RSI Revealed New Content Coming To Star Citizen And Squadron 42 At CitizenCon 2952

This weekend’s CitizenCon 2952 was chock full of interesting reveals for both Star Citizen and its single-player counterpart Squadron 42. The five-hour show mostly focused on the new content coming to the MMO and the adventure game as part of Roberts Space Industries’ “Road to 4.0” update roadmap.

First up in the list of things to come is the new Pyro planetary system that’s made up of five planets and one moon. RSI offered in-engine flythroughs of each of the new celestial bodies each with their own unique features and characteristics. The planets have been given generic names like Pyro 1 for the first planet, Pyro 2 for the second, Pyro 5C for the moon, and so on, not for lack of imagination on the developers’ part but because the new planetary system is basically new frontier for players to investigate.

RSI will also be introducing two capacitor modes for ships: Standard Control Mode (SCM) and Quantum Control Mode (QCM). SCM is basically a combat mode for ships that will limit their top speed to around 200-300 meters per second but will allow players to deploy shields and weapons. QCM, on the other hand, will allow ships to travel at quantum speeds of up to 1,400 meters per second but will be trading off their defensive and offensive capabilities to do so.

According to the devs, the new speed modes are meant to solve the problem of everyone constantly flying at full speed even during combat and will add another layer of complexity to space combat since there will be a spool-up time when switching between modes, which should encourage players to think more tactically when approaching a situation.

The Lorville landing zone will also be getting an upgrade with the addition of more areas in the industrial city to explore, including more buildings with actual interiors for city-based missions, longer train lines, and the removal of the no-fly zone restriction which will allow players to zip across the city skyline at their leisure.

RSI also talked up the new power system that’s currently in development. Players will be able to use the system to power up other critical systems like artificial gravity, life support, and operational systems for ships, stations, and buildings. The developers pointed out the new gameplay possibilities that the addition of a power system will offer, including dedicated roles for crew members, multi-crew ships, player homesteading, more diverse mission types and alternative ways to complete missions, and the ability to sabotage or disable ships instead of simply blowing them up.

Players will also be getting new ships and vehicles in the form of the multi-use Crusader Spirit that will come with cargo, bomber, and luxury cruiser variants, the heavily-armed Drake Corsair exploration ship, and a new high-speed buggy with built-in cargo space from Greycat called the STV.

As for Squadron 42, it’s still being used as a testing ground for new features and mechanics that will eventually be introduced in Star Citizen. RSI said that they’re currently focused on making sure that the new features are functional before bringing them over to the MMO version, these include the above-mentioned power system, a new flight model, and various UI improvements. The team is also currently working on improving the game’s AI, new traversal animations for climbing ladders and vaulting over obstacles, better extra-vehicular activity animations, mini-maps, and hover trolleys.

RSI also talked about the plans to introduce a skill system that will let players improve certain attributes of their characters such as the ability to carry more equipment, withstand higher g-forces, and improve their stamina.

It’s important to note that many the above-mentioned features and content won’t be making it to the game with the actual update 4.0 update and will instead be released in succeeding patches. Regardless, Star Citizen players will have a whole lot of things to look forward to whenever RSI decides to roll out the updates and patches.