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Star Citizen will go into "full beta" by the end of 2014, adding modules along the way as part of its buy-in alpha model. Roberts Space Industry head Chris Roberts told Joystiq at GDC the first module – called the "Hangar Module" – will be available this August to paid-up citizenry of the stars.
"You won't be able to fly [ships], but you'll be able to see them," Roberts told us, describing something akin to the Spore Creature Creator. "You'll get to see your ship, probably be able to customize it to some level, play with it and visualize it in the engine."
In December, the studio plans to launch the "Dogfighting Module."
"It will allow you to take the ship you pledged for and dogfight, sorta deathmatch style with other people," explained Roberts. "It won't have the persistent universe, it won't have the story, but we'll use it to balance the combat, the weapons, the ships also stress-test the online infrastructure."
Roberts tells us the company will have more modules over the next year as they do "road testing" with the community. Anyone that's pledged to Star Citizen (which is still open to buy-in) already has alpha invites. They'll narrow the window of access as time goes on.
In November, the company raised $6,226,891 in funding, with The Roberts Space Industry drive adding up to $4.1 million and another $2.1 million from Kickstarter. Since then, the developer has raised another $2 million in pledges, for a total of $8.5 million.
