Have an excerpt from one of the loudest and biggest spending true believers on the official forum:
This year was set out at CitizenCon. For the first time we had some fuzzy estimate of when the final tech pillar would go in. Dynamic Server Meshing is not something that will affect the players experience hardly at all, DSM is about streamlining and reducing the cost of game service delivery for CIG. I'm getting older now and don't feel the need to be 'first' for every single feature addition. I knew after watching CitizenCon I'd be mostly sitting it out until after Server Meshing goes in. Call it the deep breath before the plunge, I'd be happy to forego the boiled frog experience after so long. I am happy that I now know how this particular sausage gets made, a sausage many didn't believe would ever get made. The PU was always supposed to come after the players experience of Squadron 42. It's that 'connectedness' that I'm interested in seeing how they do it now.
For me it has always been about the 'how', not the 'when'. I leave the 'when' questions to those much much younger than me, which is ironic since I have much less time left to see that eventual 'when' than they do. Many of CIG's team are in the same position, Chris Roberts is only 7 years younger than me.
Many features people are still asking for are in Squadron 42, so the answer to 'when' for those features is.. after Squadron 42 release. Because. No spoilers.
As Chris says, it'll be done when it's done - great! See you (all) then! I have other things to think about right now. Keep up the good work. The run up to Squadron 42 starts in Q4 (hopefully), in a years time people will be no more interested in Server Meshing than they are interested in Object Container Streaming or full persistence today, when it 'just works' you can forget about it. That race has been run. 4.0 means the end of the 'will they do it' patch watch cycle. The 'how' only matters when you can't do, once you can do no-one will even bother to think about 'how'.
Am I better off with 3.24? Not really, didn't expect to be. As Richard Tyrer said, for 95% of a games development time you are playing a broken game, we aren't near 95% yet. They are still building the game engine the whole game is based on.
There is no more mystery to chew over endlessly about 'how', only the 'when'. I have experience in building things, it's always the most frustrating time between knowing the 'how' and waiting for the 'when'. There are plenty of 'why' questions to ask, but Chris won't address those until the full and final picture is made known and they are only just thinking about what that final picture will look like... so... not for a good while yet, hence all 'why' questions are treated as 'when' questions by CIG. Many don't like it. I don't like it, but you can't answer all the 'why' questions until you've finished putting all the pieces in place, so I at least understand it.
Someone please tell me they don't have an annual convention for a game that is over 10 years in development with no release date, please.
They have more than an annual convention.
They also had a le epic steak dinner with thousands of dollars per seat where each le epic steak enjoyer had the rare privilege of early access to buying an internet spaceship (that is STILL NOT IN THE GAME ALMOST A DECADE LATER!). I had pictures of the le epic steak dinner on my old computer; it was like this emoji aged up 30+ years.
I'm not gonna lie, when I first heard about this game, I was a bit hype about it but like I basically parked it in my mind and only really caught a few updates on it, like Scott Manley showing off a ship he had one time on his YT channel.
I figured it was gonna take a few years to make but after a this much time and almost a billion dollars later, a tragedy ends up becoming a comedy.
Meanwhile, I just want a goddamn space truck driving simulator.
Meanwhile, I just want a goddamn space truck driving simulator.
Star Trucker was revealed at Gamescom last month, has a 2024 release date, and PC Gamer recently wrote an enthusiastic preview after playing it. It seems like it really leans into the classic American trucker aesthetic while also being very much set in space. Might not suit if you're looking for something more 'hard scifi' but it looks neat.
I have Star Trucker on my wishlist already lol. It's close but real a dream game of mine is closer to something like X4 mixed with ETS2. Start Trucker leans pretty heavy into the gimmick of "trucks in space". I am eager to check it out though. I also just learned about Dust and Diesel: Deadland Delivery, which is a truck sim I never knew I wanted until I saw it. I'm currently obsessed with Mad Max and a truck sim in a post-apoclyptic wasteland where you get to drive your own war rig sounds dope as fuck. I sort of want to suggest to the dev to add multiplayer so friends can play as "war boys" and drive cars and stuff while you haul stuff from one base to another.
Meanwhile, I just want a goddamn space truck driving simulator.
They'll sell you the dream of that, like they'll sell you the dream of being a space airline flight attendant mixing cocktails for irate and fussy passengers (I am not fucking joking there)
or a space reporter getting the big scoop with a spaceship with a big space camera on it. Or a space hacking ship with a special hacker computer on it that doesn't do anything yet but trust in the plan
Cosmoteer is more like Dwarf Fortress than an actual sim, but if you just wanna take apart asteroids and move stuff between space stations, it has lots of that. Despite being a dev team of exactly one (1) guy, it left early access years ago and is still getting updates. Recently he added a larger mining laser and some kind of new missile system. I haven't been playing it as much lately because of Against the Storm and Balatro, so I'm not fully up to date on what's new.
I could never really get into DF honestly. I might give it another go since it was released on Steam with a UI I won't struggle as much with sometime lol. I played a bit of Rimworld and it felt a lot like DF and I did enjoy that. There is a first person space ship salvage game out(I forget the name) that I've been seeing a bit of and sort of wanna check out some day. So instead of rocks, it's busted up ships.
DF's learning curve is still pretty steep. It's come a long way and the devs finally added mouse support and moved beyond ASCII graphics (only took like 20 years). I never got into Rimworld cuz the devs are Gamergate chuds.
Yeah Prison Architect. The creators have been pretty upfront about how fucking cruel the American prison system is. They wanted to make a game highlighting how bizarre it is we just accept having slavery.
You'll see inmates with biographies like "serving 70 years with no parole for stealing newspapers off their neighbor's porch."
Am I better off with 3.24? Not really, didn't expect to be. As Richard Tyrer said, for 95% of a games development time you are playing a broken game, we aren't near 95% yet. They are still building the game engine the whole game is based on
Then why is the game publicly available and receiving obscene amounts of money from in game purchases and donations?
They somehow managed to turn a publically available early access alpha game build, full of scope creep and feature creep, into an endless money printer because it's easy to take advantage of hopeful video game nerds with more money than sense. As a hopeful video game nerd (with no money though) the whole thing has been a continuous embarrassment.
Have an excerpt from one of the loudest and biggest spending true believers on the official forum:
Someone please tell me they don't have an annual convention for a game that is over 10 years in development with no release date, please.
They have more than an annual convention.
They also had a le epic steak dinner with thousands of dollars per seat where each le epic steak enjoyer had the rare privilege of early access to buying an internet spaceship (that is STILL NOT IN THE GAME ALMOST A DECADE LATER!). I had pictures of the le epic steak dinner on my old computer; it was like this emoji aged up 30+ years.
I'm not gonna lie, when I first heard about this game, I was a bit hype about it but like I basically parked it in my mind and only really caught a few updates on it, like Scott Manley showing off a ship he had one time on his YT channel.
I figured it was gonna take a few years to make but after a this much time and almost a billion dollars later, a tragedy ends up becoming a comedy.
Meanwhile, I just want a goddamn space truck driving simulator.
Star Trucker was revealed at Gamescom last month, has a 2024 release date, and PC Gamer recently wrote an enthusiastic preview after playing it. It seems like it really leans into the classic American trucker aesthetic while also being very much set in space. Might not suit if you're looking for something more 'hard scifi' but it looks neat.
I have Star Trucker on my wishlist already lol. It's close but real a dream game of mine is closer to something like X4 mixed with ETS2. Start Trucker leans pretty heavy into the gimmick of "trucks in space". I am eager to check it out though. I also just learned about Dust and Diesel: Deadland Delivery, which is a truck sim I never knew I wanted until I saw it. I'm currently obsessed with Mad Max and a truck sim in a post-apoclyptic wasteland where you get to drive your own war rig sounds dope as fuck. I sort of want to suggest to the dev to add multiplayer so friends can play as "war boys" and drive cars and stuff while you haul stuff from one base to another.
I had no idea about Dust & Diesel. That looks kind of rad if the gameplay stays fun. You're right that multiplayer would be awesome.
I gotta practice my dad jokes.
They'll sell you the dream of that, like they'll sell you the dream of being a space airline flight attendant mixing cocktails for irate and fussy passengers (I am not fucking joking there)
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14801-Introducing-The-Genesis-Starliner
or a space reporter getting the big scoop with a spaceship with a big space camera on it. Or a space hacking ship with a special hacker computer on it that doesn't do anything yet but trust in the plan
My brother in Christ, it's a digital download, what the actual fuck is in stock?
It implies urgency and fear of missing out. It gets the people going.
Cosmoteer is more like Dwarf Fortress than an actual sim, but if you just wanna take apart asteroids and move stuff between space stations, it has lots of that. Despite being a dev team of exactly one (1) guy, it left early access years ago and is still getting updates. Recently he added a larger mining laser and some kind of new missile system. I haven't been playing it as much lately because of Against the Storm and Balatro, so I'm not fully up to date on what's new.
I could never really get into DF honestly. I might give it another go since it was released on Steam with a UI I won't struggle as much with sometime lol. I played a bit of Rimworld and it felt a lot like DF and I did enjoy that. There is a first person space ship salvage game out(I forget the name) that I've been seeing a bit of and sort of wanna check out some day. So instead of rocks, it's busted up ships.
DF's learning curve is still pretty steep. It's come a long way and the devs finally added mouse support and moved beyond ASCII graphics (only took like 20 years). I never got into Rimworld cuz the devs are Gamergate chuds.
Wasn't aware of this. I can do without playing it ever again after all lol.
It was only like one or two of them and I'm not sure if they're still working for the dev company. But for me it was one too many.
It's funny the Star Trek colonizer sim was made by reactionaries and the private prison simulator was made by left-ish old guys.
Referring to Prison Architect?
Meh, I feel you on the one too many aspect. I would rather devote my gaming time ingesting content created by people that don't suck if I can help it.
Yeah Prison Architect. The creators have been pretty upfront about how fucking cruel the American prison system is. They wanted to make a game highlighting how bizarre it is we just accept having slavery.
You'll see inmates with biographies like "serving 70 years with no parole for stealing newspapers off their neighbor's porch."
Then why is the game publicly available and receiving obscene amounts of money from in game purchases and donations?
Why indeed?
They somehow managed to turn a publically available early access alpha game build, full of scope creep and feature creep, into an endless money printer because it's easy to take advantage of hopeful video game nerds with more money than sense. As a hopeful video game nerd (with no money though) the whole thing has been a continuous embarrassment.