RSI Opens up in-house development schedule for Star Citizen

[HalGameGuru]

RSI (Roberts Space Industries), the development house behind Star Citizen, has just announced it will be opening up its in-house development schedule to the prying eyes of the public, esp. their backers, to combat a lot of the mistaken or out-of-context timing and scheduling announcements people bandy about.

 

On the website will be a constantly adjusting and live, to within a week or so, development schedule with all the pitfalls and delays bare for all to witness.

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/schedule-report

 

Spoiler

Quote

Star Citizen Newsletter - Letter from The Chairman November 18th, 2016

Greetings Citizens,

Four years ago today the initial Crowd Funding Campaign for Star Citizen came to a close with equal amounts of exhilaration and exhaustion. I am always humbled by the incredible response that Star Citizen received from space sim fans and PC gamers. The groundswell that swept up the project from its announcement and carried it forward ever since has been something the team and I have never taken for granted. Thanks to all of your support, we’ve been able to expand the scope of Star Citizen to create a living, breathing universe. No other game tries to deliver the scale and fidelity that Star Citizen does with its detailed worlds that can have you walking through a dense jungle, wandering the dark alleyways of a futuristic city, landing on a space station orbiting a moon, or piloting a space ship across vast star systems teeming with activity, all from a seamless first person viewpoint. Your contributions have enabled us to hire some of the best and brightest in the video game business. The planetary tech we showed at Gamescom and CitizenCon is a prime example of something that only became possible with your continued support.  We now stand at four internal studios and 377 employees all dedicated to building the best game we can. We are not building something to be played for a week and then discarded, we are building Star Citizen to be an online destination that can grow and flourish for years to come. With this ambition comes a price. Not just in the salaries of the hundreds of people pouring their hearts into the project, but in the unpredictability of the groundbreaking technology that we need to develop to achieve a game of this scale and detail.  We have taken a lot of flak over the last couple of years for the extending timeline of Star Citizen, but the simple fact is that game development, especially game development on the scale of Star Citizen, is complicated.  If you talk to any developer that works on large titles they will tell you that schedules, especially early in the development cycle, move all the time.  Most people never see this because a publisher won’t announce a project publicly until it is very far along; normally at least in Alpha, with all the technology and gameplay R&D completed. Even then, the timelines can be unpredictable as can be seen in the delays on big name titles from publishers. With Star Citizen, we never had the luxury of developing behind closed doors until all the technology has been built. We’ve been public since before we opened the doors of our first office in early 2013. Having the participation and feedback from all of you as we build Star Citizen block by block is vital to making a game that will stand the test of time. Polish and iteration help make good games great and we have the opportunity to do this with the participation of an engaged and active user base. That’s a luxury that most other games don’t have. Open Development does have its drawbacks. Not everyone understands the process or how difficult it can be. We have always tried to be open and share our progress. We refactored Around the Verse to focus more on developers showing and talking about their work to help give insight into the process. Our monthly reports have more information than any monthly report I had to do for Electronic Arts or Microsoft when at Origin or Digital Anvil. The only thing we currently don’t share is internal estimates on completion and dates. As you know we’ve not been keen to give hard dates on the project after the initial set of dates which we had estimated when the project was a lot smaller in scope.  When I’ve talked about releases, I’ve always qualified any discussion of timing with “we’re hoping to” or “the goal is” to give a rough timeline for people, but unfortunately some people often tend to forget the qualifiers and treated my comments nonetheless as a promise. Because of this we have been reticent to share our internal timelines, even with caveats, as it always seems to cause trouble; one section of the community gets annoyed because things are perceived as late while another gets annoyed wondering why we shared dates at all if they aren’t solid.  Of course even when we don’t give dates we have yet another part of the community getting annoyed because they feel left in the dark and have no idea when the next build will drop. Basically it is a Kobayashi Maru. I’ve reflected long and hard on this dilemma and have concluded, to quote another Eighties film, “the only winning move is not to play.” What if we didn't give you just an estimated date, but instead shared our internal schedule? No filter, no hedging. You see what we see. Whether or not to share this kind of information has been a long running debate among the team here at Cloud Imperium Games. Target dates are not release dates, and everything you see will shift at some point, sometimes slightly and sometimes wildly. The danger in doing this has always been that casual observers will not understand this, that there will be an outcry about delays every time we update the page. We’ve taken stock, thought through everything and decided that, while that is a risk, above all we trust the community that has given us so much support. The community that has let us focus our passions on this incredible project. You have allowed us to take this journey, you have tracked and followed so much of how game development works… and now we think it is right to further part the curtain and share with you our production process. So for Star Citizen Alpha 2.6 we’re going to share our internal schedule and its breakouts on a weekly basis. These are the very same schedules we update daily and are circulated internally on our intra-studio hand-offs with a few exceptions: the individual developer names assigned to the tasks will be omitted (for obvious reasons), we’ll remove the JIRA details and we’ll modify the technical wording to make it readable for a wider audience, but otherwise, when something changes, slips or is completed, you will know. This schedule will always be available on the RSI Website and we will be updating this page weekly with a snap shot of our internal schedule. We take the process of production very seriously and spend a lot of time on improving our ability in this area. Our worldwide Production Team is twenty-five strong and they are the backbone that drives our development forward. They work closely with developers to break down and create tasks, chase up task completion daily, update their respective team’s schedules, encourage and strengthen open communication by organizing meetings, agendas, and creating action items to help push the project forward day by day. The Production Team has many collective years with some of the biggest developers, publishers and games. They are like the rest of the CIG team, World Class. Game development is, at its very heart, a process of constant improvement. We view our communications as part of this process, whether that means improving the quality of our videos or finding new ways to share information with our community. I hope you enjoy this new, even more detailed look at Star Citizen’s development. If this initiative is well received, then we will continue this process as we move onto the next milestone.

 

Good to see they are trying to keep transparent about the massively red-shifting release date and I hope this keeps all sides on an even keel, but for the naysayers it doesn't do much to guarantee the return on investment aside from removing all the middlemen and fog of war from the schedule as we, the public, understands it.

[AlexGoesHigh]

Good.

 

Now people can see why big games take a lot of time to make, especially one that's doing thing never done before.

[zMeul]

I'll eat my fez if RSI finishes StarCitizen in 2016

[HalGameGuru]

9 minutes ago, zMeul said:

I'll eat my fez if RSI finishes StarCitizen in 2016

I think that's only in relation to that specific version and revision, not the title as a whole. 2.6.0, further down they specifically talk about later versions 3.0 on past 4.0

[zMeul]

7 minutes ago, HalGameGuru said:

I think that's only in relation to that specific version and revision, not the title as a whole. 2.6.0, further down they specifically talk about later versions 3.0 on past 4.0

so .. 2018 ish?! 

[HalGameGuru]

14 minutes ago, zMeul said:

so .. 2018 ish?! 

Maybe, wouldn't hazard a guess, myself. I look forward to eventually tooling around in space. Hopefully before we can tool around in ACTUAL space.

[dtaflorida]

It's all for show. The overview and subsections are a sham. In reality all sections are under development at all times, this just makes more work for someone to come update the charts to extend each of the sections periodically. 

 

Go through the charts. There no no parts that are completed and done. Each one just gets longer with time, and we get more bars with more scope creep. It's a programmer's paradise there: lots of development and no deadlines.

[HalGameGuru]

7 minutes ago, dtaflorida said:

It's all for show. The overview and subsections are a sham. In reality all sections are under development at all times, this just makes more work for someone to come update the charts to extend each of the sections periodically. 

 

Go through the charts. There no no parts that are completed and done. Each one just gets longer with time, and we get more bars with more scope creep. It's a programmer's paradise there: lots of development and no deadlines.

Those are for specific versions in development, the ones that are done, like say 2.5 or whichever the last release was, isn't listed.

[WereCat]

19 minutes ago, huilun02 said:

Which will release first? 

DayZ

Half Life 3

Star Citizen

 

Place your bets! 

Cyberpunk 2077

[Senzelian]

6 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Which will release first? 

DayZ

Half Life 3

Star Citizen

 

Place your bets! 

Star Life Z

[sof006]

Everyone has no faith and are betting the game won't release. It will release, its taken Square Enix nearly 10 years to release Final Fantasy 15 since it was announced back in 2006 with a cinematic trailer. I have confidence in the development team.

[Doobeedoo]

I love how ships look, also interior and every details they've put so far. Excited for this game, love that it's also a flight part with on ground gameplay with more depth.

[AlwaysFSX]

So they have a plan for the next two decades?

[Hackman8081]

8 hours ago, WereCat said:

Cyberpunk 2077

I really want to see that one come out. Love this wallpaper.

 

 

 

 

[Prysin]

I love how Chris Roberts, even after a decade, still cling to the dark blue semi transparent early 2000s "space hud" with neon light blue text on it.

Gives me real hope that SC isnt going to be just another remake of Freelancer.

[shermantanker]

I haven't put any money into the game yet, and am holding off until late next year most likely. But this is good to see, and will help with the crap the game gets. I was never really worried they wouldn't finish the game, but I fully expect it to take a long time to finish. And every e3/citizen con presentation I see just blows my mind. The videos the just dropped on the capital ships are crazy.

[Trik'Stari]

21 hours ago, AlexGoesHigh said:

Good.

 

Now people can see why big games take a lot of time to make, especially one that's doing thing never done before.

^ SO. MUCH. THIS.

 

People need to stop nay saying and get on board with this game. We MUST get behind this game and push it to be the very fucking best thing it can possibly be. We need to help them put forth a master class of what triple A gaming can be.

 

We need something that will put the likes of EA, Ubisoft, Activision and even Bethesda to fucking shame. And not just at a "well reviewers say it's great" level, but a "holy shit, everyone stopped playing our games and is playing this" level. Something that will sap all the other major titles of players and money, and make the industry snap out of this fucking slump of half ass, money grab dev style that it has been in.

[kuddlesworth9419]

1 hour ago, Trik'Stari said:

^ SO. MUCH. THIS.

 

People need to stop nay saying and get on board with this game. We MUST get behind this game and push it to be the very fucking best thing it can possibly be. We need to help them put forth a master class of what triple A gaming can be.

 

We need something that will put the likes of EA, Ubisoft, Activision and even Bethesda to fucking shame. And not just at a "well reviewers say it's great" level, but a "holy shit, everyone stopped playing our games and is playing this" level. Something that will sap all the other major titles of players and money, and make the industry snap out of this fucking slump of half ass, money grab dev style that it has been in.

I strongly disagree. Showing caution is the best thing to do right now. When the game is released and the reviews are all good then get hyped up but so far the game hasn't delivered on much of what they have promised so far. Things can go tits up like a lot of Kickstarters have. Feature creep is also a thing.

[Trik'Stari]

17 minutes ago, kuddlesworth9419 said:

I strongly disagree. Showing caution is the best thing to do right now. When the game is released and the reviews are all good then get hyped up but so far the game hasn't delivered on much of what they have promised so far. Things can go tits up like a lot of Kickstarters have. Feature creep is also a thing.

They'll go tits up from people not getting on board goddamnit.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

23 hours ago, AlexGoesHigh said:

Good.

 

Now people can see why big games take a lot of time to make, especially one that's doing thing never done before.

I would save that quote for release day. Once the game is out and great, you can say "See? That's what takes time, but here it is".

 

Until then, it can still be either that or another case of "I know I promised the house would be finished by today, but look, I'm building a manor now!". After all, the survival of a Ponzi scheme depends not only on getting new participants, but also telling old ones "sure, you could cash out now if you want, but you'll miss the 9000% return that it's still to come!". Turning development into a reality show is no final proof that it will go one way or the other.

[Avcn42]

They're called CIG (Cloud Imperium Games). RSI is a fictional company.

[HalGameGuru]

2 hours ago, Andrevcn said:

They're called CIG (Cloud Imperium Games). RSI is a fictional company.

CIG is the umbrella but the release and information was direct from RSI, no CIG mention anywhere, even in the fine print. And RSI owns the copyright. When I get info from CIG instead of RSI they will be cited. If ABC reports something I don't cite Disney.

[Hackman8081]

I am a backer of the game, it is a project that I follow but I am not prepared to put further $$ into it until something tangible arrives that is playable without the ever present issues. My concern is that Chris Roberts is a perfectionist and  nothing will ever be good enough for him. Feature creep is definitely happening, I do believe the game will arrive one day, not sure if I will live to see it since I do have some health problems.

[Avcn42]

16 hours ago, HalGameGuru said:

CIG is the umbrella but the release and information was direct from RSI, no CIG mention anywhere, even in the fine print. And RSI owns the copyright. When I get info from CIG instead of RSI they will be cited. If ABC reports something I don't cite Disney.

"Whether or not to share this kind of information has been a long running debate among the team here at Cloud Imperium Games.". The site was given the name of this fictional ship manufacturer RSI, which is why you see RSI logos etc everywhere, but who's actually saying something is CIG. And as far as I know...there's no company within CIG called RSI that owns any copyrights....Please, do correct me if I'm wrong though. Thanks

[dizmo]

Eh. This excited me until I actually read the article. So this is for one version of the game, and there's still 2 more with who knows how many after that? Oy. I get that games take a while to come out, but it's already been a decade and they have a massive, massive budget.

I watched some SC stuff yesterday and got excited. Then I remembered how long they've been at it. Now I see they're half way done? So, a 2026 release? Probably pushed back even further because they'll have to recode for whatever comes out over that decade?

Not only that, but what happens when the game finishes? Most people will have already put their money into it, so there won't be as huge of an influx of sales. Essentially cutting off Roberts income. He has no real motivation or push to finish.

Nah.

 

On 2016-11-18 at 3:02 PM, HalGameGuru said:

I think that's only in relation to that specific version and revision, not the title as a whole. 2.6.0, further down they specifically talk about later versions 3.0 on past 4.0

Are you pretty into the game? Do they have any expected dates for the other versions?

On 2016-11-19 at 11:15 AM, Prysin said:

I love how Chris Roberts, even after a decade, still cling to the dark blue semi transparent early 2000s "space hud" with neon light blue text on it.

Gives me real hope that SC isnt going to be just another remake of Freelancer.

I wish it was. Freelancer continues to be one of my favorite space games.

On 2016-11-19 at 0:29 PM, Trik'Stari said:

^ SO. MUCH. THIS.

 

People need to stop nay saying and get on board with this game. We MUST get behind this game and push it to be the very fucking best thing it can possibly be. We need to help them put forth a master class of what triple A gaming can be.

 

We need something that will put the likes of EA, Ubisoft, Activision and even Bethesda to fucking shame. And not just at a "well reviewers say it's great" level, but a "holy shit, everyone stopped playing our games and is playing this" level. Something that will sap all the other major titles of players and money, and make the industry snap out of this fucking slump of half ass, money grab dev style that it has been in.

You're not worried that they'll see this as a huge, huge cash cow? This is essentially no different than preordering, except there's no release date. So, I'd argue it's even worse.

14 hours ago, Hackman8081 said:

I am a backer of the game, it is a project that I follow but I am not prepared to put further $$ into it until something tangible arrives that is playable without the ever present issues. My concern is that Chris Roberts is a perfectionist and  nothing will ever be good enough for him. Feature creep is definitely happening, I do believe the game will arrive one day, not sure if I will live to see it since I do have some health problems.

Same here. "Oh look, VR is big now...I'll have to add that. Sorry guys, it'll take another two years at least."

I just see this as a never ending project for him.