Chris Roberts explains Star Citizen dogfighting module delay
"It would be foolish to release an unstable build."
Cloud Imperium Games has delayed the release of the dogfighting module of Star Citizen.
Arena Commander, as it's known, had been due out today, but development chief Chris Roberts delayed its release because of a number of critical issues with the game.
As of last night there were still two bugs that prevented the game from working, and half a dozen critical issues. "Our biggest issue today is a newly developed DirectX crash which breaks the single player Vanduul Swarm mode every backer will be given access to," Roberts explained in a blog post on RobertsSpaceIndustries.com.
"It would be foolish to release an unstable build, even if pre-alpha for the sake of meeting an internal deadline," he continued.
"This is the power of the crowdfunding that made Star Citizen possible: a publisher would make us ship tomorrow regardless of the current build quality... but as you are all focused on quality rather than a financial return for shareholders we are able to take a few more days to deliver something that is stable.
"I know that's not the news you wanted to hear tonight. No-one would like to see the community get their hands on Arena Commander more than I would.
"This is what can happen with an open development process, especially when we are sharing code and content long before one normally would in traditional development. But I don't think you would want it any other way!
"The Star Citizen team feeds off of your incredible enthusiasm and your energy for the project... and we want more than anything to see what happens when you get into space."
Roberts said the production team will provide daily updates until the Arena Commander module comes out. These updates will include a list of bugs, so backers can see blockers resolved as they're fixed.
CIG has yet to announce a new release date.
