We’ve hit the incredible $38 million
mark in our crowd funding campaign. It’s exciting seeing the
Organizations feature flourish: backers are inviting more and more
people into this world, and in the process they’re making even more
possible for Star Citizen’s development. The $38 million unlock is the
Cano System, home to a fully aquatic planet:
Cano System is home to a G-Type Main Sequence
Star that’s almost identical to Earth’s. Of the four planets in the
system, only one is inhabited: Carteyna. Located on the edge of
habitable zone, Carteyna is a classic waterworld. Fortunately, its
planetary axis constantly keeps the northern hemisphere away from the
sun, which allowed for the water to freeze into the landmasses used as
the initial landing zones in 2587. Multiple attempts have been made to
try to convert the thick atmosphere into something breathable, but the
process never seemed to stick. In fact, over the years, every time
there’s a new technological development in geo-engineering, they test it
out here on Carteyna only to yield the same result. Almost fifty years
ago, scientists discovered microscopic organisms in the very early
phases of life in the depths of the oceans. This caused a massive uproar
throughout the UEE at the prospect that they
had been attempting to terraform a developing world. Carteyna was
immediately placed under the Fair Chance Act. Unfortunately, Humans had
been living here for almost over three hundred years and the families
that had been here for generations felt that they had earned rights as
residents. After years of debate in the political and scientific
community, the population was allowed to stay, but only under certain
conditions: future terraforming attempts have been outlawed and the
Human population has been consolidated to a single arcology to minimize
their impact on their environment and the development of whatever
species is growing in the deep.
Our final star system poll was the closest we’ve ever run, with only
a few votes separating the Tevarin Ghost World and the Lost Human
Colony. Since it sounds like Star Citizen’s backers are equally excited
about both concepts, we’ve decided to break the rules and include both
concepts!
Kabal System – The discovery of a new system is
always an exciting time. Even the most jaded NavJumpers can’t help
entertaining the possibilities for scientific understanding or new
species or even a new home that could await them on the other side of a
new jump point. The discovery of Kabal was certainly something new. By
all outward appearances, the system seemed empty. It was only during
when a UEE Surveying team began to assess Kabal III,
did they find something disturbing; old uninhabited Tevarin cities. How
could an entire Tevarin system escape detection all these years? Did
the Tevarin that were assimilated into the UEE
know about it? How was it kept a secret? The questions multiplied when a
detachment of Marines, sent to secure the planet ended up discovering a
cache of old Tevarin war machines. Among the rows and rows of weapons,
they made an even more disturbing discovery; some of the technology was
made in the last ten years…
Oretani System – Oretani was just one of many
systems that were being discovered during the rapid Expansion era of the
25th century. The surveyors noticed nothing in the system’s six worlds
of immediate importance. Only one planet seemed to be a viable candidate
for terraforming. The terraforming Corp that won the bid sent a
mid-level team (and their families) into the system to start processing
when the only jump point into the system collapsed. Scientists scrambled
to figure out a solution, but it was the first time an incident like
this had occurred. As years stretched into decades, people studied the
area around the former jump point, hoping for a sign that it had
reopened, but after time they gave up. After all this time, Oretani is
only ever debated among select number of historians. Most believe that
without support, the initial terraformers probably died out, but no one
really knows what to expect on the other side if that jump point ever
reopens.
That’s it for the additional star system stretch goals. At $39
million, we’ll announce a new goal that will help chart the course for
the future of Star Citizen in a different way… and it’s one I’m
personally very excited about, so be sure to check back then and learn
more!
As always, thank you for your continued support of Star Citizen.
It’s hard to properly express how grateful we are to the community for
letting us pursue this dream. I know that everyone is eager to see more
of Star Citizen as quickly as possible—more ships, more systems, more
gameplay—and I promise you that we’re just as eager to get that out
there. Stay tuned: big things are happening in the ‘verse!
The first release of the web-based
Organization system is now live. You can access the Organization Hub via
the Community menu at the top of the page. From there, you can create
your own organization or join an existing group. A special thank you to
the hundreds of Citizens who volunteered to test the Organizations
system over the past week; your feedback was invaluable in launching
this update. The Star Citizen community has expanded beyond our wildest
expectations over the last year; we’re excited to see how these new
tools help with the process.
Registering an Organization
Click on the CREATE button to start a new
Organization. You will be prompted for registration information,
including an Org name and a permanent ten-character Spectrum ID (“SID”).
The SID will appear in your Organization’s web URL
and elsewhere, so choose carefully. With the first release, every user
may create or join one Organization. This will be expanded in future
updates to the system. Note that you must have a Star Citizen game
package on your account to take part in the Organization system.
Once you have created an Organization, you can begin recruiting
members and customizing your Organization page with your own text and
graphics. The sky is the limit: we saw a number of very creative Org
pages set up during the test period. Select the “Admin” area for a wide
range of options, from setting your group’s public visibility to
deciding the roles and rank titles for group members. The system is
extremely customizable and we’re confident that Star Citizen’s creative
backers will be able to do amazing things on top of this shared
framework.
Organizations with pages listed as public will appear in the
Organization Hub’s main page. The page includes a list of the newest
organizations, the most active groups and comprehensive search and
listing options for those seeking an openly-recruiting group. Group
activity is measured by a combination of individual user activity and
group size.
Live Chat
The Organization launch also includes the launch of our new XMPP-based
live chat system. Designed from the ground up to replace the existing
Chatroll, the new Live Chat adds scalability and greatly improved
customization. In addition to the shared general chat, users will now
connect to rooms for their organizations and other roles (Subscribers,
for instance, will have their own chat room.) Best of all, you can now
connect to the Live Chat using any XMPP-supporting
client. You can access the live chat on the go… and this cross-platform
functionality will transition directly into the game itself.
The Live Chat is currently in beta, during which the Chatroll will
continue be available. You can switch to the new chat via a link in
Chatroll, or connect directly from the chat buttons located in the new
Organizations area.
Organization Rules
The existing forum rules apply to the new chat system and any
public-facing Organizations page. Additionally, Organization pages
cannot include inflammatory, offensive or copyrighted material. If you
find an Organization page violating these rules, please use the ‘flag’
button at the bottom of the site to report it. Organizations are
expected to moderate their own internal communications; if a member is
causing problems, remove him from the group.
Please note that “claim jumping” of organization SIDs
and names will not be tolerated. Do not attempt to ‘steal’ an existing
Organization’s information. The archived Organizations forum of the RSI website will be used to settle any disputes about who started what group first.
Future
This is only the beginning of the Organization system. Cloud
Imperium remains dedicated to creating an environment for Star Citizen’s
squadrons, clans and guilds to flourish, and we have extensive
long-range plans for enhancing Organizations as we build towards their
presence in the persistent universe. Multiple org membership, visual
organization charts and fleet views are among the features we are
working on adding now.
Our goal with the Organization system, like the Hangar and
Dogfighting modules, is to allow the Star Citizen community to get a
foot in the door and start experiencing (and expanding) the Star Citizen
‘verse as soon as possible. Remember: organizations isn’t just about
letting you group together with friends and gamers, it’s about backers
beginning to shape Star Citizen’s lore!
You’ve pushed Star Citizen to $37 million in crowd funding! And that
amount is only one of the numbers I’m having trouble believing today.
Let me share another one with you: 4,924. That’s the number of
Organizations that have been created since the new system went online
less than twelve hours ago. The breadth of the Star Citizen community
continues to astonish: you’ve taken up our charge and are creating
something truly unique.
At $37 million, you’ve unlocked a new star system at the center of a nebula:
Tanga System – At the heart of an unusual
rectangular planetary nebula, lies Tanga System. The inner planets were
engulfed as the star entered the red giant phase. The expanded habitable
zone unfroze a small world on the former outer ring and for several
hundred million years made it habitable. Life began to emerge and was
just reaching a primitive state when the star collapsed into a white
dwarf, throwing the planet back into a deep freeze, then blasting the
atmosphere away with the resulting planetary nebula. That’s how the
system was found: Only two worlds (speculation that there could have
been three to four more) but both are dead planets with no atmosphere.
The last poll was a hard-fought contest, but it looks like the
explorers continue to have an advantage: the winning selection is an
“unexplored natural wonder.” As a result, we’re adding a new system
(based on a recent, real-world discovery) for you to discover. We intend
to stock it with some impressive surprises for the explorers who manage
to locate it! Here’s the description:
UDS-2943-01-22 System – Breaking news: UEE
astrophysicists based at the famed Klavs observatory station have
utilized advanced telescopy and other remote sensing technologies to
identified a truly unusual star system on the fringes of know space. The
object, once thought to be a single massive star, is actually a trinary
star consisting of two white dwarfs and an active pulsar orbiting one
another. Because of the complex gravitic factors at work, it is now
believed that a jump point leading to the system likely exists in or
near explored human space. Beyond the bizarre stellar makeup, the
composition of the system is all but unknown. Could planets exist in
this carefully balanced web? What else might have been drawn there? One
thing is certain: the first Citizen to travel to UDS-2943-01-22 will have one hell of a view!
Now it’s time to vote for the final system stretch goal, which will
be unlocked at $39 million. If past polls are an indication, it should
be a close race between the three options. We have some interesting
ideas for developing each one, so you can rest assured that whatever you
select it will add a cool new facet to the Star Citizen world!
Thank you for your continued support. Whether you’re part of a
thousand-person Organization or planning to explore the galaxy on your
own, 2014 is going to be the biggest year yet for Star Citizen.
We reached a large milestone today while crossing into the six figure
range in our ongoing Kickstarter Campaign. With that milestone we
reached a stretch goal that will bring Cooperative Structure Placement
into the game. Decorators and city builders should enjoy this feature,
which is documented in our most recent update.
It also means that
all backers with Closed Beta Round 2 or earlier access will receive the
opportunity to invite one of their friends into Closed Beta Round 3.
The invited player will also gain access to one preview weekend of
access at some point during during Closed Beta Round 2. This was our way
of saying thanks to our backers for all their support.
Our sights
are now set on our $115k stretch goal: Traveling Vendors, which has
been one of our most requested features. This goal allows players to
mark themselves as a vendor at any time. They can do this from anywhere
in the world, even when out adventuring. While this flag is enabled
other players will be able to interact with them to browse and purchase
goods which they have marked for sale, without any player interaction
necessary.
It doesn’t end there though. Your goods will also
appear in the auction system. Players can elect to purchase your goods
automatically through this system, provided they are willing to pay the
shipping fee. Or they can elect to travel to purchase the items from you
in person, avoiding the auction fee.
If you wish to sell items
while you are sleeping or AFK, you will be able to flag yourself as an
AFK Vendor. This will cause an icon to appear over your head, denoting
to other players that you are open for business. This is an easy way to
attract the attention of others if you are in a crowded location, such
as a city. It will also allow players to gain a tracking arrow to your
location if they found one of your goods in the auction system, and
would like to find you to avoid the auction fee.
Player Created
Cities will be able to specify which players are allowed to create
traveling vendors within their cities, and be able to collect an
optional tax on any item sold in their city. For example, you could only
allow your nation’s members to place these vendors to avoid crowding,
or to disallow them entirely, if you so wish. You could also aim to
create a bustling trade market, by allowing any allied player or any
non-hostile player to set up shop in the city. NPC controlled cities
will apply a flat fee for goods sold to avoid overcrowding in cities.
But you will be able to set up vendors for free in PvE Housing Areas.
Needless
to say we’re pretty excited about this feature. We hope that it will
provide PvE only players with an opportunity to create their own vendors
and shops, without forcing them to brave contested territories. We also
envision the taxation options in Player Created Cities to create an
interesting market dynamic, which allows towns to differentiate
themselves from one another.
The second stretch goal is behind us, and ensures that Adversarial
Camps will become a reality. You can expect an article on this feature
after the implementation is complete
The next stretch goal is an
extension to the engagement system which we are referring to as Points
of Intrigue. In the PvE world Points of Intrigue will pop up in random
places infested by creatures or NPCs. Some will require a few players to
clear out, others will require multiple groups. The more complicated
the Point of Intrigue the better the rewards for capturing it. Rewards
will include longer term buffs that will aid your player during your
play session, as well as the usual assortment of engagement rewards.
Once a Point of Intrigue has been captured, any player who visits that
location will receive a receive a buff for a period of time. Some Points
of Intrigue will also spawn special NPCs who are only available upon
their completion. Once the timer expires, a new Point of Intrigue will
appear somewhere else in the world, attracting players to the new
challenge.
The PvP variety will work in a similar fashion with
players needing to conquer the Point of Intrigue, but only 1 Nation can
be considered the winner. The Nation then will be able to select if
Allies of the Nation will receive any of the minor benefits. More Point
of Intrigues will provide city and nation incentives, such as improving
happiness in the Nation’s cities.
The goal of this system are
similar to most engagements: To provide an ever-changing list of
opportunities, which encourage players to work together under a common
goal.
We’re happy to announce that we’ve reached our first stretch goal.
When we crossed $60k in pledges it ensured that the Rocharus Mount will
make it into launch, and become our first tamed mount. Stadi Thompson
spent the past few days getting this mount rigged and ready. We still
need to write some of the mechanics for these and there is some
animation work to be done, but you can find a screenshot the first pass
implementation of this mount at the end of this update.
We now turn our sights to our $70k stretch goal: Adversarial
Camps. Adversarial Camps are a new spawn system which is aimed to add
even more randomization to our areas. Adversarial Camps work similar to
our Den system, except with very different goals.
Dens were designed to scale spawn rates based on the number of
players, to be able to randomly select the mob types in an area, and to
provide a variety of different spawn rules to allow for scaling waves of
content. They were also designed to shut down though if no players
remain in the den’s trigger grid for a period of time, and also to
prevent an area from running out of mobs when there are larger
concentrations of players. The combination of these features makes them
very scalable and in general we are happy with the system. But they
also need to be laid out in a grid, which means that their locations are
static, they just turn on and off based on need.
Adversarial
Camps are similar to dens in many ways, but they are able to handle
longer term spawn manipulation. That functionality is currently only
available through engagements. When the world manager decides that it
needs a new camp from a certain type and range of monsters it will
randomly place one into the world. Once spawned this camp will grow in
size and difficulty until it is stopped. The chosen location and the
rate at which it expands is independent of players. If an Adversarial
Camp is left unchecked it can grow to become very large, but will also
generally provide greater rewards for the player who band together and
clear it out. The longer they exist, the tougher they will become. Where
Dens ensure that our world has a constant supply of mobs, Adversarial
Camps mix up the counts to allow for more random infestations.
The
goal of this system is to add variety to our existing spawning systems,
to allow us to create new content more quickly, increase the randomness
of our spawn systems, and to add an additional layer of variety from
one trip into an area to the next. They should make a fine addition to
the game.
We’re happy to announce that our Kickstarter
campaign has reached it’s initial goal with 21 days remaining on the
campaign. We’d like to thank everyone who has backed or supported the
title over past couple of years. You guys have been amazing, and we look
forward to getting many more of you into the game over the next few
months.
With the initial goal behind us, we turn our sights on the
stretch goals. They are the primary purpose of this campaign after all.
We hope to cover each stretch goal as it gets on deck.
The first stretch goal, at $60k is the addition of tameable
Rocharus mounts. These will be the first mounts in The Repopulation. We
had originally planned to only support vehicles, and then possibly
explore tameable mounts post-launch. But this feature was requested so
many times over the years that we had hoped to be able to squeeze it
into launch. We designed the vehicle code to be able to support these in
the future, and after we hit the $60K stretch goal these mounts will
become a reality.
We’ve attached a screenshot of what the
Rocharus species looks like in-game to give you an idea of what you’ll
be riding. Make sure not to jump on it from the front.
We just hit $36 million in crowd funding! What’s even more impressive is
that we reached this goal while Cloud Imperium was closed for the
holidays, without any kind of special “holiday” promotion – pretty
staggering and it’s entirely down to the word of mouth and enthusiasm
from all of you!
I’m happy to report that the Star Citizen Development team will be back
on the job as of Monday, revitalized and with an ever-greater
determination to do everything to make this the Best Damn Space Sim
Ever. Your continued financial support allows us to chase this goal with
confidence.
Starting on Monday, I’ll be sitting down with the Dogfighting Module
team to go over all your feedback from our live demo at the end of the
year and schedule the remaining functionality, content and polish we
want to achieve before we push it out to all of your hard drives!
After this I’ll be making my first visits to our new offices in
Manchester and then Austin, where we are holding a summit with all the
teams from around the world working on Star Citizen to schedule and
coordinate this year’s work in detail.
Last but not least, launching The Next Great Starship, exposing some
great talent to the community and allowing you to see the process of
building ships up close for Star Citizen!
I can’t wait to get back to work!
At $36 million, you’ve unlocked the first of the backer-voted systems, Tamsa:
Tamsa System – Located near the fringe of Banu
space, Tamsa System features a massive central star that has collapsed
into a black hole. Only two planets remain in the system, a chthonian
world and a gas giant located far from the black hole’s event horizon.
For the $38 million goal, your votes have selected the “fully aquatic
planet” option. Here’s the description of the system we’re creating
based on your input:
Cano System is home to a G-Type Main Sequence
Star that’s almost identical to Earth’s. Of the four planets in the
system, only one is inhabited: Carteyna. Located on the edge of
habitable zone, Carteyna is a classic waterworld. Fortunately, its
planetary axis constantly keeps the northern hemisphere away from the
sun, which allowed for the water to freeze into the landmasses used as
the initial landing zones in 2587. Multiple attempts have been made to
try to convert the thick atmosphere into something breathable, but the
process never seemed to stick. In fact, over the years, every time
there’s a new technological development in geo-engineering, they test it
out here on Carteyna only to yield the same result. Almost fifty years
ago, scientists discovered microscopic organisms in the very early
phases of life in the depths of the oceans. This caused a massive uproar
throughout the UEE at the prospect that they had been attempting to
terraform a developing world. Carteyna was immediately placed under the
Fair Chance Act. Unfortunately, Humans had been living here for almost
over three hundred years and the families that had been here for
generations felt that they had earned rights as residents. After years
of debate in the political and scientific community, the population was
allowed to stay, but only under certain conditions: future terraforming
attempts have been outlawed and the Human population has been
consolidated to a single arcology to minimize their impact on their
environment and the development of whatever species is growing in the
deep.
Be sure and vote for the penultimate backer-decided system in the poll
located below. Remember, these options just represent a small portion of
what the additional budget allows us to do with Star Citizen!
Thank you for your continued support.
In honor of this accomplishment, I’d like to share the result of an
aspect of Star Citizen that I think makes us special compared to the
normal game development process – involving the community during
development to get user feedback early to shape a better game. Here’s
the result of a lot Freelancer pilot’s requests now they’ve had some
time to get a feel for their ship in the Hangar: a revised design for an
updated Freelancer cockpit featuring the greater visibility! And get
ready: you’ll be seeing more of the Freelancer in the New Year.
The first release of the web-based
Organization system is now live. You can access the Organization Hub via
the Community menu at the top of the page. From there, you can create
your own organization or join an existing group. A special thank you to
the hundreds of Citizens who volunteered to test the Organizations
system over the past week; your feedback was invaluable in launching
this update. The Star Citizen community has expanded beyond our wildest
expectations over the last year; we’re excited to see how these new
tools help with the process.
Click on the CREATE button to start a new
Organization. You will be prompted for registration information,
including an Org name and a permanent ten-character Spectrum ID (“SID”).
The SID will appear in your Organization’s web URL
and elsewhere, so choose carefully. With the first release, every user
may create or join one Organization. This will be expanded in future
updates to the system. Note that you must have a Star Citizen game
package on your account to take part in the Organization system.
