Cloud Imperium Games recently announced Star Citizen’s Alpha 3.10 update. The update brings improvements to flight, combat and a lot of features both new and returning.
In the video announcement from CIG’s publishing arm, Roberts Space Industries, vehicle director John Crewe and the recently formed Vehicle Experience Team walk us through the upcoming changes.
The highlight about flight is a substantial difference between space and atmospheric flight. Ships will experience drag and effects from various weather conditions based on the size and shape of the ship.
Combat will see major changes as well. CGI is focusing on player choice and skill in determining battle outcomes. The goal here, according to Crewe, is to create a more varied experience. They want to avoid min/maxing strategies to allow for more ways to win.
Players will also see the return of target pinning. It will help them distinguish between friend and foe and share information with crew mates.
Speaking of crew mates, multi-crew play is going to much more viable with improvements to turret controls. This also means strike teams will need to coordinate better when fighting larger ships.
Additionally, other updates were announced to improve the overall player experience. The biggest changes include vehicle impounding, which will punish players for breaking the law. Also, the return of outposts on planets and moons.
There will also be new weapons for out of ship combat, paint schemes for ship customization, a spline based landing guidance system, and support for a future update: Scramble Races.
The team says they’re excited about the new changes and can’t wait to see how player react to them. However, there is downside. According to senior systems designer, Richard Towler, these changes add to the timeline, but will mean a better game overall.
And that’s not all.
Thanks in part to a huge income spike in May, Cloud Imperium Games now has a whopping $300 Million in crowdfunding support for its long awaited title.
Roberts Space Industries showed a big leap in pledges worth about $11 Million between April and May, following a steep drop a few months earlier.
This is not the first time Star Citizen has reached a significant milestone. Cloud Imperium Games had $250 Million in December, 2019. Also, it passed its biggest $65 Million stretch goal back in 2014, which promised, among a lot of other things, enhanced ship customization for players.
Star Citizen still has no official release date. The developers are making all that cash through community engagement. Fans can support the game through purchasing starer packs and ships.
Cloud Imperium Games also announced Squadron 42, a stand-alone game set in the Star Citizen universe.
Steven Large studied journalism at the University of King's College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He learned to read and write using video games and has been playing them ever since. He loves visual storytelling and talking to people about themselves. Contact him on twitter @steverlarge.
