With V0.9, which launched today, Star Citizen’s Arena Commander module gets it’s most significant update yet. After updating from the launcher client, you’ll be able to flit around space in new game modes – including a race mode, the Murray Cup – in some new ships, which you can put to bed in new hangers.
And, importantly, you’ll be able to do it with chums, as the update introduces friend codes on top of a slew of other features.
The biggest new feature to come to Arena Commander is racing. With two new flashy ships, the M50 and 350R, you’ll be able to compete in a space race. To facilitate speedsters, a new map, New Horizon, has been thrown into the mix, where pilots will be able to test their skills against each other.
Star Citizens three hangars have been rebuilt, and they’re joined by a new asteroid hanger for you pirate types that like to hide from authorities in those hard to reach places. Players will be able to select which hangar they want to use from the account screen on the official website.
Controls for all ships have also been improved. Six degrees of freedom has been implemented, allowing pilots to move along every axis, and now it’s possible to select from several different control presets. The HUDs been polished up too, with streamlined navigation (including mouse controls) and new hotkeys for managing power and shield allocation.
This is just the tip of the iceberg, with ship performance, weapons and a long list of tweaks and fixes being added to this big ol’ update. Take a gander at the full patch notes here.