These Are The Star Citizen System Requirements... For Now
For now Star Citizen will roughly need the same minimum system requirements needed to run Crysis 3.
The Star Citizen FAQ was recently updated with information about what PC gamers can expect in regards to system requirements for the upcoming game. The FAQ also clarifies that Star Citizen isn't an MMO despite its MMO-sounding features. Instead the game will pull from "the best of all possible worlds" ranging from a permanent, persistent world found in MMOs to an offline, single-player campaign like those found in the Wing Commander series.
"To play Star Citizen you need only to buy the initial game," the FAQ reads, answering speculation that Star Citizen may be a subscription-based game. "There will never be a monthly charge for usage. Some in-game items may be available as microtransactions, but we will NEVER sell anything that can’t be acquired through honest (and fun!) gameplay."
As for the system requirements, they're not set in stone given the game won't be completed for at least another 24 months. But the FAQ states that because the game is built on CryTek's CryEngine 3, the system requirements will roughly stay the same.
"At the moment you will be able to play [Star Citizen] on a dual core PC with a GTX 460 or greater and 4 GB of system memory," the FAQ reads. "If you’re running an i7 2500, 2600, 2700 or better with a GTX 670 or greater then the stars are the limit!"
CryTek launched CryEngine 3 back in 2009, and since then only seven titles have been published using the engine including Crysis 2, Crysis for PS3 and X360, Cabal 2, Nexuiz, Warface, Fibble and the just launched MechWarrior Online. The platform supports DirectX 9, 10 and 11, but for Crysis 3, which launches in February 2013, CryTek chose to support only DirectX 11. Whether or not Star Citizen will eventually take this route in two years time is anyone's guess at this point.
As previously reported, Crysis 3 will need at least a dual-core CPU, 2 GB of memory (3 GB if running Vista), and a DirectX 11 GPU with 1 GB of VRAM. Suggested combos include a Nvidia GTS 450 GPU with an Intel Core2 Duo E6600 CPU clocked at 2.4 GHz, and an AMD Radeon HD 5770 GPU with an AMD Athlon64 X2 5200+ CPU clocked at 2.4 GHz. That's just the minimum system requirements.
In addition to Star Citizen's system requirements, the Kickstarter FAQ reveals that the PC game won't receive expansion packs. Instead, it will be continuously updated on the developer end, with new content being added on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. "We’ll be always adding data, stories, and campaigns as well as reacting to what the players are doing," the FAQ reads. "Because of this the universe will be affected by the actions of the players."
For more information about Star Citizen, check out the FAQ on the game's Kickstarter page here.

The last hardcore space sim that didnt hold your hand that I can think of was Independence War 2 and it was released eleven years ago!
This actually sounds like a pretty good idea, as long as the patching process doesn't become a headache.
The last hardcore space sim that didnt hold your hand that I can think of was Independence War 2 and it was released eleven years ago!
+1 on FS2!
" But the FAQ states that because the game is built on CryTek's CryEngine 3, the system requirements will roughly stay the same."
0o Yeah.. No... Cry Engine 3 (CE 3) is meant for inclosed, small-ish type maps, or battlefield 2/3 style "open" environment. That mixed in with the small player limit makes for a decent single player, or multiplayer FPS game engine. CE 3 in NO WAY can be considered an "MMO" game engine, Mech Warrior Online has just proven this. I was so excited when MWO was announced! I was expecting MW 1 style game play, but in a persistent universe, I even expected to see the bar scene from MW 1 in MWO, but nope! It feels like Half-Life, or a similar FPS style game, except with mechs. It just doesn't work!
So, I'm guessing Star citizen's online gameplay will suck as with MWO, and it will be a fair single player game.
I have to know. Why is everyone and their mother using the Cry Engine for everything these days? Is everyone in such a hurry to get rich that they skip the whole freaking point of making a "new" game? The game "engine"? I am so freaking tired of getting so excited when I hear that a new game is coming out (Like MWO), only to be let down because it's nothing more than a Total Conversion, or a MOD for an existing game engine. Just to name a couple of recent examples; DN forever (unreal engine), and MWO. I guess I can add Star Citizen to the TC list.
Wow, this sucks.
x3's problem is an over reliance on menues and keyboard commands for things that could EASILY be streamlined and made easier.
not directed at you but others that read this below
please note that makeing the game require less than full keyboard and command knowledge isn't dumbing down, it just takes an annoying aspect of the game, the learning curve that has nothing to do with gameplay, out of the game.
if management in the game was handled better, i think the game would be FAR more popular, instead of where it is now.
how little do you even know games... this is a serious question, because i cant see someone who knows how a game is built to say something as stupid as you just went on in great length saying.
I feel like most of the recent FPS games have taken the thought out of them and just gotten down to point and shoot. While they lack the mental activity of more complex and maybe older FPS games, they are still fun to play.
But as to EVE, it's more based on WoW mechanitcs and the time it takes to level up skills to fly ships takes time in real life. The time to level up skills is what made me dislike EVE, as some skills took weeks if not months to level up just to fly a ship. It's still a good game, but the time required to be able to fly a new ship is a MASSIVE barrier to new players when compared to other games.
Acording to Chris Roberts, Star Citizen is going to be more like flying a jet in Battlefield 3 if I had to compare it to a recent game as it is going to be fly-by-wire like an F-35. No WoW global cool downs on firing weapons and etc. like EVE has. Logistics will still have a place tho as not all weapons are lasers and will need ammo among other things.
Which is what i called out, but got voted down. lol. In fact, even Tom's has posted this before.
Get a copy of FS2 from GOG ($5). Then visit http://www.hard-light.net and download the Source Code Project's mods.
Read more:
http://www.gog.com/news/editorial_freespace_2
http://www.gog.com/news/freespace_2_open_source_code_project_spotlight
FS2 Open:
http://www.hard-light.net/forums/index.php?topic=82648.0
(OSX and Linux support as well)
Haven't played X3
Eve online is the only one that is truly persistant that I know of. All players are on the same server and coexist in the same universe. There is no instancing and the only things that reset are mining belts and some very basic civilian trade goods that both form the base of the market.