Cloud Imperium Games is getting back into the groove releasing major Star Cititzen updates consistently. Only a couple of months after shipping the crowd-funded title"s biggest update ever, the studio has now pushed out Alpha 3.19 to live servers, which carries a Lorville city visuals overhaul, new player onboarding improvements, and an impressive new tractor beam interaction.
Players heading to the city of Lorville on planet Hurston will now see an overhauled skyline that better reflects the scale of the city. Being one of the first cities that was added to the title, the upgrade gives it a new layout, updated buildings, and more. "The goal is to create the visual identity for the high-end, low-end, and generic branding of the city skyline and add navigational signage around the landing zone," the developer explains.
Salvaging wrecks for profit is also a career option for players now. Various mission types, ranging from lawful, lawless, to unlawful, are now available with objectives that have them salvaging and scrapping derelict ships.
Speaking of salvaging, the hand-held tractor beam has had a major upgrade. It can now detach intact parts from ships like engines, weapons systems, and missiles, and easily reattach them onto other ships . As for gameplay uses, this can be used by players to restock their depleted ammo stocks using defeated enemy ships, trade with friends without using menus, carry additional ship equipment in cargo holds, and more.
New players are also a focus in this update, with a New Player Experience Mission Chain now being offered when logging into the title. This provides an interactive tutorial of sorts that gets players familiar with basic FPS and ship flying systems, UI, and other elements of this sci-fi universe.
The update also carries backend improvements to make the new persistent objects system more reliable, FPS AI and mining balances, a new event for PVP fans, and other changes. Find the complete patch notes here.
Star Citizen Alpha 3.19 - Call to Adventure is now available for all backers to jump into in live servers. For anyone wanting to try the game out, Cloud Imperium Games has also confirmed that Invictus Launch Week free event is coming back on May 19, offering free access to the game and a variety of ships during its run.