“Sean’s an artist, he doesn’t have much incentive to care about exact version numbers. Despite this, he’s basically right that it’s a branch of 3.7-3.8-ish, and he’s talking openly about it.”
QuoteThough that still will not account for the 50% modification to the engine they claimed to have doneIt does account for it. It means they changed nothing to their custom code to accommodate any merge, and thus got nothing from the proper Lumberyard code.
They have their 50% customization or whatever they claim (provided that is true, which who knows?). And they are still "behind" the 3.8 point that LY forker from. Exactly as much "behind" it as they were before.QuoteSeriously, that graph shows a gross misunderstanding of how git works.Nope. It shows that the SC branch remained as it were. They are not at the head of LY, lmao (and they are probably laughing their butts off too at that).
Parry explained it more on the frontier forums, and then some other guy also offered his understanding of it and Parry seems to have agreed.
https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/259596-The-Star-Citizen-Thread-v5?p=4943960&viewfull=1#post4943960 (https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/259596-The-Star-Citizen-Thread-v5?p=4943960&viewfull=1#post4943960)
Basically, second image shows the trunk red (but it's the same trunk as the first image) because it is now let's say labeled as LumberYard code, even though it is identical to the CryEngine "trunk" up to the point that LY forks off (3.8.x). (Ben or some other guy call it "LumberYard legacy code" up to the point of the fork off CE 3.8, where LumberYard proper begins). SC remains forked off the previous point (3.7) as it was originally.
No actual merge has occurred.
But they are now in "LumberYard" because Amazon has a license that gives them access to the CryEngine source code "history versions" before 3.8 (3.8 being the point where they forked off from and did their own thing); so basically SC can now say its a fork off LumberYard "legacy code" (ie Cryengine 3.7 as it always were) or has switched to LumberYard (marketing speak mainly).
My latest Star Citizen update (http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/sc-scoop/#post-5174) is now live.
+1 waiting for next installment :)My latest Star Citizen update (http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/sc-scoop/#post-5174) is now live.
Thanks. It is another good read.
Following the San Francisco DA's lawsuit and TRO freezing the assets of the failed Lily drone project, I wrote a short missive (http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/star-citizen-musings/#post-5198) outlining why Star Citizen backers need to be paying close attention to that.
Next thing you know, I'm being accused of doxxing, stalking, being the anti-Christ etc.
Next thing you know, I'm being accused of doxxing, stalking, being the anti-Christ etc.
Surely you meant anti-Chris not anti-Christ :wtchris:
There is a rumor going around that Amazon may be the new Star Citizen publisher. I wrote about it (http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/sc-scoop/#post-5224) moments ago.
There is a rumor going around that Amazon may be the new Star Citizen publisher. I wrote about it (http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/sc-scoop/#post-5224) moments ago.
On a side note, is it only me, or are the posts in "Star Citizen - The Scoop" in seemingly irregular chronological order? (Top post is from Sep2016 – this Amazon post comes in second despite being more recent, followed by a couple of posts in order, then some chronologically out-of-order posts again). Just asking because I don't want to miss anything, and I habitually only check the top of the thread to see what's new.
That seems pretty crazy, although to be honest I was expecting at some point that a publisher would jump in to save them from themselves. I just didn't know if they would be able to find one with how ridiculous their situation is.
In good news, this means that they'll at least probably release a game at some point. Who knows what that game will be though.
Nice try Derek, but of course the Shitizens will not blame the downfall on Amazon even if they would buy it (nobody in their right mind would do such a thing). The one and only blame for the downfall of SC is you, Derek Smart, of course. I'd be hiring several bodyguards if I were you when the downfall is there :D
And then you finish with "And from what I’m hearing, it won’t be long now." Oh man, the suspense is killing me. More, more, more :allears:
I am deliberately holding back on publishing my book on this farce, hoping that I get to give it the conclusion that it deserves.
Quote from: dsmartI am deliberately holding back on publishing my book on this farce, hoping that I get to give it the conclusion that it deserves.
As a marketing pun, you should do something like accepting referral codes for a $5 discount on the book price and a free JPEG of the cover :D
Star Citizen Multiplayer Instancing (http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/star-citizen-musings/#post-5263)
Star Citizen Multiplayer Instancing (http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/star-citizen-musings/#post-5263)
You may have noticed a pattern emerging as you read these Kickstarter horror stories. Famous game designer launches Kickstarter to make a game based on their most famous work. Fans of said game designer pledge every penny they have to see a new installment of their favorite game. Famous game designer bites off more than he can chew and the fans are left to suffer.
Star Citizen Multiplayer Instancing (http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/star-citizen-musings/#post-5263)
That was a really interesting read. Thanks for explaining all of that.
Do you think Roberts should have originally just built a new engine from the ground up to handle the scope of his game? Sort of like the I-Novae engine? Or do you think that would have added too much time and effort? I'm still baffled as to why he chose CryEngine in the first place...is he obsessed with the graphics or something?
UPDATE: Shortly after this article went live, some backers were trying to say that "building an MMO" out of Star Citizen, was the $3m stretch goal (https://robertsspaceindustries.com/funding-goals) because it says:
"Citizens with appropriate packages will receive access to the Star Citizen universe with 40 star systems for persistent online play upon release."
That's the single most ridiculous thing I have ever read about this issue. People listen: "persistent online play" does not, and never did, imply that the game will be an MMO. Heck, even CIG themselves proved this point when they released Star Citizen 2.0 in Q4/15 and called it "Persistent Universe", when in fact, nothing about the game is persistent, other than player stats stored and retrieved from a database. By this definition, they are implying that games with leaderboards, stats saving, are all MMO games because they have persistent stats save/restore features. Which would make every Call Of Duty or Battlefield game an MMO. The Star Citizen universe isn't persistent. It's an instance. When the instance closes, everything shuts down. I wrote about this extensively in my Star Citizen - Condition Red (http://dereksmart.com/2016/05/star-citizen-condition-red/) blog from May 2016.
Foundry 42 Ltd met their deadline and filed their accounts for the year ended 31 December 2016. There's a lot in there but here's some highlights.
It seems HMRC are actually paying over those tax credits now. Up to £3.6m for 2016 and around £8m total in the three years to 31 December 2016. Shame. I'd say it's now correct to add £8m to their funding figure of ~$150m. I doubt HMRC get any ships though.
They disclosed the lease is ~£250k per year. ~5 years left to run.
Average employees were 221 with £10m total wages in 2016 (132 @ £6m in 2015).
Erin's remuneration in F42 rose from £193k to £236k including benefits.
Total costs were up to ~£17.5m for the year (~£14.5m in 2015).
This one is a long one and a bit technical I'm afraid, but it is the most amusing and explains why they have now decided that they got their own turnover wrong by the small amount of £2.4m in 2015. As suspected in my various July blogs they are just moving money around the companies as they need it. Basically they are then retrospectively making up their own turnover figure by basing it on how much actual money was transferred. But they decided to change how they make up this figure which means they have to go back and adjust how they made up the figure in 2015 (because of consistency) and then disclose it:
(https://i.imgur.com/UoAiC1X.jpg)
CIG is $67,240 median as of 2016 releases. Keep in mind though LA is heavily production staff.
That salary + bump for Erin is truly outrageous.
BREAKING: Star Citizen is in financial distress. Takes out new loan to fund ops. (http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/sc-scoop/#post-5346)
For those asking about Star Citizen exec buyout proof, it's in a filing (https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08703814/filing-history). They cashed out with backer money.Interesting. Who are Derek Senior and Nicholas Elms?
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDVoVKQXoAAmREG.jpg)
Interesting. Who are Derek Senior and Nicholas Elms?
OK, I thought those names were familiar. I went back and reread the appropriate blogs.Interesting. Who are Derek Senior and Nicholas Elms?
They are old childhood buddies of Chris and Erin. And Nick was involved with Erin and others in the Gizmondo fiasco which I covered in my Interstellar Pirates and The Money Laundromat blogs
OK, I thought those names were familiar. I went back and reread the appropriate blogs.Interesting. Who are Derek Senior and Nicholas Elms?
They are old childhood buddies of Chris and Erin. And Nick was involved with Erin and others in the Gizmondo fiasco which I covered in my Interstellar Pirates and The Money Laundromat blogs
Which makes me think even LESS of CR, now. Why on earth would you want people associated with such financial skulduggery involved in your business? :wtchris:
This isn't concession stand money we're talking here, remember? At this point it's over US$150 million. And the fact that Erin, and these two yobs, have decided to punch out of their stock ownership should make anyone's antennae go up.
Remember, SC and its associated games are supposed to be awesome. Game changers. As soon as they release CIG will be able to gold plate their toilets. Right? Right? So why cash out... unless you foresee something VERY bad coming down the road.
Listening to the cast, it doesn't matter how right you are, or what CR fails to present. A lot of community involved backers suffer from extreme bias-conformation. ANY progress be it art, feature, etc... will be seen as proof of concept and significant progress towards SC. People act like that when they are scared. Back before SC got big, you didn't really see these reactions because no one was scared. They can only lie to themselves for so long.
There is a HUGE correlation between CR and Shitizens and Trump's core voter base. He has gone back on every promise, and doing everything basically opposite to the reasons they voted for him yet that follow him blindly. Using Trumps own quotes against them isn't even enough. The mental gymnastics and rationalizing they do is absolutely mind numbing. This is the EXACT SAME behavioral pattern you see in the Star Citizen community. Anything that runs contrary is just a "shadow government" out to get them and burn the place down.
Oh, brilliant this one:
Stop to quote things said by CR before 2016, please. Why? Star Citizen had changed from scope so many times than many of that things said by CR just don't make sense anymore and worst, give fuel to the haters. (https://np.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/6p8v6h/stop_to_quote_things_said_by_cr_before_2016_the/)
I wrote a quick Star Citizen GC2017 synopsis (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/5641/). It also includes a transcript of Chris's interview yesterday.
I wrote a quick Star Citizen GC2017 synopsis (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/5641/). It also includes a transcript of Chris's interview yesterday.
Good god, Chris can't even spin the illusion of SQ42 progress anymore to a sympathetic reporter. The idea that they've "got the chapters blocked out" as some kind of major achievement is just ludicrous. What does that even mean?
Good god, Chris can't even spin the illusion of SQ42 progress anymore to a sympathetic reporter. The idea that they've "got the chapters blocked out" as some kind of major achievement is just ludicrous. What does that even mean?
And they should be doing THAT before cosmetic work such as eye and head tracking, lip syncing and more.
That stuff just runs the game. FOIP means they get to sell webcams!!! See? No need for ship sales
Has anybody seen an analysis of the number of new players who have backed the game over the last few years (I've seen plenty about funding)?
I simply cannot believe that CIG can attract any new backers. I'm sure there will be plenty who will want to play a finished game, but the pool of people willing to spend hundreds of dollars for a jpeg cannot be that large and since SC has been so high profile for so long then that market must have dried up by now. If so, then it can't be long before these big backers stop opening their wallet for every sale without seeing concrete results first. If the Jesus patch is always the "next patch", then surely the funding must start drying up soon.
Just a hypothesis though.
Do you have any idea, based on all your intel 'n stuff, how much longer Chris has? At least before the hard signs (like lay-offs) that the ELE is near start showing? Do they make it to Shitizen Con or is that even questionable?
Yeah, but I need more now. I'm hooked. I want to see the downfall every day now. More and more and more. Show all those White Knights and other idiots that we were right all along. So, gimme. Gimme gimme. Your my pusher now. Give. I want it. I need it. Badly. The re-run of Games Com is wearing off now, I need something new...... I'm fighting the Reddit dragons now :supaburn:
Typo? I really do feel story for him because
and: incompetent, lying, scammer, and egotistical con man.
Should scammer not be scamming?
You removed the , between lying and scammer :cop: Now it's correct.
However, story in stead of sorry is still there :D
See, you're being watched closely :smuggo:
I wasn't planning on releasing this until I received some additional information, but since it's already leaked and spreading, I have released this first part anyway.
CIG created a new shell corporation (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/5764/)
Star Citizen - The $45K Refund Debacle (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/5807/)
I'm sure we have some German auditors present, perhaps one could have a go at explaining the £650,198 contradiction in the 2015 accounts for Cloud Imperium Games UK Ltd.
Cloud Imperium Games UK Ltd - Going Concern in 2015 accounts
There is this disclosure note about going concern in the Cloud Imperium Games UK Ltd accounts for the year ending 31 December 2015. You do not ordinarily want to have to write a going concern disclosure, where the directors give their assurances to support the company because of the insolvent balance sheet. However, the disclosure does not match the balance sheet. £186,799 of net liabilities compared to £463,399 of net assets represents a difference of £650,198.
(https://i.imgur.com/AboU8no.jpg)
I've pondered some possibilities to explain this.
1. This disclosure for some reason might be based on the consolidated accounts. However, I'm not sure how this would be arrived at. I know you'd lose the inter-group transactions and the £440k investments would be reversed via journals but it shouldn't change the net position on investments. Looking at Foundry 42 Ltd and RSI INT Ltd, I'm not sure how you'd get to this difference.
2. For those who don't know how some firms handle disclosures, they are often generated generically by software and then edited manually. Something may have changed late on in the accounts and the disclosure was never updated / the wrong set of accounts were sent to Erin to sign and it was never picked up. However, there was the mysterious transaction that showed a profit on disposal of intangible assets of £654,612. If this treatment were changed from a balance sheet liability to a profit and loss item late on during account preparation, along with another minor journal or two it might explain the difference and represent the disclosure being out of date.
3. Something else. I guess it's this?
The Mystery of Cloud Imperium Games UK Ltd and the Intellectual Property.
On the 1st of July 2015 CIG UK paid £1,359,185 for intangible assets, listed as Intellectual Property. At some point during the year 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015 they sold intangibles for £654,612 and this was considered all profit.
(https://i.imgur.com/2ViBkdC.jpg)
It would appear that these two items are not related to each other? The purchase is considered to still be worth what was paid and the disclosure suggests little activity related to it in the period 1 July 2015 to 31 December 2015.
There's no correspoding entries in the subsidiaries and there is no related disclosure for either Roberts Space Industries Corporation or Cloud Imperium Games LLC. The suggestion then is that this purchase and sale concern "unrelated" parties not controlled by Chris Roberts. Another possibility is that this was a related party transaction and remains undisclosed because it was a late change to the accounts and never adjusted for, see: speculation in section on Going Concern. But that's just speculation.
I'm pretty sure I'm half of that 'we' that has looked at this before but anyway, this is the parent company. Not Foundry 42. You can basically summarise the entire activity of the parent company like so:
Summary of the relevant activity of Cloud Imperium Games UK Ltd, incorporation to Dec 2015
Sources of funding:
£710k Long Term Loans
£290k Short Term Creditors
£200k Shareholder Investment [1]
£650k Sale of Intangibles
============
£1.85m Total
Outgoings:
£440k Erin Roberts and others [2]
£ 50k Admin Expenses
£1.36m IP purchase
============
£1.85m Total
It would seem most likely to me that it works backwards. They took money out. They put money in to zero out of the bank balance. So now you have a receipt of £650k that you have to account for. It poses issues. If it's a loan, the balance sheet is insolvent by ~470k (just like the disclosure claims). If you book it as income, you get the position that the accounts/balance sheet do show, however you would have to charge VAT on whatever income it is.
By considering it a disposal of an intangible asset, it may avoid needing to account for VAT (which would have needed to be performed contemporaneously instead of retrospectively on trading income). If this adjustment were made late on, it would mean the disclosure in the accounts is incorrect and was never adjusted and would explain why it does not match the balance sheet. This is my main line of inquiry, does anyone know why the disclosure wouldn't match the balance sheet and yet could actually be correct? There doesn't really seem to be much to work with and this one figure is suspiciously close, throw in something like an additional late £5k accrual for accountancy fees and it would be spot on.
Star Citizen 3.0 Evocati Turmoil (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/5914/)
Star Citizen 3.0 Evocati Turmoil (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/5914/)
Everytime I read one of those transcripts, I wonder: can’t these guys ever put together even a single coherent, well-defined sentence? It’s always half-concious babbling with an endless stream of „uhm“, „eh“, „you know“, off-course tangents and a hard time recalling what they actually wanted to say in the first place. If speech and writing are supposed to reflect thought, the mental processes going on in their brains must be chaotic to a degree that’s almost unbelievable.
I know how Robbers could save his game!
He could have an never ending pile of cash!
He could somehow declare Star Citizen cultists to be an ORG and get a credit card made. Then he could make some cash off of all the purchases his little toadies make. Think of it all these man children running around flashing their own personal Star Citizen cards spending UEC to buy Cheez Whiz and Odor Eaters. I can see it now, glorious! http://dereksmart.org/forum/Smileys/default/vince.gif
He could somehow declare Star Citizen cultists to be an ORG and get a credit card made.Honestly, I wonder why he didn't actually do such a thing. I mean, even mundane companies like Amazon and eBay offer their own vanity cards, and it would certainly appeal to the kind of people who like to show off their JPEG ships. Heck, he could not only have earned money off each transaction, but with a $1000 entry fee per card as well.
There is no bank willing to be the financer for Chris Roberts / CIG as a credit card company. And the in game currency would build up to gigantic proportions before the game ever got released.
There is no bank willing to be the financer for Chris Roberts / CIG as a credit card company. And the in game currency would build up to gigantic proportions before the game ever got released.That ship has sailed for sure now. But still, it’s interesting to imagine that around 2013 or so (?), there might have been a time window in which he still had the credibility with which he could have pulled this CIG vanity credit card thing off. Best of all: credit card TOS could have been isolated from the Star Citizen TOS, possibly allowing them to make one-time and recurring CC fees non-refundable for sure, and unaffected by the wars waging around core game issues with „pledges", „donations", „subscriptions“ etc.
Well even if the Google Sheet was accurate, let’s assume that it is a best case scenario as well, then they have a huge issue, it shows that they have raised $21M so far this year although the cashflow forecast would need them to raise $30M, a difference of $9M. With projected cash reserves of $13M at year end, assuming that their costs were as anticipated and that they did not take in any more debt then cash reserves are probably down to $4M right now. If this trend continues, losing around $1M a month in cashflow, then they would be illiquid by Feb 2018. Again, this is purely speculation based on the forecast, they would have to start reducing team sizes and costs, if not already done so, to try and balance the cashflow. Of course, if they start getting more negative press then this would only detract further pledges from the community leading them into a cash leaking spiral.
It was interesting, but if you've been around since the first blog, not much new(s) :D
I stopped directly after Derek left; middle of the night here. But most in the chat seemed to be WKCFs desperately trying to heckle Derek. Probably because they needed a break from all the gameplay that the current 2.6.3 build has to offer them.
Yes, "Florian" was polite and behaved for the most part in requisite but I'd think most would be in that moderated openhouse. It's unfortunate how disingenuous he was (never below 30-40fps, yeah right) and then completely lost credibility to me when he blurted out how he hated ED when it was mentioned.
Well the ED forum thread on Star Citizen has exploded since shillizencon17 with most wisening up to the ponzi from how the posts read.
I wrote an article (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6005/) about everything from Evocati 3.0, refunds and small claims court, to CitizenCon and financial oddities
I wrote an article (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6005/) about everything from Evocati 3.0, refunds and small claims court, to CitizenCon and financial oddities
Do you think they have paid back that Coutts loan (even though we dont know how much it was for) ?
That threadreaderapp thing really works :D
Just had an amazing chat with @BigfryTV (https://www.youtube.com/user/GamersLive187) Hold onto your butts for this one.
Quote from SA: (https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3800238&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=3045)
Cloud Imperium Games LLC updated their California Statement of Information on 12/6/17 (2 years late).
The only changes of note are they finally notified the state that they are no longer on Sunset Blvd. and they changed the business activities from "Game Development and Publishing" to "Game Development"
So maybe they need a publisher now?
e: They also created a new LLC on 11/30/17. Roberts Space Industries LLC (a separate entity from Roberts Space Industries Corp)
11/06/2017 Request for Entry of Dismissal (OF ENTIRE ACTION WITH PREJUDICE )
Filed by Attorney for Plaintiff
09/19/2017 Notice-Settlement
Filed by Attorney for Plaintiff
Expecting a new surprise concept ship sale next week. A dreadnought class spaceship loaded with all kinds of weapons. It is built to withstand heavy close combat and engage in long drawn out battles without resupply. They will call it the Crytek.Count me in!!
Huh, Skadden is even bigger than I expected. Crytek is really going for it here.
4th largest law firm in the world (by revenue). Can you even imagine Ortwin going up against these guys? It would be a massacre.
Yeah, about that. I am wondering about it, what's the point? This Facebook thing had 90 viewers, the Open House got stuck somewhere around 70 if I remember correctly. What is the purpose / use of it all when there barely is an audience? Especially since most of the viewers are either Goons (who know the story) or Cultists (who probably just want to dick around) in the first place.
Those outlets don't seem to have massive following or attract lots of people, so what value does it add?
We are live!
https://www.facebook.com/GameTalkLive/videos/2079980148897050
i missed it (different time zone), but i liked, that it was no bashing the project,
it was real critiques. but of course, this will be misunderstood by the white knights.
and maybe i will get banned from spectrum by posting the link :D
i'm still supporting the project, but you spoke out of my heart :D
For those of us with a command of English and comprehension, there is no contradiction. It's hilarious that even when I'm NOT bashing the game, you guys still find something to attack me over. And you all wonder why Star Citizen is now the LAUGHING STOCK OF THE INDUSTRY
TarkaRoshe, we know you guys are a special kind of stupid. How does me hoping backers get some form of "game", contract me expecting that'll crash & burn. I mean, seriously, you guys are embarrassingly BAD at this. Also coward. You're blocked, but still snipping. Desperate much?
sent you a pm, because my answer is blocked by clean talk.
maybe you could edit it in here for me.
hey.
i'm sorry, but i cannot pass the filter to reply my answer. i don't know how.
so here is my answer to the gametalklive video:
at first i posted it just in the chat, knowing that there is a mod, but maybe he won't check the link.
later in the forums, but it is a bit risky, to speak up things clearly. also there is a cultural difference
between all the users, so my way to write would harm other users.
http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/57219/thread/gametalklive-without-pro-speakers (http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/57219/thread/gametalklive-without-pro-speakers)
i'm sorry that there are such people out there, but i hope that you don't care about. the star citizen community is not represented
but these white knights.
when i was a customer of star wars the old republic, also a game with a very horrible community support, the new producer linked
a article from the former star wars galaxies creative director: raph koster.
i think this is a must read for every dev and also for the customers, supporting the development.
http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/50182/thread/on-getting-criticism-by-raph-koster (http://www.robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/50182/thread/on-getting-criticism-by-raph-koster)
My new article is up.
SQUADRON 42 PUSHED TO 2019 (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6129/)
My take on the UK financials filing (https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/951589475855032325.html)
My take on the UK financials filing (https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/951589475855032325.html)
A few things I have seen someone else mention on another forum, and they do make a good point.
This filing is for the period ending June 2017. June 2017 is also when they got that cotus loan. So it makes sense it would still be in their filings, since that loan was only like a week or 2 old by the end of June 2017. It is also a loan for their tax incentive, and they do not get that tax incentive till Fall 2018. Since this is basically a pay day loan, it makes sense it would not be paid off till some time Fall/Winter 2018. We won't know when it is paid off till we see their filings for period ending December 2018, which we won't see that filing till June or July 2019.
Your part about employees being paid less I felt can easily be misunderstood. Some people might think you are talking about F42 is spending less total money on employee wages compared to last year, which is not correct, they are actually spending more money over all this year on employees because they increased the employee count. In 2016 they spent 8.5 Million on employee wages, this year they are set to spend approximately 10.5 million on employee wages. I am sure you knew this, and you were talking about the over all average wage per employee was going down, which according to one person I saw another forum is equal to about 135 less per month per employee on the average, which could be explained by hiring more QA/Junior level developers.
I'd comment on the financials, but unlike the GLA where I can operate...to a degree...on a WYSIWYG principle, I know nothing about accounting
As a side note, is the UK known to pay low wages like this or is this just a CIG thing? Obviously we just have the average available through these filings but it still gives an idea. Being in Canada, it's not an outrageous difference but it's still slightly less than what I would expect and certainly in comparison to the States it's way down there.
My latest Star Citizen blog is live.
http://dereksmart.com/2018/01/star-citizen-the-fall/
It's amazing to me that he has been doing this same shit for 6 years straight.
Those interview transcripts are remarkable. I understand that when people talk off-the-cuff in response to questions the answer, for most people untrained to it, is most likely to be a "stream of consciousness".
But "consciousness" means "the state of being awake and aware of one's surroundings" and I see precious little of that in his remarks.
So maybe I'd call it a kind of circumstantial speech (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumstantial_speech) or disordered thoughts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_disorder) - or maybe just "stream of fantasy".
Whatever it is it is certainly not conducive to getting a game out.
Those interview transcripts are remarkable. I understand that when people talk off-the-cuff in response to questions the answer, for most people untrained to it, is most likely to be a "stream of consciousness".
But "consciousness" means "the state of being awake and aware of one's surroundings" and I see precious little of that in his remarks.
So maybe I'd call it a kind of circumstantial speech (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumstantial_speech) or disordered thoughts (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thought_disorder) - or maybe just "stream of fantasy".
Whatever it is it is certainly not conducive to getting a game out.
My latest Star Citizen blog is live.
http://dereksmart.com/2018/01/star-citizen-the-fall/
"In Star Citizen there is going to be one persistent universe server that everyone exists on. So you will never be separated from your friends, and if you want you’ll be able to join up and adventure together, you can. Due to the fidelity of the dogfighting and physics simulation we can’t however handle thousands of players in the same area of space. Even if you had enough internet bandwidth to handle the data going back and forth and a super computer for the server there’s no PC, even with quad SLI that could render that many spaceships with Star Citizen’s fidelity.” – Chris Roberts, Nov 11, 2012
Q: What type of work is being done to increase the server population capacity? Should we expect to see 24 or 32 player instances in the near future?
A: The answer to that is ABSOLUTELY, I think, ah, if you've been watching some of the chatter on the recent, ah, PTU RELEASES, and, ah, you know, what's gonna be in 2.2... eh, it is, ah, gonna be 24 players, so we've been working, ah, ah, HARD on sort of optimizing areas so we can sort of scale more, I think I've mentioned before that the, you know, the biggest issue that we have is uhm, uh, just the overhead that the ships have because they're very complicated, they have multiple... items that have all this functionality, they need to talk to each other over the network... they're attached to SHIPS, a ship isn't just one entity you know, in the case of a HORNET it can be fifty or sixty, in the case of a BIGGER ship it's a lot more than... fifty or sixty, so they're very heavy, ah, sort of PROCESSING WISE and the SERVER in terms of just SIMULATION and also in... in network, um, sort of TRAFFIC... So, in general, that's, em, you know, more the limiting... FACTOR which... we've been WORKING ON, so we're... we're REFACTORING a lot of things to... make it much more, ah, SMART about when it has to UPDATE, ah, and all the other things and that sort of ties into the work that we've done in the past on the ZONE SYSTEM, we're doing sort of a, uh, whatever you wanna call it, a NETWORK LOD and an UPDATE LOD that sort of scopes depending on, you know, whether you can SEE THINGS, how FAR AWAY they are, whether they are ACTIVE, whether it's another PLAYER, whether it's relevant to YOU and... so hopefully all that stuff em, you know, helps... increase the load that we can do and we're doing things like we're... we're... you know, pushing more and more into MULTIPLE CORES, more... MULTI-THREADING to, you know, be able to do more... you know... PHYSICS PROCESSING at the same time as we're doing more sort of entity updating and simulation. So ehm you know, part of the benef... part of the result of that is moving to more players in, eh, CRUSADER, we'll continue and we're expecting to continue to sort of push that over time, eh, to get more and more and uh, you know we're actually working on... some ah, BACK END SERVER MESH TECH uhm, that will allow us to ah, sort of MESH A LOT MORE... players all in essentially what will be kind of sort of the same, ah, INSTANCE, uhm so but that's sort of ah, you know a LITTLE further along, but, eh, it's ahh... yeah, I think EXCITING so I think we'll be able to DELIVER probably more players than we were thinking originally... in concurrent areas... ah... so... when I think, actually there's a question about that so... I maybe talk a bit more about it then...
Star Citizen development is like driving toward the sun at sunset: we are cruising, the journey is awesome and it will never end by reaching the horizon, but when we run out of petrol.
My latest musings
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/980886181641678848.html
That is not surprising, but I honestly thought they would have put every resource possible into getting everything crytek out now at least considering the lawsuit.
The "sale" vs "pledge" discussion continues
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/981532232497147905.html
The whole sale vs pledge is so crazy, I do not remember a gaming company having to clarify the two words.
When it rains, it pours. Something is happening at CIG, so I took the opportunity to issue a recap ahead of what's coming.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/981930410673360896.html
"they're just focused on check boxes that result in backers spending money, rather than focusing on MAKING AN ACTUAL GAME."
That is so true.
"You have to ask yourself why would a company that - according to them - is publicly raising about $100K per month, resist giving refunds to people for as little as $60. "
Or why they wouldnt just pay off Crytek years ago and keep them on side.
LOL!! Holy Shit! We had a 3.1 rollback :emot-lol:
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/982252867934347264
Yeah, but don't worry though; the Reclaimer is still on sale!whew, thank God! I thought I lost the chance to throw my money at a ship CIG is unable to satisfactory deliver that's still missing all it's unique gameplay mechanics!
Star Citizen - State Of The Farce (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6268/)
A PLEDGE IS NOT THE SAME AS A SALE
Derek, you also need to hammer home the fact that CIG is collecting taxes on "pledges". Either that is grossly illegal, or their "pledges" are in fact, "sales".
BREAKING!! VERY BAD Star Citizen news. It's been in the works for some time now, but like the Crytek lawsuit, I couldn't talk about it.
Standby...
It's a blog now, while I await for a response from my attorney (don't want to jeopardize my liability insurance) :cat2:
You see, the thing about companies, banks and people doing due diligence is that you just never know who they're going to reach out to."We're all 6 degrees removed from the next person in any chain sequence" probably means "At most, there are six degrees of separation between any two people. But in a small industry, there are much fewer, and word gets around faster."
And we're all 6 degrees removed from the next person in any chain sequence.
So word gets around.
FYI: mutual NDA expired
Tweet storm!
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/996382327449227269
I was working from memory with my previous post, but yes, he makes it sound like an outside consultant who had access to the financial records. The problem with a professional (accountant, financial consultant etc) is that even after an NDA expires they wouldn't leak any info as their business will depend on keep client confidentiality.
My best guess is that a bank etc reached out to an industry expert for an opinion, someone who makes games who doesn't have any incentive to keep quiet after an NDA expires - someone who knows Derek Smart of course.
But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Wait.
A thread. Read it.
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1001593621152485376
If I was Chris Roberts at this point, I would take one month’s income (what is that now, a couple million?) and secretly hire a smaller, talented, up-and-coming game development house to create a basic SP (with a rudimentary AI) version of the game with many (but not all) of the promised features. Give them two years to complete the basic, functioning game.
At the same time, hire another dev house to do nothing but create functioning 3D models of all of the ships that were sold as jpegs. Maybe budget another million for that. Give them the same two years.
Then, when the basic game universe is finished, import all of those ships into it and ship the damn thing. BAM. You’ve now got something impressive to show, and it’s playable. Your customers are pleased that they can actually fly around in the ships that they paid for. THEN you continue to milk them for money to make it even better. Such as adding multi-player functionality. You could milk them for years with that, and they’d be happy because they’ve got a fully playable SP game with their actual ships in it.
Hmm. Thinking further, this plan might have worked if it was implemented two or three years ago.
But even then, it would have been difficult to execute this in secret. How would you, for instance, explain why you laid off most of your own employees? Unless you kept them all employed just to maintain the illusion that they were working on the game.
Okay, I’m just free-thinking now. They long ago already had the talent in place to make this game, or some lesser version of it (that would have been better). So there was no need to contract a different dev house like I just suggested.
I suppose the reason I came up with that plan of mine was because I envisioned that a great game could have been made if only a solid plan for it was given to another dev house.
But being as they already had great talent employed, the real problem was/is the lack of a solid plan in place. Also, solid leadership would have helped.
MORAL: Make a plan and stick to it, else you’ll end up making something like this post.
Clarification:
Prospector mining ship, in game since 3.0 (Dec '17)
Vulture salvage ship is a JPEG
You can't mine in 3.2 without a Prospector - which is not on sale atm
BUT if you buy a Vulture, you get a Prospector as a loaner.
I shit you not. It's all true.
I wrote a thing
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1009461708006535168.html
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1009510293557432321
LOL!! Read the Star Citizen part
http://www.alleywatch.com/2018/06/an-analysis-of-jibo-what-went-wrong/
Star Citizen - The Next Generation Of Shillizens (http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6418/)
I have made some edits to the original article. Also added more info to the SQ42 section due to the broadcast going live after I had published the article.
Great write up, few commenters in reddit still stating you never got anything right and few yesterday still pushing that you doxxed Chris and family.
I wrote a thing in which I also cover the recent court case loss by a backer
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1018111910598889472.html
Great write up trying to constantly expose the TOS changes got one account banned.
I wrote a blog about the recent lawsuit fiasco, and also did a video narrative of it
http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6474/
Really liked the video, made it pretty clear for the layman. Hope there is more in the future!
So considering the seemingly iron clad TOS now, is there any hope that those at the top of this scam will be held accountable in the end?
Really liked the video, made it pretty clear for the layman. Hope there is more in the future!
So considering the seemingly iron clad TOS now, is there any hope that those at the top of this scam will be held accountable in the end?
I wrote a bit more about the legal issues surrounding the refunds
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1018927889818046464.html
You tweeted a YT Lawyer explaining why nobody isn't entitled for a refund. Maybe you should add to it that that only applies to the US. Under EU law, it considered a pre-order that has better protection. We just need one European to sue them :grin:
I'm not out to save the world, and my video wasn't about saving or helping anyone.
Also, I'm not in the least bit interested in what happens in other countries. If I have to do it for one country, then I would have to do it for all countries. What makes Germany different from Australia, or UK, or Canada? So why would I then do it for one country, but not the other?
So how could I possibly write about the impact in countries where I neither reside, nor have in-depth knowledge of how their legal process and consumer rights work? And why can't someone else in those countries do what I do? Why does it have to be me?
Why does it have to be me?
TOS is iron clad in US. Would be interesting to see actions against CIG in countries where consumer protection is stronger like in Germany or Australia.For Germany it's pretty simple: ToS may not contain "surprising" clauses. These get invalidated in court on a regular basis. The same applies to "unfair" clauses, meaning anything that puts the consumer at a severe disadvantage.
For Germany it's pretty simple: ToS may not contain "surprising" clauses. These get invalidated in court on a regular basis. The same applies to "unfair" clauses, meaning anything that puts the consumer at a severe disadvantage.
So "you completely waive your right to sue us" and "you pay us money, but are not entitled to anything" hidden in fine print doesn't stand a chance in Germany.
For Germany it's pretty simple: ToS may not contain "surprising" clauses. These get invalidated in court on a regular basis. The same applies to "unfair" clauses, meaning anything that puts the consumer at a severe disadvantage.
So "you completely waive your right to sue us" and "you pay us money, but are not entitled to anything" hidden in fine print doesn't stand a chance in Germany.
But where is the backer who's willing to sue them? That's the 190M dollar question.
New filings over at F42-UK
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1022628907139440640.html
It's my understanding that if they hadn't done this, they would have to file their financials shortly. And they really really can't have that now, they need to hide the scamming and ripping off as long as possible.
It's my understanding that if they hadn't done this, they would have to file their financials shortly. And they really really can't have that now, they need to hide the scamming and ripping off as long as possible.
That is correct. Also, it will probably show that they are really doing badly financially. The last thing they want right now, is that sort of bad news.
ps: Apollo medical ship is a bust btw
So if the Apollo was a failure, and CIG are desperate then what are they going to try next?
Let's face it, flying round the 'verse picking up the injured is not a glamorous way to play a game that doesn't exist. People want something exciting: combat, exploration, living life on the edge; something glamorous...
How about a space fire engine? Everyone wants to be a firefighter!
There was a whole lot of discussion on previous ships that had lost medical beds, makes sense now. Even given
the backers total blindness I would think a med ship at this juncture would have been a hard sell. Hope
this forces them to come up with ridiculous ship concepts or buzzwords we can meme.
I was having a discussion with a backer about this earlier today. I tried explaining to him that the Apollo was just a scope creep + cash grab because they already had Cutlass Red which had a medical facility. Instead of doing that feature, they came up with a whole new ship because they make money that way.
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1022830338438057985
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1022837682257494017
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1022837289813266433
Yep they do not seem to get it at all, my karma has been annihilated this week..
Sunday Around The Farce
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1026100168704380929.html
New article. Includes updated Crytek lawsuit, as well as recent UK financials
http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6560/
I haven't added anything. You're looking at a post made yesterday. I only posted about the new filing this morning on Twitter.
That was a good one also. You can't argue when the facts are laid out right before oneself.
My latest missive is live
http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6639/
My latest missive is live
http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6639/
Great write up, the avenger pic was absolute genius.
yes, that was funny. Sadly I "predict" 14,000,605 more dollars could still be siphoned off by the CIG-ponzi from these last extreme smart-spite and sunk-cost backers before it all collapses.
Twitter thread
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1047925528479653888
Sounds great if they get to go forward with discovery, I hope all the shell companies get pulled into this as well.
My latest on CitizenCon 2018 and everything else
http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6682/
Excellent write up I enjoy seeing you discuss the game technologies that you used and how they relate to CIG.
This was an excellent comment concerning sq42, considering what Chris had planned for sq42.
If they have yet to build the complete game world – or even a fraction of it – how then are they going to complete and release Squadron 42 in the short term?
My latest on CitizenCon 2018 and everything else
http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6682/
backers have paid for a Golden chest, but are going to end up with a cardboard box – without a lid.
So you remember that new Kraken (totally not scope creep though) ship from the Star Citizen event last week? Sure you do. It's so special that it's invite only to BUY it. And it's sold in waves (totally not kidding). The whale call just went out from CIG.
I was wondering also why anyone would buy it if ship purchasing is going in soon.
That's only coming to Arena Commander soon, not the PU.
It's already in the 3.3 dev schedule. It's AC only.
A Sat rant
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1053666019816980480.html
about 200 whales for 1400,- each makes about 250K to 300K. That's gonna last them another week. It's serious shit now, what'll they do for X-Mas? An even bigger and better ship than Kraken for 2000,-? Oh, CIG is so screwed right now. Wonder if they make it to Christmas at all.
A Sat rant
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1053666019816980480.html
I really want to see what people are going to earn in terms of cr per hour as well. One max cutter build in EH is just under 900m, which if I really worked hard would take under 9 hours to accumulate. I'm betting Chris will make payment the only way to progress to large ships.
Amazing, took me over nine months for my first billion cr, and I saw you hit 10 billion cr already. It kind of makes me want to try to step up and do some more passenger or other lucrative objectives in ED before they change the bgs structure and the rest of Beyond drops. I think I only went to Robigo once out of curiosity.
My latest article is live
http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6723/
Great write up, all the accounting stuff that has been brought out over the years makes one wonder if they using SC for all it worth.
“We try to be quite smart about development costs, so we do a lot in the UK and two-thirds of our developers are in Europe. It’s far more cost effective. Over here you can have two developers for the price of one in the US. In the places where there’s game development in the US, the price of living is really high. We’re up in Manchester and it’s a lot cheaper to live there than in LA. The average salaries in the industry are less for that reason.”
It’s not just the cost of living, though: “We get basically 25 per cent of the UK cost back from the government. And that allows us to hire more people. We wouldn’t have as big an office in the UK if that deal wasn’t there. I think that was a very good move for the government to do that, because now we have around 250 in the UK, by far our biggest group of people"
And if the figures are correct . .they have to keep doing this year after year because any game is at least 3-4 years off. Then there is the law suit.
Well both SC and SQ42 are their primary IP assets. They don't get money from anything else.
Also...
I dunno, but if I was paying an accounting firm £26K to do my books, even if they're cooking them, I'd hope that they would be correct.
With such obvious mistakes I believe the accounting firm is located in Chris's bank account. I really believe they are just taking as much money as possible from the project.
**BREAKING** Foundry 42 (Squadron 42 devs) has created a new studio manager position headed by one of the guys from back in the old days.
I'm not going to name him, but he's one of the good guys, and this move makes zero sense to me.
This is pretty significant.
Thread: https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1060238479806947328
Very interesting update, it seems like they are best at jpgs and continually wasting backer money.
It looks more like Erin wants to effectively disappear and they don't think (or care) they are going to lose anyone internally because they are mightily pissed off they were not given an opportunity to apply for the role...
I would imagine at some point Croberts desperately wanted to get SQ42 out the door as he imagined he could lord it around the Hollywood scene showing off MOCAP actors for years to come, irrespective of what happened to the PU.
The news about the new appointment is curious.
CIG desperately need a take-over to sort out the project and release something, just like the Digital Anvil / Microsoft / Freelancer debacle in the old days. In the absence of anyone willing to buy Chris out maybe they're trying to get someone experienced to take over SQ42 and get it out the door. As long as the cash doesn't run out and more importantly Chris doesn't interfere they might just pull it off. However I can't see Chris backing away from any of this whilst he's still in charge.
The news about the new appointment is curious.
CIG desperately need a take-over to sort out the project and release something, just like the Digital Anvil / Microsoft / Freelancer debacle in the old days. In the absence of anyone willing to buy Chris out maybe they're trying to get someone experienced to take over SQ42 and get it out the door. As long as the cash doesn't run out and more importantly Chris doesn't interfere they might just pull it off. However I can't see Chris backing away from any of this whilst he's still in charge.
It's not as if the ROberts family will give up their Two Million dollar a year collective salary for mismanaging this dumpster fire. All they need to do is show minimal progress, sell a few concept ships and keep these idiots believing and funding for another year for that money.
They dont need to actually turn out a game, backers wont hold them to that standard. They just need to keep their hopes from being dashed to collect several million dollars in compensation every year, plus whatever other things they get like corporate flights, fancy car leases, housing allowance, health care, security, clothing allotments for the Mrs, possible plastic surgery, and the chance to buy his skanky wife a spot in a b movie.
I'm sure they are busy setting themselves up in the next venture that is waiting in the wings. Be that Mocap, B movies ect.
Star Citizen Squadron 42, The Movie!
Trying to pitch the ministries to HBO, I wouldnt put it past him.
I believe his salary was shown in a tax filing possibly both of theirs. Regardless, it was out there some time ago.
We know his brother makes over 250K a year.
My latest musings on Lorville in 3.3.5
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1062830508827205632.html
Enjoyed reading the rant. So CR had long passed the point of making a responsible change or creation of an engine to make something work, instead of the ponzi scam of year after year of cry-lumber level demos with art texture glut and trailer ads. He can't make or announce the changes needed now as that would be tantamount to publicly admitting how they were screwing around all along siphoning the brainwashed then the DS-spite whales, 7 years and $200 million wasted later.
He's never going to admit to anything. When this whole thing finally collapses (I remain 100% certain that it will, before any product is delivered), he will just lament the fact that the tech couldn't catch up or some nonsense like that.
Then again one could argue that when you are trying to make game you sold beforehand it’s probably not the best design choice to go for things that are not yet technically possible? If your purpose was never to actually release anything because someone talked so much out of their ass that anything you make can never live up to the expectations.
It’s then easier to make just pretty screenshot software and sell beautiful spaceships and images of them.
I made this effort post in another forum. I am posting it here for bookmarking
I wrote a new blog. Star Citizen - Year Six (http://dereksmart.com/2018/11/star-citizen-year-six/)
In Jan 2019, we’ll be entering year 7.
From new DS blog:
But they had to build 4 studios from scratch!
…
…
…
…
(ha ha, just kidding, that particular excuse never ceases to crack me up.)
I wrote a new blog. Star Citizen - Year Six (http://dereksmart.com/2018/11/star-citizen-year-six/)
I made a video!
I also forgot to mention in the video that some weeks back some Star Citizen fans sent Leonard French (a Star Citizen backer) money to fix his car, and which was thanking them for. So he has every reason to be pandering to them and spreading fake news.
French is already updating his statements etc. below his YT video. It's fun to watch :laugh:
By popular request, instead of writing a blog, I made a video about the latest Star Citizen five alarm fire.
My latest on CIG selling 10% of the company to dark money entities, while the execs also cash out with backer mone. The IP for both Star Citizen and SQ42 would be worth more than £17m. And this is an investment, not a loan. It's really not a lot of money. The alarm is that they needed £17m in the first place.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1073941655076659201.html
Right, wrong, doesn't seem to matter around here.
Being a parott though? Golden.
Huh?
Well, why don't you show us then that the funding numbers are correct?
Please show me where those 500 people are. Now. Not months ago, now.
Stupid thing to ask for anyway, no chance I can prove anything of the sort. It's also stupid to say, well over a year ago, that they'll be running out of cash soon and collapsing...any...time....now...over and over again and still be saying the same thing now.
Sunk thought fallacy.
I just made that up. It's fucking great though.
Don't bother. People still not seeing that SC has become a total scam that is about to go bust are just not worth your time. And since Serenstupidity and that other new bonehead cannot seem to fiind actual arguments against Derek, or even seem to understand Derek's arguments in the first place, it's just no use. Even when Chris has failed miserably - again - they still will hold hime high and blame outside factors.
"about to go bust". You said the same thing over a year ago. Still about to go bust is it? Haven't raised over 12 million dollars in the last two months?
Plastic brains never change. Rigidity can be a bad thing.
Stupid thing to ask for anyway, no chance I can prove anything of the sort. It's also stupid to say, well over a year ago, that they'll be running out of cash soon and collapsing...any...time....now...over and over again and still be saying the same thing now.
Sunk thought fallacy.
I just made that up. It's fucking great though.
The recording of last night's stream
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/352038544
Going forward, I think the recent events may have an adverse effect on whale backers. Most especially the revelation that they were so close to collapse.
You are accusing the whales of behaving rationally. The milk will still flow.
You are accusing the whales of behaving rationally. The milk will still flow.
But if those numbers are the best they can do in support of their glorious leader, then things really are bad. To have a chance at breaking even, the whale milk must flow at the same rate AND Squadron 42 must outsell Mass Effect 1 by a 2:1 ratio. But, if you look at Destiny's launch, all they need is half of those sales at full price through the CIG website. Of course, Destiny was the #1 new franchise launch of all time and they made the overwhelming amount of sales at retail in the first week. But hey, that just means CIG won't have a huge marketing budget to weigh them down.
Seriously, if the best "everything's fine" take they can come up with involves the company adding more personnel year over year to remedy core deficiencies, a PC-only release generating 3 million full-price retail sales, and a community that hasn't grown significantly in 5 years continuing to pay for development, and all this just to keep afloat, well even the die-hard supporters have to know the ship is sinking.
Don't worry they will release on consoles and Squander 42 will generate squillions in revenue! They honestly seem to believe that just by having an all star cast this game is going to be a massive hit even when it is rushed out at the end to try and prop up the project for a few more months. If they get that far I can't wait for the reviews."All Star Cast"... Only if you're someone who is still stuck in the nineties.
"All Star Cast"... Only if you're someone who is still stuck in the nineties.
Today's rant takes us back to where it all began
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1082340477196742657
So we were right. They did get the name (Infratrade) wrong in the filing last month. They have now corrected it in an updated filing.
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08815227/filing-history
FYRE Star Citizen
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1087371035941457921
QuoteExpect sales, free weekends, and a rush to release sq42 regardless of completion status.
Hard to believe Derek Smart was right.
Well, I mean, Derek is Smart.
Seriously though, I have said a lot of the same things Derek has said: there's way too much scope creep, they aren't producing content anywhere approaching what they promised, SQ 42 is way behind schedule, etc. Say what you will about Derek, but he has worked in this industry for decades. His opinions are worth listening to even if you disagree.
So they have 3.5 months to stay solvent without any additional funding? PCGamer says they expect Squadron 42's beta to be ready by the second half of 2020. So the first game probably won't release until late 2020 or even into 2021. If they continue to use $4 million per month they will need an additional $82 million just to make it to early 2021. I just don't see that as possible with only crowdfunding. Haven't they already milked as much money as they can out of their gullible fans?
Anyway, they will coast until sometime next year; and my guess is that even if they managed to get SQ42 into Alpha by end of Q2, it probably won't make a difference to their funding.
Especially since, if you look at the financials, you will see that they were already spending money on marketing.
So they are just using the money to pay for their monthly shortfall (seen in the financials) from May 2018 to whenever it runs out. This way they aren't operating in the Red.
Bottom line is that even with over $200m in FREE MONEY, Chris couldn't ship a SINGLE game going into year 7. And back in 2015 when I said they couldn't build that game for anything less than $150m, a decent custom engine, and a talented team, some people called me crazy, attacked me etc. Here we are.
I posted this over on Blue's. Copying them here for posterity.
Even if we take this at face value, and the funds are strictly for marketing, bridge financing is dangerous unless there's a guaranteed profit at the end. They've practically reached the limit on pre-sales to their targeted audience, which doesn't leave much room for additional revenue from SQ42 on release. (Though who knows? I'm sure there are some people who will be on the verge of entering their teens who were just 2-years old when development started, by the time SQ42 graduates past the beta phase.)
We don't know the exact terms. We don't know the interest on the agreement, or if there was collateral put up (I'm sure Snoot can make use of mocap equipment) for the funding. The bottom line is that SQ42 needs to have an even greater reach and appeal as of its official release for Cloud Imperium to come out on top, because it's obvious that concept sales and subscriptions have not been cutting it over the years.
Excellent write up and just yesterday I saw them still trying to discount your statements in reddit concerning the foretelling of
delays etc.
Squander 42 will be a rushed out buggy mess if it is released at all, I can't really see CI(G) developing a new found sense of focus and meeting a tight deadline for completion, they haven't so far despite being close to going under in the past as you have shown. Thinking about it, they did develop a new found focus on milking the whales for everything they could so I guess anything can happen :)I also expect the acting to be really, really wooden and the script third-rate at best. CRoberts wants to direct and, obviously, he has no business directing. Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, the cast will only be of interest to those still stuck in the 90's.
Roberts could basically sell more of his shares and donate the money raised to the company to keep the wolves from the door for a bit longer and get a bit closer to the S42 release, or he could attempt to cash out for whatever he can get.
After what happened to the Fyre festival owner, I'd be a bit worried though, better move to somewhere with no extradition treaty to the US.
I also expect the acting to be really, really wooden and the script third-rate at best. CRoberts wants to direct and, obviously, he has no business directing. Furthermore, as I mentioned earlier, the cast will only be of interest to those still stuck in the 90's.
There is nothing to look forward to with S42 other than to laugh at it on how bad it is.
At least try to put your hatred to one side occasionally. Why would you expect the acting to be 'really, really wooden'? The cast is full of excellent actors, especially that Gardiner, I hear she's a real talent...
But seriously, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Rhys Davies, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis...they're pretty damn good.
You're missing the point, being that those may or may not be fabulous actors, they don't ring a bell by people under 40 - the heavy gamers population - and Chris is a shitty director. So of course it won't help CIG.
The speech scene doesn't look like it was perfectly acted but butched up completely afterwards. It looked like the directing/writing/scripting was so horrible that no matter how good the acting from the best actors in the world, it only could result in shite. As it did. But theorycrafting about a game that will never come out is pointless.
At least try to put your hatred to one side occasionally. Why would you expect the acting to be 'really, really wooden'? The cast is full of excellent actors, especially that Gardiner, I hear she's a real talent...
But seriously, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Rhys Davies, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis...they're pretty damn good.
Oh yeah, because NONE of those people have ever been in a bad movie. Are you serious (you are).
Right back at you for that comment. Expecting that CIG actually wil release something vaguely resembling what was promised :emot-laffo:
At least try to put your hatred to one side occasionally. Why would you expect the acting to be 'really, really wooden'? The cast is full of excellent actors, especially that Gardiner, I hear she's a real talent...
But seriously, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Rhys Davies, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis...they're pretty damn good.
I would agree for me that Chris has some great actors, but my respect for some has been diminished. I have kept a few update to date on the many aspects of the development over the past few years and its obvious they will continue shilling for the project based on their actions. The Mo-capping for me was just one of the sad missteps in the development since they did not even have you engine close to handling the basics. Why start such a monumental cost to backers before you even had any idea how it would even function properly? I feel based on his past that he jumped into this aspect as he wants to become relevant again in Hollywood and rub shoulders with AAA actors at the cost of the backers. I do not believe top actors will help the project in the same way great actors can not help a poorly scripted and managed movie.
I'm not missing any points. Having good actors means the acting will be good. Whether the names are recognised by anyone won't change the acting performance in any way.You're not missing any points, you're ignoring them. BIG difference. You either live in a distorted, inane fantasy, or you're a pathetic troll that everyone is laughing at. Either way, you're not worth anyone's time.
I didn't comment on the other parts of the post because I don't know if the writing is bad, good or indifferent and I have no idea if the direction is either. I do know that the acting talent is excellent and therefore, I expect the acting quality to be excellent too. Wouldn't take much to be better than the vast majority of video game acting performances to be fair!
That was Chris's goal, but he was never really worth anything even during his brief Hollywood stint. Hollywood by all accounts makes more bad movies than good, and there's a "Chris Roberts" and more for every stinker. Since he wrote the script, it's already bottom-tier shit, no matter who he tricked to act for him with money stolen under the guise of making an MMO that he's too dumb to make.
I'm practically praying for SQ42. It's been years since we've had real, honest-to-god absolute shit to make fun of and fuel years of memes and ridicule. The "AAA publishers" generic crap can range from OK to not-so-OK, but it's rare that their stuff is openly inept and submoronic. Chris is up for that challenge - in fact there may not be anyone more qualified. (Although Richard Garriott appears to be making some inroads lately.)
Can a bad movie have good acting in it?
Did I mention the quality of the game/movie?
Was I only questioning the comment regarding the quality of acting being 'really, really wooden', with no mention as to the game itself being good or bad?
Please answer those questions in your head, read your response and wonder, as I did, u wot m8?
Squadron 42 has become much more than an updated Wing Commander. So at last, we agree, it won't resemble the original pitch. It'll be much more. Isn't that part of you guys' problem? Trying to do too much.
I'm looking forward to it. I reckon it'll be a fun few hours in the UEE navy thing.
Acting could be good, it could also be shitty. So sure, their acting could be great and totally on point.
But than again i'd rather see a film directed by Quentin Tarantino with Steven Seagall as major actor than one directed by Uwe Boll with Ben Kingsley as major actor. As even the best performance as 'Ned' (or however he dubbed the role) Skywalker couldn't save a shitty movie. Though CnCs videos always felt more enjoyable to me than Wing Comanders...
So for me the real argument shouldn't be about the quality of any possible acting, but more on the logic of finishing cut sequences before being quite far into actual development - so in the production of the stuff that actually should fill peoples leisure time with most games.
I believe that SQ42 will become anything, when it actually gets released. Because so far i haven't really enjoyed playing with unfinished core gameplay loops in greybox levels.
I'll go out on a very thick and long limb and predict that SQ42 is going to be a f*cking distaster like everything Chris Roberts puts his hatchet to...
I'll go out on a very thick and long limb and predict that SQ42 is going to continue to be a f*cking distaster like everything Chris Roberts puts his hatchet to...
Can a bad movie have good acting in it?
Did I mention the quality of the game/movie?
Was I only questioning the comment regarding the quality of acting being 'really, really wooden', with no mention as to the game itself being good or bad?
Please answer those questions in your head, read your response and wonder, as I did, u wot m8?
Squadron 42 has become much more than an updated Wing Commander. So at last, we agree, it won't resemble the original pitch. It'll be much more. Isn't that part of you guys' problem? Trying to do too much.
I'm looking forward to it. I reckon it'll be a fun few hours in the UEE navy thing.
Squadron 42 has become much more than an updated Wing Commander. So at last, we agree, it won't resemble the original pitch. It'll be much more. Isn't that part of you guys' problem? Trying to do too much.
You appear to be confused. Let's recap:
YOU:
"At least try to put your hatred to one side occasionally. Why would you expect the acting to be 'really, really wooden'? The cast is full of excellent actors, especially that Gardiner, I hear she's a real talent...
But seriously, Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, John Rhys Davies, Gillian Anderson, Andy Serkis...they're pretty damn good."
ME:
"Oh yeah, because NONE of those people have ever been in a bad movie. Are you serious (you are)."
Now that I look back, it appears as if you were being sarcastic when you added Sandi "Mae Demming" Gardiner in there. If you're not, please let me know so I can resume laughing.
Regardless, having excellent actors in a movie doesn't say anything about the quality of the movie. And in this regard, even though it's performance acting for cut-scenes in a video game, it's safe to expect that with a cretin like croberts at the helm, it's going to be cringe-worthy more because of the script, than about the acting of any of the actors (besides our hometown girl, Sandi).
Nonsense. Very few people give a shit about SQ42, neither as a game, nor a movie. The issue about the increased scope of the project is about Star Citizen, not SQ42. How could anyone have speculated about SQ42 in that regard, when nobody knew much about it besides trailers and three shitty vertical slices? Heck, the schedule only showed up in Dec 2018.
Holy jeesuz on a motorbike! It's like talking to people with late stage Alzheimer's trying to converse with you guys at times.
I'm not confused. At all. I made a comment questioning how anyone would predict terrible acting from a selection of world class actors...plus Sandi. That was it. That was my point. Nothing more.
Holy jeesuz on a motorbike! It's like talking to people with late stage Alzheimer's trying to converse with you guys at times.
All I said was that it's reasonable to expect a decent level of acting from very good actors.
I lack faith that even if the actors provided us with oscar winning performances that Chris will be able to deliver. That is the crux of why there an uncrossable barrier for the two groups, I believe based on reasonable evidence that SC is being used for an ATM machine.
Agreed the evidence and just common sense points to SC used as a ponzi atm. After the KS initially boomed and CR amassed far more millions than he'd expected, he'd already decided to siphon the sucker whales as best as CIG marketing could. Around that time in the co-interview of CR and Braben, you can see it in CR's dazed drunk expressions, the scheming going on in his noggin, while Braben is emphasizing technical debt and responsibility to get ED out to the supporters. When CR realized he'd screwed up trying to plug a spacesim+fpvs into cryengine, he still had his plan to siphon and serve koolaid and backdoor shilling.I disagree with you an itty-bitty bit. I don't think the thing is being used as ponzi atm by all of them, it's being used as ponzi atm by everyone but CRoberts, who is too deluded into thinking he's making the greatest game ever and getting his ticket back into Hollywood. The rest, oh you better believe they're raiding the company's coffers. Once the whole thing implodes, everyone, most definitely including Sandi and Erin, will hightail it to parts unknown leaving CRoberts holding the bag.
I disagree with you an itty-bitty bit. I don't think the thing is being used as ponzi atm by all of them, it's being used as ponzi atm by everyone but CRoberts, who is too deluded into thinking he's making the greatest game ever and getting his ticket back into Hollywood. The rest, oh you better believe they're raiding the company's coffers. Once the whole thing implodes, everyone, most definitely including Sandi and Erin, will hightail it to parts unknown leaving CRoberts holding the bag.
Latest FUD!
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1094278321188335616
Latest FUD!
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1094278321188335616
Latest FUD!
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1094278321188335616
14.35 in this is just great. Look at those shifty eyes and then listen to what the is saying...Sounds like a copy of ... you know ... Chris Roberts.
Thanks for the update. It's a hoot to see how they've dropped everything to try to make a single player something now for their investor now that time is up for their SC charade.They switched back and forth between their two "games" multiple times, each time stalling the half of crowd, which ordered the other product. Obviously the single player audience doesn't constantly pour money into this trainwreck, because JPEGs gain you nothing in a SP campaign.
They switched back and forth between their two "games" multiple times, each time stalling the half of crowd, which ordered the other product. Obviously the single player audience doesn't constantly pour money into this trainwreck, because JPEGs gain you nothing in a SP campaign.
But what's actually the point of making a set-piece roller coaster based on CE3 in 2019? It's four years beyond the point where I would consider touching it, even if it were free.
I was just thinking, how are they going to keep selling jpgs when it's clear they aren't going to be working on any of them any time soon?
I was just thinking, how are they going to keep selling jpgs when it's clear they aren't going to be working on any of them any time soon?
I was just thinking, how are they going to keep selling jpgs when it's clear they aren't going to be working on any of them any time soon?
They didn't really disclose all the financials. I for one would love to see an actual P&L for all 14 or so companies.I don't know I could handle that much greasy shit.
They didn't really disclose all the financials. I for one would love to see an actual P&L for all 14 or so companies.
I was just thinking, how are they going to keep selling jpgs when it's clear they aren't going to be working on any of them any time soon?
Is this removal of Foundry 42 going to impair Crytek/Skadden's lawsuit against Foundry 42 if any complaints against them were filed?
I wrote a thread about the latest CIG filing, with emphasis on a glaring shocked in Ortwin's affidavit.
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1113104704354037761
I wrote a thread (https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1113104704354037761.html) about the latest CIG filing, with emphasis on a glaring shocked in Ortwin's affidavit.
What happened to the settlement? Is it still in the air or did Crytek tell CIG to blow it out their airlock?
It clearly says, in option C of the second poll you reference, 'continue to offer stretch goal rewards in addition to extra features...'
So 88% of people, bothered enough to vote, said yes to extra features. I feel you're lying about others lying.
Each time it comes up that the game’s scope had been increased to a level that had set the project on a course to failure, CIG and their devout cultists would trot out the “backers voted for scope increase” lie, and which they have since used as an excuse for the project’s on-going demise. They completely disregard points raised that the poll data doesn’t show any consensus or agreement in any of the options, since not even a simple majority agreed on any one option despite each participant being allowed to select three choices. They were given three votes each, and they still failed to put any of the choices above a 40% support threshold; suggesting that there was no majority support from the community for any of the stretch goal choices in the poll. As some pointed out, given three instead of one choice should have ultimately pushed any choice to 50% or higher. In the end, the poll clearly showed that CIG did the poll, ignored the results, then went on to increase the scope of the project – even beyond the poll choices! That basically negated the poll in its entirety, thus rendering it moot.
My post stands as was originally written because I don't write blogs for complete morons.
FYI, that option C in that $19M poll (https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/13266-Letter-From-The-Chairman-19-Million) had THREE conditional qualifiers to a SINGLE question "what should we do with the crowd-funding counter after we reach our goal". That goal being the $23M.
1) keep it up through development
2) continue to offer stretch goal rewards
3) in addition to extra features and development milestones
That you call me lying, even though I posted the poll, complete with results and anecdotes, was a nice touch.
I find it quite silly to point towards are poll generally asking if people would want more...
That's like some rockband asking you if you'd wanted another album of them, while you liked the first on or the teasers for the first. Surely you'll say yes.
But that doesn't mean whatever comes after that is in really legitimized by your vote on another album.
The whole bullshit with StarCitizen is that CRoberts have lied about timetables and giving full insight into finances.
People simply can't make informed decision about additional features or what should be added if they're not informed of the costs. And people have never be informed of any of that with this 'great transparent' development project. Most budget wise estimations in terms of time have been bullshit.
Fair enough, but Derek said backers talking about those polls were lying in his blog and that, again, simply isn't true. The second poll had an answer that contained those words I quoted and 88% of voters chose that option. Is it a lie to say backers voted for extra features? Of course it isn't. It's just Derek's ridiculous hyperbole again.
The new blog on the Forbes article is great.
Greatly enjoyed reading this, it still amazes me they have made it so far not including the 46m.
Yeah, it really shows the power of sunk cost fallacy and religion. These guys still funding it know - with full confidence - that it's FUBAR; but they're still hanging on.
Derek, are you trying to get yourself spite pledged again? Let the backers find out the hard way and let them dictate what they want to do with CRobbers and CIG should this story be established as indisputable fact.
Proven to be correct? You what? You were adamant they were collapsing within that time, all gone, no more game. Definitely not proven correct. Lol.
Nice try. In case you hadn't noticed, most of us just ignore you now.
It's just like talking to my wife...
Nice ignoring btw, you totally ignored the shit outta me.
Well Derek did say "most of us", not all of us.
Meanwhile, over there...
He left after 6 month as a director?
Or did i missed something here?
Instead of filing their UK financials, they literally wrote a blog post and filed that.
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1179872165061169152
In this series of tweets Derek posts the funding chart for 2012 up to now. Just look at the current year. It's abysmal. The sheen is clearly wearing off on backers so CitizenCon better be grade AAAA to boost this funding woe.
Since Oct /Nov/Dec are the big months for them, they are actually pulling in more money this year so far. Their costs have risen again though, and you are right they are still one bad sale away from being in trouble.
Just seen on the old Reddit that they have filed their UK accounts with companies house:So that means 10 UEC from Derek to Tony (?) from Guard Frequency :D
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08815227/filing-history
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08703814/filing-history
So...
Just watching the CitizenCon stuff. The Theatres of War features seems like a really good idea: a game mode built to be fun and fast by a guy who knows how to make games.
BUT is this game mode too good? It looks like much more fun that the PU. Will Chris allow it? Especially if it proves more popular than his dream screenshot / walking simulator?
Do not feed the troll!
There is no game and there never will be. If anything, Citizen Con showed clearly no progress at all. No news, no updates, no new jpgs, nothing of substance according with the 500+ devs working a whole year. And Chris showed it too. It is game over and he knows it. There won't be a Citizen Con 2020. His "this is it, the end" was in regard to the whole SC fiasco.
So...
Just watching the CitizenCon stuff. The Theatres of War features seems like a really good idea: a game mode built to be fun and fast by a guy who knows how to make games.
BUT is this game mode too good? It looks like much more fun that the PU. Will Chris allow it? Especially if it proves more popular than his dream screenshot / walking simulator?
Star Citizen scope creep and the legacy of failure (https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1254456125312962560?s=20)
I forget its been so long since they announced Tow.
While I'm kind of thinking it was something they had a chance of achieving, a sub standard space battlefield, it is interesting it seems to have been dropped or kicked into the long grass. What a waste of resources again. Their lack of focus is amazing to behold.
The upcoming fiasco is a thing of beauty (https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1262477396097335297)
I can't wait for the next fiasco to come out of it. Just as long as CR, family and friends eventually pay the price. I'd hate to see them get away with it.
The netcode is shit. So there's no way in hell they could have even pulled it off outside of a closed environment. Plus, just like Arena Commander and Star Marine, who would be playing it after the initial thrill wears off and it's revealed that it was just another shiny object to release and appease backers in the short-term?
Any merit to the new super tech, Server to Client Actor Networking Rework?
Yes - as much merit as every other bs they've spouted. :rolleyes:
It's just crazy to see them still creating new tech when they cant finish the tech from 2015/2016.
Yeah but they're not creating new tech though. They're just doing what most of us have done for years - then calling it another name. Because they know the majority of their backs are clueless buffoons.
It's incredibly good marketing: if you google any of the Star Citizen 'tech' then the first page is full of Star Citizen stuff.
Ultimately that's all Star Citizen has become: good marketing - talk about ground-breaking new tech, throw in some cinematics and tease a new system / ship / gameplay mechanic occasionally and the zealots will keep throwing money at them.
Never Forget. Three years ago today, Squadron 42 fell off the radar.
I can't believe it has been almost FIVE YEARS since your first blog, Interstellar Citizens. And it is still accurate as hell.
Planning any updates? Like info about the fresh money for shares that was just announced? Like the reported fresh $17M just thrown at it in March?
Thanks looking forward to it too. Plenty of the redditers on sc refunds now were former sunk-cost victims that finally woke up, so are still loathe to give credit, but I think they all know you called this ponzi out the earliest, a main reason why /r/screfunds even exists, and have been the most completionist on the subject since.
Never Forget. Three years ago today, Squadron 42 fell off the radar.
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DAx5BTvXgAQw1Ja.jpg)
When I wrote this, I remember the hate that I got over it.
http://dereksmart.com/forums/topic/star-citizen-scoops/#post-5276
I mean, it’s not as if they lied…
"In terms of content, Roberts said that all of the game’s chapters and gameplay are at the “grey-box” level, which means that development is nearly complete, but the last set of assets aren’t included yet, and the developers want to give it a final polish."
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/squadron-42-delayed-star-citizen,32846.html
…or was it something else?
"Thoroughly confused, I reached out to RSI to get the official word. “It appears something may have been lost in the translation,” a rep said. “Chris spoke to multiple reporters at Gamescom who asked about the status of Squadron 42. We have been feature locked for a while and things are coming along nicely. In every case he told them that we are hard at work on the game and are focused on making it great but no official launch dates were discussed."
https://www.pcgamer.com/roberts-space-industries-denies-squadron-42-delay-report/
I wonder how Tyler is nowadays? Same goes with that pig, Ben Leznik.
We've missed our Third Deadline [sic] in as-many [sic] months. The pressure [from the top] of supplying the alpha Squadron Forty-Two [sic] VS has turned into pressure about supplying the Full-Early-Access [sic] Beta. Things are broken because we continue to iterate and change our core mechanics. Our programmers are stretched thin. There's only so many problems you can paint over before the cracks start to show beneath.
The oversight entity [sic] has the option of forcing [Chris] Roberts away from any decisions regarding Squadron Forty-Two & Star Citizen & the additional Gamemodes Theaters of War & Cooperative Construction [supposedly a building and social module]. They will leverage that by the end of this year. They were told Four Full-Gamemodes [sic] would be online by Christmas this year. We are unable to deliver those promises made in December 2017 to this entity and to the additional promises made to more recent entities.
I do fear that [the company] is moving to a more productive place but at the cost of good & talents [sic] people. Where are we without a leader like [Chris]? Everything we are here is because of him. Lost confidence could be doom for us. Where would we go during this? I worry about myself and my coworkers and my family now.
Latest leak from TheAgent
Latest leak from TheAgent
I will do a 5 year anniversary blog which includes every major event since the last blog I wrote back in May 2019.
Derek, did you ever get around to writing this?
More fuel added to the "where the hell is Chris??!?" dumpster fire.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0730932/
He is listed as being a location producer on some random 2020 documentary, refunds sub are getting excited.
To be honest it is probably just credited to the wrong Chris Roberts, but it's still funny, especially given CR's disappearing act.
FF to @ 14:42
I understand ALL of this. TL;DR they haven't done ANY work to server meshing due to a LOT of other dependent tasks (which he explained very clearly - to a dev).
This is what he said about server meshing back in Feb 2018 -> http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6239/
Also, I wrote a long 2017 article in which I opined on Clive's experience. Just search for "clive" and read it.
Again - that was 2017
http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6078/
FF to @ 14:42
I understand ALL of this. TL;DR they haven't done ANY work to server meshing due to a LOT of other dependent tasks (which he explained very clearly - to a dev).
This is what he said about server meshing back in Feb 2018 -> http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6239/
Also, I wrote a long 2017 article in which I opined on Clive's experience. Just search for "clive" and read it.
Again - that was 2017
http://dereksmart.com/forums/reply/6078/
Jared says at the end "They are closer to the end than the beginning". They have not got server meshing working, even their basic "static" version, there is still clearly a ton of work to do. Add on top of this the fact that most of the gameplay is not yet implemented, and they have not completed one system.
How can this be the case? I would love to see their real internal estimates (even with CIG's track record of bad estimation) for how long this will all take, it has to be measured in YEARS.
Chris Roberts is the king of the good optimization. 9600k 6 core 6 thread faster than 3800X 8 core 16 thread, not even 60fps with a $1300 gpu :grin:
(https://i.ibb.co/N214L3x/c09acbfcc4c92f6355ed400ac135e12bf8aeaaf76f3a6974c1edbf2f7b504da1.png)
Chris Roberts is the king of the good optimization. 9600k 6 core 6 thread faster than 3800X 8 core 16 thread, not even 60fps with a $1300 gpu :grin:
(https://i.ibb.co/N214L3x/c09acbfcc4c92f6355ed400ac135e12bf8aeaaf76f3a6974c1edbf2f7b504da1.png)
Latest from TheAgent. Some seriously hilarious stuff.
Looks like there has been some changes in the share ownership at CIG, 5 days till we get the details :
https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/08815227/filing-history
But looks like some sort of share buyback.
Probably the shares sale from earlier this year (https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1245453181812977669). It's not a share buy back - which would be nuts for them to do since it would mean putting money back into the company.
They lowered the value of the company. For a brief explanation, listen to this
https://m.twitch.tv/videos/759142195?t=44m15s
I delve into the financial shenanigans hole
https://twitter.com/dsmart/status/1314304218283552769?s=20
With the Calders giving them so many millions would this not cause a huge rift in the partnership?
Not really. It's just investment. If they don't see any ROI, they bail. It's how investments work.
I didn't see that coming. Star Citizen is adding another development studio.
https://www.pcgamer.com/star-citizen-is-adding-another-development-studio/