Cult Citizen

[icycalm]

Great Times Ahead
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... imes_ahead



People seem excited for this. Distortion attacks seem to be a new type of attack added to energy and ballistic ones. I think they're even adding distortion pistols and rifles. The FPS combat in this game, once all the bells and whistles go in including full parkour, looks like the deepest in any game ever. Then add spaceships carpet-bombing you on top of that, or the whole battle taking place inside a capital ship while engineers are running around trying to fix things in the middle of a huge space fight... and I think even sci-fi movies will seem lame compared to the action we'll be seeing.

[icycalm]

Inside Star Citizen: Year in Review | Fall 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pewuW7zcM_A



Terrific episode recapping all the developments that happened this year and foreshadowing some coming next year. Don't miss this video, it has all kinds of awesome footage, and I especially liked at the end where he says that there's no other project like this in the videogame industry. So true.

3.18 will drop a shitton of new content into the game. One could spend months merely in the racing career, and we still don't have any knowledge of the racing vehicles (space/air AND ground btw). And then there's salvage, Kareah PVP, Orison FPS platforms, Super Mario Kart, physicalized cargo for pirate shenanigans, more rivers and the new caves (probably with harvestable bugs in them), new prison activities, more crash sites and derelicts. The upgraded Jumptown that was just revealed is the icing on the cake.

People aren't playing much right now because 3.18 will wipe everything, but once 3.18 drops, it'll be like a new game launched.

Tbh I can't wait for 3.18 to drop just because I want to see what will be in 3.19! I almost love following the development of this game more than playing it lol! But over the three-four months I've been following it I've got the impression—which seems to be shared by most long-time players—that the pace of development is accelerating. With 3.18, the game will have enough content for someone to play it full-time for six months at least, and I easily see that number doubling with the next patch and Pyro.

On Pyro, btw, A LOT needs to be said that no one has said yet. It's going to be a FULL PVP system. I don't think anyone grasps what this means. We'll talk about it soon.

[icycalm]

As for when 3.18 will drop, in all probability, late January. There's a tiny chance it will be before Christmas, and a small chance it'll be pushed back to February, but the smart money says middle-to-end of January. They don't want to release before Christmas because they'll all go on vacation and they don't want the players to be left with a bugged version over the holidays.

The update is being hammered right now in Evocati, and is due to drop any day now to first-wave PTU, which as a subscriber now I will have access to, but I won't be playing until it's on live.

[icycalm]

Evocati 3.18.0 - December 16th, Build P (EPTU.8318232) Patch Notes
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... ptu8318232

We can't know with absolute certainty how it is going to unfold (I could be proven wrong end of next week :)), but while the patch has been baking in for a long time in Evocati (15 3.18 builds + 4 or 5 2h test builds earlier that were focused purely on PES), typically we'd need to be right now 2-3 builds into Wave 1 to hope for a _rushed_ live release end of next week.

Even though I've read dozens upon dozens of bug fixes and encouraging progress in patch notes, it remains true that this patch is a beast . Core tech changes are so foundational that every type of interaction in-game are affected by it (from dragging an item into an inventory to bed logging to buying something etc.) so there's probably still a long queue of annoying and hard-to-reproduce bugs that we'll learn to live with for a few patches, but still quite a few problematic ones (OK for wave 1, but bad for live). But that's just core changes. There's also plenty of new locations (overhauled SPK, 35 derelict sites, Orison missions, PTV track, 6 race tracks, Daymar crash site), missions (or AI placed on POI sites of existing missions), mechanics (salvage, racing time trials), a huuuuge list of fixes and little improvements and tweaks here and there...so that too is likely to bring up new issues to fix before live.

Personally I'm hoping for Wave 1 some time next week (maybe tonight, but really not betting on it), and live some time in February.

[icycalm]

CIG add crafting T0 to 3.18
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... _t0_to_318

To summarize you can craft multitools, salvage attachments, tractor beams, as well as the salvage canister with the vulture's filler station.

3.18 will basically double the game content. And 3.19 will come probably six months later, and we have no idea what it will contain.

So you'll need a Vulture to craft. I'll buy one for clone 1, so everyone will have access to it at all times.

Also,

> Is this a permanent intended feature of salvage ships to be able to craft tools, or a temporary measure until other things are in place?

> This is just a temporarily solution.
- Savrals-CIG

[icycalm]

https://twitter.com/SStardragon/status/ ... 9123905536

This might be a small thing, but - Transferred salvage cargo from one ship to a party member's ship and they sold it from there. THAT was rather cool to me. #StarCitizen

We can totally set up multiplayer mining/salvage/piracy operations here, with one player ferrying stuff back and forth.

The cargo holds now are an order of magnitude more immersive. The interiors of the ships in general with all the persistence. We'll have to really pick up after our trash now. They've even started work on a mop and bucket. A guy on Reddit says he wants a Cleaning game loop where he goes into people's ships and cleans up lmao.

https://twitter.com/SpaceTomatoGG/statu ... 5381329920

Just finished a session salvaging a ship, loading it onto a Hull A, and sending it off to be sold by somebody else.

Retrieving and selling goods from other players is a huge step forward for Star Citizen. It's the beginning of more complex group operations & I'm all here for it.

Full (?) list of MAIN 3.18 features (there are also many minor ones): https://twitter.com/Kitsune_Eco/status/ ... 9580805120

[icycalm]

The Best Features of Star Citizen Alpha 3.18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fkpD_l-Gsg



Great video showing off the biggest features in 3.18. One of the standouts is the new Kareah which, as Morphologis points out, should act as a "mini-Jumptown" that runs 24/7. They're closing all the mini-stations you used to go to to hack your crimestat and replacing them all with this, plus they're putting out an alert system-wide for bounty hunters to come get you, so they're funneling the entire server to this one hotspot. There should be space battles outside, and FPS ones inside; great place to go if you have a couple friends with you, and see how long you can control the place for.

Another thing that hit me was all the corpses with loot in all the hotspots that persistence will make possible now. He says there's a LOT more looting from now on. And that's ON TOP of all the hull-stripping from persistent wrecks.

This video is full of custom-shot footage highlighting all the features, and even merely the cargo-stacking that's possible now is a whole-new loop that has me excited; I can finally obsess over interior decoration in Star Citizen!

And the video doesn't even show everything. E.g. it doesn't show Jumptown 2.1, and numerous smaller improvements and fixes.

One possibility I am excited for, when they add queuing up to return to a specific server, is people setting up impromptu bases by parking their ships somewhere, and just being based off of there. I want us to give this a try.

I also plan to start practicing and streaming low-level flight in rivers such as the pictured one, etc. And of course do all the new FPS missions, and the races, etc.

And Jumptown 2.1 should be epic. With two contraband dispensers, the potential value of the haul DOUBLES, and I bet you the entire server will be fighting over it during the events. I will have us try again on our own for the first event, but from the second we should look for another org to team up with.

I will play THE HELL out of this update, especially since there probably won't be another wipe until 4.0 a year+ later. For those who've been thinking about getting into the game, 3.18 is the absolute best time to do so, because I believe that when 4.0 drops, there'll be too much content to play all of it in one wipe. I believe the content will explode afterwards, and you might never be able to see and do EVERYTHING in the game.

[icycalm]

3.17.5 hitting Evocati Today!
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... cati_today



Glad to hear they're testing XenoThreat. It's the only Dynamic Event we haven't had a chance to try yet. I was worried they had completely dropped it, but now we know that's not the case.

Here are all the events:

1. Nine Tails Lockdown: We've finished this a couple times. It's the easiest of all.

2. Jumptown 2.0: After half a dozen attempts, we finally "completed" this. Note that completion here is on a scale, since we made about 1.2 million, but you can make hundreds. We just got lucky on a day with few adversaries. Which was just as well, because with the 2.1 rework and enlargement, things are about to get a whole lot tougher.

3. Siege of Orison: We utterly suck at this. Need to up our game.

4. XenoThreat: Haven't even tried it as they haven't run it since we got into the game in the summer. That's why I can't wait to try it in 3.18.

I am also hoping for a fifth event in 2023, hopefully with 3.19 mid-summer. And the cherry on top would be a sixth event on Pyro with 4.0 before the end of the year.

The three events we've already played are great, but SIX events spread across TWO solar systems would be utter insanity.

[icycalm]

Inside Star Citizen: Lorville Revisited | Winter 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3z9C-VuEgQ



THEY'LL SHOW OFF BUILDING INTERIORS "IN A COUPLE OF WEEKS"!!!

Building Interiors?! So hyped right now

Meanwhile in the Elite Dangerous universe they dream of just basic ship interiors.

Note that there are already building interiors in landing zones, but I think what they're saying here is further out into the city. And it sounds like they'll be connected with the upcoming "law offices" where you'll be able to pick up bounty missions and return criminals using the new restraining system. So it sounds like this entire feature-set will be the premier feature for later this year in 3.19, to tide us over until 4.0.

Beyond that, the new shanty towns also seem ready for 3.19, and they should add a lot of variety to the existing points of interest in Stanton. They have beds in them, so I am hoping you'll be able to base yourself off of there for a while.

I can't wait for the next couple of weeks of ISC. Just happy to be getting ISC again tbh. I am so pumped to play right now, but there's no point with the imminent wipe.

Actually, as a subscriber I COULD play the 3.18 PTU now if I wanted to lol. I think me, Chev, Archonus and Adjudicator are the only subscribers here, so we could all play. There's even a Jumptown 2.1 playtest happening... right now I think.

But nah... I'll wait for Live. I am keeping a close eye on the progress on Reddit, and it seems like it's coming first couple of weeks of Feb. Fingers crossed.

[icycalm]

Shh...
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... 0ofuzy/shh

Star Citizen 3.18 Stealth Updates You Didn't Know About (Hot Tea)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufXnnPUBam4

[icycalm]

Updated view of 3.19 coming with roadmap update on February 8th
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... _update_on



Feb 8 we find what's in 3.19!!! Star Citizen roadmap updates are more exciting than anyone else's ENTIRE GAMES!!! (and not only because the updates have more content than entire games).

[icycalm]

Inside Star Citizen: In The Arena | Winter 2023
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhVg_ihBEII



At first I thought I wouldn't enjoy this episode because I am not interested in Arena Commander. But it turned out quite interesting indeed.

First of all, it shows that there are areas in Arena Commander that don't yet exist in the Persistent Universe, like for example a floating city racecourse over a planet that's in the lore but not in the PU currently, or a "dying star" arena that looks spectacular. So I definitely want to play matches there, and will do so when 3.18 hits, as they're getting upgrades and fixes.

Moreover, they explain that as the Persistent Universe's mechanics are developed further, death in the game will become too costly to risk lightly, and therefore training in Arena Commander and Star Marine (and eventually also in the upcoming Theatres of War, which is basically Battlefield/PlanetSide) will be helpful. They reference an essay Chris Roberts wrote circa 2013 titled "Death of a Spaceman" that elaborates on his vision on how death will work in the finished game.

Death of a Spaceman
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm ... a-spaceman

It's a long read but worth it. He references Demon's Souls lol. Demon's, not Dark. The point is that you won't be able to respawn infinitely as now. Your character will acquire injuries, necessitating prosthetics past a certain point, and eventually he'll die for good and bequeath all his belongings to a relative, and then you play the relative. Pretty much how my Battlegrounds will work! And now with the skills they're adding, losing a character will be costly because you'll lose all the skills. Again, exactly as with my game.

So the simulators will be useful, and what's more, they seem fun in their own right going by this video. We haven't really touched them at all, but that should change from the next update.


P.S. "Death of a Spaceman" is a reference to Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Chris Roberts goes to the theatre.

[icycalm]

Insane news coming out of the latest Star Citizen Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nk_RXw17oc

Right at the end, at 58:25, he says that next week they unveil building interiors that will populate the "commercial buildings" in ALL of Stanton's cities! Plus more news on 4.0 and Pyro.

Can't wait for Thursday and Friday! It'll be epic!

[icycalm]

Inside Star Citizen: Underground Playground
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdJ3_-uFQTQ



The underground facilities look amazing even in whitebox, but even more amazing is the Pyro landscape at the start and the music that plays as he lands. Next-level shit.

One question I have that wasn't answered is whether these massive spaces are being designed in conjunction with the specifications of the parkour system they are adding. Also the skill system, so that as you train e.g. your jump, you can access tougher areas. But even if they're not taking skills into account, they could modify the skill values AFTER to match the facilities, I would think.

I want to be able to drive into a base in a ground vehicle. It looks like these could support it or were even built to!! Imagine doing trucking missions between these when roads come in!!

Omg, driving a freight truck across an alien landscape
I had never even thought of that
But now it's all I want to do!

The reason they are more excited about ground trucking than space trucking is that space just isn't very interesting. I have talked about that at length somewhere. Maybe the Wing Commander essay, or the Out Run one? Somewhere there.

Watched it again, something looked familiar about the UGF. My brain shouted BLACK MESA FACILITY! loving this even more!

The surface part reminds me of old Forunner structures from the Bungie era Halo games. It's a good thing tbh I like the look

this whole thing give me huge Halo vibes to be honest and I love it. Like the elevator, the retractable bridge, etc

They copy stuff from countless sources, so Half-Life and Halo as inspiration for their underground facilities makes perfect sense. But when it's done, it will make Half-Life and Halo look like Game Boy games.

More commentary on Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... playground

And then they will use what they learned with these to make building interiors.

Maybe the inside of stations will get bigger too, as we’ve seen with Pyro stations.

He's talking about the apartments and such they showed off a couple weeks ago. I haven't posted about that yet. It's a fact now that they will start selling apartments lol. So his point is great: these massive facilities will be a precursor to building interior work.

These locations would be a really great place to make the Multi-Tool Cutter attachment useful. Cutting into ventilation shafts, opening large crates to get the valuables from inside etc.

Star Citizen Rising.

Getting major Black Mesa vibes from this, and I'm loving it!

Mark Abent helps make both games so it shouldn't be a surprise to see some overlap.

There are Crysis guys and PlanetSide guys working on SC too. The best people in game development are working on SC. I actually have an essay coming up about that.