SaltEMike critically reviews the recent Star Citizen roadmap and monthly report, praising the focus on exploration and mission variety but criticizing the slow progress on core gameplay systems and the prioritization of ship sales and marketing over essential fixes. He expresses skepticism about upcoming features, highlighting concerns over unfinished content, stagnant development of fundamental mechanics, and the game’s reliance on cosmetic and ship sales to sustain development.
In the video, SaltEMike provides a detailed overview of the recent Star Citizen roadmap and monthly report updates. He begins by discussing the bi-weekly release view, highlighting various committed features such as maintenance missions, animal population control, and improvements to the mission system. He appreciates the emphasis on non-handholding, old-school MMO-style missions that encourage player exploration and problem-solving, and suggests that future base maintenance could involve more interactive, repair-based gameplay like fuses and pipes. He also notes the potential for biome-specific resource locations, inspired by Starfield’s biome scanning system, which could make resource hunting more manageable and immersive.
SaltEMike then reviews the new ships added to Wiccolo’s Emporium, including the Starlancer Max, Saber Firebird, and others, mentioning his plan to switch to an alternate account for a fresh experience and to better evaluate the game’s progression systems. He points out that many of the ships listed are already available or have been released, and criticizes the practice of retroactively adding old content to the roadmap as a way to inflate perceived progress. He also discusses upcoming features like radiation gameplay, sandbox activities, and new locations, but notes that most of these are still in early stages or are yet to be seen in the live environment.
Moving into the monthly report, SaltEMike covers a wide range of topics including AI improvements, ship AI behaviors, and the development of new ship art and creatures. He mentions ongoing work on AI reactions, ship navigation, and new tools for designers, such as nav spline creators. He also talks about the progress of unannounced ships, the continued development of the Pioneer, and the upcoming Invictus ship releases. He expresses skepticism about the current focus on new content, arguing that many core gameplay systems like quantum travel, ship claiming, and economy improvements are either stagnant or not progressing as expected, which he attributes to the prioritization of Squadron 42 over the persistent universe.
In the core gameplay section, SaltEMike criticizes the lack of meaningful updates on critical systems like quantum travel and freight elevators, suggesting that most work appears to be aimed at supporting Squadron 42 rather than enhancing the PU. He highlights improvements to ship damage behaviors, flight physics, and atmospheric flight, but remains skeptical about the overall direction, especially given the ongoing issues with bugs and unfinished features. He also discusses the new spaceflight mode and the overhaul of flight control surfaces, which aim to make flying more realistic, but questions how much of these changes will actually reach the live game and improve player experience.
Finally, SaltEMike expresses frustration with the focus on UI and visual effects work that primarily benefits ship sales and marketing rather than fixing fundamental gameplay issues. He criticizes the prioritization of unique UI styles for upcoming vehicles over essential bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements, which he believes hampers the game’s long-term success. He argues that the game’s development is hampered by a reliance on selling ships and cosmetic items, and that the UI team’s efforts are often diverted to support marketing rather than addressing core player needs. Overall, he hopes for more focus on fixing the game and delivering the features promised, rather than continually adding superficial content to sustain revenue.