Star Citizen Funds Top $17 Million

[StewShearerOld]

Star Citizen Funds Top $17 Million

Star Citizen has raised $17 million but still isn't "completely community funded."

Back in June, Star Citizen became the most <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125381-Star-Citizen-Most-Successful-Crowfunding-Campaign-Ever>successful crowdfunding campaign ever, raising more than $10 million dollars, a number it would pretty quickly blow out of the water. By the beginning of August eager fans had bumped the project's funds to <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126542-Star-Citizens-Crowdfunding-Raises-15-Million>$15 million. Now, a month later, that total has jumped even higher to a whopping total of $17 million dollars.

The game's creator, Chris Roberts, was quick to thank the game's backers. "The power of this community is simply amazing," he said. That being the case, he also affirmed that Star Citizen "still [has] a ways to go before we have achieved the goal of being completely community funded." In the past, Roberts has said that it will take anywhere from $20-22 million to fund Star Citizen <a href=http://www.joystiq.com/2013/06/27/chris-roberts-can-build-you-a-star-citizen-space-fighter-for-35>in its entirety. "Based on our current trajectory we're going to make it," he said. "Maybe even by the end of this year!"

In the mean time, Roberts and Cloud Imperium Games have revealed the stretch rewards for a slightly lower milestone: $19 million. If Star Citizen can reach this goal, backers will be privy to new rewards, including a "Jane's Fighting Ships style" PDF manual and the integration of finite space stations players can fight over and manage across the in-game galaxy. Roberts has also promised to continue airing monthly episodes of <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8gj2YyB0Hg>RSI Museum, a retrospective web series looking back on classic games that helped lead to Star Citizen. Obviously, the project will have to pass through the <a href=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/funding-goals>$18 million mark first, however, a goal that will net current backers the coordinates to an exclusive, hidden star system.

Source: <a href=https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13241-17-Million>Roberts Space Industries


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[Entitled]

I'm wondering why everyone is so OK with Roberts explicitly planning to run out of the currently collected backer money and collecting more mid-development, yet freak the hell out when Tim Schafer does the same, and start talking about how he needs a producer after all to keep him in check and avoid such "failures".

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

ENOUGH with the stretch goals! Work on the core game. And then if you have any money left add stuff that you promised as free DLC.

 

[Me55enger]

ENOUGH with the stretch goals! Work on the core game. And then if you have any money left add stuff that you promised as free DLC.

Hrm.

To be brutally honest I think they're running out of ideas for stretch goals.

I agree a prudent move would be to stop adding and start focussing- something I suspect they might do when they reach the magic $21million (£5 on 11th November.)

It's all good and well adding more with the extra money, but overstretching is becoming a risk. Or at least it should be. The community is not wavering very much at present; and it looks as if CR is still in line to deliver.

EDIT: Congratulations Escapist for actually getting this out on the same day/ week. Well done.

 

[Scars Unseen]

ENOUGH with the stretch goals! Work on the core game. And then if you have any money left add stuff that you promised as free DLC.

Because obviously the people who work on core game mechanics also work on world(or space in this case) design. You do realize that the amount of funding that they are receiving for continued promotion far outweighs the cost of delivering what they are promising with each stretch goal, don't you? I mean, I guess not if you are using capital letters to decry the methods by which they are gaining their autonomy. But you should if you have even a basic grasp of math.

Let's say that this stretch goal and a new ship promotion combined only gained them $1M. If you paid your developers $100K each(could vary up or down from there according to job title) you've just paid for 10 people's salaries for an entire year at the cost of the design of a ship and star system. I punch those numbers into my calculator, and it makes a happy face.

 

[Alfador_VII]

I'm wondering why everyone is so OK with Roberts explicitly planning to run out of the currently collected backer money and collecting more mid-development, yet freak the hell out when Tim Schafer does the same, and start talking about how he needs a producer after all to keep him in check and avoid such "failures".

The key difference here is the game is well on track, and meeting it's various milestone. Also Chris Roberts and RSI/CIG are being completely transparent and open about how development is going, and where the extra money is going.

And unlike Tim Schafer's game, if RSI don't receive any more money, they're still on target to deliver the game they originally promised, and then some.

The fact that I have some money in the game myself is neither here nor there

 

[Sight Unseen]

I'm wondering why everyone is so OK with Roberts explicitly planning to run out of the currently collected backer money and collecting more mid-development, yet freak the hell out when Tim Schafer does the same, and start talking about how he needs a producer after all to keep him in check and avoid such "failures".

The key difference here is the game is well on track, and meeting it's various milestone. Also Chris Roberts and RSI/CIG are being completely transparent and open about how development is going, and where the extra money is going.

And unlike Tim Schafer's game, if RSI don't receive any more money, they're still on target to deliver the game they originally promised, and then some.

The fact that I have some money in the game myself is neither here nor there

Tim Schafer's game IS being completely transparent about where everything is going too though, and his game is still going to deliver the full scope of the game. The problem is that they rescaled the size of their game from a small flash game to a full production when they made the amount they did. Tim Schafer did an interview with Kotaku very recently that had this interesting discussion:

Spoiler: Interview Exerpt

Interviewer: What did the initial $400,000 version of Broken Age look like?

Schafer: Well, it essentially looked like a documentary. With an example game, you know, a small? it would've looked like? have you ever seen the Flash games on our website? 3

Interviewer: Yeah.

Schafer: Some of those games were done by Nathan Stapely, the artist who did the surfing video game in there? And it would've been a game that looked a lot like those games, maybe even in Flash. The point of doing it would be just enough game so that we could've made a fun documentary about how we make games. The original project was like, [2 Player Productions said], 'We want to make a documentary about you guys, making the game,' and we added on the game as an afterthought. Well, we should probably have a game funded by this Kickstarter too, so that we can be totally free to tell the whole story.4

Interviewer: So then it became, "Oh, well, now we have enough to make an actual game?"

Schafer: That was an interesting change, and that was a conscious choice. That's what a lot of this "event" has been about, a conscious choice to make the game that would stand up alongside of Brutal Legend, not in scope but in terms of like, where I think of the games I've made, that it's on par with Brutal and Psychonauts and Grim Fandango and all those games. It's no longer just a little example just to make a documentary about.

Interviewer: So it's closer in terms of scale to those games than to the amnesia fortnight games you guys did?

Schafer: The original budget, after you take out rewards and the documentary and a lot of things, came to about two million dollars for the game itself. And that's about the size of Stacking or Costume Quest. In terms of budget. I mean Grim [Fandango] was about three million dollars in 1998. The eventual budget [of Broken Age] might be comparable to Grim Fandango, adjusted for inflation.

Source:http://kotaku.com/tim-schafers-great-video-game-experiment-1228121826

I hate when people who are uninformed on this project bash it as if they're experts and make all these baseless claims. The game is going to be a solid 8-10 hour adventure game that those who backed the game will have to spend ZERO extra money on. It'll end up being a MUCH, MUCH better game than the one they got if it had only been $400,000 raised, and Double Fine is putting a lot of their own money into this project to make it a success. I backed the game for $100 or so, and between my backer rewards which I've already received and the documentary episodes, I feel like I've already got my money's worth and the game is just a sweet bonus.

 

[Seydaman]

Can someone explain to me what exactly Star Citizen is?

I've seen it around before.

 

[RoonMian]

Can someone explain to me what exactly Star Citizen is?

I've seen it around before.

It's a three-fold space simulation.

It has one part, Squadron 42, that is a campaign based space sim like the Wing Commander games, Freespace, X-Wing Alliance etc.

Then there is Star Citizen which will be an MMO, persistant universe, ingame economy, guilds, PvP, PvE. the whole thing. All based on player skill, twitch gameplay though, it is lighter on the RPG elements, no character skills, no levels etc.

And then you will be able to operate private servers where you can mod anything you want. I fully expect fan made private servers with the Star Wars universe, Star Trek, Firefly, Babylon 5... Basically nerds going wild.

It uses the Crysis 3 engine and looks awesome.

The devs are very in touch with the community (I've shaked a lot of hands last saturday) and other than conventional projects they are releasing every bit as soon as its finished. Thursday they released the first bit - the launcher and the hangar module - for December-ish the next part is announced, the dogfighting module.

And last but not least a lot of the industry keeps an eye on this because of the way it got financed (kickstarter provided only a small portion), the scope, the way it's (or rather isn't) marketed etc.

 

[GoaThief]

I jumped on the kick starter quite early but like War for the Overworld the amount of emails I receive is borderline spam with large amounts of text featuring nothing of note. I get that they wish to communicate well but it's taken so far to the other extreme the multiple emails per week for each game have just ended up alongside the penis enlargement kits and knock off pharmaceuticals in my spam folder.

I really know less than I normally would as it's not worth spending so long sorting the wheat from the chaff. Needs to be addressed really.

 

[LordMonty]

Meh i'm avoiding this game as best i can. And its getting easier as the offer becomes less and less appealing, the lifetime insurance is gone(as that was a kickstarter/early backer bonus) and the ships for pledging are going up in price. This isn't me being critical as much as me avoiding this danagerously time absorbing game. It is odd how this is exceptable and double fine's situation is not but hey I want both to do well even though i have nothing personally invested in either.

Hope it does well and goes where no space sim has gone before... but it'll be without me I waste too much time at my pc as it is.

 

[RandV80]

So back when I made my initial pledge during the kick starter I bought in at $30-40, which got me the game and the initial ship. At the time I could upgrade my pledge to get a higher end ship, like the $60 fighter model.

Right now though if you look at the page these ships only seem to be for sale at their full price. Anyone know if I can still 'upgrade' my pledge, like chip in another $20-30 and get the the $60-70 fighter craft? Or is that phase over and if I want something better I have to pay the full price?

 

[OutsiderEX]

To be brutally honest,if all this results in is a 10 hour single player space fighter sim campaign, it would be money well spent to me. There's only so many times one can play Freespace 2 after all.

If it works out a third of what the promise is, then the game is going to be the space fighter MMO I've always dreamed of with a cracking single player campaign to boot.

If they actually manage to get something close to what they say they will, then it will be stunning.

 

[Daemascus]

I very much look forward to this game. And maaaaay have helped push it over to 17 million when I bought my Constellation. -Looks out in to my hangar with Origin 325a fighter and Constellation freighter.-

 

[Strazdas]

the average supporter has spent 72,48 dollars on the thing, this is more than a retail AAA copy at launch. people obviuosly want this to happen.

 

[Nikolaz72]

the average supporter has spent 72,48 dollars on the thing, this is more than a retail AAA copy at launch. people obviuosly want this to happen.

The Alpha/Beta access copy with a bounty hunter fighter craft is 65 Dollars. The Alpha/Beta access copy with a multi-personelle explorer craft is like 270 Dollars.

The regular digital copy with a scout is 20Dollars.

I think with the average being 72 we know which ones of those three were bought xD.

Tbh, I really wanted to drop 270 dollars on that multiperson craft, but then I realized. 'Nik, you'd be dropping near 300 dollars on a single videogame' and decided not to. I did however spend more than I do on tripple-a games by aqquiring the Alpha/Beta access, so yea. Still a lot of money for a kickstarter project. I spend 45 dollars more to get the rights to play a bugged version of the game I wanted q_q.

 

[Strazdas]

the average supporter has spent 72,48 dollars on the thing, this is more than a retail AAA copy at launch. people obviuosly want this to happen.

The Alpha/Beta access copy with a bounty hunter fighter craft is 65 Dollars. The Alpha/Beta access copy with a multi-personelle explorer craft is like 270 Dollars.

The regular digital copy with a scout is 20Dollars.

I think with the average being 72 we know which ones of those three were bought xD.

Tbh, I really wanted to drop 270 dollars on that multiperson craft, but then I realized. 'Nik, you'd be dropping near 300 dollars on a single videogame' and decided not to. I did however spend more than I do on tripple-a games by aqquiring the Alpha/Beta access, so yea. Still a lot of money for a kickstarter project. I spend 45 dollars more to get the rights to play a bugged version of the game I wanted q_q.

i never understood the need for that. sure its a nice thing to have... collecting dust in a cupboard. id be getting the digital copy only. but to each his own.

 

[Joccaren]

ENOUGH with the stretch goals! Work on the core game. And then if you have any money left add stuff that you promised as free DLC.

You do realise that the stretch goals ATM are basically nothing?
18 million stretch goals; They will give backers the set of co-ordinates to one system, and probably hide it from everyone else.
19 million. They'll make a PDF with the ships stats, make a video about games from the past a bit more often, they'll allow players to manage space stations that I'm pretty sure were going to be in the game in some capacity anyway from a previous goal.
The 17 million one was the last fairly significant one, in that not only did backers get a random engine modifier - which requires no work at all - but the Battlecruiser class was unlocked; a capital ship that will take time to design and implement.

For the last 4-5 stretch goals there has been a lot of fluff, and maybe one interesting thing that could take time to implement. Stretch goals ATM aren't too much of a problem.

Can someone explain to me what exactly Star Citizen is?

I've seen it around before.

Star Citizen is an upcoming space sim MMO being made by Cloud Imperium games, headed by Chris Roberts - the creator of the Wing Commander series.
The game will ship with two modules; Squadron 42 and Star Citizen itself.
Squadron 42 is a single or co-op campaign that is, conveniently enough, built into the Star Citizen universe, though one does not have to play either one to be able to play the other. The campaign can be completed without entering the persistent world, and all that completing the campaign does in the persistent world is grant the player citizenship in the UEE and a credit payout. Squadron 42 is set to be in the vein of the Wing Commander games, though more dynamic.
Star Citizen itself can be played either on a persistent MMO server or on a private server. It is a persistent world heavily influenced by the actions of agents - which includes both players and NPCs. True to the Space Sim genre players can trade, fight and explore the universe, forming guilds or playing solo at will. Missions will be created by the system to reflect the world's current demands - I.E: A planet has a finite number of resources. If a planet needs more food, water, or raw materials to manufacture, it will send out shipping missions for these to be delivered. The more it needs them the more it will reward players who deliver them. If NPC agents pick up these missions, or players I guess, they can and likely will send out escort missions, requesting fighter craft to defend them from pirate raiders as they deliver their goods. If a pirate gang becomes too successful, a mission may be sent out to capture or kill the leader, and the agent that does so will become somewhat famous as a dangerous pirate hunter. Jump points, the connections between the various systems, are also not all discovered, with players being required to find and navigate some, which will net a credit reward as well as fame if done. Players can also choose to be criminals or pirates, or can be hired by planetary police and given a free ship to complete their job with. They can really do whatever they want, within the confines of what the system can handle. Their actions will also influence the story of the persistent world.

 

[Sandernista]

the average supporter has spent 72,48 dollars on the thing, this is more than a retail AAA copy at launch. people obviuosly want this to happen.

The Alpha/Beta access copy with a bounty hunter fighter craft is 65 Dollars. The Alpha/Beta access copy with a multi-personelle explorer craft is like 270 Dollars.

All you need to spend for the alph/beta access is $40. I went ahead and spent $150 because I'm crazy.