13) Star Citizen- Mustang Beta review

Mustang Beta:

The Beta is a Mustang variant designed for exploration. It's a light structure with an S2 powerplant to maximise distance travelled. The Beta will soon be fitted with a Tarsus Leaper Jump Engine to boost space coverage and to breach the boundaries of exploration. It comes with a measly S1 unmanned turret but can also be fitted with 2*fixed mount guns to slightly compensate. The shields drain fast leaving it quite exposed to attack however the speed and manouverability of this ship can probably shake off most tailers. To conclude: the cheap price and jump drive make it quite attractive but be careful around danger zones. Great for one man exploration with nice living quarters.

The Delta variant next: http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2016/01/14-star-citizen-mustang-delta-review.html

12) Star Citizen- Mustang Alpha review

Mustang Alpha:

A true starter ship in my eyes. I much prefer this to the aurora starter as i prefer the sleek design and fast manouverability. The Alpha comes with 2* S1 fixed mounts and an S1 unmanned turret, decent for getting a feel for the dogfighting environment. I find the Alpha very fast and easy to control with a better weapons system than the Aurora Mr however the armour is awful, hence the name 'paper ship'.  The Mustang just falls apart so easily but I guess armour is sacrificed for the crazy speed and agility this bullet has to offer. It's great to start off in and get a feel for the controls but when you have the opportunity I would probably upgrade.

Mustang Beta variant next: http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/13-star-citizen-mustang-beta-review.html

11) Star Citizen- Drake Herald review

Drake Herald:

The Herald is one of the only ships designed for the transportation of information. It is quite small and compact however can still contain 2 people. It features heavy armour and shields for protection but also a reasonable speed for escaping data thieves. The Herald also has a powerful data encrypter which can be wiped in threat of capture. The ship's guns are pretty average (3 S1 gimbals) but what can you expect; it's not a fighter. Future developments might include an advanced jump drive so there's still more to look forward too. I'm definately excited to see how data transportation works and hope to see a few of these around and with the cheap price i suppose i will.

Mustang Alpha next: http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/star-citizen-mustang-alpha-review.html

10) Star Citizen- P-52 Merlin review

P-52 Merlin:

The merlin is one of the smallest, lightest ships in the game. And the smaller the size generaly speaking, the better the agility. This is very much the case for the merlin. Its designed to be a short range snub fighter which is ideal for fast paced combat and can easily be consealed in a large carrier ship. It can be equipped with 2 S1 and 1 S2 fixed guns and what it lacks in armour it redeems in speed. With this ship you can run rings around the enemy and easily outmanouvre their guns before releasing the lasers. Safety is in numbers when it comes to the merlin, its probably not too safe alone however the price is rock bottom so consider maybe for a starting ship, they were originally meant to pair with the constellations. Also, the merlin makes a fairly decent racer in my opinion. What I love most about this ship is the design; there's not that many ships which are as aerodynamic and as sleek as this. So much style;)

Drake Herald review next: http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/11-star-citizen-drake-herald-review.html

9) Star Citizen- Gladius ship review

Gladius:

The Aegis Gladius is the UEEs' current light fighter on the front lines. It's an old design which has constantly been improved and updated over time and has seen extensive use against the Vanduul forces. It's now available for civilians...

The gladius is a perfect short range dogfighter built for interdiction and speed. This ship is only a one seater but sacrifices space for nimble agility and a decent weapons loadout. The gladius can be fitted with 2* CF-007 size 2 fixed mounted guns underwing, a size 1 nose gimbal and 2* size 2 pylons. It makes the perfect escort ship and dogfighter and is not too expensive. This ship can cause a lot of damage when put into the hands of a good pilot but its also decent for beginners.

The P-52 Merlin review next: http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/star-citizen-p-52-merlin-review.html

8) Star Citizen- Avenger Stalker review

The Avenger stalker:

This ship was first designed by Aegis for military transport but was later used as a standard patrol ship for the UEE Advocacy. It's primary focus is interdiction and comes with 4 prisoner pods. This is the perfect ship for bounty hunters as it features an advanced scanning system and powerful engines which can reach a considerable speed. The Aegis Avenger has 2× size 2 and 3× size 3 guns and a size 3 shield for a stable defense system. Also the price is considerably cheap so consider if you want to lead an exciting lifestyle without breaking the bank.

Gladius ship review: http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/9-star-citizen-gladius-ship-review.html

7) Star Citizen- Constellations (Andromeda, Phoenix, Aquilla and Taurus)

Star Citizen Constellations

My first ship review however I am going to look at 4 ships instead of 1..
The Constellation ships are the most popular ships on the RSI website. They are multipurpose vessels for 4-5 people whether you are a merchant or an explorer, the constellation will fill your every need.
The constellations come in 4 base types however customisable options are available. They are the Andromeda, the Phoenix, Aquilla and Taurus.

The Andromeda:

The Andromeda is a perfect all rounder for those who aren't quite sure what they want to do or those who don't want to specialise. It doesn't quite have the same amount of firepower as the Phoenix or the same amount of storage as the Taurus, however, there's a reason its the most popular ship: Out of all the constellations this is probably the best value for money, it comes with an RSI jump drive and even a p52-merlin short ranged fighter which can be deployed at any time. The Andromeda can easily hold it's own in a fight so you will be able to travel in perfect safety and comfort.

The Phoenix:

From Richard Branson comes the new era of Virgin Galactic for the billionaires out there. This luxurious cruiser comes with a hot tub a cocktail bar and a lounge to suit all your needs. Or should I say wants... On the more practical side of things the Phoenix comes with an archimedes fighter and a lynx rover for planetary exploration. Expensive dampening technology is used to block sensors from your cargo. This make a perfect flagship for organisations or simply an opportunity to act smug and stick your fingers up out the window, your choice. However the Phoenix does come with a hefty price tag so think about whether it suits you before you buy it.

Aquilla:

The constellation Aqiuilla is designed for exploration. This long distance beast is fitted with a RSI jump drive, p52-merlin fighter, a Ursa rover, long distance scanners, a huge fuel tank complete with an advanced cooling system.  The Aquilla is fitted with a science research room on top which you can swap for a turret (screw science :P) it also has a turret underneath.  This costellation has HUGE cockpit windows almost allowing for a 360 view! Well, you've got to be able to see if your exploring..  People went mad for this ship ever since the advert came out making it the second most popular constellation.

 Taurus:

The Constellation Taurus is the budget constellation dedicated to hauling with a massive hold for cargo. The Taurus is the least popular because everyone seems to spend their money on the more expensive constellations. However the Taurus has over 3 times the cargo space that the phoenix has and with it's scan proof cargo hold it makes the perfect smuggler ship for evading customs. I admit it's not an amazing looking ship but what it lacks in style it makes up for in practicality.

 Thanks for reading, if you are interested i have other posts about Star Citizen which you can view with the archives. It would be great if you could G+1 this, thanks;) comment if you have any questions and i will answer.

Next post:http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/8-star-citizen-avenger-stalker-review.html

6) Star Citizen Multi-Crews

6) Multi-Crews

One of the most exciting aspects of this game, the one which sets it apart from the crowd is the multi-crew system. This means that multiple players will be able to crew a large ship like a constellation or a capital ship. Some ships can support more than 10 people! Its going to make it really fun with friends: exploring the universe together or holding off pirates with your friends in turrets or the co pilots seat. This is certainly going to add an edge of excitement to the game.

There are many stations which the developers are hoping to add into multi-crew vessels: mainly turrets and various different stations for players to interact with. At these stations players will be able to do multiple actions: direct power or shields to different sub stations, control radars to locate and target ships, ewarfare where players can potentially hack enemy systems causing their ship to malfunction or even completely disable.

On board the multi-crew ships there are usually living quarters and various things that players can interact with such as beds, tables, chairs, toilets, showers and storage cupboards. Its this kind of detail that makes up the experience and realisticness of the ships. Ships such as the phoenix constellation have luxury living quarters which even include hot tubs for parties and the likes!

These functions make me really excited for the multiplayer on Star Citizen, can't wait to grab a bunch of friends and jump in.
Comment if you have any questions or impressions;)

Next post: http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/star-citizen-constellations-andromeda.html

5) Star Citizen Combat

Star Citizen fps and Ship combat

When the Arena Commander version was released it introduced us to pvp or pvc ship combat. It came with many gamemodes like capure the core and Vanduul swarm (that means aliens to me and you.) what's really special about the ship combat is the level of detail and immersion it has to offer: for example, you could be in a fight and get wings, tailpieces or literally anything blown off. You could get one of the engines damaged which means your ship starts flying at an angle. The damage modules are so realistic and it requires skill to know what to do in these situations. For example you could relocate power to the other side of the ship to compensate for a damaged engine.
 The weapon customisability of the ships is also impressive. Loadouts can be swapped or added in return for cargo space or modules which generally makes the ships much more tweakable and interesting to piss about with.
Realism in these dogfights are great, apart from there being sound in space obviously. Gforce is a great example: turning to fast in a ship can cause the screen to go blury and eventually black as your character passes out.
There are so many videos on Youtube that show just how exciting ship combat can be.

First Person Shooter

Being an fps fan I am really looking forward to the Star Marine module which looks at the first person shooter side of the game. The great thing about this is there is only one map which you can fight in and that's the universe. Yes, you will acctually be able to jump out of your ship and have a fight in 0 gravity, take over capital ships or space stations, defend your ship from pirates, anything anywhere. There are also going to be designated game modes for set up fights such as capture the core (flag). Another great aspect of the fps is the hit markers: shooting different parts of the body cause them to get damaged. This makes it possible to cripple opponents and bring side effects; shooting their legs might make them slower and make it easy to take of will their ship while they chase you. The development team are constantly improving this and adding additional features so im sure that when the game comes out its gonna be great!;)

If you have any questions you can comment down below~

4) Star Citizen Careers

The number of careers and jobs you will be able to take in Star Citizen is absolutely crazy. I will not go into each one in depth as there are just too many. Most are pretty self explanatory. I took this list from a Reddit post:

Mining (Mineral and Fuel)

Salvaging

Research

Pioneer (exploration)

Fighter/Bomber pilot on a carrier

Capital ship roles (pilot, captain, engineer, gunner, crewman, science officer, etc)

Civilian pilot (multicrew ships)

Smuggler

Pirate

"Hacker" - you can use a Drake Herald to intercept communications and steal information.

Businessman (run your own empire by purchasing manufacturing nodes and arranging shipments)

Hauler/trader/merchant

Mechanic/repair specialist

System modification specialist (find the right ways to tweak ship systems to extract the best performance; sell tweaked weapons that work better than stock)

Bounty hunter

Mercenary

Police (can work missions for police forces)

Marine/Soldier/Boarding specialist (specializes in FPS gameplay)

Medic/paramedic

Passenger Transport (some options here include VIP transport in an Origin 890 Jump or mass transport in a Genesis Starliner)

Racer

eSports participant in some of the in-game simulations (SATABall, Star Marine, Arena Commander)

Spy (espionage between organizations)

Organization careers such as leader, recruiter, organizer, general, etc.

I hope this really gives you a sense of scale of the game. You will be able to switch fairly easily between careers but you may need to redeem yourself from illegal activities! I quite like the sound of bounty hunting or exploration myself;)If you dont know what Star Citizen is you may want to have a look at my older posts. You can use the archive on the right side of the website.

Next post: Combat;http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/5-star-citizen-combat.html

3) Star Citizen Story and Multiplayer

Star Citizen will consist of two main components: The story mode and the multiplayer.

The Story mode:

The Story mode revolves around an elite navy force, or Squadron 42 in The United Empire of Earth Navy. The player will be able to contribute in large scale missions but will also have a chance to free roam after serving their time.
The story is not yet clear however this game mode will include a drop in feature where friends can enter your game and assist you in missions. The lore and history in Star Citizen is huge and ties into the storyline but I will not go through it here because this is meant to be a brief explanation.. The cast features stars such as :Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Gary Oldman, Mark Strong, Golem and more to come..

Multiplayer

The multiplayer persistent universe will consist of every player, ON 1 SERVER. Each player can choose their own path in life, whatever career they want. Ultimately everyone contributes to the large scale economy whatever their role. What i like most about the multiplayer is that there's no levels. Yes, every player is on an equal level which means wether you come out on top of a fight or not depends on your skill. No grind AT ALL. Each player can choose wether they are fighters in the navy, miners, bounty hunters, emergency services, explorers, pirates, researchers, or literally anything. At CitizenCon Chris Roberts announced that the space map will measure 1 million km by 1 million km by 200,000 km and the flat area will be 1 trillion square km. The total volume will be 200 quadrillion cubic km, or in an easier perspective; BIG.

My next post will be a brief look at the careers and jobs in Star Citizen:
http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/star-citizen-careers.html

2) What is Star Citizen?

What is Star Citizen?

Star Citizen is an upcoming pc game developed by Chris Roberts, the man who pioneered space sims with great games like Wing Commander. He also directed some REALLY crap films which i will not mention... To sum it up in one sentence: Star Citizen is a huge massively multiplayer game with a player based economy system in a persistent universe with thousands of galaxies and star systems to explore. Players will have the opportunity to literally be a citizen of space, being able to do anything that pleases them: fight aliens in the military, mine and haul materials, salvage ships, go bounty hunting, fly rescue missions, be a pirate, board space stations, race in competitions, explore planets and the edges of the universe and BE part of a whole social economic system. You will even be able to explore places where no player has been before and there were talks about having planets and galaxies named after your player! A world of immersion and realism.

Immersion is said to be a key part of the game: acctualy being a person instead of a ship like Eve online. As a person you will be able to do almost anything from pressing buttons in your cockpit to jumping out in open space and boarding other people's ships with a gun to steal it. The game also has real time newtonian physics modules not only in space but inside your ship. You will be able to literally walk around your ship while its flying and maybe even get some friends onboard, after all the game supports multi crew systems; you could be flying while your friends are in turrets or reconfiguring the shield power. It has so much potential. It also features first person shooter elements and a gripping storyline called Suadron 42, you can even fight in 0 gravity!

One of the things I enjoy most about Star Citizen is the community; there are so many people buzzing with excitement to jump straight into the verse. The number of growing forum pages and Youtube channels are fenomenal and really make a newcomer feel at home. I started out with my favourite Youtubers Boredgamer and TacticalAdvance and still continue to use forum pages like StarCitizenBase to gather with like minded people. The game even allows for individuals to create organisations and even religions in game which people can join.

I, like many others can't wait until the official release. It's already beaten all records for being the most crowdfunded game, already raising over $100 million! I will be doing more posts aimed at newcomers explaining the individual elements to this game and i will give a few ship reviews to those who are unable to decide. Comment if you have any questions, thanks for reading;)

My next posts is about the story and multiplayer modes, you can view it from the archive on the right hand or here: http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/star-citizen-story-and-multiplayer.html

1) Star Citizen, an introduction - CitizenSteve

1)*STAR* Citizen Blog - CitizenSteve

Welcome to my first post! I realised how there are not many resources or discussion pages about Star Citizen so I decided to start my own;)

Over the next few weeks I will cover all aspects of the upcoming Star Citizen game covering gameplay, story mode, ships, careers, environments, organisations, multicrews, dogfighting, constellations and exciting news as it is released. Im pretty pumped about this topic and personally i think it will be the best game ever released. If anyone has any blogs or news feeds about this I would love to  subscribe to them and follow your posts because I want to learn more about this masterpiece. Feel free to comment with questions or just general discussion. It would be great if someone with a little more experience could give me a little guidance and help as i am a noob when it comes to blogs. Thanks guys!

View my next post which is an introduction to the game: http://citizensteve15.blogspot.com/2015/12/what-is-star-citizen.html

Stevey.