Star Citizen 3.9 Roadmap Update

Welcome to some more Star Citizen, Star Citizen Alpha 3.9 has been added to the PU Roadmap, this update is planned for the end of March 2020 & contains a large amount of new content, which we will go through in this video.

So what’s in Alpha 3.9?
Crusader – Yes we have had a placeholder non visitable version of Crusader since the release of the PU but this is actually some more tangible. With appropriate Gas Tech, POI & a Landing Zone. The Moons of Crusader and Stations around the planet already exist in game BUT the area is likely to see some addition updates and improvements.

Stanton II is Crusader, a low-mass gas giant that has an atmosphere which is breathable at high altitudes. Taking advantage of this, the planet became home to a military-constructed latticework of inhabitable floating platforms. The platforms proved to be ideal for Crusader, since normally their large-scale commercial transport ships would otherwise need to be built at a greater cost in space. Once Crusader Industries purchased the planet from the UEE, these platforms were further expanded upon to suit their production needs and are now used to build massive ships like the Starliner, Starlifter and Star Runner.

This will come with the Orison Landing Zone – with a webbing of eerily beautiful shipyards constructing Crusader ships suspended in mid-atmosphere, Orison is considered by many to be the most picturesque port in the Stanton system. As the main landing zone on Crusader, in addition to the shipyards, its latticework of platforms houses the company’s headquarters and employee habitation area. Beyond Crusader’s commercial needs, many tourists visit the world (often brought there by Crusader’s own Genesis Starliners) looking to experience the stunning vistas offered by Orison’s verdant gardens and the gas giant’s clouds below.

They are implementing a couple of Mission Givers Devin Bautista & Lisa Gibbs these characters are Liaison Officers working at Crusader’s Security’s Community Outreach Office at Orison.

They are also adding Cargo Space Stations – Occupied & Unoccupied

Positioned close to planets and jump points, these depots are the first port of call for haulers and cargo ships. Can be used to create trade routes and delivery points around the universe. Typically found in less-traveled locations, these unoccupied variants have limited or no facilities. Includes derelict, but not necessarily empty, stations permanently closed by the owners.

Microtech & New Babbage is planned for 3.8 but a v2 of that New Babbage Landing Zone is planned for 3.9 – Enclosed to protect the inhabitants against the freezing elements, New Babbage is a major social and economic trading hub on microTech. Although it features microTech’s flagship store, the landing zone is also a haven for smaller tech companies.

New Items / Ships
Ships wise we have the Drake Vulture Light Salvage Vehicle & a return of the RSI Constellation Taurus.

There are some New FPS Weapons – Gemini C54 Ballistic SMG, Behring P6-LR Ballistic Sniper Rifle, Lightning Bolt Co. Yubarev Electron Pistol

Looking at some Core Tech
Weapon and Item Customization for the Manipulation of held items with attachments and sub-items – This feature will add the ability for players to customize some weapons and items while in inspect mode using attachments, components, and sub-items. For example, adding or removing a silencer, changing the scope of a gun, or changing batteries in a radio.

Door System Improvements – Updating the existing door system and adding new functionalities in conjunction with Object Container Streaming and improving synchronization across clients. Adding new functionalities for animation, audio and VFX to improve look and feel.

Server to Client Actor Networking Rework – Improvements to the downstream part of the actor networking responsible for communicating actor state from the server down to clients. This will improve the positioning and movement of other players and NPCs on your client, with improved dead reckoning, helping to reduce perceived lag and instances of rubber-banding.

For AI there is a lot of final touches and finishing off of FPS & Flight Combat AI

Flight AI: Improvements and Polishing & FPS: Combat Improvements & Polishing

This polishing pass contains final work on behaviors and balancing as well as bug fixing. Goal is to improve the look and feel of flight combat / character combat for the release.

Gameplay Features
Dynamic Mission System: Mission Generation along QT Routes – The Dynamic Mission System will allow for the real-time customization of mission content based upon direction from the macro economy. This will include the ability to vary where missions are offered, in what quantity, and the payment. It will also allow mission templates to be injected with environmental information at run-time, enabling the creation of content that’s both more diverse and that more accurately represents the simulated universe at that moment in time.

Commodity Transfer Timers – The automatic loading and unloading of cargo will require time to complete, with the duration dependent upon the location, the current level of demand for such services, whether an additional fee to expedite the process has been paid, and the quantity of material being transferred. Ships will be unavailable until such processes have completed.

An Accounting App that displays a variety of information about a player’s active financial commitments, including recurring rentals, insurance, organization membership fees and the associated benefits, etc. It also allows for such commitments to be extended or cancelled.

Economy Display Terminals – These are billboards/displays/consoles that allow for the real-time display of economic information including commodity prices, available missions and payments, retail sale events, area threat levels, etc.

Multicrew – Expanded Turret Gunner Role – Turret Gunners will be able to receive specific target designations from other players and track them independently of their own targets.

Seated Item Handling – This feature will add the ability for players and NPCs to use smaller weapons while seated in a passenger seat of a vehicle or ship.

A couple of those features were delayed from 3.7 & 3.8, Cargo Depot Space Stations & Seated Item Handling had moved down from 3.8. Server to Client Actor Networking Rework moved down from 3.7

CIG’s Community Manager Zyloh also put out a statement in regard to Crusader & Orison Coming 3.9 & the patches new content
“We felt good enough with what we laid out to publish the Roadmap today but we’re also currently in the middle of evaluating some of our major technical hurdles that we’re tackling – so it’s possible there’s some additional shifting/changes to the Roadmap in the next few weeks. Obviously, this is always the case as a potential, but I still wanted to call it out because of some of the planning work taking place. I’ll keep y’all in the loop!”

With the Inclusion of Orison and Crusader in 3.9 that will be all of the major astral bodies completed in Stanton, we will see other additions to the system in the future with the Aaron Halo, POI, general improvements to tech, stations, missions and more as well as updates to the various landing zones.

Server Side Object Container Streaming & Full Persistence which doesn’t currently appear on the Roadmap IS being worked on and associated supporting modules of that are on the Roadmap. We know they want to get these in as soon as possible and they could appear on the Roadmap in the near future once they know where they will land.

I’ll get the other updates to the Roadmap for 2019, so 3.6 – 3.8 in my weekly news along with the other recent project updates including some Squadron 42 stuff, you can follow along weekly with the changes to the roadmap in those videos too.