It was only a month ago when the impressive crowdfunding campaign for Star Citizen hit $41 million and in exactly four weeks since, the community has tossed in another $2 million. It's not surprising either, considering that creator Chris Roberts and his dev teams at Cloud Imperium Games Corporation scrambled to put together a workable demo for Roberts to showcase at PAX East (that used the Oculus Rift VR headset), teasing the upcoming release of the playable Dogfighting Module. Check out the gameplay videos here and here.
Every milestone, every promise made and every gameplay video released increases the buzz surrounding the game's development, which in turn further increases the crowdfunding support. It's a nice cycle of Roberts and his team getting endless amounts of money to craft the most expensive space sim ever, one that's already earned more than twice its initial budget. The latest milestone hit was for $43 million and as per usual, Roberts took to the official Roberts Space Industries (RSI) website to share another 'Letter From The Chairman' to thank fans and discuss what the stretch goal unlocked.
At $41 million, the ambitious procedural planet generation was unlocked. Remeber, Star Citizen isn't just about flying ships - you can walk around as well on foot. At $42 million, the old school Gladius light fighter was added for the Squadron 42 campaign (a story-based set of missions built into the Star Citizen universe). And now, at $43 million, a special set of character armor was unlocked for all players who've backed the game up to this point:
- Omni Role Combat Armor (ORC) mk9 Manufacturer: CDS(Clark Defense Systems) The ‘standard’ Marine armor for almost twenty years, ORC armor is prohibitively more expensive than standard-issue infantry body armor used by Army Ground Forces, but the Marines boast far fewer numbers and tend to make compelling arguments to get what they ask for. Clark Defense Systems’ ORC armor is created of composite mesh of fibers reinforced with ablative plates, offering a modest protection against both energy and kinetic weapons. While it doesn’t offer the same protection of the Marines’ proprietary Nail-armor or their SpecOps variants, ORCmk9 armor is a baseline solution for any number of situations the average Marine will encounter on any given day. Besides, in the words of Lt. Col Armin Trask, “you wanna know the best armor? Not getting shot.”
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Next up, at $44 million, expect this to be unlocked in the next few weeks:
- Stellar Cartography — Walk among the distant horizons you’ve charted in Star Citizen’s dedicated “map room” featuring a 3D holographic representation of the known universe. Your map room will start with a basic guide to the United Empire of Earth, and will expand into something that is unique to you as you explore uncharted worlds and discover new secrets. Build the most in-depth universe map possible and show it off to visitors, or lock down your secret jump points and hidden trading posts so that no one else can follow. Interface directly with the Observist guide to find out everything from what ores are in demand on MacArthur to who serves the best pasta on Terra. And with the ability to leave your own notes about your encounters and travels, it’s more than a map: it’s your digital diary!
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The best part, as every additional million dollar milestone is hit - further solidifying the record-breaking success of Star Citizen's fan-funded developement - players get to vote on what the next stretch goal rewards will be. For the $45 million reward, the community chose a mystery object of sorts, the first reward tier of its kind for Star Citizen. This one, according to Roberts, is a puzzle that may lead you to something cool one day, whether it be a hidden outpost, special tech or a secret destination:
- Hadesian Artifact — The mystery of what happened in Hades has been one of the great archeological puzzles ever since the system was discovered in the early 26th Century. The evidence suggests that the Hadesians nearly erased their entire civilization in devastating civil war that left a planet cracked in half, but so many questions remained. Who were these Hadesians? How did the war get started? Over the centuries, even the public became enamored by the mystery of this system. This curiosity was inflamed when scientists recently discovered a lone Hadesian artifact on the black market of all places. Trinket manufacturers quickly tried to capitalize on the resurgence of interest by building exact copies of the artifact for sale to the public, even replicating the unidentified symbols along the base…
As for the goal after that ($46 million), the vote options include updated scanner software, a new role-specific outfit, engine tuning kit, a ship skin or a space plant. You can vote now right here.
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Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes.
Source: RSI