According to an ancient scientific study, the awesomeness of a spaceship can be measured by how spectacularly it explodes. Given Star Citizen's status as the most ambitious space sim in development it needs to observe this widely-held truth – and judging from the video above, it does.

The clip above is a small segment from a recent – and much longer – Star Citizen showcase video. RSI explosions expert Matthew Intrieri talks us through the spectacle, pointing out that explosions aren't just a puff of effects over a damaged spacecraft – they're actually dynamic events.

"We're making these effects systemic," Intrieri said. "We're gonna motivate these effects through the components on the ship. Literally, what we see in the video is electrical feedback, small explosions, and then a wait, and then a kaboom!"

A kaboom indeed.