Wing Commander creator returns with Star Citizen
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Chris Roberts returns to industry with new high-end PC space combat simulator; due out in about two years as a one-time purchase; support for VR headset Oculus Rift planned.
Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts is back with a new space combat simulator aimed at high-end PCs. Today at the Game Developers Conference Online in Austin, Texas, Roberts announced Star Citizen. The game is due out in about two years.
Star Citizen has been in development at Roberts' Cloud Imperium Games for 12 months. The game itself includes a "sophisticated storyline" that is set in a persistent online universe. According to Roberts, it will fuse elements of his previous games, Wing Commander and Freelancer, and support for the virtual reality headset Oculus Rift is planned.
“In recent years, game designers have stopped innovating and pushing the boundaries of what you can do in this genre,” Roberts said in a statement. “I plan on bringing that kind of development mentality back into PC gaming and space sims in particular."
Much like Guild Wars 2, Star Citizen will be available through a one-time purchase, but will not require a subscription. Players can also purchase virtual items with real-world money to customize their ships.
Roberts told GameSpot last week that funding for Star Citizen has been arranged privately. However, the project is also looking for contributions from fans via a new crowd-funding campaign through the game's website. Those who back the project early on will receive beta access to the game in about a year.
Star Citizen is in development only for PC.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
110 comments
1 Like Well I just have one simple request (and it is shamefully simple): PLEASE MAKE A FREELANCEResque WITH FULL FEATURES AND SHIPS THAT AREN'T UGLY!
Saw the video. Hope that it isn't actually that hard to hit anything in the finished game.
Also, if it has those slick mouse controls that Freelancer had, I'm sold.
1 Like OMG, a return of the space sim genre would be awesome! The last great game was probably Freespace 2.
7 Like It's funny how the console domination made the industry forget about certain game genres. Space sim was the thing in mid-90's now is completely forgotten to the eyes of game media until now.
1 Like Finally, the "Battlestar Galactica" space sim I always wanted but never materialised.
Beyond the Red line never got far and as such I've played through Freespace more times than I can count.
I can't wait until this is released and a BSG mod is rolled out.
It's fantastic to see attention given to the PC, and the return of a decent looking space sim. Its just my personal feeling but Console gaming has really taken much of the enjoyment out of gaming for me. This new game is a taste of what gaming used to be and mean to me. PC Gamers forever.
4 Like Finally it seems like we space sim fans can stop playing Freelancer and move on to the next thing! Its been due for a long time!
I don't think that we need to worry about it being online, Freelancer had a great single player storyline, but what made it shine was the multiplayer, a 9 year old game which had its multiplayer support pulled half a decade ago still has hundreds of players online at any moment, and dozens of servers running different modded versions of the game.
A good game always gets its due, that's what matters in the end! This one already has my pledge ;)
6 Like I may not ever play this, but I'll donate just to show my support. The big publishers are never gonna change their ways unless we make our voices heard.
Every article talks about it being online and such, but it does have a Single player component. I took a look at the website, which is a lot more telling than all the pitiful attempts gaming journalism has done at explaining what this game is and will do.
Unfortunately I would have to buy the game and donate $125 just to get a manual that isn't digital - then still pay for the game. The price ranges that I think at least show my support don't give me anything but access to the beta - and while testing is fun and all - people pay me to do it not the other way around.
So i'll wait for the game to get finished and then pass judgement there. It looks promising, but I'm worried this has too many promises to live up to right now that I'll try to keep my enthusiasm on low so I get impressed instead of let down in the end.
3 Like just imagine the scene sitting there wearing your Oculus Rift and looking about your cockpit for enemys during a dogfight while pulling back on your force feedback filght stick. combine that with a economy and online world experience like eve with twitch bases combat not eve auto combat :( and you wont ever want to leave.
Graphic claims are ridiculous , but it seems like a good idea. I'd like to see a process that allows mods to be played in the MMO environment.
8 Like This is the kind of game I would build an entirely new PC for..... now, to convince the wife on how good an idea that will be.
I lost myself in games like Elite growing up, so this is extremely welcome news.
The traditional publishers don't believe in PC or Space Sims. Venture Capitalists only want to back mobile or social gaming startups....http://starcitizen.robertsspaceindustries.com/
1 Like The game itself includes a "sophisticated storyline" that is set in a persistent online universe.??IS THIS GOING TO BE AN MMO ??
I hope not
@Simplythebest12 I am not sure there is really a world for what this game should be. It is na online game, with single player, which can played both online and offline; when you play it online, you can play it along with friends, and not only as a wingmans, but also as different roles of a crew in a single big carrier/warship. It is online mainly because they can keep the universe alive thanks to it, modyfiing it on regular basis every week. Roberts promised such things like naming new systems after first player who discover it and many other things. These things would not have been possible offline, thus the online version. Also your spaceship can be modified to such levels that even a race car enthusiasts will be jealous. And that is only the top of the iceberg...
3 Like Awesome, bring Mark Hamill back as an actor/voice actor. He was great in the Wing Commander series.
2 Like i notice a couple of scenes VERY iconic to Wing Commander e.g when the cockpit opens
First of all, sorry for my english. Basic issue: i will be able to run it with a top notch PC of today? Because it's kinda lame to buy a game two years in antecipation and realize that you don't have a descent PC to play it.
@gmitsu in Robert's presentation he mentioned that he was using a GTX 670 to run the game still there was no lag at all eventhough this GPU is by no means that best one out there
2 Like @gmitsu Yes it will work fine with today's high end PCs . May be at medium gfx but ultra high gfx will need even more powerful . However its cryengine 3 which runs very well .
still think they havent really had a decent space sim since tie fighter, hows that for innovation?
1 Like @Crush_Project You didn't like IWar2? Any of the WC sequels? SW Alliance? Others? Not a single space sim that was released after 1994 at all?
1 Like Awesome video! Screams Wing Commander (obviously). They even had some of the same cut scenes in this video that appeared in og WCs. Like when it showed an alert, then it showed the boots running on the ground, the salute...I loved WC1&2 and the first Privateer. WC2 was the first game I had to create a boot-disk for. It was because of switching between 'extended' and 'expanded' RAM. I had just got a Packard Bell 386/25MHz with a VGA monitor and a CD-ROM drive. It was an update to a 286/12MHz PC with an EGA monitor and no mouse my dad had got for work. I remember how excited I was when I got the voice expansions packs too! I never played Freelancer though, because by 2003 I only gamed on my PC for stuff like HL, CS, DoD, Sim(insert whatever here) stuff, and RTS games like Warcraft and Rise of Nations. It didn't help either that I also had the PS2, Cube, XBox, and DC for gaming. But, I'm seriously excited about this new game!
1 Like I played the HELL out of Privateer.... there was a group of people trying to update the old Privateer (not privateer 2), bringing the graphics up to date, adding new ships, missions, weapons. I don't think they ever finished... but that was my dream game... a souped-up-Privateer. Chris Roberts has been part of SOOO many games that I've spent countless hours playing. I hope he is successful in his new venture. (sadly I went console this generation to cut costs so no Chris Roberts for me..... hopefully there will be a Privateer/Freelancer/Wing Commander reboot that ends up on consoles in the future. Just can't justify spending all that cash on a gaming rig when a console is a one-time-purchase. Stories like this make me a little sad about that.... :(
1 Like Awesome! I loved Freelancer and really enjoy the idea of being a space trader who encounters baddies and such along the way. There hasn't been a good space sim in a long time akaik so I am quite interested in this. I just hope that this isn't going to be a FTP Eve, where you can expect to be ganked early and often. I much rather have an in depth space combat and economic sim!!!
2 Like "?In recent years, game designers have stopped innovating and pushing the boundaries of what you can do in this genre,? Roberts said in a statement. ?I plan on bringing that kind of development mentality back into PC gaming and space sims in particular."
-This guy is on a mission and I think me might just succeed.
3 Like Sounds very cool, games such as Day Z and this really is breathing new life into PC gaming which you can't replicate on consoles.
1 Like I'll be watching. It's about damn time we get single-player space flight/trading/fighting games again.
Seems like it is more of a MMO. It does have single player, but that will not be the main forcus.
1 Like I will be honest, I sincerely doubt they will be able to raise 2 to 4 million for this game, but I went crazy and pledged 125 $, because Freelancer was an important game of my youth <.> Call me Colonel now!
1 Like @Franko_3 you doubt that? Obsidian's PE is already at 2.6mil, I don't doubt Chris Robers (creator of Wing Commander/Freelancer) putting out not only a game that already looks amazing (12 months in development) but also what it's trying to accomplish as far as pc games go.
I can easily see it hitting the 3mil mark.
1 Like I really, REALLY hope this heralds the return of the Space Sim. You hear that, Lucasarts? Time to dust off a few of your old Space Sims, eh?
2 Like @brok No thanks; they can keep the iconic Tie Fighter and X-Wing games covered in dust and locked away. All their attempt to revive those series will accomplish is a lot of angry fans after they inevitably screw it up...
@BigFeef I'm not so sure- You don't hear anyone complaining that they screwed up the Monkey Island Special Editions, do you? At the very least it shows that they're capable of reviving an old classic with care.
@BigFeef Of course it's a much more involved undertaking. That much is obvious. All I'm saying is that Lucasarts, in spite of it's failure at just about everything else these days, has demonstrated that it can revive classic games without botching the job.
1 Like @brok Wait, you're comparing the remake of Monkey Island to a remake of the Tie Fighter or X-Wing games? Unless they're thinking of going the 'classic' 2D route; I'd say it's a completely different (and much more involved) undertaking...
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