Game Discussions Star Citizen Discussion Thread v12

Intrepid3D

Intrepid3D
Darkfyre99 said:
A Skeptic's Return to Star Citizen
Part Five
The Relocation Quest, Part Two

(part four)

Sorry this is so late, but it's been a crazy week IRL. Nothing particularly bad, but several inconveniences decided they all needed attention at once. The events in this post happened last Friday, when I actually had some free time...

First on my agenda was still relocating to Port Tressler. Since I only had access to four ships, and I'd already looked at two, I chose the smaller of the two remaining to take me to my new home.


I'm sure the SC regulars are already facepalming. ;) As it turned out, the Argo Cargo ship isn't a proper ship at all, but more of the kind of thing that would make much more sense as a prop, to hint at “behind the scenes” activities that would be too boring to portray in game. So naturally, that’s what CIG is planning to do. :rolleyes: I now get why this thing winning the contest is a joke, though, because this darn thing doesn't have a quantum drive, and I'm pretty sure I got passed by a snail on my way out of the atmosphere before discovering this little fact.

After briefly contemplating whether it would be faster just to suicide back to bed and take the train to the starport, I docked the ship and made my way to the elevators to return to the lobby and get a different ship. And that's when SC's gloriously buggy elevators made a cameo...


Eventually, I retrieved the Mercury Star Runner. I was tempted to take the remaining large cargo ship, but I wanted to relocate before the inevitable crash. Thankfully, I managed to make it to the station without incident.


Since I still had some time before I had to log out, I decided to poke around Port Tressler. What I found shocked me: it was the newbie area I had expected New Babbage to be: (mostly) new player friendly, with basic equipment that was easy to find. Only Star Citizen would force you out of your starting area to get properly equipped.🤦‍♀️ Which was why the first thing I did was, after removing my palm from my face, was to get myself properly outfitted.


The second thing I did was buy some clothing to wear when not in any immediate danger.


That little spending spree pretty much cost me most of my starting money, though very little time, so I decided to poke around more of the station.


I'm being serious here. I'd much rather see this, than what I saw in New Babbage. This says "reserved for future game features." Much of what I saw in New Babbage said, "I like to waste money on useless stuff, or stuff I'll have to redo later."


Again... I'm being serious here. I'm actually surprised that Chris Roberts didn't insist that these actually work, because fidelity. Of course, not everything was appropriate for the alpha this game is still pretending to be.




Seriously... this shop is almost identical to the one in the shopping center, hidden within a section of the station that served no in-game function, and demonstrated one of my main issues with this game's development: wasting money on art assets that will need to be redone once actual game mechanics are added to the game. Yes, finding it was a pleasant surprise, but the only reason why I poked my nose as far as I did into that area was because I didn't have access to the game mechanics I wanted to try out.

Sadly, real life decided it wanted some attention, so I never got a chance to look at the biggest ship I had temporary access to. I guess I get to look forward to the next free fly event, where I actually play the game!!!
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Ah well... this series has been an interesting read even if you didn't get very far, i appreciate the effort of posting it here thank you :)
 

Ian Skippy

Ian Skippy
Apropos of nothing, but I was thinking about the 'pixel detail' hype of a while ago. Screens in Star Citizen are not just normal textures like other games, they are made of actual simulated pixels! Its the kind of stuff no other studio would bother with, its the kind of attention to detail only true pioneers have. It doesn't bring any true 'gameplay value' but its just next-level immersion. Yes I know, the usual haters here are going to whine how its not a real game and how this stuff has no bearing on the day-to-day experience, but it really is noteworthy and cool. For those who didn't see it yet:

R6Tjd5V.jpg
 

Theodrid

Theodrid
Mole HD said:
The rude Vikingers don't like me much either. I'm a bit too Pictish for their tastes...namely...my name isn't Harald Ragnarson and my ancesters didn't come over from Norway stuffed into a longboat :D
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Indeed, in your neck of the woods Molester you're more a gateway snu snu and pillage spot like Lindisfarne than a true Viking....a stop off spot for haggis and snu snu if you will!
 

Mole HD

Mole HD
Theodrid said:
Indeed, in your neck of the woods Molester you're more a gateway snu snu and pillage spot like Lindisfarne than a true Viking....a stop off spot for haggis and snu snu if you will!
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I'm strictly an ethnic minority up here...and according to local history...when the seemingly peacefully intentioned Vikingers first turned up here during the 7th or 8th century all shouting about shield walls and brandishing axes, the local Pictish warchief captured the lot of them, tied them up then burned them alive in their longships on the beach.

I can see why the locals growl at me when we rub shoulders in the local shoppe :)
 
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StuartGT

StuartGT
Ian Skippy said:
Apropos of nothing, but I was thinking about the 'pixel detail' hype of a while ago. Screens in Star Citizen are not just normal textures like other games, they are made of actual simulated pixels! Its the kind of stuff no other studio would bother with, its the kind of attention to detail only true pioneers have. It doesn't bring any true 'gameplay value' but its just next-level immersion. Yes I know, the usual haters here are going to whine how its not a real game and how this stuff has no bearing on the day-to-day experience, but it really is noteworthy and cool. For those who didn't see it yet:

R6Tjd5V.jpg
Click to expand...
:cool:
40d7b01qxah61.jpg
 

StuartGT

StuartGT

Dementropy

Dementropy
Agony_Aunt said:
Whatever you do then, don't read any of Brandon Sanderson's series of books, especially the Stormlight Archive. You'll send yourself crazy. There is a whole wiki dedicated to keeping record of who is who and which characters go by different names in different series (because the worlds are connected and some people (worldhoppers) can travel between them). Not to mention the WoB (Words of Brandon) where people ask him questions at conferences and stuff and try and figure out additional stuff.

Oh yeah, it was him who finished Wheel of Time after Jordan died.

Actually, you can get away with reading Sanderson's smaller series without breaking your brain too much. The novellas and single book stories. But if you start with that, it won't be long before you're reading Mistborn, then Secret History, which will blow your mind, then you'll end up on Stormlight anyway.

The next thing you know, you'll be reading the 17th Shard wiki desperately looking for answers that don't exist.

The final nail in the coffin is when you understand its going to be decades before he finishes the books (assuming he doesn't croak before then) and all your questions won't be answered until the final books.
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Trust me, I won't. One of my biggest issues (it was really me, not you, Robert Jordan) was that he taught at West Point, and tried to translate the grognard tabletop war games tactics to prose. I almost bowed out during a wilderness battle. Yeah, it's great when people are rolling dice and/or shoving figurines across a map, but it's damned tedious to read.
 

Intrepid3D

Intrepid3D
Ian Skippy said:
Apropos of nothing, but I was thinking about the 'pixel detail' hype of a while ago. Screens in Star Citizen are not just normal textures like other games, they are made of actual simulated pixels! Its the kind of stuff no other studio would bother with, its the kind of attention to detail only true pioneers have. It doesn't bring any true 'gameplay value' but its just next-level immersion. Yes I know, the usual haters here are going to whine how its not a real game and how this stuff has no bearing on the day-to-day experience, but it really is noteworthy and cool. For those who didn't see it yet:

R6Tjd5V.jpg
Click to expand...
The "immersion" comes from the rainbow effect you see on large pixel screens, you can see it on that screen too.... You can only get that if you actually simulate pixels.

It does look really cool and it does give a depth, a sense that what you're looking at is a large screen and not just some flash or MP4 playing on a texture plane.

One more thing i like is also the holo-displays, its nothing new, but in SC there is a nice cleanness and level of detail in it that i like.

Anyway, the video shows the pixels as you get close to the screen, and the holo-display a little later.

IMO they did this little display area so well.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0-pXqcewSI


Yes these things are unnecessary, but if what you promised and what your customers are looking for is that next level beyond AAA experience then they sort of are necessary.
 

WotGTheAgent

WotGTheAgent
Ian Skippy said:
Apropos of nothing, but I was thinking about the 'pixel detail' hype of a while ago. Screens in Star Citizen are not just normal textures like other games, they are made of actual simulated pixels! Its the kind of stuff no other studio would bother with, its the kind of attention to detail only true pioneers have. It doesn't bring any true 'gameplay value' but its just next-level immersion. Yes I know, the usual haters here are going to whine how its not a real game and how this stuff has no bearing on the day-to-day experience, but it really is noteworthy and cool. For those who didn't see it yet:

R6Tjd5V.jpg
Click to expand...
this technique is something they've been doing since at least HL2

its not innovative, it's a simple art and design choice and an absolute ton of games have simulated "pixel" screens, going back at least a decade (there's a ton of low cost ways of accomplishing that effect by the way)

Honestly, I don't even know anymore. Does anyone actually play or go through other games with the same eye for technical detail or interest in fundamental technologies? Star Citizen has done nothing -- and let me be clear: not a single thing -- technologically or graphically new. Not once. Not ever. They are actually falling rapidly behind the curve regarding new technical progress and it's only getting worse.
 
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Ian Skippy

Ian Skippy
WotGTheAgent said:
this technique is something they've been doing since at least HL2

its not innovative, it's a simple art and design choice and an absolute ton of games have simulated "pixel" screens, going back at least a decade
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Not gonna lie: I assumed at least you would respond better. Then again, it's Friday night so can't be too disappointed I suppose. :p
 

WotGTheAgent

WotGTheAgent
Ian Skippy said:
Not gonna lie: I assumed at least you would respond better. Then again, it's Friday night so can't be too disappointed I suppose. :p
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I'm not trying to be snarky -- that effect is simple, has been used in other games, and is nothing new. I just don't understand why something that's been done before, across dozen of other games, suddenly gets picked up and praised as "the kind of attention to detail only true pioneers" would have. I'm constantly at a loss when people praise various SC "never been done" tech, because the tech they are talking about or referencing is often years or sometimes decades old.
 

Mole HD

Mole HD
WotGTheAgent said:
I'm not trying to be snarky -- that effect is simple, has been used in other games, and is nothing new. I just don't understand why something that's been done before, across dozen of other games, suddenly gets picked up and praised as "the kind of attention to detail only true pioneers" would have. I'm constantly at a loss when people praise various SC "never been done" tech, because the tech they are talking about or referencing is often years or sometimes decades old.
Click to expand...
...it's even quite some way behind 3 year old console games ported to PC :)

 
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