Official Chris Roberts Pitch Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhsgi...feature=relmfu
Additional Information from Reddit
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comment...ing_commander/
For starters what is
Star Citizen?
Core Concept
The core concept of Star Citizen is that it’s a destination, not a one-off story. It’s a complete universe where any number of stories can take place. Players will have the opportunity to decide their own game experience. Pick up jobs as a smuggler, pirate, merchant, bounty hunter, or soldier. It’s a universe we’ve always wanted to create. We want to build a huge sandbox with a complex and deep lore that allows the players to explore in whatever capacity they want.
Squadron 42
The project also includes Squadron 42, a single player campaign that takes place within the Star Citizen universe. Able to be played off-line or with friends, you essentially sign up to fly for the UEE fleet, manning the front lines, protecting settlements from Vanduul warbands. If you prove yourself, you might get asked to join the legendary 42nd Squadron. Set up like the French Foreign Legion, they can always be found in the toughest war zones and always manage to come out on top. Once you complete your tour however, you re-enter the persistent Star Citizen universe with some money in your pocket and Citizenship to find your way.
Open World Architecture
The great thing about this is that you don’t have to do Squadron 42.
You can basically decide that you’re going to be a merchant or pirate and never join the military. Having that choice for the player is fantastic. What we’re talking about here is a combination of everything that made Wing Commander great along with everything that made Privateer great. The single-player military campaign sits inside this open world architecture in a holistic fashion.
While you will probably spend a majority of time in the cockpit there will be first-person mechanics built into the game. When you are flying on some of the bigger ships (transports, carriers, etc.), you will be able to wander the halls of the ship while a friend pilots, jump on a turret if you get attacked, even repel attempted boarders if needed.
Physics
One of the most exciting things is the capacity for true Newtonian physics. We have also designed the ships with a Fly-By-Wire system similar to an F35. In short, the computer will make the physical calculations in order to pull off what you want to do. The ship’s computer takes your input on the joystick, throttle and pedals, crunches it into the necessary vectors and velocities needed to achieve it then utilizes the appropriate thrusters and engine to execute it. The idea is that the ship’s computer is simplifying things because it’s just too complicated for you to figure it all out on your own. This means that the physics in the game are dynamic and procedural and not script or data-driven. It’s a full flight dynamic system that will work for bigger ship as well as the smaller ships.
Level of Detail
Being on a PC allows us to create the world in a greater level of detail and fidelity than we could on a console platform. We want it to be open and not be bound to legacy technology of consoles or their revenue models. For example, most AAA games use about 10,000 polygons for their lead characters. We are using over 100,000 polygons for ours, allowing you to see such details wires, the equipment, even creases in their clothing which all contributes to the immersion of the player. It also allows you to find the same level of detail carry over from a character (1.8meters in size) to a fighter (27 meters) even up to a carrier (1 kilometer in size.) All without a load screen or loss of visual fidelity.
2012-11-09, 05:51 AM
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