Star Citizen: From Social Hubs, Shooters and Multicrew Ships

At gamescom, Cloud Imperium showcased three new demos of the upcoming space MMO Star Citizen. We will explain what exactly was shown.

Chris Roberts did not miss the opportunity to present the demos and was particularly proud that everything is slowly coming together. The “Social Module” was presented first. In Star Citizen, you will be able to land on planets to meet other players. This is particularly important if you want to assemble a crew for one of the larger ships. The worlds serve as hubs. The demo showcased one of these worlds.

Chris Roberts walked through the streets of a city with his character and met other game characters controlled by his colleagues. This city appeared bare and empty, but Roberts quickly explained that NPCs would be added later to bring life to the environment. These NPCs might even have malicious intentions and attack you – however, PvP is not supposed to exist in the hubs.

The Shooter Module Lives!

Next, the developers presented the Shooter Module “Star Marine”, which has been hotly debated recently. Several PvP battles were shown, where participants fought against each other. Everything looked great, and it was clear that the rumors about a cancellation of the module were unfounded, but it was also evident that there is still a lot of work ahead for the developers. There were recurring animation issues, and it was not clear when an enemy was hit and when not. Therefore, the team needs a bit more time before Star Citizen can be released.

Teamplay Will Be Important!

The third demo left jaws dropping. Teamwork was the motto, as the demo revolved around multicrew ships. In Star Citizen, there are very large spacecraft that cannot be flown alone. Therefore, a crew must be assembled. Once enough players are found, each takes on specific tasks. It was shown how some players left the ship in space to investigate a wreck. Inside the ship, each player manned a specific station. One, for instance, takes the helm, while others man the guns. The developers finally showed a space battle and how it occurred with a crew and through teamwork.

Additionally, there was presentation of the size of the universe to expect in the finished game. A hyperdrive jump catapulted the ship several million kilometers into another solar system, and Chris Roberts casually mentioned that this distance could also be covered without a hyperdrive. However, Roberts also tempered fans’ expectations: not every solar system will have tasks for crews to complete, but the developers will ensure that players always have a lot of fun. They are already planning content in which multicrew ships will face off against single-man ships, which will also lead to exciting battles.

The Social Module of Star Citizen is set to be released in a few weeks, while we might have to wait until October for Star Marine. However, when the multicrew functionality will be released with Arena Commander 2.0 is still uncertain. If all goes well, fans can expect it later this year. You can watch the entire presentation here: