Update Nov 10:
Patch 3.3.0 is now live. Patch notes:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link//16840-Star-Citizen-Alpha-330
A lot of the content meant for this one (the first planet Hurston with its city Lorville) got delayed from 3.3.0 to 3.3.5. That's in Evocati testing right now and it sounds like that'll wrap up pretty quickly. We'll have a new thread with a new OT for 3.3.5 once it's out.
Update June 30:
Patch 3.2 is live:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link//16638-Star-Citizen-Alpha-320
Mining, more flexible quantum travel, new group features, more flyable ships and more at the link.
Update March 31:
Patch 3.1 is out now.
Feature summary: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/16487-Star-Citizen-Alpha-310
Full patch notes: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link//16485-Star-Citizen-Alpha-310
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Star Citizen alpha 3.0 is the long-awaited patch that adds the ability to land on procedurally-generated planets.
Update Dec 23: The patch is now live for all backers. There's a new launcher for Live that needs to be downloaded from here:
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/download
(people who were previously using the PTU launcher still need to install this new one for the Live side)
Click thumbnails for full size. All images are in game.
New content
Three moons to explore:
Yela - ice
(from reddit)
Cellin - volcanic
Daymar - mountains, dirt, thick fog, lightning storms
and one huge asteroid, Delamar, which has the Levski landing zone.
There are outposts and wrecked ships to find on the surface. You can find these by exploring or might be directed there by the mission system.
New mission types: Patrol, Assassination, Cargo, Smuggling, Exploration, Escort
Cargo - buy and sell commodities. Cargo can be seen in ship storage.
Grouping: Joining a friend's game works. You get on the same server as them and it automatically adds you to their party.
Flight model changes in atmosphere - turbulence, changes to handling
Ship insurance - ordering replacements for lost ships
Basic ship security - lock it up when you leave so people don't take it
Stamina system - oxygen, heart rate - e.g. difficulty aiming after sprinting
Cloth simulation on clothing (new and existing)
New armour types - Heavy, Explorer
New tech
- Incremental patching. After the initial ~35GB download, further updates have been around 500MB each.
- Frame rate improvements
- New Filmic Tone Mapping Curve (ACES)
- Temporal Supersampling (TSAA) - previously rendered frames are used to improve the anti-aliasing results on the new frame
- Improved Screen Space Directional Occlusion (SSDO)
- New graphics options including FOV (slider), chromatic aberration (slider), motion blur (off, camera blur, camera+object blur)
- Network and server improvements allowing more players per instance
- Persistence - ammo, missiles, spawn location, inventory
- Nested physics grids for transporting ships inside larger ships (Dragonfly, Ursa rover)
- Reworked interactions ("item 2.0")
- Mobiglass interface improvements
- Better HUD rendering - render to texture instead of overlays
- Cockpit interface improvements: control how much power is generated and distributed to other systems, monitor how much heat, EM and IR the ship is generating and reduce it, monitor and adjust shield strength and repair behavior and adjust power usage and performance
- Updated kiosk interfaces
- Subsumption system used for dynamic NPC behaviour, daily routines, mission generation (flow graphs), conversation logic
- atmosphere entry effects
- New quantum drive effects
- Engine trails and contrails
- volumetric fog in space for things like nebulas and dust clouds around asteroids
- Planets rotate and have a corresponding day/night cycle. Suns rise and set:
- Modular procedural generation for space stations and outposts
"Where are those procedural cities we saw at Citizencon?"
Those aren't in this patch, unfortunately.
Basics for new players
This quick start video by STLYoungblood is a good place to start.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hStCa-ugtu0
This patch includes a hint system for new players.
The base game package is $45 for Star Citizen (the MMO) and you can add Squadron 42 (the single player campaign) for another $15.
More detail here: Getting Started
Controls:
https://starcitizen.tools/Guide:Controls
Game modes:
"Persistent Universe" is the main one that has the new content. Players spawn into shared instances of the Crusader star system which currently are holding around 50 players. Frame rate tends to drop as more players join, although not as much as in the last patch.
"Arena Commander" has dogfighting and racing in smaller instances (or offline) which tends to have better performance.
"Star Marine" is for FPS matches.
"Offline" mode
(uses memory editing hack, not supported)
The shared universe map can be played as a Free Flight map for better FPS, but with server-side features disabled. Details here:
https://www.resetera.com/threads/st...loser-to-hamill-time.7717/page-5#post-1394495
Community thread
Check out our Star Citizen community thread for more info on the game and our player org, [E503] Starbound Universal.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/404/
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