The next Star Citizen update is here, coming in to land just ahead of CitizenCon this weekend. Star Citizen alpha 3.21 is the latest update for the hugely ambitious space game from Cloud Imperium Games and Roberts Space Industries, which first gained notoriety for its vast Kickstarter backing. Star Citizen: Mission Ready is now available for all players, and includes new ships, platform expansions, and missions for players at all levels of experience.
The Star Citizen patch notes for its alpha 3.21 update have arrived, and there’s a lot to look forward to. As the title of the update suggests, this is set to be a rather action-packed one, with Cloud Imperium calling it “our most adrenaline-pumping patch yet.” With some of the most dangerous missions introduced to the space game so far, and missions included for pilots at every level of play, there’s a lot to explore.
First up are ‘Steal Evidence’ missions, which see you doing exactly that. You’ll be doing it from the heavily-stationed Security Post Kareah, however, so it won’t be an easy task, and if you arrive late your target might already be in the hands of another player – leaving you with the decision of how you get it back.
‘Retrieve Consignment’ missions see you heading into the underground facilities of Stanton, seeking valuable resources left over from their more prosperous days. You’ll have to fight your way through, of course, but can grab extra loot as you go. There are new platforms across the cloud city of Crusader, which sees the return of the ‘Repel Raid on Orison’ missions, with the ability for multiple instances of the mission to be run simultaneously.
There’s a new line of mid-size ships coming from Crusader Industries, and the first of those, the Crusader A1 Spirit, is here. A light bomber that can carry and deliver devastating payloads, the A1 Spirit features front-facing weapons, missiles, and a rear-facing remote turret, meaning it won’t need an escort to hold off enemy fighters. It also has space for two crew members.
On a more technical level, Star Citizen 3.21 marks the debut of ‘Replication Layer Split’ tech on the game’s preview channel, which can be accessed alongside the live servers. Cloud Imperium calls this a “critical technical milestone, which is vital to moving the Persistent Universe to a single environment shared by all players simultaneously.” Given how ambitious the project is, it’ll spend some time in public testing before advancing to live servers.
The Star Citizen alpha 3.21 update is live now. You can find further details about it and full patch notes on the official website, courtesy of Roberts Space Industries. In addition to this, you can now refer a friend to Star Citizen and both of you will get a free HoverQuad bike complete with Copperhead paint.
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