Star Citizen's Squadron 42 Delayed to 2017

[Steven Bogos]

Star Citizen's Squadron 42 Delayed to 2017

In a move that shouldn't really surprise anyone, the singleplayer campaign for Star Citizen: Squadron 42, has been delayed.

At this year's Citizencon [https://robertsspaceindustries.com/citizencon], Cloud Imperium Games' Star Citizen exhibition, it was revealed that the upcoming singleplayer campaign for Star Citizen: Squadron 42 has been delayed. The original release date for the game was late 2016, but has now been officially pushed back to "2017".

The team stated that while a lot of the technology behind Squadron 42 is done there are still a few areas that are lacking such as AI logic and mission integration. It says that its current goal is to bring the game's first chapter to release quality, and then show it off to the public. Squadron 42 has 28 chapters.

The CEO of CIG, Chris Roberts, spoke at lengh about the status of Star Citizen during Citizencon's closing keynote. He talked a lot about upcoming updates and new technology, but did not offer any kind of release dates for any of these things. You can watch the whole thing in the video above.

Star Citizen, which was originally due to launch at the end of 2014, has had some pretty well-documented development woes [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/features/14715-CIG-Employees-Talk-Star-Citizen-and-the-State-of-the-Company]. This "indefinite" delay of Squadron 42 simply adds to that.

Will Star Citizen ever actually be released?


Permalink

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

few areas that are lacking such as AI logic and mission integration./quote]

So... the enemy doesn't do anything and nothing ties the otherwise random missions together? Also looks to be released as episodic content?

Remind me as to why people are dedicating thousands of their presumably hard earned dollars in funding this pos?

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Well on the plus side, at least I'll have time to get money put together to upgrade my computer. There are people who funded this thing who stopped putting money into it ages ago but still look forward to it; I just don't get people who spend money on it every year.

 

[Arnoxthe1]

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

Thank you for that. I always get a kick out of those.

But in all seriousness...

AAAAAAAAAAAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaa....*wheeze*.

I knew this would happen. I fucking knew it, and I've been saying it for months.

Whelp, off to go bait SC fans some more.

 

[Parasondox]

So many more hope and money will be crushed and lost. Another space game that promised so much except this time people put money towards making it. THOUSANDS!! The money could have been used on better things but then again I am not allowed to judge what a person does with their money.

 

[RedDeadFred]

What a twist!

I doubt it'll see a release in 2017 either. Keep in mind that this is just one episode of the single-payer portion. I wouldn't expect the persistent universe until 2020 (if it ever even comes out).

 

[Karadalis]

And next year it will be delayed to 2018 then 2019 and on and on... to become the next big duke nukem forever!

You can bet im full of schadenfreude especially after the shitshow that was the fanboy invasion of the escapist after those two articles pointing out that not everything seems so goldy in the land of space citizens.

Damn right the game is a space sim nuts wet dream...

Though the thing with wet dreams is, the moment you wake up you realize it was all in your head and all youre left is a sticky embarassing mess downstairs... and thats all Space citizen will be: A big space sim wet dream.

 

[jimslade]

Quoting the most flawed article of the Escapist, debunked as just plain wrong and badly researched from several sources doesn't leave a good impression. The whole "scandal" about Derek Smart and the Escapist was so silly and embarrassing, I'm really wondering why anyone would dig that up as an argument.

Also: you are all wrong.

Nobody who's followed SCs development is surprised by that "reveal" as you call it.

If you would have followed the very open production cycle of the game, you would know that both games not only made huge steps forward during the last year, but that S42's technology is on its way, too. The thing is: Star Citizen and S42 use the same tech, the same systems and the same game mechanics, etc. So whenever there is a mechanic or ship released for SC, it's also a step forward for S42. On the other hand: If SC becomes bigger and more ambitious, S42 automatically does so, too.

All posts here including the article above them are just pretty uninformed and typical internet bla bla. For example: S42 will be an episodic title, yeah. But it will be three episodes of full game length each, starting with episode 1 having 28 chapters which is 60+ missions. And there is enough to hold together the missions as they did a pretty extensive mocap shoot already. AI is in place for space flight, which you would know had you ever started the Alpha. AI is in place for firstperson shooting, too and will most probably be published in patch 2.6 coming this or next week. Thing is: Roberts just wants very high quality and is not satisfied with some things right know. I assume most CEOs of big studios would just have showed the S42-demo on sunday. But he says: No, it's not there yet. That has balls.

Regarding SC on the other hand: Everyone who has some knowledge of game development (which I as a game developer have) knows, that as long as you have all the tech in place, putting the game together will go relatively quick (almost exponential). The last years they worked on the tech mainly, which is by the way the most ambitious tech anyone has worked on by far - and it works. Of course they can't show many fancy things there. Now that the tech is in place, there will be several major updates coming pretty soon. What Roberts was telling us in his speech is that they will put together SC during 2017. Will it be finished 2017? No, of course not. Roberts said himself that not all solar systems will be in place on launch.

I predict S42 will be released mid to late 2017, SC will go to beta late 2018.

 

[jimslade]

P.S.: I haven't put thousands of dollars into that game. I'm not crazy.

 

[tehFozzeY]

So how's that lawsuit coming up, eh?

What people who's followed SC's development are surprised by is the fact that the demo had absolutely nothing to show for S42's progress. 60+ missions and not a single one of them is in any sort of working state. If AI was in place you'd think they show at least that. Which all makes the 2017 release date optimistic, even.

 

[Karadalis]

debunked

CITATION NEEDED!

Debunked by whom? CIG? Yeah right

CIG investigated CIG and found that there is nothing wrong with CIG....

The only one who embarassed himselfe was Chris roberts by going completly balistic, insulting the article writer and threatening a bogus lawsuit in an attempt to bully the Escapist into censoring themselves and taking the articles off the site.

But hey! Atleast they installed a 20$k something sliding door in their fancy offices... all that backer money has to go somewhere right?

 

[Arnoxthe1]

Thank you for that. I always get a kick out of those.

I know, right? Still haven't gotten tired of those vids yet.

Quoting the most flawed article of the Escapist, debunked as just plain wrong and badly researched from several sources doesn't leave a good impression. The whole "scandal" about Derek Smart and the Escapist was so silly and embarrassing, I'm really wondering why anyone would dig that up as an argument.

Also: you are all wrong.

Nobody who's followed SCs development is surprised by that "reveal" as you call it.

If you would have followed the very open production cycle of the game, you would know that both games not only made huge steps forward during the last year, but that S42's technology is on its way, too. The thing is: Star Citizen and S42 use the same tech, the same systems and the same game mechanics, etc. So whenever there is a mechanic or ship released for SC, it's also a step forward for S42. On the other hand: If SC becomes bigger and more ambitious, S42 automatically does so, too.

All posts here including the article above them are just pretty uninformed and typical internet bla bla. For example: S42 will be an episodic title, yeah. But it will be three episodes of full game length each, starting with episode 1 having 28 chapters which is 60+ missions. And there is enough to hold together the missions as they did a pretty extensive mocap shoot already. AI is in place for space flight, which you would know had you ever started the Alpha. AI is in place for firstperson shooting, too and will most probably be published in patch 2.6 coming this or next week. Thing is: Roberts just wants very high quality and is not satisfied with some things right know. I assume most CEOs of big studios would just have showed the S42-demo on sunday. But he says: No, it's not there yet. That has balls.

Regarding SC on the other hand: Everyone who has some knowledge of game development (which I as a game developer have) knows, that as long as you have all the tech in place, putting the game together will go relatively quick (almost exponential). The last years they worked on the tech mainly, which is by the way the most ambitious tech anyone has worked on by far - and it works. Of course they can't show many fancy things there. Now that the tech is in place, there will be several major updates coming pretty soon. What Roberts was telling us in his speech is that they will put together SC during 2017. Will it be finished 2017? No, of course not. Roberts said himself that not all solar systems will be in place on launch.

I predict S42 will be released mid to late 2017, SC will go to beta late 2018.

You know what, man? I really hope that you're right. I truly do. Game development history though is screaming otherwise.

 

[pookie101]

while i want this badly to work, specifically the single player bit, ive been looking for a wing commander game for so long, but my warning bells have long since turned in to a klaxon

i dont expect this to be anywhere near what was initially promised but im hoping im wrong

 

[RaikuFA]

"Citizencon"

If that's a convention for Star Citizen, that's sad.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

We need a meme or something for Star Citizen, like how No Man's Sky became One Man's Lie.

If you got it, post it.

-snip-

Thank you for that.

 

[Clankenbeard]

This is not normal. I mean, a company running on a lot of crowd-funded money is relatively new. But, the amount of secrecy displayed seems ridiculously large. I would love for Star Citizen to succeed. But, the way they are conducting their business seems skeevy. Everyone's gut should be just a little wriggly with the way the progress on this game feels. Even the die-hard backers who very loudly defend the game must feel some level of uneasiness.

I have no money in the game--it isn't an appealing genre to me. But I have been so intrigued by the controversy that I tried Star Citizen during the "free-to-try" weekend a few months ago. And, because I hadn't followed it or backed it, I had no clue what the hell I was doing. I couldn't find a way to try a spaceship--there was nothing in my hangar (probably because I hadn't paid for one). But the "run around the spaceport and hangar" section of the game that I could look at was fraught with problems. I fell through my bunk and into space within the first 30 seconds. There were remnants of other player's gear floating in the air in public areas. I got stuck behind a bar in a pub for about 3 minutes. After about an hour and a half of "game play" I was so frustrated that I just quit. I probably didn't give it the chance it deserved. It looked pretty. But it didn't feel well-assembled. If these are the areas that they allowed folks to come look at for free to entice them into the game, they chose poorly.

I have undertaken tasks in my life that I was unqualified to complete. And then I failed to complete them. To dissuade me from doing this, I keep a de-motivational poster in my office.

When I had this problem, I just kept asking for more time and tried to keep from letting anyone know I needed help. In the end, admitting the problem and asking for help were the only solutions. I'm not saying Roberts Space Industries is in the same boat--I'm not informed enough to know. But, it feels like that.

 

[Laughing Man]

"Citizencon"

If that's a convention for Star Citizen, that's sad.

I have to wonder if I were a backer would I be happy with them shoving a load of my money in to a convention to show case a game that I backed and as yet has still not shown any signs of getting a real solid release date? Then again I am not a backer so I guess it doesn't matter what I think.

 

[Avnger]

"Citizencon"

If that's a convention for Star Citizen, that's sad.

I have to wonder if I were a backer would I be happy with them shoving a load of my money in to a convention to show case a game that I backed and as yet has still not shown any signs of getting a real solid release date? Then again I am not a backer so I guess it doesn't matter what I think.

Don't forget that you as a backer then get the privilege of buying a ticket to said con to find out if they've actually done anything or not with the game in the past 6 months!

 

[Lightspeaker]

But, the amount of secrecy displayed seems ridiculously large.

I really don't understand all these misconceptions about Star Citizen having no information and secrecy and no progress to be honest. I backed it waaaaaay back on the original kickstarter to the tune of a couple hundred and later transferred my account to the RSI site.

Ever since then I've been force-fed information via my e-mail inbox on something like a weekly basis of project updates. I've not been particularly following it or trying out any of the test builds to any great extent but even despite that I'm reasonably aware of progress being made.

I'm largely ambivalent if it comes out or not as presented at this point. On the one hand it'd be NICE for it to come out as described. On the other hand the feature creep is absurd and the money I invested into seeing it brought to life was a number of years ago now and so is long since 'forgotten' in many ways. Frankly I'm only ever reminded I even backed it when I get new project updates or when I see a news article on it. Ultimately its not a lot of skin off my nose if it comes out or the entire project folds. That being said the amount of people saying that the game is going nowhere and will be a colossal failure and are taking a huge amount of glee from that 'fact' is just baffling to me. Especially since there just...factually IS progress on it.