Star Citizen dogfighting captured on video

Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium Games has raised over $40 million so far for Star Citizen. So, what does their space game look like? A new video...

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Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium Games has raised over $40 million so far for Star Citizen. So, what does their space game look like? A new video has emerged from PAX East.

The game is being built on CryEngine and looks impressive. Unfortunately, there's still no release date yet. Check out the video (via Eurogamer):

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
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    April 11, 2014 9:45 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Star Citizen dogfighting captured on video.

    Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium Games has raised over $40 million so far for Star Citizen. So, what does their space game look like? A new video...

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      April 11, 2014 9:53 AM

      Sploosh

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      April 11, 2014 10:00 AM

      I hope they tone down that missile acquisition graphic. It's way too showy. The rest of the UI is pretty okay.

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        April 11, 2014 10:02 AM

        Yeh, I felt the same. It's a bit distracting.

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        April 11, 2014 10:03 AM

        Agreed. First I thought that was the actual weapons fire and was like wow that looks crazy stupid.

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        April 11, 2014 10:20 AM

        lets start a petition

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        April 11, 2014 10:32 AM

        it might depend on the missile! :D

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        April 11, 2014 10:37 AM

        I actually liked it as a demonstration of the 3D HUD.

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        April 11, 2014 10:57 AM

        They've stated that it's a placeholder for now.

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        April 11, 2014 10:58 AM

        Agreed, but he said something about the UI being a work in progress.

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        April 11, 2014 1:48 PM

        dunno that's a lot of crap floating over on the left. I was hoping there's be a bit more showing on actual instruments and MFDs

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          April 11, 2014 8:18 PM

          the non essential info will be on the hardware MFDs in the cockpit, the vital info will be projected onto the pilot's visor, or in the case of a multicrew ship, the viewscreens.

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      April 11, 2014 10:02 AM

      Looks amazing but can someone explain why there are GeForce effects in space. Obviously it's cool 4 gameplay purposes but what have they given as in universe excuse for it being there?

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        April 11, 2014 10:08 AM

        it's called thrust gravity. if you're in a ship going 100km/s, and it turns 90 degrees, your body still has to catch up with that turn.

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        April 11, 2014 10:17 AM

        There may be little gravity in space, but that doesn't mean the laws of physics don't exist. Centrifugal force, thrust gravity, etc... all fundamental physics of motion are still very much at play. It's why ships in star trek needed inertial dampers to prevent the crew from become stains on the walls when jumping in and out of warp.

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        April 11, 2014 12:25 PM

        G force is no the same as gravity!

        G-forces are applied to a pilot when making fast turns at high speed. It's centrifugal force, it just happens to be measure in G's (with 1 G being the force Earth exterts on objects via gravity). G-forces would very much exist on pilots in space, just as they do in fighters on earth.

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      April 11, 2014 10:06 AM

      I hope there's like a 1 in 100 chance to accidentally drop your helmet out of the cockpit

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        April 11, 2014 10:12 AM

        All of that shit just takes too long. Everyone who complains about the 90 second lobby intermission in TITANFALL but isn't annoyed by the slow, plodding, unnecessarily masturbatory boarding animations in SC is a moran.

        I can't wait for DFM so I have something to use my X-55 RHINO with.

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          April 11, 2014 10:23 AM

          [deleted]

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            April 11, 2014 10:25 AM

            They won't use those for the game. It was done purely for demo purposes to show off the work they've been doing with their capture studio.

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            April 11, 2014 1:46 PM

            and it better have some interpolation before and after so it isn't so jarring going from controlled movement to animation and back

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          April 11, 2014 10:34 AM

          Yeah, the climbing into the cockpit thing feels like it would be cool the first time and that's it. Even the video skips over it.

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            April 11, 2014 10:39 AM

            there might be a gameplay option for "minimize/maximize animations"

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              April 11, 2014 6:20 PM

              Hopefully, or at least a button to skip it.

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            April 11, 2014 10:40 AM

            The video linked is a fan-made edit of the livestream to only show the in-game footage.

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        April 11, 2014 1:04 PM

        Ha! That'd be great. Followed by a string of swears and your rummaging around the foot well.

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      April 11, 2014 10:18 AM

      yeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssssssssssss

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      April 11, 2014 10:22 AM

      [deleted]

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      April 11, 2014 10:26 AM

      Looks great! Not a fan of some of the audio, the missle lock animation and more than anything the dust particles that fly by....I know they help give a sense of movement, but I just dont buy it in space.

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      April 11, 2014 10:36 AM

      Rice-rocketeer and Moonbase Commander check it bros.

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        April 11, 2014 12:08 PM

        OH yeeaaah. I totally did. Unf.

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        April 11, 2014 12:21 PM

        The best part for me were the giant stations shooting our energy beams. I hope I can one day pilot a mining barge that big.

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          April 11, 2014 1:11 PM

          I actually liked everything about this video it looks really cool.

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      April 11, 2014 10:39 AM

      That cracked planetoid or moon or whatever with the molten core exposed looks fantastic.

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      April 11, 2014 10:58 AM

      This is going to be sooooo amazing with the OR!

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      April 11, 2014 11:00 AM

      I'm glad that this is an edit.
      During the Pax East demonstration there were a couple crashes (it's pre-alpha after all) but there were a couple of drunken fuckholes that kept shouting out stupid shit while Chris Roberts was talking, and being total assholes.

      Fuck those douchenozzles.

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      April 11, 2014 11:18 AM

      Is there gravity in this game? If you're that close to a planet and not at orbital speeds do you fall towards it?

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        April 11, 2014 11:45 AM

        The engine can simulate it, but as far as I'm aware they won't be doing anything with it. There's no orbital mechanics, for example.

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          April 11, 2014 12:07 PM

          not yet, anyway.

          Later on after full release, they're planning to have seemless translation between space and planet landings... they may add gravity at that point.

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        April 11, 2014 12:26 PM

        Don't think so. I think it's one of those areas where fun trumps pure realism.

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        April 11, 2014 12:49 PM

        no gravity not a real sim

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      April 11, 2014 11:43 AM

      this looks amazing! can't wait

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      April 11, 2014 11:56 AM

      Has it been confirmed if Star Citizen has TrackIR support?

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        April 11, 2014 12:08 PM

        yes. Not in the dogfighting module just yet, but DFMv2 or v3 should support it. And it will be supported at release for sure.

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      April 11, 2014 12:48 PM

      Game looks amazing, the crowd in that video though.. ugh

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        April 11, 2014 1:40 PM

        Eh? They just sound really excited.

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          April 11, 2014 2:15 PM

          They're cheering. Fuck those guys for enjoying the live demonstration that they're at.

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            April 11, 2014 5:04 PM

            Someone keeps shouting "keyboard and mouse" wtf?

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      April 11, 2014 1:05 PM

      I've had to stop watching it because I'm running out of clean boxers.

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      April 11, 2014 1:19 PM

      I hope they have a Kilrathi cameo just for the fuck of it. the crowd hype would go nutso :D

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      April 11, 2014 1:29 PM

      [deleted]

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        April 11, 2014 1:47 PM

        different levels of Gforce. Using the thrusters to strafe is pretty mellow compared to pulling a turn or climb at speed. The thrusters are weak and he wasn't really traveling very fast. The strafing with thrusters would feel like sitting in a car sideways as it accelerates really fast. Sure you'll get thrown around, but you don't black out. You black out when you experience amplified gravity that makes it hard for blood to get up into your head, strafing sideways wouldn't do this. Strafing up would, but only if you did it insanely fast. It's like those drop zone style amusement park rides that launch you straight up. A hornet moving that quickly straight up would be some impressively fast maneuvering for a heavy fighter and since nobody ever blacks out on the amusement park rides, I think pilots are safe.

        I'm sure someone can better explain the physics of why climbing at speed is way more intense than a straight vertical movement, but it is. Think about how it feels to hit the bottom of the first drop on a rollercoaster.

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          April 11, 2014 2:37 PM

          [deleted]

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            April 11, 2014 2:54 PM

            They didn't chose to make this unrealistic. They chose to have the IFCS limit the thrust strength when you're slewing. You can actually see the g-forces on the left side of the screen just under the ship's health display. There's a display that shows all 3 fundamental directions and the vectors of gravitational force.

            One other thing: This system also accurately models the difference between positive, negative, and compound g-forces. So when he was pulling negative Gs, that was properly modeled to be more effective on a human (humans can handle positive gs significantly better), and compound positivie horizontal+vertical Gs have a much stronger effect.

            If you'd like more information about this, you should read: Rapid Response by Dr. Stephen Olvey
            http://www.amazon.com/Rapid-Response-Inside-Racing-Life-Saver/dp/184425982X - Which goes into detail on g-forces and how they work on the human (and what is modeled in Star Citizen).

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              April 11, 2014 4:59 PM

              [deleted]

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                April 11, 2014 5:23 PM

                Chris Roberts spoke about it in one of the Wingman Hangar episodes, as has Ron [REDACTED] Irving (repeatedly in different episodes, since the question keeps getting brought up).

                As for the information about the US Navy and CART team information on g-forces, that came from a concierge question (aka, one of the people whose spent over $1,000). They get to directly ask questions to the staff.

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        April 11, 2014 2:30 PM

        Two reasons:

        1) When you are turning you are using the main rear thrusters to actually change inertia's direction. The weaker ones are simply pointing the main ones in a different direction. Think of a car drifting around a corner.

        2) Everything is-fly-by wire with real physics. If they want to make the flight computer interpret strafe inputs as firing the thrusters at less than full power, they can do that.

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      April 11, 2014 1:37 PM

      Those g-force effects on the pilot look like they're going to be vomit-inducing if you use an oculus rift.

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      April 11, 2014 3:04 PM

      I don't know what Chris Roberts look like, but he gives me a Ray Romano vibe

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      April 11, 2014 3:41 PM

      Between this and Elite: Dangerous, I am so fucking grateful for the rebirth of space flight games in this vein.

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      April 11, 2014 3:58 PM

      Why is everyone cheering so much.

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        April 11, 2014 4:20 PM

        They're amongst the hardest of the core. ~425k people have effectively donated 41.7 million dollars. Fuck yeah, they're excited?!

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        April 11, 2014 6:27 PM

        [deleted]

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      April 11, 2014 4:20 PM

      This game looks fucking amazing but I'm afraid it is going to murder my hardware.

      Time to go get a new job so I can blow money on a rig just for this one game.

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        April 11, 2014 4:45 PM

        I think by late-2015, a PC than can run this well will be affordable for most people.

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      April 11, 2014 4:49 PM

      That does look pretty darn good!

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      April 11, 2014 5:04 PM

      Looks beautiful, but I was just reminded how boring combat is in these games.

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        April 11, 2014 5:25 PM

        Especially at an early stage like this where it's just fighter ships, and they don't have any subsystem controls. When they get the subsystems exposed, plus the various radar and weapon types, different multi-crewed ships with capital ships with C&C sections, that's when it'll get more involved.

        For now, it's purely a basic back-end performance test.

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      April 11, 2014 5:42 PM

      I'm happy for him and all you Kickstarters! The thing I liked best in this vid was the Attitude Thrusters. I'd like them to be more visible when active so you could actually say "That guy is trying to strafe Ship Relative Downwards" because you see 4 thruster flames coming from his top surface.
      (I mean, you can SEE them now, but longer or brighter exhaust plumes would be nice)

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        April 11, 2014 8:13 PM

        Interestingly, they already fake them to be more visible. Roberts said a lot of times the thrusters are actually firing for less than 1 frame, so they had to give the animation a minimum firing time to be visible.

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      April 11, 2014 5:45 PM

      [deleted]

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      April 11, 2014 6:10 PM

      this looks both great and boring.

      it's great that we have a new breed of space flight games, I'm very excited. Always loved my tie fighter's.

      it's boring because this really doesn't look all that diff than, say, Freespace. It's like we haven't progressed at all since Freespace. Everything just looks too "sterile", I wanna see BSG-style crazy shit happening. The most disappointing part of this video has to be when the hangar door opened and he just sorta "floated" out into space... god, c'mon.

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        April 11, 2014 6:12 PM

        [deleted]

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          April 11, 2014 6:17 PM

          Yeah it would have been cool if he warped outta there and all the stars blurred and shit.

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        April 11, 2014 6:25 PM

        This game is 18 months minimum from release. As far as we know, there is only one ship working for dogfighting. The full release will have dozens of ships. There will be large battles with capital ships firing at each other, and fighters maneuvering around them.

        I think your criticisms are premature.

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        April 11, 2014 6:49 PM

        Yeah I was waiting for an exciting launch. You really couldn't even tell when he took off.

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        April 11, 2014 10:08 PM

        Yeah I need more of a catapult launch.

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      April 11, 2014 8:01 PM

      I get the overwhelming sense from this video that this game is just a collection of a bunch of features, with no real direction or end goal in mind. Hey look...we've animated the climb into the cockpit! Hey look...we've got G-Forces! Hey look...we've got individually modeled thrusters! Hey look...you can shoot asteroids!

      That's great and all, but what exactly do you get to do with all of this stuff? You didn't show any of it coming together in any meaningful way. You would think with all the time and money these developers have, they could put together a demo that is more interesting than this. Should have planned this one out a little better.

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        April 11, 2014 8:04 PM

        They're not demoing their game, and that wasn't the intention of this presentation. This presentation was about a part of the pre-alpha test for alpha-level backers, specifically Version 1 of the Dogfight Module.

        I think people assumed this was a Star Citizen presentation about what the MMO is going to deliver, when all it was was a demo of the V1 DFM that is coming out for alpha testing next month.

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        April 11, 2014 8:37 PM

        You haven't looked at very much pre alpha game footage have you?

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      April 11, 2014 8:19 PM

      There needs to be an Asteroids! remake mod for this game with coop/versus.

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        April 11, 2014 8:20 PM

        that'll cost another 10 million

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        April 11, 2014 10:17 PM

        That game was called Space Duel, and it was awesome Color Quadrascan.

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      April 11, 2014 9:44 PM

      Looks wicked.

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      April 12, 2014 9:34 AM

      Holy fucknuts, Newtonian physics in a full 3d space sim. It's a dream come true!

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      April 13, 2014 7:32 AM

      [deleted]

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