This week marks the fifth annual CitizenCon, a convention dedicated to the long in development Star Citizen. During the keynote livestream, there were plenty of opportunities to see exactly what Star Citizen looks like in 2018. Cloud Imperium Games also highlighted several key features coming to the game’s test build in Star Citizen Alpha 3.3.
One of the most eye-catching is the addition of Face and Voice Over IP technology into the game. Already used behind the scenes in games like Star Wars Battlefront 2 and Horizon: Zero Dawn, this will be one of the first consumer-facing implementations of the technology. Just hook up a webcam and Star Citizen will capture your facial expressions and map them onto your in-game character.
On the gameplay side, Alpha 3.3 brings current players a few new toys. There are 10 new vehicles to pilot and several new weapons and armor types to try. This includes the Aegis Hammerhead, a capital support ship filled stocked with extra turrets. This in-universe guided tour should give you an idea of what shipowners will be playing with once the update hits.
The update also adds AI-helmed enemies to shoot in FPS sequences and improved AI during dogfighting. If you want to avoid violence, you can participate in new multiplayer Scramble Race missions. They’ll have you zooming around the galaxy in competitive multiplayer sessions. Cloud Imperium CEO Chris Roberts spoke about the new gameplay options.
“In 3.3, Star Citizen players can fight against our all new enemy AI in both dogfighting and first person shooter battles, race each other across moons and planets and test out all our new ships,” he said. “I also can’t wait to get our new planet, Hurston, and it’s major city, Lorville, out to everyone. That’s coming soon!”
Followers of Star Citizen are certainly familiar with that phrase. There is no set date, but Star Citizen Alpha 3.3 is due to hit the “Persistent Test Universe” shortly. It will hit the actual alpha, or “Persistent Universe” sometime after that.
