Gamescom 2017 reaction. The good, the bad, the ugly.

Bruttle

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The bad and ugly will soon be forgotten once 3.0 is released. Especially if 3.0 runs well and is fun.

CIG has made almost $1 Million in the last 30 hours so the wallets don't mind a few issues.

You can have your opinions. I can have my opinions. We could love it, hate it, or feel mostly apathetic about it. We can shout our thoughts as loud as we want but it won't hold a candle to what you pointed out. The only voice that really matters is money.

Lets be honest, the only way that I'm really going to be upset is if the game gets cancelled or washes out. As long as that doesn't happen I'm good with the minutia. I may like some decisions more than others. I may love or hate some features. However, all will be forgiven once we actually reach that glorious release date.

So if they've pulled almost a million with this performance, it can't be all that bad. When it comes down to it, we can be as impatient as we want. It won't change the inevitable release date. Might as well take what we can get and enjoy the ride. Besides, it wasn't THAT bad. Some of it was pretty damn cool actually.
 

Talonsbane

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I may be considered rather naive for feeling as I do about the presentation, but such is life at times. For the most part, I mentally write off the bugs, crashes, glitches & other negatives of the show as being proof that the game is still in Alpha development. I also look at how amazing this game is becoming over the space of time & I'm thankful to be a part of the process by both being a backer as well as getting to watch it grow into the game that I believe most of it might someday be capable of being.

The facial recognition overlay as well as the VOIP was fantastic to see that it is in the works now for the future. I might be alone in viewing it like this, but I would rather that they get these sorts of things at least begun to be established now with the 3.0 overhaul for them to tweak until it's just right than to start dropping it in later & have that cause all sorts of issues with other systems which may cause us to have yet another massive update along with the various issues & glitches that it might cause then.

While I understand & accept that doing the majority of the presentation as live game play being risky, I'm thankful that they did as it shows that it doesn't just happen to us. Also, it doesn't make any false promises as to what the game can eventually be potentially by simply being a fully flushed out prerendered CGI movie with graphical details that we will only ever see in cut scenes. What we saw was what they have working at best so far & that was amazing to me. Was it perfect? No, but I've played MMORPGs for somewhere around 20 years. Even games like WoW, IMVU, SL, ED, etc have glitches pop up from time to time for them to fix & look how long they have been active for. For better or worse, Star Citizen is a crazy roller coaster that we have chosen to back to the degree we have so far. We might as well enjoy the ride as much as possible & see where it takes us.

I would love to know what each of you might feel about my view if you would care to let me know. Either way, I respect your opinions & appreciate your input. We are TEST Squadron. We ride together, we fight together & you can bet your sweet bippy we can party together. We may occasionally run out of alcohol, but at least a few of us are sober enough to make beer runs for those who aren't.
 

Jokyr

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Just to be contrary I will go in reverse order.

For the ugly I would have to agree that the scripted dialog was... um... Roger Corman is rolling in his grave right now and the man isn't even dead yet. That poor excuse of scripting wasn't even worthy of being called B movie schlock.

As to the bad, GamesCom is a yearly event. Which means that there is a whole year to play prep for a presentation. How is it after so many years and presentations that CIG can't seem to set up and get people into an event in a timely fashion? Not much of a complaint, I know, but if you have that many people watching and waiting at the event and on Twitch and such it can be called a bit of a professional blunder.

And saving the best for last, The Good: Player driven planetary missions, Capital ship combat, and CIG once again showing us they are intent on bringing us not just the best space game ever but that they will do their best to expand what tech should be considered not only groundbreaking but more immersive for the hardcore players and a nice change of pace for casuals. The ability to make your own facial emotes is really cool, combines with the tracking and dynamically realistic voice coms that change based on proximity and what gear you are using is impressive.

As to the crash, I for one think that is a good thing. It shows that the game isn't perfect yet but that everything that they were showing was actual game-play, not some prerecorded visuals to entice viewers with false promises (I'm looking at you NMS). It shows that the Devs and the company as a whole are doing amazing work and while a crash may seem to turn away some potential backers I think it will bring in others who can look beyond a simple glitch to see what was truly there, an amazing display of what the game is at this early alpha stage with the potential to just get better as time goes on.

And oh yeah, I had to get myself the 600i Explorer, damned exploration ships are like effing Pokemon "gotta catch 'em all."

*Drops mic... er... keyboard... er... whatever, you know what I mean*
 

maynard

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the authenticity of the unscripted live demo, glitches, crashes and all, was far more compelling than any pre-assembled cinematics could have been

the rover drove through the boarding ramp Friday - I remember a pilot's head and torso projecting out of a closed cockpit in one of the earliest Alphas. These sorts of bugs are fixable; it just takes some time to track them down.

What worked:

the seamless transition from one planet to space, warp drive, and a second transition planetside

capital ship combat

commercial transactions with NPCs

realtime voice comms with players

mobiglass for configuration

and so much more

not sure how quickly all the must-fix bugs will be resolved, but there is definitely a light at the end of the tunnel now
 

Thalstan

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One thing I didn't like. The Capital ship combat was much too short. In general, I thought ships exploded too quickly. I don't mind if the game turns into a shooter so long as some of the big consequences they were saying would happen are significantly reduced.
 

Gabgrave

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In my opinion, when I saw the Ursa fail at "ramping things up", I suspected that it might have had something to do with the fact that they left the thrusters of the Idris activated which was stirring up a lot of dust effects which might have caused the physics engine to become blurry, so to speak.
As I recall, the 3.0 ramp issue was the butt of a joke on the gamescom day 3 stream. They were trying to enter the cutlass ramp but it kept chopping people off at the knees. It ended up with the area filled with bodies after everyone around tried to enter, or got killed by the ramp getting shoved into their face.
https://clips.twitch.tv/ConfidentBoredGarlicCoolStoryBob
Ramps...My Only Weakness~ :D
 

CosmicTrader

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When it comes down to it, we can be as impatient as we want. It won't change the inevitable release date. Might as well take what we can get and enjoy the ride.
Well said.

Also, it doesn't make any false promises as to what the game can eventually be potentially by simply being a fully flushed out prerendered CGI movie with graphical details that we will only ever see in cut scenes
Exactly. This is what I have endured for over 30 years from game developers. And they still do it today.
NMS sound familiar? Don't even get me started on BattleCruiser 3000 (by DS) - I'm still waiting for the promised patch to make it work.

Not much of a complaint, I know, but if you have that many people watching and waiting at the event and on Twitch and such it can be called a bit of a professional blunder.
This is a valid & serious complaint. CIG must improve in this area.
Backer spent 100s if not 1000s of dollars to fund CIG. They spent a great deal of money & time to attend a 2 hour presentation on THEIR behalf.
Backers are the Stockholders of Cloud Imperial Games.
Would Bill Gates keep his major Stockholders waiting outside like this? Only once........

And oh yeah, I had to get myself the 600i Explorer, damned exploration ships are like effing Pokemon "gotta catch 'em all."
Yeah, same thing happened to me.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Also, we must remember that although the Devs are the very best in the World, they are people just like us.
They make mistakes and typos. (90+% of programming bugs are typos)
They don't work well under pressure. Just as we don't
Their feelings get hurt, as does ours.

Finally, many of them, especially the QA team, were Backers also until recently. [They are US].
Together, we are a TEAM.
Just like TEST SQUADRON.
-------------------------------------------------------
Soap box placed in storage. Ha. HA.
(Temporarily)
 

Panzertard

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As a Backer (2013) I want & expect to see actual game play as it is being developed. After all, we are part of that development by funding & testing the game as it is being coded. I don't care at all about 'fence-sitters'. It has been my experience that 90%+ of Gamers never participate in Alpha testing BECAUSE of the crashes.These people can wait until full release, probably in 2 years, and pay a great deal more and know nothing about how to play. Like they always do anyway & always will. They are no lose at this point. They will join eventually.

*******************************************************
....
I have known for a long time now what was coming.
(And I know what else to expect in the coming Months - Don't you wish you did?)
Within a couple more weeks, Star Citizen shall begin with 3.0. I look forward to playing & having tons of FUN with you all.
You are welcome to join me on this GREAT ADVENTURE.
CityBoppin & BarHoppin Among many other wonderous things.
See you in the 'Verse.
Or not, your choice.
While I understand & accept that doing the majority of the presentation as live game play being risky, I'm thankful that they did as it shows that it doesn't just happen to us. Also, it doesn't make any false promises as to what the game can eventually be potentially by simply being a fully flushed out prerendered CGI movie with graphical details that we will only ever see in cut scenes. What we saw was what they have working at best so far & that was amazing to me. Was it perfect? No, but I've played MMORPGs for somewhere around 20 years. Even games like WoW, IMVU, SL, ED, etc have glitches pop up from time to time for them to fix & look how long they have been active for. For better or worse, Star Citizen is a crazy roller coaster that we have chosen to back to the degree we have so far. We might as well enjoy the ride as much as possible & see where it takes us.
You've nailed my view on the case. I'm here for the ride, it's the journey which makes it a blast. The first destination is not a final destination. Beyond release this game will continue to evolve.
Many of us have chosen to invest in the ride beyond normal levels.
For many of us it's more important to show actual game play and progress. While at the same time I can understand that fencers and others will be looking for a bit different presentation to help them make up their mind.

Personally I love that they chose to present it live, warts, flawed and all.
Crashes are to be expected, especially when they completely rebuilt the engine from scratch through the transition from 2.0 to 3.0. And for a good reason. CGI has done so to make it scale and deliver properly in the long run. They managed to demonstrate all the complex infrastructure working together which in itself is a major feat.

As you've stated, haters is going to hate regardless - but they are not going to be on my contact list nor in my sessions. You guys are.
I'm thrilled to see you gents enjoying the ride as much as I do.

Stay frosty, otherwise your beer may not.
 

Greengiant506

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I thought the presentation showed a lot of promise, they are trying new things not just because they are cool and next gen but because they add to immersion and gameplay, I mean, without the head tracking how else will we sneak a peak inside our space bathrooms!?

Because they knew it would work in demo so they wanted to showoff? But is it really just a plot by the Government to get us to do a facile scan for they're database?
Don't be silly, we... er.. the government, already has your face scanned utilizing reflected light from the pixels on your monitor and variations in voltage caused by the reflected light, no cameras needed, no privacy invaded!
 

Crymsan

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Well I went into this with zero expectations, progress has been slow and the presentation was basically last years show with polish. The gurning face rubbish was very underwhelming. The idris fighting really shows me they didnt have any ideas. Even if the idris fighting is in 3.0 they could barely handle both ships. So anyways an underwhelming show as expected.
 

Talonsbane

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You've nailed my view on the case. I'm here for the ride, it's the journey which makes it a blast. The first destination is not a final destination. Beyond release this game will continue to evolve.
Many of us have chosen to invest in the ride beyond normal levels.
For many of us it's more important to show actual game play and progress. While at the same time I can understand that fencers and others will be looking for a bit different presentation to help them make up their mind.

Personally I love that they chose to present it live, warts, flawed and all.
Crashes are to be expected, especially when they completely rebuilt the engine from scratch through the transition from 2.0 to 3.0. And for a good reason. CGI has done so to make it scale and deliver properly in the long run. They managed to demonstrate all the complex infrastructure working together which in itself is a major feat.

As you've stated, haters is going to hate regardless - but they are not going to be on my contact list nor in my sessions. You guys are.
I'm thrilled to see you gents enjoying the ride as much as I do.

Stay frosty, otherwise your beer may not.
Great minds think alike. While we might not always agree on various things, WE ARE TEST & we are the best. Hehehe I will do my best to be as good of a friend as I can to each of you & hope that the sentiment is mutual.
 

BluePilote

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For me, it continues to evolve. Bigger ship, better frame rate, when the game will be rdy, it will be awesome...

It will be at round 2025, but awesome
 

Dethsause

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Demo was pretty neat, I'm excited to see what else they come up with. That being said, I am worried a little bit about the feature creep happening. I know they said TrackIR wouldn't be implemented in the 3.0 patch but this is just one more instance of feature creep. I was excited to see all the different environments and how they all integrated together. I'm glad that the game crashed to be honest. The reason why I'm glad is because it does prove that they aren't just holding it back and there really are some improvements that need to be made.

I am not going to buy the 600i. The 600i just can't compare to what is already out there. The Carrack, Phoenix, even the Aquila are all better ships in my opinion. So why would I drop $400 on a ship that is $50 more than the Carrack? I simply wouldn't. The Ship is very aesthetically pleasing but that's where all the good points end. Unless they beef up the shields, hard points, and give the 600i some more umph... I'm going to have to pass on this one. That will just have to be a ship I purchase with hard earned in game monies.
 

Calignosity

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For people hating on the fact that the live demo crashed, do you realize just how common that is?? LOL

I have seen it at many of the tech based cons I have been to, and the not so tech based ones. Our own company (we deal in VR) crashed our live demo at a huge gaming/Unity convention 2 years ago. We then turned around and had numerous high tech companies show up at our booth and panel asking for more info and how they could get involved.

Anyone who deals in this field KNOWS that demos can and often DO crash, and anyone that thinks demos do/should always go flawlessly are probably not demoing enough. :slight_smile:
 
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Thalstan

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Don't have a problem with the crash, the tech, or anything else they did during the demo. I thought it was a pretty good demo. What I do have a problem with is the lack of communication with us, the backers. I don't think they did an adequate job describing all the changes they were making to 3.0 vs what they had in the first 3.0 demo. over this past year

That said, I am very excited for 3.0 as I think it's quite a bit better than what we were shown last year.
 

Penny Royal

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Sure, the demo had a few glitches but this is still an alpha version, right? Some of the feature we saw won't even be in alpha 3.0 and some of the bugs will have been fixed before they release 3.0 to us. The delta patcher will enable them to update the game with new features and bug fixes on a more frequent basis than has been practical until now so we should see issues resolved more quickly.

I'm really looking forward to the new gameplay opportunities offered by 3.0 and personally I can live with a few imperfections as long as I know CGI are still dedicated to building the best damn game out there.
 

I_MIKE_I

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Hello TESTies!

Coming to you from sunny Clearwater, Florida!

I just finished watching the live stream, the endorphins are pumping and for the first time in a long time, I am once again energized and excited for Star Citizen.

Like many of the long term backers here, I too go through ups and downs.

Very few things can get us old backers excited these days, but seeing new environments, ships and game mechanics we saw today will keep us going for some time to come!


The good:
- Delamar looks amazing!
- The Idris works!
- In-game player comms are great!
- New 600i looks amazing!

The bad:
- Game crash during a demo watched by over 40,000 people on Twitch.
- Sorry TrackIR!

The ugly
- Potential and on-the-fence backers will not come rushing in, they will continue to wait.
- If you listen carefully, you can hear the anti Star Citizen journalists frantically typing away for tomorrows big story about how a $150M project is failing to even demo properly.

I don't think I need to spend too much time on the good. All of use here in TEST watched the demo, we had a huge turnout in discord chat and massive record traffic spikes here on the forum.

Overall reaction from existing backers is extremely positive, everybody I have spoken to is very pleased and excited to get their hands on 3.0.

We finally got to see the long awaited Eckhart mission playthrough. I was sitting here much like the rest of you, grinning and visualizing myself finally meeting him and getting something to do in the game!

As Chris Roberts explained, missions would be different all the time, but we get the idea of what a fetch mission will be like.

The faceware system was a nice touch, it was not something I was too excited about, but I will withhold judgement until I have actually spent some time using it in the game. The ability to look around the cockpit using the facetracking was the bigger feature here. I suspect that over time, perhaps in 4-5 years we will wonder how any MMO can NOT have facetracking in it. I feel it is a feature that will simply slide into the background and be considered "normal" for an MMO in a few years.

Now for the bad:

We can all appreciate CIG wanting to do a live demo, but honestly, with a game this buggy, and a demo of a yet unreleased 3.0 in front of 40,000 Twitch viewers, I would have played it safe and done a prerecorded demo.

Sure, Derek Smart would have a field day and send out a tweetstorm about how 3.0 is vaporware because there was a prerecorded video shown, but to the people who just want to see something new, it matters not.

The fence-sitters do not care if the demo is live or not, they are just curious to see what the game can offer.

That being said, the people who really matter are the existing backers who understand the vision of CIG and already demonstrated our vote of confidence with our wallets.

The ugly part will unfold over the next few days as the tabloid journalists pump out their clickbait articles about how Star Citizen is a $150M failure.

Haters gonna hate, there is nothing we can do about that, but today we saw a huge jump forward into what will be coming our way, and its amazing!

The bottom line is that current backers are more excited than ever. Sure, this project is going to be very, very late, but over the next few days we will see how much that excitement translates into dollars thanks to the sleek and sexy 600i that just went on sale.

Money drives this project, and we have yet to see any change to the strong flow of new funds to make this amazing game a reality!

Now I have to go ponder if getting rid of my Pheonix for the 600 Explorer is a good idea or not.
I didn't watch much of the footage, since a lot of my Real Life went wrong during the last 2-3 Months... but here are a few toughts:

1. I will believe in Delmar, the Idris and the in-game player coms, as soon as I have made use of them via my own PC. I don't want to sound critical, but we have had awesome stuff shown about a year ago, which we still can't access.

2. I don't think people that are into SC will mind a crash during a demo... we all had our crashes and the content shown is obviously quite a bit out. As far as Track IR is concerned... I've never been a huge fan of their pricing policy.

3. There will always be idiots. In our world, clicks equal money and if you can just spread unsourced bullshit without ever being held responsible for it, then people will do it.

In some countries, people make money by writing false stuff on facebook, in others they earn their living by giving likes/views on youtube, facebook and what-not. If you can make easy money by uploading a video like "Starcitizen will fail because", then yes, people will do it.

What's much more annoying IMO are "trusted media" joining the ranks of said idiots. But again, it's by no means a Star Citzen or Gaming exclusive thing. For example, DJMag's TOP100 used to be a really good indicator of the World's greatest Djs... one day they decided to not use judges and instead run the thing via facebook votes.

Today, DJMAGs Top100 is considered BS by anyone even mildly interested in EDM, even DJs / Producers on fairly high ranks uploaded YT videos ranting about how much BS it is.

Another example would be those EXCLUSIVE REVEALS about dead VIPs like Lady Diana and what-not. Hell, have you ever seen someone held responsible for saying she abducted kids, wanted to commit suicide, was whoring around and whatever else they managed to make up?
 

FZD

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Guickly scanning the thread, didn't see anyone else mention gravity yet. This was really my main concern in the demonstration, there was no kinda gravity whatsoever, the ships just stuck to air and spun around looking silly. I mean, that constellation landing in the beginning, you could practically see every individual key press when the pilot aligned the ship.

Oh well, I'm sure they'll implement gravity at some point, but for now, it seems, 3.0 will have wonky atmospheric flight.

Other than that, I didn't really have anything to complain about, looking good.
 
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