Star Citizen in 2020 (Chapter 1) - A Lost Client
It was a bright cold day in September and the powder snow assaulted the window of my character’s thirteenth-floor apartment that was nestled high above the shock of neon and ice; the city of New Babbage in the early hours of the morning was a sight to behold as the rising sun glinted across steel, even from a tiny porthole, a mile up in the sky.
I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ve never heard of Star Citizen, but its name is quite self-explanatory. Chris Roberts is a man like many of us; a gamer with grand dreams of creating his perfect space adventure. The difference, of course, is that he has his own development company Cloud Imperium Games that has had millions of dollars to put towards the creation of such. And that has been the story for the past nine years, since its initial announcement all the way back in 2012. Star Citizen’s development has a different story to most big titles, however, as its development is funded entirely by people who make ‘pledges’ to support the game. Star Citizen has no official release date and this is unsurprising as its scope is, well, as wide as the galaxy, but you can play it in an early access stage now by purchasing a game package; the price depending on which pack you choose. I bought a starter pledge a couple of years ago - about £30 for a small, beginner’s spacecraft and access to the game - with the knowledge that one day I’d be able to experience the star-faring tech-demo for myself. And that day has finally come! Or it did about a week ago, at least. I’ve been exploring what Star Citizen has to offer in 2020 and thought I’d tell you a little story that I think sums it up quite nicely.
Standing up from my character’s cramped bunk - I couldn’t help but notice he had opted to sleep in his spacesuit again – I want to take the time to introduce you to Tem; my gaming alter-ego, accidental hero and general test subject, though don’t tell him about the latter. This was a habit he needed to get out of but, in Star Citizen, you don’t always have time to change for bed. Especially not when the star-port elevator stops working and your only escape from the small metal box is your PC’s task manager, but that’s a different story. As Temis stretching after a long [2 minute loading screen] sleep, I am thinking about what adventure to take him on today. We had spent a couple of hours ferrying boxes of rare metals and biowaste back and forth between remote science outposts. A previous day of clothes-shopping had been relaxing, until I had tried to figure out how the inventory system worked which, incidentally, ended up with poor Tem chasing a water bottle around the New Babbage Commons because it had dropped to the floor, then launched like a bullet all around the complex with unreasonable force.
Scrolling through the ‘contracts’ app on my mobiGlas I read through the various missions that were available for my area. There were a few bounties up for claiming and a variety of different mercenary contracts, but I hadn’t bought Tem any weapons or armour yet, and the cold vacuum of space didn’t seem very inviting while I had little to no combat experience. There was one other option though; something I hadn’t really delved into at all yet, and that attracted my eyes with the promise of a legendary story. One of the tabs was titled ‘Investigation’ and had only a single mission up for grabs. One of the many companies based on the planet of Micro-Tech had issued a reward for more information about one of their clients. It seemed the client in question had gone missing in a cave excavation somewhere and communication had been lost. Yes…yes! This was it! This was the legendary story I needed. Tem the Interstellar Detective! Purveyor of wilderness caves and finder of lost corporate entities. Admittedly, it doesn’t sound so exciting now, but my newfound direction inspired a fresh sense of adventure in me, and I even allotted Tem a little dance emote as I went to make a drink and prepared for my journey. This was going to be amazing! Provided that nothing went wrong on the way…
Luck seemed to be on my side. When I opened the elevator doors the panel displayed all of the floor options, allowing me to exit the habitation block. My framerate was holding at a regular 45. Even the Metrolink loaded in and I was able to board the high-speed tube without falling through the floor to my death. It was going to be a gorgeous, bright white day on this part of the planet and I could imagine how cosy Tem felt looking out of his transport at the sunrays’ impact across the Christmas hills, hurtling silently and smoothly away from the modern tower blocks and towards the sound of jet engines as the metro tunnelled below the starport and came to its stop, signalled by the friendly recorded voice of the intercom and the hissing of gas as the doors slid open.
When we finally reached the terminals for the hangar bays it appeared as though my usual, faithful Freelancership had been lost somewhere, unknown to me, likely due to the game’s unreliable way of saving states. The Freelancer had also been duplicated on the console for some unexplained reason, but both were out of action, so I selected my starter ship – the Aurora – to be loaded into a hangar. A few moments passed and the designation flashed up: Hangar Bay 4. I took the nearest lift to me and pulled on my space helmet…or at least tried to. My Heads Up Display finally flashed on after the fifth button press and the lift doors parted, opening up to a large, open room populated by a number of armed security personnel in unnatural, glitchey T poses and in the centre, my tiny pathfinder.
Of the two ships I owned, the Aurora was by far the smallest. They say you shouldn’t pick between your children, but my Freelancer had four beds and a fold-out restroom/shower, compared to the Aurora’s single bunk that looked like something out of one of those Japanese capsule hotels, and which also doubled up as an escape pod, so go figure out the comfort/paranoia rating there. Nevertheless, the Aurora was dinky and agile, and might prove the perfect vessel for travelling a distance subtly, though, as Tem barely squeezed around the flight seat and into the cockpit, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about the logistics of bringing another occupant on board.
Stay tuned for Chapter 2 and follow my social media to get news about my future posts...
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