Cloud Imperium Games" ambitious space title Star Citizen was updated to Alpha 3.10.0 today, adding another quarterly update to its roster. Dubbed the Flight & Fight update, it doesn’t tout any new planets or moons to visit this time, but significant features have been implemented that change and upgrade multiple systems of the massive crowd-funded game.
Perhaps the largest change has been dealt to the atmospheric flight model, making the difference in ship handling while in space and a planet"s atmosphere a much more significant one.
Instead of instantly obeying the commands of the pilot as before, thrusters in the atmosphere no longer respond immediately and have also been made much weaker and weightier. According to the studio, this will, hopefully, make flying around on planets a more realistic and fun experience.
Cloud Imperium Games added the following regarding the atmospheric flight changes:
Ships with wings are now able to stall, do level turns, lose speed in tight turns, and various fancy aerodynamic features. The aerodynamic interaction with wind is now more detailed and expect wind to push and pull on ships in more complex ways. Ship aerodynamics will now change as you switch between configurations. Breakable parts now affect the aerodynamics, so break off a wing and the ship will not fly straight anymore.
The ship targeting system has received an overhaul as well, giving players a new customizable UI that offers much more information, as well as target pinning, cycling of pinned targets (both friendly and hostile), and more.
Other features of today"s 3.10.0 update include a trading app for the mobiGlas, electron damage type that can stun enemies, plus a brand new vehicle "Greycat Industrial ROC" that can mine for ores. For added immersion, features like improved NPC Bartender animations, a helmet visor wiping action for when snow, rain, or moisture gets collected, and body dragging have been implemented as well.
The Star Citizen Alpha 3.10.0 Flight & Fight update has now been pushed to Live and is available for all backers to jump in and play. The full changelog for today"s update can be seen here, while a handy landing page has also been set up on the official website.