Greetings, citizens!

Everywhere we look, backers are talking about the Orion mining ship and Star Citizen’s planned mining mechanic. Today, we’d like to share some additional insight into how the Orion took shape. As you may know the ship itself was given form by none other than George Hull, who also designed the Reclaimer last year and whose remarkable work can be seen in numerous games and movies like the Matrix trilogy or Jupiter Ascending.

We’ve compiled some of the early concept sketches and iterations that the Orion has gone through before you actually got to see it.

Click here to see the vault!

Our friends at Turbulent finished a cool mini-game to commemorate the launch of the RSI Orion concept launch! Take on the role of a new Orion owner deep in space mafia debt fighting back with drones and minerals for his freedom!

The game itself is based off a story by our very own writers Dave Haddock and William Weissbaum, and will take you aboard your very own mining ship! It takes patience and endurance to build an empire!

INSTRUCTIONS
The game saves your progress automatically in your browser.

SCAN AREA – Keep scanning to stay out of trouble. Make sure you are in a ‘safe’ area at all times…or else!

SURVEY – Locate possible mines by performing a long range scan.

DRILL – Drill the settlement to allow prospection. Upgrades get you a faster drill.

PROSPECT – Determine the type of ore to open up a mine! Upgrade your prospection probes to discover higher grade minerals.

DRONES – They fetch the ore from your mines to your sled. Upgrade drones for faster mining speed and to allow mining higher grade ores. Drone Control allows you to set your drones on your mines for automated recovery.

SLED – It carries the raw ore. Make sure you retrieve the sled to bring it back to your ship! While it’s being recalled, your drones will have to stay idle so time it wisely.

PROSPECTION PROBE – Upgrade the probe to detect higher grade minerals.

REFINERY – The refinery transforms raw ore into refined ore you can sell. Upgrade the refinery to process more ore and get more efficiency.

MARKET – Sell your ore at a good price.

REPAY – Pays back your loan from your available cash.

Make sure you are logged into your account for the entire duration of your game!

Press ‘START’ below to play!

--- Thu Feb 26 2015 00:00:00 GMT+0100	
+++ Thu Feb 26 2015 00:00:00 GMT+0100	
@@ -16 +16,21 @@
-SCAN AREA – Keep scanning to stay out of trouble. Make sure you are in a ‘safe’ area at all times…or else! SURVEY – Locate possible mines by performing a long range scan. DRILL – Drill the settlement to allow prospection. Upgrades get you a faster drill. PROSPECT – Determine the type of ore to open up a mine! Upgrade your prospection probes to discover higher grade minerals. DRONES – They fetch the ore from your mines to your sled. Upgrade drones for faster mining speed and to allow mining higher grade ores. Drone Control allows you to set your drones on your mines for automated recovery. SLED – It carries the raw ore. Make sure you retrieve the sled to bring it back to your ship! While it’s being recalled, your drones will have to stay idle so time it wisely. PROSPECTION PROBE – Upgrade the probe to detect higher grade minerals. REFINERY – The refinery transforms raw ore into refined ore you can sell. Upgrade the refinery to process more ore and get more efficiency. MARKET – Sell your ore at a good price. REPAY – Pays back your loan from your available cash. Make sure you are logged into your account for the entire duration of your game!
+SCAN AREA – Keep scanning to stay out of trouble. Make sure you are in a ‘safe’ area at all times…or else!
+
+SURVEY – Locate possible mines by performing a long range scan.
+
+DRILL – Drill the settlement to allow prospection. Upgrades get you a faster drill.
+
+PROSPECT – Determine the type of ore to open up a mine! Upgrade your prospection probes to discover higher grade minerals.
+
+DRONES – They fetch the ore from your mines to your sled. Upgrade drones for faster mining speed and to allow mining higher grade ores. Drone Control allows you to set your drones on your mines for automated recovery.
+
+SLED – It carries the raw ore. Make sure you retrieve the sled to bring it back to your ship! While it’s being recalled, your drones will have to stay idle so time it wisely.
+
+PROSPECTION PROBE – Upgrade the probe to detect higher grade minerals.
+
+REFINERY – The refinery transforms raw ore into refined ore you can sell. Upgrade the refinery to process more ore and get more efficiency.
+
+MARKET – Sell your ore at a good price.
+
+REPAY – Pays back your loan from your available cash.
+
+Make sure you are logged into your account for the entire duration of your game!

--- Thu Feb 26 2015 00:00:00 GMT+0100	
+++ Thu Feb 26 2015 00:00:00 GMT+0100	
@@ -5 +5 @@
-We’ve compiled some of the early concept sketches and iterations that the Orion has gone through before you actually got to see it. 
+We’ve compiled some of the early concept sketches and iterations that the Orion has gone through before you actually got to see it.