Last week Star Citizen offered an open
alpha for anyone willing to download its 28GB monster. Star Citizen
is an open-world, space ship piloting, first person shooting
massively multiplayer game designed by Cloud Imperium Games. Before
I continue I would like to say that I have 1) Never played an alpha
version of any game, and 2) Haven't played a space sim since either
X2 or X3 (It's so long ago I can't even remember which it was).
For those who don't know, a space sim
is where you pilot a ship, trading and shooting your way from planet
to planet.
I first heard about Star Citizen back
in 2014 when the director Chris Roberts of Wing Commander fame spoke
at E3. In spite of the fact that I haven't played a space sim
recently, I've been on the look for a good one. My steam wishlist
currently includes Elite Dangerous, along with other Sci-Fi goodies
like Star Ruler 2 and Sins of a Solar Empire. It wasn't till The
Escapist published a caustic critique of the running of Cloud
Imperium Games that I was reminded of its existence.
Start Citizen seems to be a
controversial topic. That is because it is unique. According to the
Guinness Book of World Records, Star Citizen was the most funded
project of all time in 2014. You
read that right. Not just the most funded video game. It
received more money than any project including music, fashion, or
cinema, racking up an incredible $39 million. According to
robertsspaceindustries.com,
the home of Star Citizen, it opened its campaign hoping for a modest
$2 million. Right now
they have acquired $107 million from 1.2 million customers, which
averages out to roughly $85 per person. A few more than a million
buyers isn't particularity special compared to AAA games by EA
or any other major company.
Even $85 isn't that much to pay for a game, now that almost every
$60 game is accompanied by a season pass, special edition, and
additional DLC which can run to another $60. The incredible part, at
least to my mind, is that these people have shelled out this amount
of money for a game that is still in alpha.
For those who have never played an
alpha version, its a game with most of the core components, but they
are prone to crashes, errors, and bugs. These could effect graphical
elements or game play. The game will also be missing the many
details and features that will make it distinct and interesting to
play. If it is player vs player, it is likely to have elements that
are unbalanced. Most players never see an alpha version because they
are not fun to play. Games are eventually classified as beta, which
means that they are closer to official release, and have the same
problems as an alpha version but much less so. Gamers didn't used to
play betas until Steam opened up its Early Access section, where you
buy a game in alpha or beta state and play it as the company develops
it to completion.
But alpha and beta are only vague
terms. In video games there is no official designation for alpha,
beta, or complete. Its a word that developers can use for their own
purposes. After all, even complete games have issues. Even alphas
can be fun to play. Digital distribution has been both a boon and a
curse for PC gaming. On the one hand, it has allowed developers to
more efficiently fix mistakes and add additional content. But the
use of digital distribution has been the leading cause in blurring
the line between complete and incomplete games, since a developer can
send you what they want and then pipe additional content as they
create it (Or more insidiously, when you pay for it). Steam's
Greenlight/Early Access has certainly created classics, but they have
also allowed famous developers to swindle trusting consumers out of
their cash for a half-baked
project.
Back to Star Citizen. I was reminded
of it when the Escapist published their piece
on the mismanagement of Cloud Imperium. I read the article, partly
because of my desire to learn about Star Citizen, but also because
the claims made against SC (will always remind me of StarCraft), were
serious. The most grievous accusations of The Escapist writer was
that the top crowdfunded project of all time not only had failed to
fulfill its most basic promises (content and deadlines), but that the
entire project was likely to remain uncompleted. It was an
interesting piece, considering that I knew little about the game,
aside from my initial approval back in 2014.
Then the story got better. Cloud
Imperium released on their website;
an open letter to the editor of The Escapist from their attorney, a
rebuttal of the article from the director of SC, and the original
letter from the editor of The Escapist to the director of SC. The
main gist through all the words is that Cloud Imperium threatened to
sue if The Escapist did not publicly apologize for their article.
Then the Escapist editor published an article
defending the original story. The drama has since gone cold, and
that was in October last year.
I have no need to pick a side, I didn't
spend any money, and I would love for a great space sim to be made
available. In observing both sides there was childish insults and
petulant threats, mixed with grave claims and an inability to agree
on the facts.
So what did the alpha look like? It
looked pretty good visually, but that was about it. There was a
number of issues that prevented me from enjoying it. First off, I
didn't expect too, since it is an alpha, so all criticism here isn't
targeted at a final product. The issues that I encountered were
numerous. First I loaded up the hanger, where I tried to enter my
ship. But the ship kept sinking into the floor! If I ran over
quickly I was able to jump inside, but if I was too slow the cockpit
wouldn't open. Even when I entered the ship, it wouldn't do
anything. I reloaded the hanger five times and always had the same
results.
I loaded up the other option, where you
awake in a first person perspective in a bunk on a space station.
You can move about the space station and request a ship off a
console. The first time I did this I walked out to the ship and
entered with no problem. It seemed to have both a cockpit and a rear
turret. With the thought of exploring all the components I ventured
into the back, and got stuck. I hit every button but none succeed in
freeing me, so I reset. The next time, I didn't make the same
mistake, and entered the cockpit, but as I pressed the button to sit,
I appeared on the roof of the ship. My guess is the game tried to
place me in the chair, couldn't fit and placed me above the chair
instead. This happened to be outside of the ship.
After one more try I got the ship into
the air. Now here comes my biggest complaint. The game has almost
no tutorial. Correct that, it has no tutorial. For instance, using
a terminal to request a ship, entering a ship, and sitting in the
cockpit all require pressing the action button. The game never tells
you what the button is. If you had to guess, such a common button
would be space, enter, or shift, but it wasn't any of these. I think
it was f. Is that common? Based on my experience, I don't think so.
Every few minutes I had to open up the keyboard bindings so I could
discover a new action I was missing. Traveling from system to system
(like hyperspace in Star Wars) required another perusal (hit b, aim
at a location, and then click mouse 3 – that's the scroll wheel you
probably have on your mouse). My point? Two unlikely keys for a
crucial activity and the game doesn't tell you any of this. Some one
less used to video games (probably isn't trying out an alpha but...)
is going to assume that the area you begin in is the only one.
I arrive at this new area, and there
are a few enemy fighters. No problem I think (you can see where this
is going). Well, it turns out I had picked a freighter from the list
of ships presented to me at the space station. When I picked there
was no details, just names. Maybe it wasn't a freighter, more like a
bomber with an aft turret. But it had terrible maneuverability. I
was shot down and didn't manage to take a single fighter with me.
One more time. This time I requested a
different ship, and when I saw it on the landing pad I knew it was a
fighter. I did the same thing as last time, went to the same system
and blew up three enemies, no problem. Then the game crashed.
I was done.
Did I enjoy the game? Not really, but
that's ok, its an alpha and it doesn't matter too much. The
developers are probably hoping that their free week draws new
customers, but also one time players to find the bugs. They want to
see if their servers can handle the increased player base. I hope
that as the game develops it fleshes out, fixes the errors, and
becomes something worth playing.
There's reason to doubt though. The
key issue that stuck with me from The Escapist article was the delays
and the money. The crowdfunding asked for $2 million on 09/01/2012
and reached that goal on 10/25/2012, roughly 55 days later.
According to both The Escapist article and other sources
the complete game was supposed to be available for the backers in
late 2014. In February 2015 this was changed to late 2016.
Additionally, specific promises about pieces of the game have not
been completed. The game has also exceeded its basic monetary goal
fifty times over. I imagine, as many others have, that this actually
did not help, but hurt the project. The designers were compelled to
justify an expanded income with expanded features which lengthened
and complicated the development process. When you add together these
issues you have to wonder how it will end.
If the game isn't finished by the end of this year, what will happen
next? Will it cross the finish line in triumph, limp across in
exhaustion, or collapse before it can get there?
In the end, I'll probably take another
shot if they do a free beta week. The most that can be said is that
if the buyers are not upset about the pace of development then there
isn't much for me to worry about either.
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