While there has been no gameplay loop developed for data running just yet in Cloud Imperium Games’ ambitious space simulation game Star Citizen, for a few years now we have been able to take to the stars loaded with secure servers in the DRAKE Herald. While this is a wonderful ship in its own right and one I would consider a good single-focus early-game ship, we finally have a ship in the next tier up regarding data running. This time it comes from the in-universe ship manufacturer Crusader, the Mercury Star Runner, which was added into the game as flyable in Alpha 3.11.
As the newest ship introduced into the Star Citizen universe, this easily outshines previously released ships both cheaper and at its price point, in terms of both functionality and design. While perhaps not a ship one would want to spend cooped up weeks inside, it offers a sizable cargo bay, a lot of server racks, a scanning station and a winding network of hidden passages for those who know where to look. It may still come second to the Anvil Carrack, but the Mercury Star Runner is easily one of my favourite ships in Star Citizen to this date.
In development by Cloud Imperium Games and their studios across North America and Europe, Star Citizen is being helmed by Wing Commander (1990s) creator Chris Roberts. The game has currently been in a long-term alpha phase with no confirmed release date. Despite this, the studio has raised more than $300 million USD through on-going crowdfunding.
Take That (In-Game) Snap Daily Photo is an off-shoot of the Take That (In-Game) Snap article series, in which the first article focusing on Final Fantasy XIV was recently published. This looks at, celebrates and critiques how video game developers have implemented professional photography-like systems into their games. It will cover how the systems handle, just how accessible they are and, where applicable, how a modding community might be making these tools even better. With this Daily Photo spin-off series, I will be sharing individual photos from the games either covered or soon-to-be-covered.
