Crash Recovery Is Amazing!
If you are a cargo hauler in Star Citizen… it’s time to celebrate with a major fix to an ongoing issue…
Star Citizen Alpha 3.15 Testing is ongoing and we have had a new PTU L patch BUT also there are some incredibly important updates that are coming with Server Crash Recovery.
Let’s take a look at these updates that CI have talked about in recent posts:
Server Crash Recovery – (We heard you liked trading fixes)
Having lost a hull full of cargo ourselves due to a pesky error 30k, we know all too well how frustrating encountering a server crash can be. For that reason, we’re very happy to announce the addition of Server Crash Recovery!
So, how does it work? We’re adding functionality that creates a “heartbeat” (regular logging with persistence) for you and your ship. So, in the case of a server crash, the backend will recognize that an unexpected timeout has happened, allowing you to visit any ASOP terminal and spawn your ship, intact and exactly as it was pre-crash. This means your cargo, ship status (health/fuel), and any items you had lying around your ship will return in the exact state that it was.
Now, it’s important to note this is merely a simple interim fix. Long term, this will all be handled by the entity graph and server meshing work, where we’ll track shard history which will allow us to properly retain information and restore you directly to the moment you left off (mid-quantum flight, etc.). Nonetheless, while this is a temporary solution, it should be effective and reliable.
It’s also important to note that this new addition is specifically for server crashes. Client crashes would still be handled in the same way they are now, with current crash recovery functionality.
This is currently in review and will hit the PTU very soon!
Choosing a Primary Residence
Before entering the ‘verse for the first time in Alpha 3.15, you must first select your primary residence from the main menu. You can choose between the following cities and associated space stations:
- Orison, Crusader (with Port Olisar)
- Lorville, Hurston (with Everus Harbor)
- Area18, ArcCorp (with Baijini Point)
- New Babbage, microTech (with Port Tressler)
Once selected, all your items and vehicles will be stored at your primary residence. For your convenience, each city and its associated space station share one local inventory.
One thing to keep in mind, vehicle components and hardpoint items (such as weapons and turrets) are not currently affected by the new inventory system. The only way to transport these items is to equip them on your ship, and all components you own at the start of Alpha 3.15 will be stored in your primary residence. In the future, these items will be adapted to this inventory system alongside the upcoming Cargo System Refactor.
Getting Started with the Personal Inventory
So, you’ve chosen your new home and have woken up in your hab. You won’t find your belongings in your mobiGlas app anymore, but don’t panic! Just press the ” i ” key to open your inventory.
In the upper right corner, you’ll notice you’re looking at your local inventory, which is where all of your items are initially stored. If you hover the mouse cursor over one of your items, a detailed description will appear. Particularly important here is the storage space each item will use in your personal inventory. This required storage space is displayed in microSCU (μSCU). So Pico, for example, would take up 44000 μSCU.
If you want to equip an item, simply drag and drop it onto your character. Items that you want to discard, drag them to the hand symbol. But be careful, these items are placed in the game world and no longer in your inventory. Other players can now access these items and they will be lost if you do not add them back to one of your inventories.
If you’re looking for something specific, just click on the Filter tab, select the type of items you want to see, then press Apply and Done. Now only the types of items you want to see will be listed.
Next, let’s create additional personal inventory. For this, you need to equip some armor, plus a backpack for the maximum amount of storage. If you don’t have armor, or a backpack that doesn’t fit your armor, visit an armor store in your home city. Keep in mind that purchased items are automatically transferred to the local inventory first. You will then have to transfer them to the personal inventory if you want to take them with you.
Backpacks
With the new changes to inventory management, we have separated backpacks from armor sets to make them their own item that can be equipped or unequipped. Players can now purchase different sizes of backpacks that will require different sizes of armor to use. This will make the largest backpacks able to be equipped on heavy armor, while medium and light armors will be able to equip smaller backpacks.
After putting on your armor, press the ” i ” key to bring up your personal inventory. You can then drag the items you want to store, but not equip, from the local inventory to the personal inventory, or from the right side of the screen to the left. Each piece of armor has its own storage as well, depending on the size of the armor. And of course, your backpack has its own storage as well. Any items left in the local Inventory will not be available to you once you leave your location, so choose wisely.
Items that you hold in your hand after purchase, such as beverages, will be dragged into the personal inventory through inventory management rather than stored through the interaction mode.
Vehicle Inventory
Once you spawn and enter a ship, the Vehicle tab will be added to your inventory management interface. You can then move items between the local inventory, personal inventory, and vehicle inventory as you see fit. Keep in mind that storage capacity is limited, so it’s best to take some time to pack your stuff before your adventure.
For our example, I loaded five multi-tools onto my Cutlass Red. When I flew to Daymar, and a small accident occurred and I exploded… However, I found nearby the wreckage of my Cutlass Red an external storage crate had spawned, with all five multi-tools I’d loaded previously. You will be able to find a box that contains all the items stored in a ship should you destroy it, whether destroyed intentionally or not.
These boxes will remain in the ‘verse for quite some time to potentially give you (or a prospective thief!) enough time to return to the scene of the accident and collect the items again. Remember though, you will need enough inventory space to be able to pick up all the items again.
Looting
Let’s take a look at how our example adventure went on, shall we?
Oh my! A thief approached my external inventory box and stole my multi-tools! Fortunately, I was able to quickly settle the matter. Then, it was up to me to take advantage of the new inventory mechanic, so I searched the thief’s corpse, grabbed his backpack, and got my Multi-Tools back.
The latest 3.15L patch also made some changes:
Feature Updates
- Inventory and Looting Polish Pass
Updated NikNax app to sort categories and types list alphabetically. Filters are now per container instead of global. Added buttons to auto-filter per categories. Added button to open dropdown to allow more control of the filters. Updated drag and drop interaction for attaching magazines and gadgets to equipped armor to be a bit easier. Updated default interaction for Armor & Clothing to be carry instead of equip.
- Law System Update
Updated law system to automatically forgive crimes against players unless they actively accept to press charges.
Major Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue that allowed players to fully unequip their mobiGlas without swapping for another
- 400i entrance markers should now display
- Disabling the 400i turret power should no longer cut out the rest of the ship’s energy
- Claiming ship then immediately running to a kiosk to buy any items in quick succession should no longer cause a long but temporary services error
- Fixed an issue causing ships to show as claim on a terminal instead of retrieve after storing it
- Medical gun should now work to heal other players while inside a greenzone
- Fixed an issue that blocked players from using medpens to revive other players in greenzones
- Emergency elevator and rescue system should now function fully in Grim Hex
- If a player has their inventory open while leaving a greenzone or a location, the local inventory to that area should no longer remain displayed
- Fixed an issue causing planetary winds to desync between clients which would cause force reactions to be different for players
- Fixed multiple visarea issues when entering and exiting ship hangars in Orison
- Ships should no longer be impounded instead of stored after sitting on their legal landing pad too long
- “Body Drag” and “Drop Body” should no longer show at the same time when interacting with a body
- Crusader showroom bartender should no longer be missing
- ‘Drop Item’ should no longer allow undersuit to be removed from other actor while wearing armor
- Players should now be charged with First Degree Battery instead of Grievous Bodily Harm when overdosing another player
- Aggressor should now receive a higher criminal status when a player they attacked bleeds out after being the victim of an Aggravated Assault
- Fixed an issue blocking someone from using their firearm again directly after doing a melee takedown on another player or NPC
- Fixed 8 Client crashes
- Fixed 7 Server crashes
There are various Known Issues still that need to be solved before an Open PTU can go ahead:
- Ground vehicles and initial spawn point
With this latest update, your initial spawn chooses the location of all your ships. If you have ground vehicles through the pledge store, selecting an initial home location that supports ground vehicles, like New Babbage, would be best.
- After a server crash, attempting to reconnect may result an infinite loading screen and being unable to interact with the menu
Players will need to exit the game and reload after a server crash to fix this error. This is part of the bug where players used to see a Bad Token after a crash which blocked them from re-entering but with the latest changes, that error is no longer displayed.
- Pledge Items lost on death
With this upcoming change, players will now lose all items equipped to their character upon death. These items include items from the pledge store including subscriber items. We are currently looking into different solutions for this but for 3.15.x be warned that if you die with subscriber items on, you will lose them in game but they will not be removed from your account or pledge store. These will be returned upon new major patches or through an account reset.
- Resetting account failed to clear user items
- Objective markers and QT nav points are greyed out on the player’s HUD
- Ships left at outposts disappear if the player logs out then logs back in or shortly after disembarking
- Downed players are dropped or bounce/spin out of control when dragged over uneven surfaces and ramps
- When Collecting Minerals/Metals with the Extraction Mode Laser the Ships Cargo Randomly Empties
- There is a small area with no gravity in the airlock to the Grim Hex Medical facility
- When requipping items from a loot box in zero-g, equipping the torso and arms will cause large amounts of inventory camera shaking
- Players will disappear if they enter a overdosed state when onboard a vehicle
- Weapon projectiles trajectory will not behave correctly when shooting from one zone inside a ship to another outside
- Multiple Heavy Armor Arms Clip/Partially Obscure some of the mobiGlas Icons
- Destroying mission-spawned reinforcement type ships does not always trigger the ongoing ‘Call to Arms’ mission rewards
- Missiles can hit the players ship when they are fired whilst the ship is moving forward
- AC Announcer audio callout for “Match over. You have won/lost the match” can be heard multiple times at the end of a round
- AC Players can spawn facing the wrong way at the start of the match or after dying
- Demon Fang Combat Knife asset is missing from the game