Star Citizen: An Informed Speculation on 3.24's Release Date
It's not coming too soon.
Danny
Jul 23, 2024
Howdy! This is going to be a bit more of a ramble compared to what I’ve posted so far, mainly because this situation is disconnected from the current on-paper
goals of Cloud Imperium Games. As of today when I’m initially writing this (7.22.24), 3.24.0
and 4.0 are queued for a “Quarter 3” anticipated release window. When questioned, especially when they’re directed towards the latter goal, public comment from employees (through both direct and marketing communication) have remained steadfast with the expectation that both are going to make this window. It’s through multiple conversations with a variety of employees that I’ve began to doubt this window.
Unfortunately I will have to remain somewhat vague on exact details on why I’ve been led to believe is the case, but I will lay out the two primary reasons that I’ve been informed about. I hope people understand that I am trying not to doomsay the painstaking work from a team so close to getting something they’ve been working for years on out the door (It is very possible that CIG could make the projected goals as publicly stated, there’s still time on the clock before Citizencon); Instead I want to try and readjust expectations in response to realities that have yet to be properly communicated to the public.
1 - 3.24’s Core Technology is in a “Rough State”
It is no secret that the Evocati tests for 3.24 have been rough. Since the initial release until now, around a dozen different builds have come up. One of the biggest bits of new technology, Instanced Hangars, have demonstrably proven itself a challenge to get working. This, alongside other pieces of core technology such as the “Replication Message Queue” (Tested on the 7.19.24 demonstrating high instability, has been noted through sources to be a planned release date feature for the 3.24 patch) coming on similarly unstable. While any dedicated Star Citizen fan is accustomed to the instability of the opening Evocati test builds, conversations with internal sources have revealed a variety of factors that are particularly concerning and warrant closer attention.
According to these sources, the various tech mentioned above (and additional features not) are integral for the next patch - 4.0. They note that the technology as implemented currently is either highly unstable, early in-development, or both (leading to some expectations internally of a prolonged Evocati period far into August). It’s also been mentioned that some developers are currently working overtime to attempt to make their projected goals, lending some credibility to the overall narrative that “things are getting close”.
2 - Internal Shuffling
Since the reshuffling earlier in the year, the development teams have reportedly been in a constant state of flux. Due to a mixture of reasons which seem to primarily focus on the attrition rate of integral staff as well as changing release expectations for future releases (primarily 1.0 and Squadron 42), there have been many a developer who’ve mentioned a “lack of focus”. Some have been moved back and forth between both Star Citizen and Squadron projects at seemingly random intervals, with the reasoning for which being obscured to those most affected by such movements. Speculation from some of these folk have been made, believing that the earlier push towards Star Citizen back to Squadron 42 has been relaxed somewhat, but this has not been substantially confirmed as of this moment.
According to these developers, these constant changes have hindered progress internally, with the lack of stability causing some teams to move at a substantially slower pace than was expected throughout this entire year so far.
I want to underline that what I’ve mentioned above isn’t a guarantee that things are an absolute travesty internally as progress continues regardless, with some areas faster than others. It’s the confidence towards a near-term release date that should be thrown under doubt. It is very much in the company’s best interest to promote near-term releases as to continue a hype-cycle throughout this entire year (Monetizing your development progress), and even more especially avoiding mentioning details on various roadblocks that might plague development to promote an (almost delusional) optimism. When it doesn’t match the reality spoken about by the people who work directly on the game - then questions need to start being asked. I would very much prefer to be wrong on what I’ve said, but if the community sentiment is anything to go by; The public signs are evident - I’ve just let you in on some private ones.
We can all only push and hope for more
transparent communication on the state of development as a whole in the future.
It's definitely not coming soon.
h115.substack.com
Trolling, or??