail.

It's an unfortunate side effect that being so open will perpetuate a bad rap for the company if it's constantly under scrutiny. Every company has these sort of issues, but the difference here is they are behind closed doors and the public will never hear about most of them. When a game is put under scrutiny this often, regardless of the reason or the validity of the claims, people who have no attachments to the game may start to develop a negative mindset towards it. Seeing a game with a lot of perceived controversy being frequently discussed certainly would cast a lot of uncertainty and hesitation in me. The good gets overshadowed by the bad and it gives off this idea that the game and developer are more troubled than they really are.

Still, it was a great article. If you'd like to read another unbiased article or watch the interview they had with Chris Roberts, check out one that just came out today. This one is a little more optimistic that discusses the roadmap for the future. Next week they'll interview Sean Tracy.

When I spoke to CR at the beginning of the project, he had all of the open development plans already laid out in his head, and it has all played out as he described. That, by the time the game released, many backers will already have gotten their money's worth in pre-release media and previews.

It's revolutionary, and once the realities of software creation are normalized for industry patrons (i.e. Internet trolls, journalists, etc), variations on this approach might be very common.

 

[ffejeromdiks]

It's really not as impressive as everyone is making it out to be. We've had facial animation of this caliber for a while now.

The Gary Oldman speech is downright horrifying at times, yet that didn't stop the deluded"omg best gfx ever!!111" praises from pouring in. Lay off the Kool aid kids.

 

[Disxo]

It's really not as impressive as everyone is making it out to be. We've had facial animation of this caliber for a while now.

The Gary Oldman speech is downright horrifying at times, yet that didn't stop the deluded"omg best gfx ever!!111" praises from pouring in. Lay off the Kool aid kids.

If you see just a compressed gif then yeah.

 

[tuxfool]

It's really not as impressive as everyone is making it out to be. We've had facial animation of this caliber for a while now.

No. We haven't.

You might not notice the differences, but this is a bit more sophisticated. Whether it is worthwhile can be debated, but it is objectively better.

 

[red36]

I'll say what I said on the rsi forums. This article does more to confirm that cr is exactly the guy to make this game. Mistakes were made, money wasted, fine. In the end they got more money and are well on track with things. The quality of what they have shown in the last few months has been stellar.

I wanted a game with the emergent mechanics from the 90s coupled with the fidelity of modern gaming. That's exactly what's being delivered and cr here proves he isn't caving in to pressures both inside and out. Through a few lucky strokes and a lot of brilliance this game is well on its way to being realized.

I really don't see how anyone can see the article as anything else. It's like they think game development is an easy process. It's only that way if you pump out the same thing ever year. Want to be on the bleeding edge? There are gonna be times when you take a step back and have to try something new.

 

[thumb]

I'll say what I said on the rsi forums. This article does more to confirm that cr is exactly the guy to make this game. Mistakes were made, money wasted, fine. In the end they got money and they are well on track with things right now. The quality of what they have shown in the months has been stellar.

I wanted a game with the emergent mechanics from the 90s coupled with the fidelity of modern gaming. That's exactly what's being delivered and cr here proves be isn't caving in to pressures both inside and out. Through a few lucky strokes and a lot of brilliance this game is well on its way to being realized.

I really don't see how anyone can see the article as anything else. It's like they think game development is an easy process. It's only that way if you pump out the same thing ever year. Want to be on the bleeding edge? There are gonna be times when you take a step back and have to try something new.

Yeah, for all the problems described, the article actually gave me confidence that Star Citizen is on the right track. I was also pleased that Roberts actually acknowledged the truth of many of the criticisms, and gave his take on them, rather than just stone wall with denial.

You can never say whether a game will meet its ambitions, but Star Citizen has a shot.

Edit - I should also note this is an opinion coming from a non-customer. I didn't contribute to the crowd funding.

 

[VlaudTheImpaler]

You know, if you where smart, you'd think this game was a scam...

 

[red36]

Yeah, for all the problems described, the article actually gave me confidence that Star Citizen is on the right track. I was also pleased that Roberts actually acknowledged the truth of many of the criticisms, and gave his take on them, rather than just stone wall with denial.

You can never say whether a game will meet its ambitions, but Star Citizen has a shot.

Edit - I should also note this is an opinion coming from a non-customer. I didn't contribute to the crowd funding.

I think one issue people have with SC in general is they always assume they are being asked to 'contribute' or to embrace the game somehow. If you aren't interested in the beta process, just stay away thank you very much. No one has an issue with someone coming in later.

 

[apav]

It's really not as impressive as everyone is making it out to be. We've had facial animation of this caliber for a while now.

The Gary Oldman speech is downright horrifying at times, yet that didn't stop the deluded"omg best gfx ever!!111" praises from pouring in. Lay off the Kool aid kids.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2SBYtj9pis&feature=youtu.be&t=1075

Listen to their discussion for about a minute.

Here's what tier 2 head actually rendered in engine in real time looks like.

Gary Oldman's character in the trailer doesn't look as good as the faces we see in the 10ftC video, but that is development. I'm sure it looks a lot better now. Because look at these:

For those that are suspicious that these heads won't look as good in-game, most if not all of the cutscenes will be done in engine and will not be pre-rendered.

 

[Sloane]

The problem with what you're saying here is that toxic work community, lack of realistic goals and internal miscommunications are loaded labels that befits every major game development studio that has projects with many hundreds of people in teams all over the world.

[...]

I think this game is absolutely stunning. It's insane. Not since Shenmue have we seen a game of this level of ambitious and detail. And the usual stop blocks don't apply because roberts is not answering to nobody. I really hope he pulls it off.

Wonderful post. The article is an interesting read but in the end it doesn't really feel like anything out of the ordinary and I still believe Roberts can do it, considering what they've shown at GamesCom and whatnot.

This is the most ambitious game of the last 10-15 years or so, yet so many people just seem to want it to fail. Weird.

 

[SolicitorPirate]

Precisely. I would even call this a form of bigotry or prejudice in a way. The rabid, ignorant hatred for this game and its fans must at least share a few of the same neurons as bigotry.

...as someone who has faced actual bigotry, I have to ask what being from another dimension possessed you to say something so fucking stupid?

 

[Syril]

Precisely. I would even call this a form of bigotry or prejudice in a way. The rabid, ignorant hatred for this game and its fans must at least share a few of the same neurons as bigotry.

Are you really saying you feel persecuted because of other people not being positive about the game that you backed?

 

[ffejeromdiks]

...as someone who has faced actual bigotry, I have to ask what being from another dimension possessed you to say something so fucking stupid?

By the definition of bigotry, he isn't wrong.

intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself

Who hasn't faced 'actual' bigotry?

This whole Trump-madness haze has made people so lazy that they freely swap "bigot" with "racist" despite having different meanings.

 

[lutheran]

People judge people all the time, the fabric of human society demands people to be judged on a daily basis.

But,

All those things you mentioned are actual physical objects. There is no value in this digital ship for a game no one will remember 10 years from now.

Mind you it's not for a ship, it's an extra 2500 for a chance to get a ship on top of 18,000$. People spend absurd amount of money on stupid shit all the time and that's fine. They are dumb, and that's ok if they are dumb.

I'm pretty sure people will remember this game 10 years from now, in fact it may still be a viable product at that time if they have a lot of success. Even if they don't I sincerely doubt the single player portion of the game will not ship and I like the chances of it being a fantastic experience. 10 years from now, you will still remember the great Wing Commander games, you certainly will remember this game that brought in so much money especially if any part of it releases to the masses and has a modicum of critical success.

 

[Aselith]

I'm pretty sure people will remember this game 10 years from now, in fact it may still be a viable product at that time if they have a lot of success. Even if they don't I sincerely doubt the single player portion of the game will not ship and I like the chances of it being a fantastic experience. 10 years from now, you will still remember the great Wing Commander games, you certainly will remember this game that brought in so much money especially if any part of it releases to the masses and has a modicum of critical success.

Even if this were the worst game ever made, it would still be remembered due to the amount spent. That's why people remember Shenmue

 

[TissueBox]

Reading through this right now and it's a very compelling inside-look at the pains of world-scale game development, financing, and the translation of one man's consummate, high-maintenance vision. Reminds me of my drug ring days, but that was cut short when my Zolofts started losing demand to the freebase next door...and then ACCIDENTALLY FELL DOWN A TOILET.

Hahaha, just kidding, that was in a different timeline. Regardless, seriously fine work from Kotaku! *chucks bouquet of roses*

 

[synce]

Maybe they should stop accepting money and set some actual, realistic goals for themselves. I don't believe for a minute that this game will ever actually be released

 

[Zalusithix]

Maybe they should stop accepting money and set some actual, realistic goals for themselves. I don't believe for a minute that this game will ever actually be released

Yeah, they should cut off all lines of income. Then they can focus on getting stuff done. The employees will just work for free once reserves are depleted!

Your suggestion would simply create a situation where your belief has a greater chance of becoming reality. Not that you'd mind if that happened, I'm sure.

 

[Effect]

Freelancer. Never forget.

Spoiler

Actually everyone probably forgot he promised Star Citizen back in 1999. Bailed and left the studio when they ran out of money, got bought by Microsoft, and Microsoft told him to slim down his original idea.

Maybe this is wrong but from how I understood it he was fired by Microsoft after Microsoft bought that company and that was why Freelancer actually made it out the door after things were cut and reduced so the game could actually finished.

My general outlook on Roberts is that he's an ideas guy and that's it. He doesn't appear to be able to actually manage things. The Freelancer situation is an example of this where he had to be removed from the picture to get that thing done. Then there is Star Citizen itself. Even back when Wing Commander games were made he had someone there controlling things and likely to tell him no when things went over budget, were delayed, etc. He wasn't fully in charge of everything. I remember reading somewhere that all his games had gone over budget and experienced problems. When I think back to his comments about publishers in general I can't up but to say the publishers weren't the problem. Not in relation him. He was. Removing them doesn't solve his issues. It likely makes them worse because he no longer has anything or anyone to reign him in which was likely why his games got out the door in the first place and why Star Citizen isn't, hasn't, and likely won't.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Maybe they should stop accepting money and set some actual, realistic goals for themselves. I don't believe for a minute that this game will ever actually be released

.

 

[Stiler]

.

If they stopped taking money the game wouldn't get made because they are using said money that's coming in.

They do have a goal and are working on the game, it's not like they are all sitting around some secret lair sipping champagne and going "ah yes, we'll get to work on this game once we get....one MILLION DOLLARS!!1

That's how normal game development is also. When a publisher hies a studio to develop the game they don't simply throw the entire budget at it and say "make the game."

They give them parts of the development money and then more as they reach development milestones and things.

.

 

[wsippel]

Maybe this is wrong but from how I understood it he was fired by Microsoft after Microsoft bought that company and that was why Freelancer actually made it out the door after things were cut and reduced so the game could actually finished.

My general outlook on Roberts is that he's an ideas guy and that's it. He doesn't appear to be able to actually manage things. The Freelancer situation is an example of this where he had to be removed from the picture to get that thing done. Then there is Star Citizen itself. Even back when Wing Commander games were made he had someone there controlling things and likely to tell him no when things went over budget, were delayed, etc. He wasn't fully in charge of everything. I remember reading somewhere that all his games had gone over budget and experienced problems. When I think back to his comments about publishers in general I can't up but to say the publishers weren't the problem. Not in relation him. He was. Removing them doesn't solve his issues. It likely makes them worse because he no longer has anything or anyone to reign him in which was likely why his games got out the door in the first place and why Star Citizen isn't, hasn't, and likely won't.

That would be Erin Roberts, Chris' brother. He led Traveller's Tales (Tt Fusion to be exact) after Chris left the industry, but became CIG's global head of production in July 2015. He did some massive restructuring since and is generally considered the main reason for the more focused and streamlined development process we've seen in recent months.

 

[Steel]

Maybe they should stop accepting money and set some actual, realistic goals for themselves. I don't believe for a minute that this game will ever actually be released

They've stopped expanding their goals a long time ago. And the progress they've been making recently has been ramping up rapidly. Honestly, if there was an in depth investigation of any game's production, I doubt it'd look any better.