For all you designers, modders, artists and techies out there, Cloud Imperium Games, the designers behind the upcoming and much anticipated Star Citizen game, have just announced "The Next Great Starship" competition, where winning teams can win $30,000 and create spaceships that will get integrated into the full game when it releases.

Designers and modders will be able to register for The Next Great Starship between October 31st and December 31st. Teams will be tasked with a preliminary challenge that involves the making of a fully designed wave particle cannon, submitted via a YouTube video to a nine member judging panel, which includes Chris Roberts, members of the CIG design and art team, Crytek representatives, and more. The entries will then be whittled down to a final 16, who will then be voted on by Star Citizen backers.

Starting January 31st, 2014, episodes of The Next Great Starship will air once a week on the Roberts Space Industrues (RSI) YouTube channel with each team providing a work in progress update for the judging panel. Much like most popular primetime competition shows on TV, the judges will eliminate teams until only two stand, competing live in front of a panel of judges and the community during the final episode on June 8th in Los Angeles.

The competition is being sponsored by the likes of Alienware, AMD, Autodesk, Crytek, Cologne Game Lab, Wacom and YouTube, and is part of the one year anniversary celebration of the Star Citizen project. The list of prizes is as follows:

GRAND PRIZE: $30,000 in cash for the team members. Your Great Starship is included in Star Citizen and each member of your team receives the first production models off the press! As well as Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite, Maya Premium and one high-end AMD based system with Radeon R9 290X (for each team member)

SECOND PLACE: $10,000 in cash for the team members. Alienware laptop, Autodesk Maya 2014, AMD Radeon R9 290X (for each team member)

THIRD PLACE: $5,000 in cash for the team members. Autodesk Maya LT, AMD Radeon R9 290X (for each team member)

SPECIALTY PRIZE: (to the most valuable player out of the remaining contestants among the final three teams voted on by the judging panel): One Cintiq Companion, the new Windows 8 “Make the World your Studio” tablet from Wacom

FINALIST TEAMS 4 THROUGH 16: $250 in RSI Credits (non-transferable/non-refundable)

On the competition, Chris Roberts, the director of the game, had this to say:

Our fans have been clamoring for a way to get even more involved in the making of Star Citizen and I think we’ve found the ideal solution. What better way to become part of the game than to create a spaceship that you and your friends can actually fly and take into battle. The winners of this contest will have to travel through an amazing process to get to the end, but there will be no doubt after navigating the weeks and months of tough competition that these three individuals will deserve the crown as designers of The Next Great Starship.

For more details about The Next Great Starship competition, check out the RSI website. For details on the development of the Star Citizen game, check out all of DualShockers' Star Citizen news.