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Squadron 42 Will Release in 2026 for PC with 30-40 Hours of Campaign, Prologue Gameplay Revealed

Comandr

Member
Squadron 42? if it actually releases then sure because youd be looking at PS6 by that time more than likely.

Star Citizen probably not.
I think there's a good chance. Even the Steam Deck can kind of run the game, despite being essentially a potato by comparison to what the PS6 would potentially be. SC warns you when launching that the Steam Deck is about 4GB below the minimum ram, its graphics driver is far older than the minimum recommended, and in turn doesn't support the latest vulkan API necessary to utilize that, so you're stuck in DX11. Even despite being massively behind in necessary updates, below minimum spec, and using a less than ideal graphics API, it still runs at 10-30FPS.

And this is before any real legwork has been done to optimize performance specifically.
 
Could consoles handle this game ?

Yes*.

* = PS5 and Series X should have no problems. Optimizing for the Series S would be way more cumbersome than the average open world game because the game eats up a lot of memory, memory leaks and the game crashes as the current PC code is unoptimized as fuck.


Squadron 42? if it actually releases then sure because youd be looking at PS6 by that time more than likely.

Star Citizen probably not.

Both, the singleplayer and the MMO, shouldn't have problems on current gen consoles, even in some heavy CPU bound areas like Loreville.

The most scene complex Pyro instances like dogfights, boots on ground action etc, should currently being doable on these two modern consoles.

This isn't a 2013 situation where the console CPU's were so shit that even absolute garbage architectures like AMD's bulldozer line were better than them.

The PS5 and Series X have a good solid minspec CPU for the game (AMD R5 3700/3600 for both). Even significantly above the minspec for the GPU (RX 6700/RTX 4060 in raster perf for the PS5 and RX 6700 XT in raster perf for Series X) and the SSD, as the game currently doesn't require an NVME drive (requires a SATA III SSD @ 600 MBPS) and take advantage of the DirecStorage API or the DMA counterpart for Vulkan on Linux.

Run the game at 1080p internally, and 4K FSR 3.1 upscaled, uncapped FPS.

This guy does some really good testing for SC and does minspec builds, every year, and his 2024 video dropped a couple of days ago:



Series S' memory and it's bandwidth can be mitigated with a dedicated team for optimization, but it will impact the PC release and backers will be pissed, unless Console manufacturers foot the porting bill.

But the main problem with Console ports, are the CERT process for updates, which takes from days to weeks (in Xbox's case), which is annoying for devs in live service games. Sony and Nintendo have improved a lot in this area in the last two generations.
 
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clarky

Gold Member
Yes*.

* = PS5 and Series X should have no problems. Optimizing for the Series S would be way more cumbersome than the average open world game because the game eats up a lot of memory, memory leaks and the game crashes as the current PC code is unoptimized as fuck.




Both, the singleplayer and the MMO, shouldn't have problems on current gen consoles, even in some heavy CPU bound areas like Loreville.

The most scene complex Pyro instances like dogfights, boots on ground action etc, should currently being doable on these two modern consoles.

This isn't a 2013 situation where the console CPU's were so shit that even absolute garbage architectures like AMD's bulldozer line were better than them.

The PS5 and Series X have a good solid minspec CPU for the game (AMD R5 3700/3600 for both). Even significantly above the minspec for the GPU (RX 6700/RTX 4060 in raster perf for the PS5 and RX 6700 XT in raster perf for Series X) and the SSD, as the game currently doesn't require an NVME drive (requires a SATA III SSD @ 600 MBPS) and take advantage of the DirecStorage API or the DMA counterpart for Vulkan on Linux.

Run the game at 1080p internally, and 4K FSR 3.1 upscaled, uncapped FPS.

This guy does some really good testing for SC and does minspec builds, every year, and his 2024 video dropped a couple of days ago:



Series S' memory and it's bandwidth can be mitigated with a dedicated team for optimization, but it will impact the PC release and backers will be pissed, unless Console manufacturers foot the porting bill.

But the main problem with Console ports, are the CERT process for updates, which takes from days to weeks (in Xbox's case), which is annoying for devs in live service games. Sony and Nintendo have improved a lot in this area in the last two generations.

I haven't downloaded and checked out the game in quite some time, i was just going off the last 2 conferences, what they showed looked super impressive. I didn't think the current console CPU's would be able to handle that stuff.

Thanks for the info.
 
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Such a novel feature! I have not seen that in any game! No wonder it has taken so long!
Sure but come on lol, they aren't usually integrated with a fully mo-capped face like this. I think it looks very immersive. And if I'm getting 40 hours of this that's pretty wild.
 

nowhat

Member
Sure but come on lol, they aren't usually integrated with a fully mo-capped face like this.
EA Sports games have done that, with varying levels of accuracy, since... I can't be arsed to google it, but for many years, at any rate.

YMMV, but for me, games are a form of escapism. No, that's not me in the avatar, but at the same time, do I want to play as myself? Not really, given an alternative. I'm not saying your angle is wrong, but what I'm saying is, for many that's not a selling point.
 
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As someone who's completely outside of anything Star Citizen related, I'm actually interested in this.
I get the complaints about the pacing being too slow and the gameplay looking boring, but personally I'm really yearning for a good and long FPS campaign with high production values.
Call of Duty campaigns have had hits and misses lately but they're all quite short, they always leave me wanting more... so if this game actually gets released anytime soon I'll be checking it out for sure.
It's a fly around and shoot things in a spaceship game, with some added FPS sections... I think. But kind of sad if you watched the demo and single-player COD is kind of where you landed. I guess it makes sense. There was a lot of walking around... and then there was a rail shooter section... then they never actually got into what the core gameplay should be.
 

GudOlRub

Member
It's a fly around and shoot things in a spaceship game, with some added FPS sections... I think. But kind of sad if you watched the demo and single-player COD is kind of where you landed. I guess it makes sense. There was a lot of walking around... and then there was a rail shooter section... then they never actually got into what the core gameplay should be.
Is it really sad? Tbh I'd think comparing it to a good COD campaign would be considered a compliment. Especially if it is 30 hours of it.

Anyway, if the main focus of the game is really just space shit combat then I don't think it'll be a game for me after all, but if it is a healthy mix of everything they showed in this video plus ship combat plus a good story then I'm in.
 
Is it really sad? Tbh I'd think comparing it to a good COD campaign would be considered a compliment. Especially if it is 30 hours of it.

Anyway, if the main focus of the game is really just space shit combat then I don't think it'll be a game for me after all, but if it is a healthy mix of everything they showed in this video plus ship combat plus a good story then I'm in.
I don't have any issues with a good COD campaign... just that this game was meant to be a spiritual successor to Wing Commander... which the prologue demo clearly failed to convey.

Worried that it ends up like 1/3 FPS, 1/3 walking simulator, and 1/3 spaceship sim.
 

peish

Member
1. Dont give them any ideas, the last thing they need is an excuse to add even more features.

2. In a world where COD exists i dont think so.

COD and BF and Halo are where FPS should be. fast competitve shooters through a smaller viewing window.

Massive space sim shooter game thing, needs the wide FOV of TPS to give us immersion of traversal.

Platforming on FPS is the sux.

I am fine if they delay to 2027 to switch to TPS. What is another year of excuses? :messenger_halo:
 
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TxKnight7

Member
The gameplay looks boring because it is in FPS mode.
We need it to be TPS, this viewpoint elavates all kinds of games.

console FPS had a boom when MS introduced Halo1. The era of single player FPS action games are over! imo
You can change it to TPS anytime i think




l4mq4t%2Fpreview%2F61825342%2Fmain_large.gif
 
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Redneckerz

Those long posts don't cover that red neck boy
To those of you that have even the slightest faith in this actually releasing in 2026, just a little refresher:


Given what SQ42 is, it is far likely to release than SC.

Could consoles handle this game ?
SC i don't think so due to the server meshing tech. That's some hardcore stuff.

The rest of the tech should be pretty do-able. Star Engine is pretty high end but its not the best in class. And it isn't needed for SQ42. It is a more condensed title.
 

A.Romero

Member
I haven't spent a dime on this game so I don't care if they don't release anything playable. However, what they have shown does look pretty cool.

If it actually comes out, I'll buy it. If not, too bad.
 

TxKnight7

Member
To those of you that have even the slightest faith in this actually releasing in 2026, just a little refresher:


In the end Squadron 42 the SP will be released the next few years no matter what, while the MMO star citizen full ver may never be released. maybe 2040.


U8MH43V.jpeg
 
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The Saint

Member
Mark Hamill? There was a time until recently when seeing his name attached to something would have sent me through my roof in happiness. Not so much anymore. I have already said too much though, so I am just going to tell myself to shut the hell up and move on.
 
In the end Squadron 42 the SP will be released the next few years no matter what, while the MMO star citizen full ver may never be released. maybe 2040.


U8MH43V.jpeg

They better fucking fix the TTK and hit detection in 4.0, because Pyro's gonna be nightmare fuel if those server meshing test issues like desync / teleportation all over the map / lag (switching?) / bullet sponge etc, return in any form.
 

Crayon

Member
I am all over this game day one. How good it turns out doesn't feel all that important at the moment. Growing up on wing commander, I'll consider it a historical moment and I want to be there.
 

MrPaul

Neo Member
I suppose for accuracy of quoting CIG, your thread title is correct but "Squadron 42 may release in 2026 for pc with 30-40 hours of campaign, Prologue Gameplay Revealed" is more realistic.
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
SC i don't think so due to the server meshing tech. That's some hardcore stuff.
Server ... meshing, is called that because it runs on servers. Ie. That's the one thing that wouldn't present any challenges to consoles (or user devices in general).
Besides there were console titles shipped using the same type of tech on a console... 5-6 years ago.
Contrary to what CR may make it sound like, this isn't something invented 'by' or 'for' Cloud Imperium, and good examples of working tech(for games) go back a decade.
 

SHA

Member
How can anyone actually say things like this? They just showed an hour of actual on stage gameplay and the game looks excellent. 2 more years to polish it up and it’s going to be something really special.

Like… how far up your own ass does your head need to be to just ignore everything they showed at the convention today?
If you played an x amount of games, depending when and in which order you played these games, imagine the kinds of reactions you could come up from playing these same games? Exactly, the logical answer would be you can't keep track on them otherwise you'll end up canceling all these potential customers just from taking these reactions into account.
 
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Redneckerz

Those long posts don't cover that red neck boy
Server ... meshing, is called that because it runs on servers. Ie. That's the one thing that wouldn't present any challenges to consoles (or user devices in general).
Besides there were console titles shipped using the same type of tech on a console... 5-6 years ago.
Contrary to what CR may make it sound like, this isn't something invented 'by' or 'for' Cloud Imperium, and good examples of working tech(for games) go back a decade.
Alright alright, i was tired. I know that nobody cares about that but yes yes.

Also just tired of the same endless circle rendition. I know games don't innovate lately but neither do most of the arguments.
 

SScorpio

Member
Looks great graphically but i just want Freelancer 2 man 🥲
Isn't that essentially what Star Citizen will be? Taking Freelancers 128 player persistent servers and massively expanding on them?

Squadron 42 is the cinematic military game like Wing Commander, and Star Citizen is the MMO that gives you an open universe sandbox to play in with the ability to do whatever you want.
 
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