Star Citizen alpha has received another major update with Cloud Imperium Games pushing out 3.7.0 today to the Live build. This means all backers of the gigantic crowd-funded title can now update their clients and jump in to test out the new features.
Speaking of, the main feature of this update is the addition of caves, where for the first time, players can find and explore underground passages on planet Hurston, as well as the moons Daymar and Aberdeen. There are new missions attached to these locations also.
Harvesting and mining while traveling on foot are new additions as well, with multiple planetary bodies now having objects on the surface - like plants for instance - that can be harvested by hand and sold at kiosks.
Alongside it, the new first-person mining mechanic - adding to the old ship-based asteroid mining profession - will have players searching for rocks that have valuable minerals and crystals in them, and then expertly extracting them using a Pyro Multitool. The aforementioned caves will be the easiest places to find these new resources.
The developer has also debuted Quantum Enforcement with this update. This new gameplay feature gives players, using a specially equipped ship, the ability to pull nearby player and NPC-controlled ships out of quantum travel and keep them from jumping again for a duration.
As usual for major Star Citizen updates, new ships have arrived to the universe. The new RSI Mantis is the only ship that can perform the above mentioned Quantum Enforcement ability. Meanwhile, the Banu Defender arrives as the first-ever ship from the elusive alien race. It has a special shield that needs an extra operator to wield effectively.
Renting ships for shorter durations of time, which is reflected in the price, is now possible too, giving players the option of one, three, or 30 days of real-time renting. This is all using in-game currency, of course. Moreover, The Star Marine shooter portion of the game now has The Good Doctor as a new Elimination map. Other new features include mission sharing among party members, first-person guns, flares, two more Vanguard variants, and more.
There are a whole lot more changes included in the Alpha 3.7.0 update, and the full patch notes of this release can be found on the official Star Citizen forums.