Cloud Imperium Games, the developers of Star Citizen have unveiled the first-person shooter module of their upcoming grand space title, and it is called Star Marine. The developers have posted a slightly lengthy post about the module, covering the various development disciplines that are required to work on the component as well as the technical aspects of art, animation, environment, and movement in a zero-G environment.
"Since the days of Wing Commander, I’ve dreamed of integrating a first person shooter with a space sim. It’s such an exciting idea: you might land your fighter on a carrier and then race into battle to repel alien boarders… or you might put down on a seedy border world and fight off pirates eager to steal your cargo," said Cloud Imperium founder Chris Roberts.
"That’s why we kicked off Star Citizen as a ‘First Person Universe’ right from the start, and it’s why we picked an FPS engine to build on. Star Citizen isn’t like my previous games: you aren’t directly ‘playing’ a ship… you’re controlling a character who is flying a ship. You’ve had first person action against fighters in Arena Commander, you’ve explored your hangar… you’ve even drawn your pistol in combat to take shots at other players and their ships!"
"Where Star Marine differs from Arena Commander is that we’re not launching it in its most basic game. Instead, we’re trying for something more. It includes animation fidelity and attention to detail that you wouldn’t normally expect in an “alpha” gameplay module. There’s even an entire sci-fi sports game with zero-G movement fully simulated and animated in there! (And don’t worry, there’s traditional FPS action too… with some new ideas that aim to set Star Citizen apart from the crowd.)"
An interesting aspect of Star Marine is a sport called SATA Ball, which is played in a zero-G arena where two teams must race towards the ball in the center in order to control it. They can use a grappling hook to move around.
More details on the game's FPS elements can be found here.
