Until now, when Peter tried to get into Star Citizen, he hit a wall every time. But with Alpha Update 3.19, there’s light at the end of the tunnel!
Before you can have fun with a game, you first have to know the rules. This principle is as old as gaming itself, from card playing to the earliest form of football. In the age of video games, it applies all the more, because huge, complicated projects like Star Citizen tend to be too overwhelming to get started, they need explanation. So you need something that Star Citizen hasn’t offered for years: a tutorial.
In the so-called release view for the upcoming patch 3.19, developer Cloud Imperium Games gives hope to all newbies: The “New Player Experience” mentioned there sounds like music to my ears (The official roadmap for the space MMO) describes the point as follows:
“An initiative to improve the initial (first 30 minutes) gameplay experience to help players understand the context of the world and familiarise them with some of the basic features of Star Citizen. This update focuses on the experience in Area 18 and Baijini Point. “
What this means? Star Citizen is getting a tutorial (again) And this is not only good news for everyone who wants to play the alpha of the giant project for the first time – but also for everyone who is impatiently waiting for the final release. I’ll explain why in my column, if you take two minutes to do so.
A difficult start
Those who want to play Star Citizen must either be patient themselves or at least bring along a patient friend to show them all the tricks of the trade when it comes to controls and bug avoidance. Alternatively, you can go to game forums and YouTube to acquire the necessary knowledge to not get lost in the alpha of Chris Roberts’ great space dream.
Because there is no (once existing) tutorial for new players and this has always been explained conclusively in the past: the ongoing development would make such an entry aid useless within a short time if the designers at Cloud Imperium Games were to change the gameplay or the interface again.
This always made sense, but it was also no consolation to players who, when they started Star Citizen, felt as if they were being dropped off in front of the north face of the Eiger with three metres of rope and a plastic hammer: “So, now start climbing!” Guides from experienced players like the one at GlobalESportNews can help, but they are no panacea either:
What new players need
What exactly this new start to the game might look like is something only the developers know so far. Whether the new tutorial will end up being just a few text windows or will actually give the player clear instructions with NPCs or even a mini-quest on what to do after waking up in the avatar’s bed, we will only find out in the course of 2023.
But the announcement of such a new entry is for me also a pleasing signal with a much greater meaning: Star Citizen seems to be slowly striving towards the mass market. The developers obviously know that they can no longer rely only on the hardcore fans who are already creating their own gaming fun in the unfinished MMO universe.
On the contrary, they are preparing everything so that the increasing popularity of the game (over one million players in 2022) will flush hitherto uninitiated spaceship fans onto the servers, who should then have the best possible starting experience. It could be the first step on the long road to the live state that Star Citizen fans have been waiting for for many years.
What’s holding you back from playing Star Citizen at the moment? Would you welcome a tutorial or an introduction to the game or should the developers focus on more important things? Let me know in the comments
