This is a great behind the scenes look at the run up to CitizenCon including why the decision to not show the SQ42 demo was made.

For those critics that say there is no one that will reign in Chris Roberts when needed, look no farther than his brother Erin, who is the global head of production for CIG and has an extensive background as a game director, producer and studio head himself.

So did I hear correctly that 2.6 won't be ready by the end of the year?

NewOldAg said:

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So did I hear correctly that 2.6 won't be ready by the end of the year?

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I haven't seen or heard anything significant regarding the next version release. They've been doing some significant testing of 2.6 internally, but it hasn't rolled out to the first round of player testers under NDA (called the Evocati).

Anybody in the PTU?

I am. Star Marine is fun and I'm liking the flight model tweaks so far.

I haven't had a chance to check out Crusader yet though as they just opened it back up yesterday.

Ha. Why am I not surprised to see you've got access! Star Marine looks fun, but I'm much more interested to see how the PU does in 2.6. I'm hopeful we get 3.0 before the summer, but I'm guessing it'll be a full year.

Well I got home, fired up the launcher to mess around with the PU for a bit before crashing early tonight and was greeted by another new build. That makes three builds in three days, so they are definitely stamping out bugs quickly. Probably won't have time to play tonight though since I'm having to wait on the update.

I think they're really pushing hard to get the build out of the PTU by the end of the year. We'll see how much they slow down over the holidays.

I can imagine so. There's a lot of pressure on them to get this out. A lot see it as that first real step.

Shoot, I woke up to another PTU patch this morning when I thought I might be able to mess around for a bit before work. They really are pushing hard to get 2.6 to Live.

And 2.6 was just published to Live!

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/15646-Star-Citizen-Alpha-26-With-Star-Marine-Available

I saw! Downloading tonight!

The other big announcement they made today is that they are using Amazon's Lumberyard engine, at least for the networking backend and netcode, which had been an issue with CryEngine. There were rumors floating around for a while about CIG partnering with someone on the backend piece and this looks to be a great fit.

Lumberyard is built on CryEngine, the same way that StarEngine is.

2.6 is the first release to use it.

Me watching the end of the 2.6 Gameplay trailer...

"Oh, look. EyeGuy just sniped me for no reason."

So, I bought a starter pack and now am not sure what to do next

bearamedic99 said:

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So, I bought a starter pack and now am not sure what to do next

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They have a pretty good overview of where to start and what's currently available.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/getting-started

I'd recommend hopping into Arena Commander and doing some free flight to familiarize yourself with the flight controls and then try out the Persistent Universe (PU). There are a number of missions you can do in the PU as well as just flying around and exploring the available space. Mix in some Star Marine to practice some FPS combat or other modes of Arena Commander to practice or compete in space combat or racing.

NewOldAg said:

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What computer specs are necessary? I've got a upper middle class machine, but definitely not a 4K graphics gamer.

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You good.

I'd recommend finding an organization to fly with. There are missions out there that are fun, but sometimes beginner ships (Aurora MR and low grade mustang) don't have the fire power to kill the npcs.

I usually type in chat that I'm looking for a ship to crew on, I can usually find a gunner spot to kill things with.

I set up a corporation under the tag TAMU. I know KBass has an Constellation. I just redownloaded everything so maybe we can all get on sometime soon. I'm running the 325 fighter ship. Econ got one of the basic ships as did Tex.... Not sure what Fire Crotch will be flying....

Ya I only have an Aurora. But I'm perfectly happy as a gunner or co-pilot.

In game: Imperalias_Cordonis

I can't even figure how to launch from my hangar

Well, you can't...yet. You get to space by going to Crusader space station and go downstairs.

Also, Arena Commander has a free flight mode that you can mess around in or spawn npc enemies.

bearamedic99 said:

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I can't even figure how to launch from my hangar

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Currently the hangar is just for looking at and walking around inside/outside of your ships. If you actually want to fly right now, you need to load Arena Commander or the Persistent Universe and go to the ship selection kiosk downstairs from the room you'll spawn in. Both AC and PU can be accessed from the main menu now.

Ones the PU finally goes live, you'll actually be able to do far more in your hangar.

This video is bit outdated, but shows where you go in the PU to request your ships. It also shows Arena Commander a bit, but those are the outdated menus.

NewOldAg said:

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Ya I only have an Aurora. But I'm perfectly happy as a gunner or co-pilot.

In game: Imperalias_Cordonis

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I was wrong, it's one of the constellations

TheEyeGuy said:

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Not sure what Fire Crotch will be flying....

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Wait... who you talkin' bout?

I've got the Mustang Beta


And the detail in this game is outstanding... There's entire multipage brochures for each type of ship in the game. Super impressed.

In game: BuzzedFerret

wee_ag said:

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TheEyeGuy said:

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Not sure what Fire Crotch will be flying....

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Wait... who you talkin' bout?

I've got the Mustang Beta


And the detail in this game is outstanding... There's entire multipage brochures for each type of ship in the game. Super impressed.

In game: BuzzedFerret

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Alan

I'm superrufus99. I tried yesterday spawning in Crusader, then flying to the ICC point to kill pirates but (a) could not fire my weps and (b) could not figure out how to warp there. I've also placed pirate swarm and vanduul swarm on arena commander but have not seen if I gained any currency (though also not sure how to check).

You won't get any in game currency from AC.

As for warping, the process you'll want to use is

1) Lift off
2) Raise landing gear -"N"
3) Open warp drive - "B"
4) Align with your destination then hit enter warp
- For me, this is the mouse scroll button being pushed inwards.
Check your key bindings in the menu for a full list.

NewOldAg said:

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You won't get any in game currency from AC.

As for warping, the process you'll want to use is

1) Lift off
2) Raise landing gear -"N"
3) Open warp drive - "B"
4) Align with your destination then hit enter warp
- For me, this is the mouse scroll button being pushed inwards.
Check your key bindings in the menu for a full list.

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thanks

bearamedic99 said:

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NewOldAg said:

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You won't get any in game currency from AC.

As for warping, the process you'll want to use is

1) Lift off
2) Raise landing gear -"N"
3) Open warp drive - "B"
4) Align with your destination then hit enter warp
- For me, this is the mouse scroll button being pushed inwards.
Check your key bindings in the menu for a full list.

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thanks

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You can actually get REC from AC to rent equipment, but you have to play in the multiplayer modes.

I thought the special CIG just released on the alien languages they created is pretty interesting.

Ok, I'm updated and recently got a Thrustmaster HOTAS. Let's fly!

Well, this release is utter crap. Frame rate took a drastic hit and it's nearly impossible to interact with objects (computers to order ship, airlocks, entering ship). Unplayable for me right now.

wee_ag said:

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Well, this release is utter crap. Frame rate took a drastic hit and it's nearly impossible to interact with objects (computers to order ship, airlocks, entering ship). Unplayable for me right now.

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They're pushing to get 2.6.1 out quickly to address the playability issues some people are having. Sounds like most of the issues are based around the net code since most of the stuff in PU is gated on the server side.

Have you tried Arena Commander, Star Marine or your hangar? Performance can me dramatically better in those modules right now due to the way the server side work is handled in comparison to the PU.

What will 2.6.1 have? Just bug fixes etc?