Star Citizen Ile Avalon Pilot Logbook
Flight notebook of a Star Citizen

Star Citizen Logbook
Flight book of ile-avalon, a Star Citizen

Star Citizen, massively multiplayer Persistent Universe in which the player evolves in the space universe of the 30th century, 930 years after our era, governed by the United Empire of Earth (UEE), and Squadron 42, a multi-chapter single-player campaign in which the player enlisted in the UEE Navy, are two parts of a video game adventure and space simulation published and developed by Cloud Imperium Games (CIG), under the direction of Chris Roberts, known for creating games as Wing Commander, Wing Commander: Privateer, Starlancer and Freelancer.

The project was initially presented by Chris Roberts on October 10, 2012 in San Francisco at the Game Developers Conference and was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter. The initial idea being to offer players a single-player campaign, Squadron 42, and a multiplayer Persistent Universe, all on PC and without subscription, as well as private servers that can accommodate mods, and support for virtual reality headsets. Except that over time, the ambitions concerning the development of the project have strongly evolved...

The Persistent Universe, which was only supposed to be a multiplayer extension of the single-player campaign, has finally become a full-fledged game in which the player can enjoy full freedom in a universe announcing no less than a hundred systems, being able to choose various paths, career plans, etc. Ambitions that are both encouraging for the future of the game, as they promise us an exceptional game, but also frightening because it is still far from imagining the end of the tunnel when we take the time to analyze all that remains to be done before we can hope to leave the Alpha phase.

An Open Development

Since the launch of the project, one of the strong points of the project is the "open development" allowing players to have a view on the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42. This follow-up takes the form of videos, monthly reports, roadmap, a presentation of the distribution of the work of the different development teams, etc. and of course continuous access to the Alpha of Star Citizen which is regularly updated every quarter. This means that even if no release date is known yet, everyone who contributes to the development by acquiring a simple starter pack can already access the game in its current state via the LIVE servers.

How to play Squadron 42?

The single player campaign Squadron 42 is planned to be a trilogy, the first part of which is currently in development, no release date has been confirmed yet. Unlike the Persistent Universe, access to the campaign is closed and tracking is limited in order to "not spoil the player" on the content of the game, but it is possible to pre-order the game either by purchasing a Starter Pack including Star Citizen and Squadron 42, or by purchasing the campaign individually.

In the past, the single-player campaign has been the subject of articles and videos such as the Vertical Slice pre-alpha Gameplay from 2017, or more recently The Briefing Room series from 2020, since then, CIG's communication policy regarding Squadron 42 has been limited to a few pieces of information via monthly reports and the Progress Tracker, as the company prefers to wait until the game is "closer to a release date to really talk about it".

How to play Star Citizen?

Since October 10, 2012, when Chris Roberts announced the project at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, the Star Citizen game has been funded participatively, and, is currently in development. No release date has been announced, but it is possible to access the Alpha by contributing to help financially its development. The game does not require any subscription, the acquisition of a Starter Pack including access to the game and a starting ship, like the Aurora MR or the Mustang Alpha, is enough.

How to access to Star Citizen Alpha?

Access to Star Citizen Alpha does not require any subscription, you just need to create an account on the Roberts Space Industries website and to have a Starter Pack, including access to the game and your first ship.

When you create your account on the Roberts Space Industries website, you will be asked for a Referral Code, specifying one will allow you to benefit from a 5000 EUC bonus in-game. Do not hesitate to specify one now because once the account is created it will not be possible anymore. This code can be a friend's code or just a random code from the web, or you can support citizen-logbook.com by using the following Referral Code when you create your account:

STAR-QP2M-YLS3

You can also follow this link to access: account creation page with Referral Code "STAR-QP2M-YLS3" already filled in.

What are the system requirements to play Star Citizen?

Since the game is not yet officially released, nor even announced, it is not really interesting to set up a configuration to play it. However, if you plan to access the Alpha, 16GB of RAM is highly recommended, otherwise you might not be able to run the game, and you should plan for at least 80GB of disk space, twice that if you want an access to the PTU (Server for testing versions before their release on LIVE), preferably on SSD.

  • 64-bit processor and operating system
  • Windows 8.1, or Windows 10 (Latest Service Pack)
  • DirectX 11.1 compatible graphics card with 3 GB VRam (4+ GB recommended)
  • Quad Core CPU with AVX instructions (Intel Sandy Bridge or later, AMD Bulldozer or later)
  • 16+ GB RAM (DDR4 recommended)
  • 80+ GB of free storage
  • SSD strongly recommended

Please note that since the release of Star Citizen Alpha 3.17: Fueling Fortunes, the game will require DirectX 11.1 or higher. This means that it is no longer compatible with older generation graphics cards that do not have access to DirectX 11.1, nor with Windows 7. Please see the system requirements page for more information on the prerequisites.

Does Star Citizen require a subscription to play?

The game does not require any subscription, a starter pack with access to the game is enough.

There is a so-called subscription plan, but it has nothing to do with access to the game and it only serves to support, financially speaking, the production of videos such as Inside Star Citizen.

What is the Referral Code when I create a Star Citizen account?

The Referral Code is a code belonging to another player.

It is a formula called "sponsorship" allowing the "sponsor" player to get gifts depending on the number of "referrals" who invite to come in the game. The referrals receive 5000 UEC (the game's currency) as a welcome gift as soon as their accounts are created, provided of course that they have used someone else's code.

In certain situations, the referral formula can be the subject of an additional gift which can be a vehicle, a ship, an armor, etc. The Referral Code page on citizen-logbook.com will give you all the information you need to know about the referral program, how it works, the rewards, where to find and how to submit your own Referral Code, etc.

A participative funding plan

Although the Kickstarter campaign ended on November 19, 2012 with $2,134,374 in revenue and 34,397 donors, the funding model has continued on the official Roberts Space Industries website. Today, anyone who purchases a Starter Pack, a ship or any other product for sale on the official site is a "backer", or contributor to the project. Except that this choice to continue the crowdfunding campaign beyond the Kickstarter campaign was, and still is, controversial...

By going without a publisher and creating his own company Cloud Imperium Games, Chris Roberts freed himself from any financial pressure from a third party that could force the release of the game earlier than it should be. Where publishers release games that are often overly buggy, unfinished, or even sloppy, CIG and Chris Roberts can argue that they want to "release the game when it's ready to be released, not before. However, after 10 years of development, some people are wondering if the game will really be released one day, despite the huge amount of credits collected over the years.

Of course, it should not be forgotten that the game is currently accessible via the Alpha, and that any contributor with a starter pack can already access the Persistent Universe, even if it is not yet in its final phase. In addition, so-called "Free Fly" periods are regularly organized and allow the most curious to explore the Persistent Universe for free without having contributed to the development funding.

But whether you are just curious or a hardcore player, whatever your "contribution" to the game, keep in mind that the game is in Alpha phase, which implies many bugs that can even be blocking, sometimes resetting your progress in the game, unimplemented features, etc. The game is far from being finished, do not invest in the game if your only goal is to get early access, but do it to support its development. You will have plenty of time to play the game once it is finished, or at least when it's closer to the final version.

What is Star Citizen Logbook website?

citizen-logbook.com, or Star Citizen Logbook, Carnet de Vol d'un Citoyen de l'Espace, is an independent French-speaking fan site, designed and administered by ile-avalon, exclusively dedicated to the Persistent Universe of Star Citizen and its Squadron 42 single-player campaign. Although some articles have been translated in order to open up to the rest of the world, citizen-logbook.com is mostly in French.

Initially created in 2019 to share a player's experience, the site has gradually grown to offer all sorts of articles and translations to help French-speaking players who have difficulty navigating the official Roberts Space Industries site due to the language barrier. Today, citizen-logbook.com represents nearly 13 articles such as game aids and FAQ, lore translations, event articles, Galactic Guides on the game universe... as well as a set of blog-announcements on the news and the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42.

The international section is unfortunately not as rich, first because citizen-logbook.com has a lot of translations and there would be no point in translating French articles when they are themselves a translation of an official English text from robertspaceindustries.com, and second because of the time it would take to manage a double site. The French site already takes up enough of my time, so I can't manage its English equivalent. Therefore, only a few articles considered "important" are transcribed in English, for the rest, you will unfortunately have to consult the French version of the site.

Featured Articles and Game Aids

Choose your Ship

Choose your Ship

  • Game Aid

Whether you're the kind of lonely adventurer who breaks rocks all day long, or an old man who's always ready to fight, or even a journalist at heart ready to brave the dangers for 30 seconds of video footage of a conflict between two corporations, it doesn't matter which path you choose, as long as the ship that accompanies you is the right one for you, this article is designed to help you make that choice...

Choose your Starter Pack

Choose your Starter Pack

  • Game Aid

Help in choosing the starter pack best suited to your needs. This ranges from the basic package for the Aurora MR and Mustang Alpha to certain packages reserved for concierges such as the UEE Exploration Pack, Entrepreneur Pack and Scoundrel Pack...

Star Citizen Referral Code

Star Citizen Referral Code

  • Game Aid

Creating a Star Citizen account on the Roberts Space Industries (RSI) website is without obligation. In accordance with the referral plan proposed by CIG, the use of a Referral Code allows you to benefit from a 5000 UEC bonus while being ready for the Free Fly events that are regularly organized during the year, in order to allow you to test the game.

List of Ships and Vehicles

List of Ships and Vehicles

  • Game Aid

Not all ships and vehicles are available for sale online, for some you will have to wait to access them and for others it may be more complicated. Keep in mind that most of these ships are, or will be, available in game and that their online acquisition is by no means an obligation even if we will only talk about online acquisition here....

Loaner Ship Matrix

Loaner Ship Matrix

  • List of Ships and Vehicles

When you buy a ship online, it is possible that the ship is still in draft or design stage and may not be available in-game. If this is the case, CIG will lend you a replacement ship in the meantime. Below is a loaner ship matrix, which currently includes all ships not available in the Persistent Universe and their respective loans, as well as complement ships...

CCU Chain Guide

CCU Chain Guide

  • Game Aid

A questionable practice for some, a source of bargains for others, the CCU Chain is just another way of accessing your favourite Star Citizen ship. But you still need to understand the principle, the risks and, above all, how to control it.

Star Citizen Gameplay, ile-avalon in a Valkyrie