Star Citizen Unveils First Public Demo

Fanghawk

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Star Citizen Unveils First Public Demo

Star Citizen's gameplay footage has finally been showcased at PAX East, much to the excitement of space sim fans.

Sometimes it feels like news coverage about Star Citizen <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/130811-Star-Citizen-Hits-35-Million-in-Crowdfunding>is focused entirely on the money it's raking in, or to mix things up, <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/129834-Star-Citizen-Stretch-Goals-Are-Examples-Of-Where-the-Money-Goes>on what it's doing with that money. But at the end of the day, we're supposed to be looking forward to Wing Commander's spiritual successor, complete with engaging aerial dogfights. Thankfully, PAX audiences got the chance to see how Star Citizen's gameplay is shaping up, thanks to a demo where just getting into the cockpit gave as much of a thrill as combat.

First off, in case you were wondering, Star Citizen's visuals do look impressive for the demo provided here. Whether that appeal is worth the millions of dollars poured into the project is subjective, but this is still an early build, so additional improvements should be forthcoming. The space sim gameplay, however, is well underway with complete 3D movement, high-speed combat, and even a slick auto-targeting system. Just be very mindful of your cameras so you don't fly into a landing pad, like the presenter does within seconds of leaving his hangar.

Of more interest to me are the subtle nuances Star Citizen adds to the space sim experience. As a character flying the ship, rather than the ship itself, players are subject to G-forces that can impair vision, even to the point of blacking out. Also, individual ship components can be damaged and affect overall performance, most notably the thrusters that direct your craft. While these features are technically hindrances, they should also go a long way towards immersing players into the game world. We still have at least a year before Star Citizen gets its final release, but given how the demo performs so far, I expect <a href=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13802-Alpha-Slot-FAQ>the game's remaining Alpha Slots will disappear rather quickly.

Source: Joystiq

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Qvar

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Aug 25, 2013
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This looks incredible. I just pledged for a beta pass yesterday, and today this video makes me even more hype. And I have a lot of work to do! Rawr!

There is still a lot of work to do regarding things like the collisions physics, but looks amazing for something they still have a full year (probably will take some more) to develop.
 

Ferisar

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Sseth said:
The game looks awesome but the demonstrator is just fucking awful at both playing his own game and properly demonstrating it. They really need to get some one a little more competent to show it off lol
Probably because it's the lead on the project :p Welcome to crowdfunding!

On the bright side, the game looks good. I watched this live on twitch, and it was amusing that so many things went wrong and it didn't look much worse for it.
 

Jadak

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Looks amazing on a technical level, but looks like shit on the actually being enjoyable to play front, not often I grow bored so quickly while watching space game demos.
 

dangoball

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Jadak said:
Looks amazing on a technical level, but looks like shit on the actually being enjoyable to play front, not often I grow bored so quickly while watching space game demos.
Maybe space sim just isn't your type of game. Some people like games that make them pay attention to every minute detail where the difference between crash landing and perfect one is just a push of one button.
 

Merlark

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Heh, it is super weird that allot of people are confused when a game doesn't appeal to everyone.

Pity it didn't go off perfectly but for pre alpha its pretty rocking and its that chris roberts flair for detail and style that sorely missing from the industry today. why flip the helmet? because! thats why!

Can't wait to try it out next month. Its going to bring the project to a whole new level as soon as people can feel and touch a small part of it.
 

jollybarracuda

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Gotta admit, that helmet flip was damn sexy.

I really am looking forward to this though. I really want a good space combat / exploration game, but games like X3 are just a bit too in-depth for me, so Star Citizen looks like it's going to be a good middle ground between complexity and accessibility.
 

Jadak

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dangoball said:
Jadak said:
Looks amazing on a technical level, but looks like shit on the actually being enjoyable to play front, not often I grow bored so quickly while watching space game demos.
Maybe space sim just isn't your type of game. Some people like games that make them pay attention to every minute detail where the difference between crash landing and perfect one is just a push of one button.
Quite right, I guess I was hoping more for something in the realm of a modernized Freelancer, not 'Flight Simulator: Space Edition'. But that's my bad, can't blame the game for my having false expectations about it's genre.

But still... Really? I mean, interest in technical simulation or not, was everyone really watching the same video? Every aspect of that was boring, and I hope to god that slow process of having to wait around while getting into the cockpit is avoidable (never get out?), despite the apparent excitement of the stupid shits in the crowd and their chorus of "helmet!!!".

In any case, suppose this one is a lost cause for me, I'll be waiting for Limit Theory and possibly Elite.
 

Laughing Man

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Oct 10, 2008
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Finally Tachyon The Fringe gets a spiritual successor and yes the physics, ship management, multi part damage and it effecting your ship and fancy graphics (for their time) all appeared in Tachyon The Fringe.
 

Nimzabaat

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Laughing Man said:
Finally Tachyon The Fringe gets a spiritual successor and yes the physics, ship management, multi part damage and it effecting your ship and fancy graphics (for their time) all appeared in Tachyon The Fringe.
Now if only they had a stretch goal for getting Bruce Campbell to do a voice in there...
 

Colt47

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Jadak said:
dangoball said:
Jadak said:
Looks amazing on a technical level, but looks like shit on the actually being enjoyable to play front, not often I grow bored so quickly while watching space game demos.
Maybe space sim just isn't your type of game. Some people like games that make them pay attention to every minute detail where the difference between crash landing and perfect one is just a push of one button.
Quite right, I guess I was hoping more for something in the realm of a modernized Freelancer, not 'Flight Simulator: Space Edition'. But that's my bad, can't blame the game for my having false expectations about it's genre.

But still... Really? I mean, interest in technical simulation or not, was everyone really watching the same video? Every aspect of that was boring, and I hope to god that slow process of having to wait around while getting into the cockpit is avoidable (never get out?), despite the apparently excitement of the stupid shits in the crowd and their chorus of "helmet!!!".

In any case, suppose this one is a lost cause for me, I'll be waiting for Limit Theory and possibility Elite.
Actually, it looked pretty cool. The cockpit UI reminded me of privateer 2: the darkening. Now I'm just hoping the AI in Star Citizen isn't at the abysmal level of the Darkening.
 

AldUK

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It wasn't helped by Chris demonstrating the game so poorly. Not only was he terrible at piloting the ship, his narration wasn't particularly enlightening or informative either. Still, for a game not quite in alpha, it's looking fantastic. The entire time I was trying to imagine having my entire field of vision filled with the game, since for me; Star Citizen and the Oculus go hand-in-hand.
 

Lovely Mixture

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Jadak said:
dangoball said:
Jadak said:
Looks amazing on a technical level, but looks like shit on the actually being enjoyable to play front, not often I grow bored so quickly while watching space game demos.
Maybe space sim just isn't your type of game. Some people like games that make them pay attention to every minute detail where the difference between crash landing and perfect one is just a push of one button.
Quite right, I guess I was hoping more for something in the realm of a modernized Freelancer, not 'Flight Simulator: Space Edition'. But that's my bad, can't blame the game for my having false expectations about it's genre.

But still... Really? I mean, interest in technical simulation or not, was everyone really watching the same video? Every aspect of that was boring, and I hope to god that slow process of having to wait around while getting into the cockpit is avoidable (never get out?), despite the apparently excitement of the stupid shits in the crowd and their chorus of "helmet!!!".

In any case, suppose this one is a lost cause for me, I'll be waiting for Limit Theory and possibility Elite.
I thought it looked bland as well. Graphically it looked fine, but the gameplay was the same as your average space sim or flight sim.

The crowd was way too easily amused. "LOOK YOU CAN TURN YOUR CRAFT AROUND AS IT GOES IN ONE DIRECTION"
 

mindfaQ

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Dec 6, 2013
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Not much gameplay there, so no surprise it's boring to watch, besides enjoying the beautiful scenery.
I still think this game is a bit bloated up with all those funds that came in but maybe they'll make it work. At least they will have a good starting playerbase with all those backers. ^^
 

Redlin5_v1legacy

Better Red than Dead
Aug 5, 2009
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I felt sorry for Chris when I watched the stream, there were some issues with the multiplayer demonstration towards the end of it. Still, the game in pre-alpha is exactly what I want it to be and I'm rubbing my hands in anticipation!
 

Isalan

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Jun 9, 2008
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HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!

Game is looking pretty spanky. Just went and recovered my RSI login stuff after not touching it since the kickstarter and found I have alpha access. Downloading the Hangar module now, and trying to work out if I can get the Dogfighting module too. Hopefully, this will be a hell of a game, but we'll just have to wait and see.
 

Under_your_bed

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Isalan said:
HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!HELMET!
Ugh. It was shit like that that made me close the video before even 5 minutes had passed.. The whole crowd screamed like performing monkeys whenever the showcaser did something as simple as putting on a helmet or climbing some stairs. You'd think from the screaming that they'd developed an actual spaceship rather than just a space sim. Have they never heard of watching with a little dignified quiet? Maybe saving the cheering for the end, or until something really exciting happens? Is this an American thing or something?

Still, I'm sure once they bring out a trailer I can actually watch, I'll be able to get behind it.