This is how the Carrack will look like. Lots of antennas for scanning and a Mako style exploration rover (as expected). It includes also a small ship and modular cargo.
Much more about the Carrack here in this video (start at 07:40)
Avast, me maties. A place for the maggots to prepare the boarding actions and haul away the ill gained loot of pirate raids. A fighting transport called the Drake Caterpillar. Yarr.
Two things come to my mind personally here:
It looks a bit like the transport in the movie "Moon 44".
And there is a fluff text at the beginning of the description, with a "fluff" picture ("The top 500 iconic images from the last thousand years of traveling the stars.") You see one of the windows of the ship. Its very scratched. If you have ever seen a Space shuttle window ... they are scratched exactly the same way, from all the cameras hitting the glass while making pictures of earth. The artist really has done his research (or it may be coincidence, but i like it ;-).
Update: third starter ship confirmed. Alien design, double seater. Love boat ;-)
"MISC Reliant – With the success of the Freelancer “Built for Life” campaign, MISC has moved to join RSI and Consolidated in the single-seat introductory starship arena. Their silver bullet? A starter ship with more than one seat… and their ace in the hole: Xi’An technology. Where the Aurora is a pure utilitarian platform and the Mustang is a delicate, maneuverable personal transport, the Reliant is MISC’s most Xi’An tech-heavy ship to date. Featuring impossibly sleek lines, two separate crew seats and a vertical fuselage design, the Reliant’s streamlined cockpits glow with some of the finest xenotechnology available!"
Go look at his history. It's more than just plain enthusiasm.
Yep. 10 years on MMORPG.com of Star Wars Galaxies, EVE Online, SWTOR, Elite:Dangerous, Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings and ........... ***drum roll *** Star Citizen. Some odd posts on Life, the Universe and all the rest ... like Pot Plants.
There is an online store with a real world cash vs in game money conversion rate, but according to official word from CIG you can only buy some ship upgrades (think: tuning kits with a small temporary bonus) and cosmetic things (like paint jobs, deco items etc.) there. Not complete ships. Chris Roberts has made it clear that he does not believe in having some things for sale which you cannot achieve in game, as you see in many other games.
Thats why i also recommend to get no more than one ship from the pledge campaign .. you can get all other ships, even the biggest, in game for in game money ..... does not matter if you got a starter package Aurora for 20 $ or a Constellation like i have (because it reminds me of my old YT-1300 freighter in SWG). We have heard that it will take about 60 hours of gameplay to be able to buy a multi-crew ship like the Constellation ... just to give you a reference point. And as in EVE Online ... never fly anything you cannot easily afford to lose !
Nope, its not like an EVE PLEX. CIG has talked about differences between PLEX and what SC does.
IMHO you have most likely two different wallets. One is your true in game wallet, where your mission pay ends up and which you can use to buy ships. The other is the online store wallet. At the moment this is limited to 150.000 UEC (which is most likely way less than a ship costs ... for comparison, a buggy costs 15.000 and weapons cost from 4000-16000). You could stock up this second wallet with real-world money converted into UEC .... but you cannot buy a ship with it. Thats the current official position from what i have seen on the forums and website.
If i am understanding you correctly there is no way to exchange real money for in game currency to buy anything but cosmetics?
If that is the case then this could be a really nice game but i shall reserve my judgement until it releases. The potential of a cash shop with ships and/or insurances seems just way too tempting. I sincerely doubt they make the cash shop cosmetic only.
Thanks for the info btw. I really can't stand the RSI page it's way too flashy and too much advertisements with little to no substance.
Hi eMbienT,
I guess you were looking for this on the RSI webpage - the FAQ about the SC online shop:
Its not only cosmetics but also ship upgrades (think temporary tuning kits) and weapons (as i said in my previous post), but no ships .... or as it says on the website:
" At this time you can buy a variety of ship upgrades and decorative hangar items with UEC. These items have been selected because they will be available in this same ‘mail order’ fashion in the finished game. You can not purchase items which would not be available everywhere in the game universe, such asadd on ships, or items which are not part of the Star Citizen universe, like t-shirts or game packages."
Yes, there are many people that suspect that once the game launches this policy will change. I guess it comes from the ambiguous wording on the RSI webpage --> "At this time ....". Personally i will wait and see what happens. Will take another 2 years until release of full game with persistent universe, i guess. "See you in the Verse" then !
If i am understanding you correctly there is no way to exchange real money for in game currency to buy anything but cosmetics?
If that is the case then this could be a really nice game but i shall reserve my judgement until it releases. The potential of a cash shop with ships and/or insurances seems just way too tempting. I sincerely doubt they make the cash shop cosmetic only.
Thanks for the info btw. I really can't stand the RSI page it's way too flashy and too much advertisements with little to no substance.
I wish that was the case, the game would be so much better for having a clear and defined area that money could influence.
This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLzvSbigyjc&t=44m10s shows Roberts talking about using funds to kit out your ship OR using funds to buy your ship. Sadly he attempts to trivialise it as being "pay to be lazy" aka people who don't have time to play but want to keep their ego intact by spending ridiculous amounts of money.
The old clipper ships are being mentioned as inspiration. Personally i hope the can capture an ALIEN look, something different than what you would expect on a human ship e.g. everything rounded and maybe a bit too large etc.
Certainly .... everything costs 30 $. In total. One time payment.
Have fun
It's not very convincing when on one hand you give us a list about ships they want to create - and you know they will ask for big money for the ships.
On the other side you answer with something along the lines of: 'You don't need these ships'
What he is getting at is that currently the game costs $30 to get and that all those ship can be earned within the game. You don't have to spend more than $30 to get any or all of those ships, so long as you are willing to work at getting them within the game. If you want to have one of those ships in your hanger on day one then sure, you will need to make a "donation".
It is also worth noting that no ships will be "sold" for real money after the game is released.
After almost 15 years of playing MMO i have learned a very valuable lessons. Never take words of game devs as some kind of gospel. Rule change all the time and i wouldn't be surprised if in future they make a u turn on this and start selling ships for real money.
There is too much profit to be made from selling vitual ships for real life cash.
The designer of the "Javelin" gives more insight into the intended role of the destroyer, answering a question of the forum user Calignos. There are also many more dev answers in that thread.
Hey Guys,
Had a question about the lore and armaments for the Javelin Class Destroyer. The background piece on the Destroyer was a fun read, but it didn't give much insight into what the main target(s) of the Destroyer would be in battle? Destroyers have filled Anti-Air and Anti-Sub roles in WW2, and modern day Destroyers see combat roles in pretty much any scenario. But given the Javelin's armaments, Class 6's (typically STS turrets) and Class 7's (spinal mounted heavy hitting guns) it sounds like it might be more geared to taking on larger ships?
Though, the classification of the Class 6's is ATA (Air to Air?) which I guess could imply an anti-fighter role? Regardless, awesome looking ship and look forward to learning more about it's military role and now civilian surpluss opportunities.
-Calignos
"Hey Calignos!
Designer of the Javelin here. The role of the Javelin is a mixture of anti-fighter and light anti-capital ship. The majority of the turrets are designed for an anti-fighter role while the torps and the Class 7s take the anti-capital ship duties.
Cheers! Jon"
Some personal speculation follows:
Javelin might be the central capital ship of the Squadron 42 solo game. It has one of each ship type, which would be typical of a solo game, were you work your way through all the different ship types. This is atypical of "normal" ships, which usually have only a limited amount of "aircraft" types, but multiples of each type. It has a boarding shuttle, so you can experience the FPS side of SQ42. It has a strong Anti-fighter defense, so i guess we can expect more than a few scenarios were you fight as combat "air" patrol for the survival of the Javelin. And it has anti-ship weapons, so I expect at least one massive capital ship battle were the Javelin gets pounded to buy you time to do some vital task (e.g. capturing a capital ship bridge or torpedoing the enemy flagship).
Originally posted by jmlane223 So honest question as I am sure someone on here knows the answer to this question and I cant be asked to dig for it. First, can you get these ships people are paying for money through in game methods (I assume no but only ask because of the next question) If you can not get them in game, then are there currently more ships for sale for real life money than one could get through gaming methods? If so is it a big difference (i.e. 2 ships for cash for every 1 you can get through in game methods).
Almost every ship - from the Aurora starter ship up to every currently known ship smaller than the Bengal carrier - will be available in game for in game cash. By definition/design concept there will never be a ship (or other item) that will ONLY be available for real-world cash. Chris Roberts has stated this very clearly on multiple occasions. For ships like the Bengal carrier CIG has devised another method (capture, salvage, rebuild ... and there will only be a limited amount of them).
Based on official statements: Once the game launches you will NOT be able to buy ships with real world cash. There will be an in game shop with a conversion rate to real world money, but things you can buy there are cosmetic items and some limited equipment tuning kits, but no complete ships. Most likely this wallet will be of a limited size (IMHO perhaps below the cost of even the smallest ship).
Chris Roberts has given the example that you probably will be able to afford the typical Constellation multiplayer ship after 60 hours of non-hardcore gameplay (starting with a starter ship, not doing 100 % missions 100 % of the time). That means you could get a second starter level ship after maybe 7 hours of gameplay and one of the good single seater ships after maybe 20-30 hours of gameplay.
Every ship - from the Aurora starter ship up to (someday) the Bengal carrier - will be available in game for in game cash.
Not true. CIG's current stance is that the Bengal will never be sold for in game cash. You can only capture it. The same goes for the majority of the larger capital ships.
I stand corrected - Bengal carrier is a special case.
From the forums:
>>>>During the crowdfunding Chris Roberts stated that the bengal carrier would be limited, maybe 2 or 3 in the universe. He also hinted to a system where players would have to capture the carrier to get one. So getting one would probably be outside the reach of a single player.>>>>
Ben Lesnick Quote:
“
You don't have to be outside the law to get the stock Bengals, though. The idea is that we've seeded a couple of them out there in the universe, rendered derelict by a Vanduul (or other) attack. Players can go out there, find them and fix them up. It's basically a conceit to get around the idea that the UEE would never actually let someone have such a ship.
How is this game not pay to win? Someone please explain. It is multiplayer right? More real life money spent=better ships right?
I am a backer and personally I am disgusted with the sales coming in my inbox every week to pay hundreds of dollars for ships after I gave them $60 during kickstarter.
First - no one forces you to buy bigger ships for more (real world) money. You can get them all in game once the game has launched.
This topic has been discussed ad nauseum for the last two years, so have fun hearing ALL the pros and cons, all arguments you could think of in 334 pages of posts:
No matter what ship you pledged for, check out the Mustangs for free. ESPECIALLY the Mustang Omega - IMHO one of the coolest looking ship skins in any game i played so far !
For the next week, we’re unlocking the Mustang Lineup for all backers to test! Consolidated Outland is taking the fight to RSI with their sleek and affordable Mustang. It may lack the cargo capacity of the Aurora but it more than makes up for it in firepower and style. The following ships will be free from January 16th to January 23rd:
Please note that the Mustang Delta and the Mustang Omega cannot be purchased from the pledge store at this time.
Test drive the Mustang lineup and let us know what you think. These free weeks are a small token of our gratitude, and also provide us with valuable testing metrics.
There's a formula I use to decide whether you can rightly claim that an item can be earned in-game with no real money expenses.
Take the number of hours it takes doing things less than ideal to earn the item times current federal minimum wage. If that value is greater than the dollar cost of buying the item outright, then you cannot claim it can be earned without real money.
Comments
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14329-XiAn-High-Tech-The-Khartu-Al
An in depth look at the Khartu-al, aka the Xi’An Scout. With additional, new information.
Personally i like the look of the ship. Maybe because its red ? RED UN'S GO FASTA !
Have fun
https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/206035/carrack-exterior
This is how the Carrack will look like. Lots of antennas for scanning and a Mako style exploration rover (as expected). It includes also a small ship and modular cargo.
Much more about the Carrack here in this video (start at 07:40)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-mryISytc0
Have fun
Update:
CIG posted 64 in development pictures of the Carrack onto the (closed forum) subscriber section. Here is a highlight:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14335-Introducing-The-Javelin-Destroyer
Very detailed description of the Javelin Destroyer and its 5 decks.
Technical Specifications
x2 Size 7 STS Turrets
x2 9m Desolator Class Anit-Capital Ship Torpedo launchers
Have fun
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14331-Raid-Commander-The-Drake-Caterpillar
Avast, me maties. A place for the maggots to prepare the boarding actions and haul away the ill gained loot of pirate raids. A fighting transport called the Drake Caterpillar. Yarr.
Two things come to my mind personally here:
It looks a bit like the transport in the movie "Moon 44".
And there is a fluff text at the beginning of the description, with a "fluff" picture ("The top 500 iconic images from the last thousand years of traveling the stars.") You see one of the windows of the ship. Its very scratched. If you have ever seen a Space shuttle window ... they are scratched exactly the same way, from all the cameras hitting the glass while making pictures of earth. The artist really has done his research (or it may be coincidence, but i like it ;-).
Have fun
Update: third starter ship confirmed. Alien design, double seater. Love boat ;-)
"MISC Reliant – With the success of the Freelancer “Built for Life” campaign, MISC has moved to join RSI and Consolidated in the single-seat introductory starship arena. Their silver bullet? A starter ship with more than one seat… and their ace in the hole: Xi’An technology. Where the Aurora is a pure utilitarian platform and the Mustang is a delicate, maneuverable personal transport, the Reliant is MISC’s most Xi’An tech-heavy ship to date. Featuring impossibly sleek lines, two separate crew seats and a vertical fuselage design, the Reliant’s streamlined cockpits glow with some of the finest xenotechnology available!"
Have fun
Yep. 10 years on MMORPG.com of Star Wars Galaxies, EVE Online, SWTOR, Elite:Dangerous, Age of Conan, Lord of the Rings and ........... ***drum roll *** Star Citizen. Some odd posts on Life, the Universe and all the rest ... like Pot Plants.
Have fun reading my old posts ;-)
After release ... only for in game money.
There is an online store with a real world cash vs in game money conversion rate, but according to official word from CIG you can only buy some ship upgrades (think: tuning kits with a small temporary bonus) and cosmetic things (like paint jobs, deco items etc.) there. Not complete ships. Chris Roberts has made it clear that he does not believe in having some things for sale which you cannot achieve in game, as you see in many other games.
Thats why i also recommend to get no more than one ship from the pledge campaign .. you can get all other ships, even the biggest, in game for in game money ..... does not matter if you got a starter package Aurora for 20 $ or a Constellation like i have (because it reminds me of my old YT-1300 freighter in SWG). We have heard that it will take about 60 hours of gameplay to be able to buy a multi-crew ship like the Constellation ... just to give you a reference point. And as in EVE Online ... never fly anything you cannot easily afford to lose !
Have fun
Nope, its not like an EVE PLEX. CIG has talked about differences between PLEX and what SC does.
IMHO you have most likely two different wallets. One is your true in game wallet, where your mission pay ends up and which you can use to buy ships. The other is the online store wallet. At the moment this is limited to 150.000 UEC (which is most likely way less than a ship costs ... for comparison, a buggy costs 15.000 and weapons cost from 4000-16000). You could stock up this second wallet with real-world money converted into UEC .... but you cannot buy a ship with it. Thats the current official position from what i have seen on the forums and website.
Have fun
Hi eMbienT,
I guess you were looking for this on the RSI webpage - the FAQ about the SC online shop:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/faq/united-earth-credits
Its not only cosmetics but also ship upgrades (think temporary tuning kits) and weapons (as i said in my previous post), but no ships .... or as it says on the website:
" At this time you can buy a variety of ship upgrades and decorative hangar items with UEC. These items have been selected because they will be available in this same ‘mail order’ fashion in the finished game. You can not purchase items which would not be available everywhere in the game universe, such as add on ships, or items which are not part of the Star Citizen universe, like t-shirts or game packages."
Yes, there are many people that suspect that once the game launches this policy will change. I guess it comes from the ambiguous wording on the RSI webpage --> "At this time ....". Personally i will wait and see what happens. Will take another 2 years until release of full game with persistent universe, i guess. "See you in the Verse" then !
Have fun
I wish that was the case, the game would be so much better for having a clear and defined area that money could influence.
This video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLzvSbigyjc&t=44m10s shows Roberts talking about using funds to kit out your ship OR using funds to buy your ship. Sadly he attempts to trivialise it as being "pay to be lazy" aka people who don't have time to play but want to keep their ego intact by spending ridiculous amounts of money.
More details and status report on the Banu Merchantman trading ship.
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14332-Clipper-Ship-Banu-Merchantman
The old clipper ships are being mentioned as inspiration. Personally i hope the can capture an ALIEN look, something different than what you would expect on a human ship e.g. everything rounded and maybe a bit too large etc.
Have fun
After almost 15 years of playing MMO i have learned a very valuable lessons. Never take words of game devs as some kind of gospel. Rule change all the time and i wouldn't be surprised if in future they make a u turn on this and start selling ships for real money.
There is too much profit to be made from selling vitual ships for real life cash.
https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/comment/4000300/#Comment_4000300
The designer of the "Javelin" gives more insight into the intended role of the destroyer, answering a question of the forum user Calignos. There are also many more dev answers in that thread.
"Hey Calignos!
Designer of the Javelin here. The role of the Javelin is a mixture of anti-fighter and light anti-capital ship. The majority of the turrets are designed for an anti-fighter role while the torps and the Class 7s take the anti-capital ship duties.
Cheers!
Jon"
Some personal speculation follows:
Javelin might be the central capital ship of the Squadron 42 solo game. It has one of each ship type, which would be typical of a solo game, were you work your way through all the different ship types. This is atypical of "normal" ships, which usually have only a limited amount of "aircraft" types, but multiples of each type. It has a boarding shuttle, so you can experience the FPS side of SQ42. It has a strong Anti-fighter defense, so i guess we can expect more than a few scenarios were you fight as combat "air" patrol for the survival of the Javelin. And it has anti-ship weapons, so I expect at least one massive capital ship battle were the Javelin gets pounded to buy you time to do some vital task (e.g. capturing a capital ship bridge or torpedoing the enemy flagship).
Have fun
Gladiator Torpedo Bomber now Hangar Ready
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link//14369-Gladiator-In-Hangar-With-Arena-Commander-V0922-Release
And Holiday decos in Hangars soon ;-)
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/media/ppj3d9ndjm2rhr/source/Holidaywreathflair.jpg
Have fun
Almost every ship - from the Aurora starter ship up to every currently known ship smaller than the Bengal carrier - will be available in game for in game cash. By definition/design concept there will never be a ship (or other item) that will ONLY be available for real-world cash. Chris Roberts has stated this very clearly on multiple occasions. For ships like the Bengal carrier CIG has devised another method (capture, salvage, rebuild ... and there will only be a limited amount of them).
Based on official statements: Once the game launches you will NOT be able to buy ships with real world cash. There will be an in game shop with a conversion rate to real world money, but things you can buy there are cosmetic items and some limited equipment tuning kits, but no complete ships. Most likely this wallet will be of a limited size (IMHO perhaps below the cost of even the smallest ship).
Chris Roberts has given the example that you probably will be able to afford the typical Constellation multiplayer ship after 60 hours of non-hardcore gameplay (starting with a starter ship, not doing 100 % missions 100 % of the time). That means you could get a second starter level ship after maybe 7 hours of gameplay and one of the good single seater ships after maybe 20-30 hours of gameplay.
Have fun
Update: Corrected error w.r.t. Bengal carrier
Not true. CIG's current stance is that the Bengal will never be sold for in game cash. You can only capture it. The same goes for the majority of the larger capital ships.
I stand corrected - Bengal carrier is a special case.
From the forums:
>>>>During the crowdfunding Chris Roberts stated that the bengal carrier would be limited, maybe 2 or 3 in the universe. He also hinted to a system where players would have to capture the carrier to get one. So getting one would probably be outside the reach of a single player.>>>>
Ben Lesnick Quote:
–Ben Lesnick[3]
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/engineering/13060-Bengal-Carrier-WIP
http://starcitizen.wikia.com/wiki/Bengal-class_Carrier
It could be (personal speculation) that CIG repeats such a way of introducing these ships as player ships for other non-yet announced capital ships.
Have fun
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14366-Anvil-Presents-The-Gladiator-Bomber
Gladiator is the next topic ... already in hangars and should be flyable with Arena Commander Patch V1.0
There is also a broschure for the Gladiator to download.
Here are some specs:
"Updated specifications
All specifications are subject to change for game balancing."
Have fun
How is this game not pay to win? Someone please explain. It is multiplayer right? More real life money spent=better ships right?
I am a backer and personally I am disgusted with the sales coming in my inbox every week to pay hundreds of dollars for ships after I gave them $60 during kickstarter.
First - no one forces you to buy bigger ships for more (real world) money. You can get them all in game once the game has launched.
This topic has been discussed ad nauseum for the last two years, so have fun hearing ALL the pros and cons, all arguments you could think of in 334 pages of posts:
https://forums.robertsspaceindustries.com/discussion/93157/katamari-damashii-pay-to-win
Have fun
Here are some news about the Pegasus (formely Panther) Escort carrier:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14393-Introducing-The-Pegasus-Escort-Carrier
17 pictures from design phase
Have fun
No matter what ship you pledged for, check out the Mustangs for free. ESPECIALLY the Mustang Omega - IMHO one of the coolest looking ship skins in any game i played so far !
Have fun
----
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14432-Test-Drive-The-Mustang-Lineup
Greetings Citizens
For the next week, we’re unlocking the Mustang Lineup for all backers to test! Consolidated Outland is taking the fight to RSI with their sleek and affordable Mustang. It may lack the cargo capacity of the Aurora but it more than makes up for it in firepower and style. The following ships will be free from January 16th to January 23rd:
Mustang Alpha
Mustang Beta
Mustang Gamma
Mustang Delta
Mustang Omega
Please note that the Mustang Delta and the Mustang Omega cannot be purchased from the pledge store at this time.
Test drive the Mustang lineup and let us know what you think. These free weeks are a small token of our gratitude, and also provide us with valuable testing metrics.
There's a formula I use to decide whether you can rightly claim that an item can be earned in-game with no real money expenses.
Take the number of hours it takes doing things less than ideal to earn the item times current federal minimum wage. If that value is greater than the dollar cost of buying the item outright, then you cannot claim it can be earned without real money.