Exactly. To be honest, I never expected that they would have blown through over $650M and not ship a SINGLE game - not one - within a decade. It’s just mind-boggling to me.
Yeah this is the impression I get as well - “it’s unprecedented!”, etc.
But even THAT explanation doesn’t explain how you go from CIG/Roberts themselves anticipating a SQ42 beta in Q3 2020 with enough alleged confidence to say it publicly to their backers, only for us to be here nearly in Q2 2023 with not only no beta, but nothing announced on the horizon.
Nearly three years isn’t something that can be explained by developmental roadbumps, and CIG themselves reveal that basic asset, animation and cutscene work is still underway NOW. So I don’t see how you can conclude anything other than SQ42 was nowhere close to alpha, let alone beta in 2020. At that point the question anyone who isn’t a sucker should be asking is “then why did they say that?”.
I don’t even care about the beta; I just think this episode is a good highlight of why people are so rightly skeptical of the project and any alleged progress they are making - and that’s before you even look at EVERYTHING ELSE.
I mean at some point the grift turns into a new business model.
$300+ million in Star Citizen, and no sign of that slowing down, says to me that we’re there.
I know I’m shifting my attitude from “look at this trainwreck!” to “well, lots of people seem to enjoy it and they keep getting money thrown at them, so I must just not get it.”
I would think at some point, when the funding trickles down, they’ll shut it down for good. At which point new management will come in, with promises to deliver on a new engine, with a new team, and yet utilize the art and concepts that were so far advanced. And for those special backers, the option to retain your initial investment…if you prepay into a new subscription package.
It’s basically a religion at this point. I’m surprised CIG haven’t applied for a tax exemption…
From the PC Gamer article @rei posted a few days ago:
“People are bitching about not being able to play the game but pay zero attention to the fact that these bugs are here because CIG pushed out a patch with so much content,” wrote Surera(opens in new tab). “Thats what I’m excited for.”
With that level of blind support, I expect the con will keep going for many years to come. It explains why they can just blow past deadlines without backlash. Every single failure is taken as proof of how wonderful CGI is.
At this point I think the grift is simply “hey, me and my friends/family get salaries to live like royalty while I poorly micromanage the ‘everything game’ of my dreams and don’t pay any real attention to whether or not I can actually finish it because look at how much money we’ve got rolling in which will definitely continue forever”.
They’re under zero pressure to actually deliver anything, so why wouldn’t they have that mentality? People like me can say whatever we want on forums or reddit or whatever, but they’ve either got enough new people coming in or enough existing backers buying their own battlefleets for thousands of dollars that they don’t have to care.
Roberts lives in a multi-million dollar house in California despite running a game studio for over a decade that has never actually released a game. I guess that means he wins.
Eh, someone is going to come looking for the money at some point. I know they took some VC funding, for instance. But eventually…someone’s going to start asking very uncomfortable questions.
DonaldGloverGood.gif
So a guy I used to work with in the magazine industry is now at Cloud Imperium working on Squadron 42. I talked to him when he was applying for the gig but not since. But he’s a talented, honest guy with some great experience in the gaming industry. So I have no doubt that he’s trying to ship the thing at some point.
I hope he does ship it. And I’m really looking forward to grabbing beers with him and getting the scoop sometime around 2030 or so when it’s all behind him. :)
Back around 2014-2015 or so I decided to stop updating the beta and wait for 1.0 before I played it. Hah! My crowdfunding will be a teenager soon with no end in sight.
I wouldn’t be surprised if nothing came of those questions, beyond winding up the company. Hell, there was an Irish company a few years back that raised EUR 23m for a straight up free energy device, and did the same sort of demo-cancelled-at-the-last-minute shit, and as far as I’m aware the people behind it got away scot free.
If they took VC money, that’s about the only hope for someone to hold the company accountable and/or go the legal route. Because if this game just disappears one day, the folks who pump thousands of dollars into this are so far down the rabbit hole that they will likely never believe that they got hoodwinked.
Just buy Space Bourne 2. One guy in a couple of years has put on more/better content than the hundreds of people working on SC.
What are the hair shaders and arm tattoo variety like?
Yeah, and what about the hot dogs in the space station cafeteria? Are they kosher?
The correct answer. The only answer.
TO: SQUADRON 42 RECRUITS
SUBJ: DEVELOPMENT UPDATE 04:05:2023
AI (Content)
AI now also use a datapad at the start of their shifts to enhance the realism of their routines.Finally, the janitor behavior, which was parked in 2021, was brought back.
AI (Features)
AI Features also worked on two aspects of grenade use, the first of which is getting the AI to throw them.AI (Tech)
Support was also added for hover trolleys.Animation
They also progressed with various background character life animations and activities, including NPCs moving crates and boxes and entering swivel chairs.will shortly move on to tasks for a dog.
Features (Vehicles)
The Wingman Commands feature progressed, which allows players to give orders to supporting pilots, such as ‘attack this target’, ‘form up’, or ‘defend this target’.Gameplay Story
This enables the AI to push a mobile ladder into position, use it to climb on top of a Gladius, then come down and return the ladder.“This was quite complicated and took a lot of time to get right, but the end result is looking very good in-game.” Gameplay Story
Graphics & VFX Programming
Work on the asteroid system continued too, with the aim of achieving a much more flexible setup for shaping and distribution.Narrative
“While much of this information could be communicated through onscreen prompts and objective markers, if it doesn’t align with what the character is experiencing, there could be narrative dissonance. So, our goal is to ensure that information is presented as dietetically as possible so that the player and character’s motivation align, allowing them to feel fully immersed.” Narrative Team
“…janitor behavior…”?! LMAO. That whole thing reads like a bad April Fools joke.
Phew! I’d been really worried about that!
As opposed to what? Suicide by detonation? Eating them?
Hahahaha! St Bernards in space maybe?
This is a joke…tell me I’ve fallen for another April Fool’s joke.
The truth is, these are not very bright guys and things got out of hand.