Today Cloud Imperium Games announced that it’s releasing update Alpha 3.15 of Star Citizen to all backers.
The update, aptly titled “deadly consequences” will bring several new features including an updated player health system, medical gameplay, the new personal inventory, loot, new mission types, and new ships, which will also introduce the new bombing mechanic.
Here’s a summary of what you can expect.
- Player Health System: Players can now be “downed” if they are wounded and can be revived by players to get back into the fight. While downed players can call for a rescue from nearby players, they can still be killed by other players and NPCs. Killed players will leave their items behind, which can then be looted by opportunistic adversaries. Injuries can also be applied to specific body parts, including the head, torso and limbs, that now impact gameplay until the injury is healed. For example, head injuries can now trigger dizziness and a wounded limb may make it more difficult to aim. These injuries come in three tiers from Tier 1 (most severe) to Tier 3 (least severe).
- Healing and Healing Tools: Players can temporarily heal themselves and other players with a variety of new healing tools, including the CuraLife Medical Gun and Multi-tool Healing Beam attachment. Healing tools will also increase the player’s blood drug level, which can come with deadly side effects if allowed to rise, including blurred vision, muffled audio, and even a “downed” state. The addition of these new healing mechanics and tools opens up a new gameplay profession, as players can adopt a medic-style role to travel the ‘verse and heal other players.
- Hospitals and Medbeds: New hospitals can be found in Orison, GrimHex, New Babbage, and Rest stop clinics. Hospitals can be set as respawn locations following player death and can also be used to heal critical injuries.
- Personal Inventory: Players can now manage their player loadout, personal inventory, and also external containers with this improved system. With the NikNax asset manager app, players can now locate and track inventory previously tied to specific locations, vehicles, off-ship crates, and on their person. This major update also introduces strategic inventory management decisions to players. Before beginning their adventure, players may need to make tough decisions for the road ahead, choosing between more weaponry, ammunition, or healing equipment. Running with a crew of likeminded players also introduces options for players to fill specific roles in terms of items and gear they bring to the mission.
- Dynamic Loot Generation: New dynamic loot generation leverages the existing Harvestables system to dynamically generate containers holding randomized loot. These containers can be generated across a planet surface, or at designated spawn points. With more rewards for pilots willing to take the risk, exploring the ‘verse has never been more rewarding.
- Origin 400i: Originally revealed at CitizenCon 2951, the Origin 400i makes its flyable debut in the Alpha 3.15: Deadly Consequences update. Designed for pilots in need of a vessel that can deliver in terms of speed, safety, and style, the Origin 400i is a ship that exudes luxury with its sleek design along with superb fuel efficiency and defenses that will take players to the far reaches of the galaxy.
- Crusader Hercules Starlifter A2: The A2 bomber has been used to devastating effect in airborne assaults, search and rescue operations, and landing initiatives. With more than double the firepower of the M2, and a custom bomb bay capable of delivering a staggering payload, the A2 caters to anyone hauling massive amounts of cargo through potentially unfriendly skies. Following the release of the C2 and M2, the arrival of the Hercules Starlifter A2 closes out Crusader Industries’ Starlifter line.
- New Bombing Mechanic: The new bombing mechanic introduced with the Starlifter A2 adds extra layers of tactical gameplay, allowing players to devise new strategies in both offensive and defensive scenarios. New bomb UI offers pilots a hi-tech solution for targeting, while retaining skill-based, manual aiming to place the perfect shot for maximum damage. That shot won’t come easy, as pilots will have to avoid inflicting friendly damage in the resulting blast radius as well as defend against countermeasures such as ground turrets and anti-aircraft missiles.
- New Infiltrate/Defend Missions: New mission modifiers that challenge players with defending objectives against waves of enemies in all-out assaults or avoiding detection have been introduced with both lawful and unlawful variants.
The press release also included a comment from Star Citizen Creative Director Chris Roberts himself.
“On behalf of the entire development team, I am thrilled to launch Alpha 3.15: Deadly Consequences, which adds vital new gameplay and content like healing, looting, and bombing to Star Citizen. We’re especially excited for the Tier 1 implementation of Medical gameplay and the hard gameplay choices that come with Physical Inventory, which brings us one step closer to our shared vision for the best universe sim ever.”
Incidentally, everyone will be able to test out the new features soon. the Intergalactic Aerospace Expo will kick off on November 19 and will continue until December 1, bringing along its traditional Free Fly Event will open Star Citizen to non-backers for free for a limited time.
In other Star Citizen news, the crowdfunding total has recently passed $396 million and it’s currently sitting on $396,836,042.
The number of registered accounts is now over 3.3 million, and it’s at 3,327,110 at the moment of this writing.
As usual, you should keep in mind that it’s known that not all of them are paying players. The number includes free accounts created for a variety of reasons, including Free Fly events.
Recently, we got an extensive look at what’s coming to Star Citizen with several panels hosted at CitizenCon.
If you’re wondering whether the game is actually fun to play, this is a good place to start. The online persistent universe has now reached version alpha 3.14, while a star-studded single-player campaign titled “Squadron 42” is in development.
For the sake of full disclosure, do keep in mind that the author of this article has been a Star Citizen backer since the original Kickstarter campaign several years ago.
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