Welcome to the November 2021 Star Citizen Progress Report
This is the 11th progress report about Star Citizen & Squadron 42 in the series.
Information for this report comes from the SC FOCUS features completion page which has been updated again here: https://scfocus.org/star-citizen-s42-features-complete/
Stretch Goal Completion Scoring
Completion for Star Citizen & Squardon 42 is scored based on a total of 104 features that were chosen to represent major gameplay milestones for both projects.
Previous Star Citizen & S42 reports:
Progress in this reporting period
Five tracked features were marked as in game this report:
- Bombing Runs (SC & S42)
- Medical (SC & S42)
- Locker Inventory (SC & S42)
- Living Economy (SC only)
- Insurance (SC only)
Insurance could have been marked before but really both long term claims and rental claims are working.
Living economy is only just starting to feel noticeable. As players rush to certain types of trade the demand and supply seems affected.
Star Citizen & Squadron 42 Report Conclusion
Star Citizen is roughly 48% complete as of November 2021 (Alpha 3.15).
This represents an increase of 5% on the previous report from August 2021 which covered up to Alpha 3.14.
The pace of feature completion as tracked by this page has increased somewhat. Progress is slow, but not as slow as before.
Playability Score
Playability Score: 3/5 - Barely Playable
- Player Count (1/5)
- The Economy (3/5)
- Flight Model (4/5)
- Dogfighting (3/5)
- FPS Combat (3/5)
- AI (3/5)
Playability - How Playable is Star Citizen Alpha 3.15?
Alpha 3.15 brings quite a flurry of features since 3.14. Medical gameplay as well as inventory really add to the MMORPG feeling and the death mechanic makes consequence more serious. Star Citizen is finally starting to feel like a real game.
Bugs and Instability
Star Citizen Alpha 3.15 still has the Alpha label. As such instability is expected as the game is still some time away from complete.
Overall playability score for Star Citizen remains unchanged at 3/5. It was tempting not to raise this to a 4/5.
The game continues to be for testers due to bugs and fast development cycle (including resets).
3/5
Player Count
Player counts are still 50 players per server. Far from anything that can be considered an MMO. This shows the infancy of the Alpha still.
This is constantly the area of the project with the least progress again.
1/5
The Economy
With the introduction of sell timers roughly based on supply and demand due in some part to player activity, the economy certainly feels more real. Character death consequences and looting has introduced more advanced gameplay elements. This category is being raised from 2 out of 5 to 3 out of 5. Once vehicle and item selling are in game it could be raised again to 4/5.
3/5
Flight Model
The flight model in Alpha 3.15 seems to feel more accurate than previous patches. Some ships still have major issues and wind resistance seems artificial still.
This category is being raised to 4 out of 5. For a 5 out of 5 score it needs to have the physics issues finalized. Ships fly well enough for the game to be somewhat played.
This rating could be revised back down in the future.
4/5
Dogfighting
Dogfighting experience seems mostly the same. Improvements seem on the horizon.
3/5
FPS Combat
FPS motion and combat seem somewhat improved. NPC FPS combat is still very unstable.
3/5
AI
AI are improving but still suffer from severe server bugs. With more reliability and less latency this could easily be a 4.
3/5
November 2021 Report Conclusion
The rate of progress over the course of recent patches has sped up. Alpha 3.15 (even with a small 3.16) delivers a substantial amount of gameplay features that were tracked for Feature Completion of both games.
A total of 5 features were marked as complete with 3 being essential to Squadron 42 and 2 being complete for both games.
The only progress report (since the start of these reports) to have more completion than this report was November 2018.
This brings the total completion to about 48%.
Progress appears to be speeding up but is still slow.
Caveats
The list of 104 features used to track "progress" in this report are listed at the Star Citizen Completion Features Percentage Page. This is a highly simplified list of features out of thousands of technical, art and gameplay features that the game(s) will end up having. 104 features were chosen as a simplified average set of gameplay features that the author guesses are plausibly required in the final games to be considered "complete".
The data is gathered as objectively as possible and is non-promotional in nature. This information is purely speculative based on personal criteria. Opinion can and should vary. It is provided for free and actually costs time and money to maintain.
Disclaimer
As always, this article does not represent the official views of Star Citizen. It is provided as speculation to help SC FOCUS org plan the strategy going forward. This information is provided to readers openly and freely and each reader is free to form their own opinion.