Windows Star Citizen

I must admit they do a great job of making you want to spend more.

 

so this whole ship purchasing business, are the ships available for free by just doing well in the game upon release? or will they remain paid?

 

Exactly that! So, you can preorder the game for $35 and you get the basic ship (Aurora). Using that you can earn in game credits to buy all the ships that are currently being sold for $.

 

The only thing we don't know is how long you will need to play in-game to get the ships - I would imagine a Constellation would require a significant time investment to buy.

 

Which is exactly why I don't intend on buying anything bigger than a fighter/exploration ship... I don't see the point in paying money to remove in-game goals

 

Totally fair enough. My in-game goals are for a much larger ship - something around the size of an escort carrier, which is also when the pledge levels get ridiculous ($1k for an Idris corvette?!).

When we're closer to launch I definitely want to set up a partnership with Bit-Tech players to create a trading company or similar.

 

There will only be a certain number of each ship in rotation for the higher end ones, to stop overpopulation of carriers and the like. You'll have to wait to get yours until someone else's pops.

 

If that's the case i can see a lot of the bigger battles being a case of "man the pew pews, daddy wants a bigger boat" once all the slots are filled. Should make for some interesting times if you are lucky enough to be the captain of one.

 

The Bengal is set to a limit of 10, but there hasn't been an announcement regarding fleet carriers etc. Limits seem to be based on how fast the shipyards can turn them out, which in turn is influenced by the economy of the game.

To date there are 225 Idris corvettes sold (mix of the military and civilian models), with no more coming. However, a new one takes a month to build, so over time the numbers will drift upwards.

I don't think I would want a Bengal as it makes you a massive target 24/7, being such a prestige ship. You'd need to have it fully manned all the time, with a CAP flying as well, plus spare fighters on the deck.

 

Am I the only one who read that and had visions of battle sequences like Battlestar Galactica?

 

Like this

 

Yep, and add in the alert fighters launching like mad out of it.

 

Currently I have a Aurora class ship and am sorely tempted by the other available tiers/ships.

What in your opinions is probably the best investment (both in buying additional ships and the original kickstarter tiers?)

 

It depends entirely on what you want to do, mrMC.

Personally, I've got dreams of captaining my own carrier (think BSG), but with a sideline if that doesn't work out of being a CAG.

 

I'm planning the same thing...well, not necessarily Bit-Tech, although it would be a good recruiting ground.

However I'm going to insist on certain prerequisites, such a decent joystick, headset, and Oculus Rift/multi-monitor Track IR. It may be a tad elitist, but the most feared mercenary group in the galaxy has to have good equipment

 

I think you might be going a tad overboard with the OR/TrackIR there - I for one can't use OR at all due to my eyes! However a headset and joystick is a must...

Monkey, I personally think the 300 series is a good bet, picking either the 315p or the 325a on the basis of what you plan to do in the game.

 

I'm tempted to go down the mercantile route at first, hopefully the Aurora should be sufficient in the early game.
I might pick up the avenger fighter ship as well just to have some aggressive options.

Guess I will also need to invest in a decent joystick/throttle set too, any recommendations? i don't want to send too much.

 

Hence the TrackIR option...a variable field of view makes a lot of difference to tactical awareness in flight sims.

Probably best to wait a year and see what's out then....if the buzz around Star Citizen increases towards launch I'm sure peripheral makers will attempt to cash in

 

Oh dear. Flight control setups is where you go down the rabbit hole.

There's two routes basically. The first is the simplest, and just uses a joystick and keyboard, providing a better control method than the mouse, but still somewhat limited. The second is HOTAS (Hands On Throttle and Stick), which is far superior, but also more expensive.

Joystick only:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/ThrustMaster-2960706-Thrustmaster-T-16000M-Joystick/dp/B001EAWNKK
Decent stick, good reviews!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saitek-MCB4...e=UTF8&qid=1373383228&sr=8-12&keywords=saitek
I find the FLY5 a little bit annoying, as it requires too much force to push the joystick off the deadspot, but it's pretty cheap and does actually have a throttle control. It does have twist on the stick for rudder control, but I personally hate that!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrustmaste...?ie=UTF8&qid=1373383452&sr=8-1&keywords=HOTAS
Another option, though I've not tried this one. Again has a basic throttle.

http://www.chproducts.com/Flightstick-Pro-v13-d-723.html
CH make good stuff, and you can create your own HOTAS setup with their separates. The Flightstick Pro is my favourite of theirs.

HOTAS:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saitek-Flig...e=UTF8&qid=1373383228&sr=8-11&keywords=saitek
Probably the cheapest decent HOTAS setup

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thrustmaste...?ie=UTF8&qid=1373383452&sr=8-2&keywords=HOTAS
The daddy. This is what sits on my desk, and it is perfection. All-metal construction, perfect tracking and resolution without any irritating pressure problems when transitioning the joystick from one set of springs to another. Can be found for less than Amazon though.

http://www.chproducts.com/Pro-Throttle-v13-d-719.html
CH throttle to go with the Flightstick.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saitek-Flig...3702&sr=8-1&keywords=saitek+pro+flight+combat
Pedals! These are probably the best around, but Saitek do make a cheaper set.

EDIT:
As for new controllers, I'm not convinced it will happen to be honest. Most players of SC will be using the keyboard and a basic joystick, or a gamepad. Only a handful will actually splash out for an expensive HOTAS setup, and I honestly don't think that market is big enough for custom hardware. CIG are aware of the options out there, and will definitely be supporting HOTAS (I've seen the Warthog in the background of video streams) with full profiles, essentially removing the need for custom hardware.

However, I do think now may not be the time to buy. Joysticks will be available when the dogfighting Alpha lands later this year, which is when you can really start deciding on a control system. I'm still debating pedals for one - not sure if I'll just map them to a hat on the throttle or not.

 

Linking up as some kind of Bit-Tech initiative sounds good.
I'm thinking that I'll go down the primary route of manufacturing with a side-line business of hunting down pirates that mess up the trade routes for my suppliers.


I'm not a fan of TrackIR, tried it for a while when I played games like Arma/Flight Sims a lot but never really enjoyed it. I'm sure some people get good use out of it, but personally I find it a little distracting and tend to do a bit better without it.

Will definitely be re-building my triple monitor & HOTAS setup for when it gets launched though.