Squadron 42 I Held The Line vs CitizenCon 2954 Live Gameplay Reveal

Graphicial update compairson 2023 vs 2024

[@WholeheartedLifestyle]

Not sure which one i like better honestly. Today the glass reflections, ship detail, and asteroid textures are better... but the lens flare, clouds, visual effects, scattered asteroids, and planet looked much better in the first, older version.

[@dumbass1611]

all of that might still make it in, probably as part of the 2 years of polishing they want to do.

[@galvendorondo]

That was pre-rendered. And we haven’t seen those environments yet. This demo was live, someone was actually playing the game. That is what’s exciting about it.

[@Jeyshara]

The older one is a lot clearer and has more debris - which could be a problem to render / calc in in the fight later on. Also makes not that much sense next to a planet maybe? Dunno about physics, but they felt a bit too "random". If they don't orbit they don't stay stationary. Also lensflare and color grading was nicer IMHO. The new one has fog/nebula to it and a more greenish look - what many also didn't like in SC you can play right now - they changed the skybox. I guess that fog is still a work in progess, even within the normal game. BUT - if you wanted the first one to run, you would need a hell of a PC I guess. The second one makes more sense in this regard and would be, where SC is right now. But the details in the new one greatly improved. They even changed the monitors in the scene on the deck with anderson You can see them behind her in the walkway. It looks more refined. But the clearer look of the first one was nice :3

[@tbrws]

To me everything looks better in 24 tbh. 23 is overly dark to get away with less details Imo. Also the JJ Abram’s giant lens flares got removed which is a win for me. 24 has way more detail also. Planet looks way sharper and realistic, in 23 it’s more like a background to me. But to each their own, the bluish color grading also has its charm

[@urbabyboss]

@@tbrws same. How can people prefer 2023.. So much hate lol

[@simonwaugh5519]

To me 2023 looks more 'dramatic' because of the higher contrast, but I think 2024 is 'better' because of lower contrast, and the characters' skin looks more realistic where in 2023 theskin looks more 'painted'.

[@Xalos369]

SOME of the backgrounds (space including nebula, asteroids and stars) doesn't seem quite as bright or cinematic and shiny as the year prior but the physical assets (ship exterior and interior level of detail) are ALL lookin' real sharp now... like LOD0.

[@pylotlight]

Wow that changed more than I realised.

[@Mandalorian_Man]

It's like a whole new ship lol, so much more detail

[@rodneytillmon9616]

Kind of happy they did away with all the anamorphic flares. This isn't a Ridley Scott film, it's a game.

[@spacebargaming1192]

The outdoor sequence looks better in 2023 IMO, Indoor is better in 2024 by far. Something is up with (possibly GI) in the newest version that makes shadows not appear on ships in the fleet like the 2023 version and also the green atmo tint is kinda annoying.

[@kael13]

The blue tint was way worse. They're not ships in water.

[@cmdr_stretchedguy]

That false blue tint on everything helps to mask details that was seen much more vibrant and clearly with this years update.

[@JackMelqart]

he old vrsion was more cinematic feel with the lighting shadows ad grading, the new version look more game like, which you would thing is better, but honestly, i liked the more movie like feel o f the pre-recorded ones from last year.

[@MaSitam]

They actually recorded the music with a real orchestra with the new one…

[@scotty2ridge929]

This aint' going to launch in a post GTA 6 world. A moments silence for all the crunch time being spent in the two months leading up to every CitizenCon to re-work this same vertical slice.

[@VinePest]

Thank you, @Turd Peterson, that was rather interesting!

[@davidJsound]

The the lights pushing through the clouds in the first view seconds looks so much better in 2023, a real wow moment which is missing in 2024.

[@Stormyy6310]

2024 looks less like a cinematic and more like something that "could" be made in game, that's why I like it more

[@DannoHung]

The player character is SO much better. Did they move away from allowing for custom faces for SQ42?

[@toval76]

Hm... I like the space visuals of the first version better, but the ship models and humans look more detailed in the second one.

[@leggo15]

I think everything was better this year, except for the nebula and sunlight, way cooler with the blue there. had a much more spacious feel to it, everything felt bigger

[@darmok072]

My arm was aching as he dictated that letter.

[@Lowgarr]

The visuals are amazing, but can we pause for a moment and talk about how friggin good the music is.

[@scotty2ridge929]

They music was recorded in 2016 because everything about this game was done assets first for a quick buck. Imagine a movie done like that, where the orchestra is playing to a whole load of nothing. So yeah we can pause for a decade and perhaps more.

[@jimflagg4009]

Is it just me that I like the old one better?

[@p4inmaker]

The color grading on the older one is much better IMO.

[@TheHorodateur]

Less fog, shaper, better contrast and less asteroids to render during the fight.

[@destin4666]

close up shots of characters and ships and fps wise, the new version is better. But clouds, many lightnings, asteroids, shadow on ships of the fleet are better on the old one, the atmospheric blue fog of the old version add something to the scenes even if the new version looks more sharp.

[@joelmulder]

Interesting. I wonder why they turned down so much of the post processing like bloom and lens flares on the new version. I think the 2023 version looks better as a movie, but the 2024 version looks like it would be easier to look at for 30 hours.

[@adhemar79]

Interior shots are much better, but I prefer the exterior shots in the 2023 version.

[@bennyweimer2345]

I think its mostly the color grade on the 2023 and I hope they have an option that looks more like that in the final game cause I think it looks less gamey

[@kael13]

In the comments, I see a lot of people who think they know what ships in space should look like, but in fact, don't. They're in space, not hanging around in the sky.

[@leoncantwelliii7946]

That green skybox though.... blegh

[@zachwilliams2597]

The difference is pre-rendered cutscene vs in engine cutscene I suppose

[@123reivaj]

The faces, ship design, and textures in the 2024 demo are better, but the 2023 demo surpasses it in quantity and quality of lights, shadows, and particles (clouds).

[@Sentinel-Ai]

Big change for me was the ships, old looks better especially the animations of the thrusters they are not in the new one at all.

[@Overneed-Belkan-Witch]

Looks like all of the people in comment don't know the difference between Pre rendered and Live in game cutscenes

[@AbbreviatedReviews]

I guess I'm in the minority for really liking the improvements to the new one.

[@KronStaro]

2023 atmospheric environment looks better. if it ain't broken dont fix it.

[@Stonehawk]

I for one feel I like the new one much better. It's more vivid and striking, but at the same time less distracting. The details I actually want to see are more readable.

[@katoy9976]

Akıl hastaları gemiyi yeniden modellemişler.

[@apogamer5262]

For me, it seems that some settings are set to low, especially the lighting. If you look at the fleet reveal, it seems that the fleet has no shadows compared to the 2023 version. Also, if you look closely during the first crash on the computer, they launch ‘Squadron 42 Performance’. It’s probably a lighter graphical client for the demo to prevent crashes or low FPS, as the normal client is likely not polished yet.

[@dunlun5741]

Well, the new one actually looks like star citizen. The older one looks better but it's not ingame graphics at all, it's prerender, that's why it looks better.

[@mike_d_melb_music_fan5229]

Its getting released 2026!!!! You realise that's almost 10 years since the actors did the Mocap ? So it takes 3 years to "polish" a game ???

[@X3R013]

they're prob trying to get SC 1.0 tech finished polished and in SQ42 for parity. Also if you think about it they built company, tech and game in this time....that's a lot of work

[@Billy-bc8pk]

Judging by cyberpunk 2077's release -- yes, it takes three years to polish a game (which is also ironic because it took them three years after Cyberpunk 2077's release to get it into polished state).

[@Anthony-jo7up]

2024 looks so much flatter. No depth, shadows, etc. Also, why is everything tinted green like it's the Matrix? They did that same thing to the PU and it looks so much worse.

[@kael13]

Because the blue hue is awful?

[@AngryGiantRobot]

Look, I love this game. I cannot wait to play it- but it looked great in 2023 and it looks great (slightly better) now. STOP FINGER FCKING THE SHIP DESIGNS AND RE-RENDERING CUTSCENES AND SHIP THE GAME. Please. Another two years?

[@adrianogrisanti6731]

my great grand kids might get to play squadron 42 :-) taking longer than the duke gets to 2026 then release 2030......

[@Smokeyw243]

wtf 2023 looks better 🙃

[@eriksusanyi1297]

no it doesn´t, but I accept your opinion.

[@flogozgeik1898]

Damn, they even managed to mess sq42 up not just the verse

[@Bigpopp1]

Still calling the female officer Sir. SMH

[@sonic-factory]

0% Gameplay in both, yep, the same.

[@jamesg6323]

Haha they cut out the diversity character switch scene and gave your character a relatable look.

[@pigeonramier6898]

no, 2024 was live playing

[@abeturay6685]

Dam, there's something wrong with people like you, lol.

[@kyoko4651]

God your disgusting.. and uninformed, that showcase last year was edited, and the sequence your thinking of was showcasing the charachter customiser, showing off what you could make with it, This year was a live unedieted Demo, the player had already chosen their charachter.

[@raphmaster23]

They were showing you that you can use your character in Star Citizen as the character in SQ42 🤦‍♀️

[@Winterx69]

They preselected a character this year

[@arcadealchemist]

the writing is a little "cringe" but long as it doesn't have any swearing i'll be fine with it. swearing would push it over the cringe point in to unplayable wank.

[@akonex]

What did u think was cringe about the writing ?

[@SuBSynKToC]

The npc said "horse shit" at one point does that count ?

[@joelmulder]

Aw, does swearing offend you? You must really hate military fiction then, good thing this isn’t. Oh… wait…