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Star Citizen 3.19.1 ... actually mostly works?!
Suddenly, inventory mostly works. NPCs sit on chairs (!!!) but also move and fight worth a damn. There's less lag. The game hasn't crashed for me 2 days in a row! I've run more missions than I ever have!
It can't last, right? I just jinxed it?
SC is my main game. I play 4-5 times per week for hours at a time. I keep coming back to it because it offers me enjoyment that no other game can. Getting to that point requires months though. I tried to get my friend into it and without my help there's no way he'd be able to stick to it. He'd just get frustrated and leave. But I was able to show him some awesome non-obvious gameplay loops and now he's hooked.
That said I don't think it'll last. Crashes are pretty rare for me - maybe one crash every couple weeks. But the amount of bugs are numerous. Yes they can be worked around which is how I'm able to make it my main game. Buuuut... I don't think the stability is going to last. SC is going to be in a constant state of instability for at least another year IMO. But I just keep coming back! There's nothing like it.
I'd love to hear about these non-obvious loops!
Sure!
Bring down a Comm Array on a planet like Hurston or microTech. Then travel to security bunkers without a mission on the hunt for loot. The stakes are higher (no comm array) because you might run into players doing missions. You can choose to either interact with them and make friends or attack them and be the bad guy. Every lawful bunker has a "boss" type character with really cool armor that you can loot. Along the way you'll find rare weapons such as Railguns, Animus missile launchers, F55 LMGs, etc. Which you can then...
Sell rare weapons to other players. Come up with a strategy to do this as safely as possible. There are players who have built up a "customer" base that they regularly sell rare weapons too. You can sell a Railgun for 100-150k aUEC to a player. Getting started is a little difficult because everyone you sell to will be considered high risk. As you do it more and more you'll make friends/customers that will continue to buy from you.
Complete all the race tracks. This is non-obvious because the feature is very new but it's also very well done. With a little practice you can get Platinum rating on every race track. If you get Platinum on the last couple tracks you'll be making like 10k aUEC per race. Each race is only a few minutes so you can pull 200k+ per hour depending on how fast you are. If you enjoy racing then it's a no brainer b/c you're doing something you enjoy and getting paid well for it.
Solo mining, but with a twist. Most solo miners do it in a Prospector because that's what that ship is built for. The MOLE is built for multi-crew mining but it's extremely effective as a solo mining ship as well. Mining was recently rebalanced in 3.19 and has way more depth than it had before. Basically with the MOLE you get 3 mining heads and you can configure each mining for a specific type of rock! You can also bring mining gadgets (attached in EVA, which is super cool) and alternate mining modules that you can replace in the field. You'll make great money and, if you enjoy mining, it'll be a lot of fun. Is it the most credits/hour? Definitely not, but fun is the goal!
Scavenging. Not salvaging, but scavenging. There's no mission to take. What you do here is you find hot spots where a lot of ships tend to get destroyed. There are PvP hot spots like Ghost Hollow, Jumptown (when the event is active), and many others. There are also places where ships tend to crash a lot like Port Olisar. Go to these locations and sift through the debris to find goodies. You'll find rare subscriber armor, ships components that sell for large amounts of money, rare weapons, etc.
B-E-A-utiful!
Honestly no game has given me the same open world wonder as this one. I know the main killer features are well discussed by now but for those thinking of trying it out, the persistence is kind of insane.
You wake up in a bed, walk to a lift, have to use the lift to get to the ground level, then run to a train station and get a train to the space station.
You call your ship, take another lift to get to the hanger your ship is in, and call air traffic control to open the hangar doors.
You take off and fly through atmosphere and into space. Maybe it rains and your windscreen gets wet, the volumetric clouds look amazing as you pass through them.
All with 0 loading screens, as soon as you are “in” you are part of the universe and people fighting on other planets are “alive” in the same giant sandbox as you. You can just watch from the window, the other players taking off from the space port or coming into land.
Yes it’s a buggy mess, but it’s the most wonder inspiring immersive experience as well.
I have been loosely following SC and it's development but never played it because I am weary of buying a game that is not finished from a platform that has no obligation to give me a refund if it never is finished.
If it does get finished, I'll give it a shot. I have played and loved Elite Dangerous and if Star Citizen can give me a more immersive space-faring experience I'll be more than happy to shell out some cash for it.
Elite Dangerous has always felt a bit empty and unimmersive compared to what Star Citizen promises.
Here's hoping they actually deliver!
They do free flies to try the game somewhat regularly, the catch-22 there is that usually so many people are trying the game the servers are hammered and performing worse than usual. Could always give it a go!
The only reason I didn't jump on the Star Citizen bandwagon and probably splurge a load of money is because they completely abandoned their early crowdfunding native linux goal.
Growing up I had a few games I was obsessed with. Prince of Persia, Populous, Monkey Island and Wing Commander. WC3 having such a star studded cast with Mark Hamill leading blew me away, it was when I realised that games were mainstream.
Later in life it was Freelancer, I became my characters and spent untold hours on multiplayer RPG servers fully evolving myself into my characters role. Star Citizen was everything I wanted in life from that childhood, but shitting on their linux crowdfunding commitment turned me off the whole thing. Donating money to such a venture just to be ignored from the outset despite the hundreds of millions that came after, left my childhood glee kept in lock and chain.
I really hope it achieves what it is aiming for, the day they release a native linux build I'll unleash my Corsair identity.
I hope 3.20 will be as stable as I'm eager to test out the Hull-C.
I don't expect it to be a viable choice at this stage to fully use it as intended, but I'm sure we'll have a lot of fun with it, regardless of what happens.
I haven't played any of 3.18 or 3.19 yet beyond racing and dogfighting in arena commander using my new gladiator joysticks. I feel pretty terrible as a pilot now, so maybe with that news it's worth jumping in and just getting some stick time.
I've also got a new pair of Gladiator's, and while it feels so much better to fly, I feel so bad at it right now.
Right? I was a pretty good pilot with M+KB and it is frustrating suddenly being so bad at something I was good at.
When Star Citizen is actually ready I have a gaming guild of about five hundred people to bring over. I've been waiting. :)
It's kind of ready. I suspect it will be kind of ready for years. 😂🤣🥲🫠
Been meaning to fire it up and play. Haven't played much since IAE last year as it's been a mess since 3.18. I know this is "better" but it's still full of a lot of features that break for no reason. This post actually has me considering firing it up tomorrow to play during the holiday.
I Kickstarted the game way back in the day and just kind of forgot about it. Is it "out" now? The most recent video of someone playing I watched made it look pretty empty.
I guess I should go see if I got an email for my copy of the game as some point.
I also pledged on day 1. It's "out" but still Alpha. It's Alpha still feels more alive to me than Elite: Dangerous. But the scale is far far smaller.
Alright, guess I should at least track down my copy. You outlined some fun gameplay loops you have fun but also said you needed to guide your friend to get into it.
Any place you recommend starting if I want to try and get into it or am I better off waiting another 5 years?
Start small. Mercenary missions where you are taking out pirates who took over a facility. It's close quarters. You can painstakingly drag their gear to the lift and take it all to your ship. Make money.
But there are so many gameplay loops. Just so many. The obvious ones: bounty hunting, merc, trading. The less obvious ones: piracy, paramedic, rare item broker, and more.
If you get into it, join a big org in game. Many will help you amass a fortune. After that point, the verse is somewhat your oyster.
The game really starts to shine when you play with others. Solo can be sooting, at times. It's not super-fast-paced. I find the mundanity relaxing compared to purely twitch-based games.