PFEU

Mercurio's Corner

Don't drink fly: we all know where it's been!

The last thing I remember was flying my Quad into Toulan's atmosphere, when I came across a stash of snable-brew I'd forgotten about in the hold. Suddenly, I find myself sitting here in Port Atlantis and very conscious of just how fast the planet is spinning on its axis. Must have been one hell of a bender. Anyone know what day it is?

Merc's Tips

The reason for such a spry portrait (above) is to demonstrate that it doesn't matter who information is coming from as long as that information can survive experimental observation. So, if you can see past Merc's somewhat inebriated posture to question the factual accuracy of what he has to say; congratulations! You've just passed a most important test. Never accept anything as true which cannot be verified by practical application and never, ever accept anything simply because of who it's coming from as everyone is human and everyone has their moments when they are not at their best. This is Merc's first and foremost tip.

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Merc's New Hunting Activity: The Great BugHunt in Star Citizen

This is not one of my usual hunts and it's not even in Entropia Universe. For anyone who might have been wondering where I've been, this past few years, this is it. With funding for many of the PFEU's activities dried up, I've taken up residence in Star Citizen which, as at the time of writing, is still very much in alpha and, by my estimates, several years from release. Here's my bio over in Star Citizen:
Mercurio Morat: Not such a Star Citizen?

If you are looking for a game to play, Star Citizen's definitely not ready - at least, not for everyone. There are, of course, always those who think Star Citizen is perfect no matter what state it's in! However, if you enjoy chasing down bugs, contributing your confirmation to bug reports or writing original bug reports for bugs that have not yet been reported, Star Citizen is where the action is to be found.

So why Star Citizen?

The thing which drew me to Star Citizen is specified in more detail in the Stretch Goals for the Star Citizen project. Briefly, the game ticks a laundry list of boxes:

• Multi-mode gameplay, like Entropia Universe (i.e. ships, vehicles and on-foot)
• Multiple planets and moons, like Entropia Universe.
• Newtonian Physics model
• Walk-around space ships - you're not glued to the pilot seat as your ship moves through space
• The vastness of space is unlimited, relative to ship speeds (both Newtonian and Relativistic)
• Planetoid-sized planets using persistent procedural tech to generate vast landscapes
• Analogue ship and vehicle control - i.e. proper joystick and pedal integration
• 6DoF (Oups, 7DoF now that real time power throttling is a thing)
• Multiple flight modes (i.e. Space, Atmospheric and the latest WIP: Hover Mode)
• Most ships can be acquired through gameplay and this will be true for all ships once ship pledges are discontinued
• The abundance of ships that don't cost thousands of dollars as pledge rewards
• No hitscan mechanics
• No character skill levels: Only player skill and strategy count

The thing that struck me the most, from the above list, was being able to walk the decks of my own ship as she hurtled through space. If these little things are what you are looking for in a game or if some of the other items on the stretch goal list jump out at you AND() if you're enjoy hunting bugs and aren't ready to take things too seriously, just yet; it's probably worth signing up and making a pledge. For what it's worth (an extra 40 PED), the following code will get you 5000 UEC starting money:

STAR-LBCY-C93V

If you wish to enlist now, copy the above and paste it into the correct box over at:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/enlist

If you want access to the Persistent Universe then, once you've enlisted (above), you'll also have to pledge for a game package:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/pledge/game-packages

Just remember, this is an alpha test environment which is infested with bugs, so if you are looking for playability and immersion, it might be better to wait a while longer. However, if you enjoy bug hunting and having a good laugh at some of the sillier bugs, now's the time before they're all gone.

For those who may be interested, I go into more detail, about the intended features, over on my site:
http://sc.tomasius.space

For those who may be interested in an analysis of the project's viability, I cover this on my site as well:
http://diligence.tomasius.space