TLDR:
- By pressing “i” you can only manage the items in your armor or backpack.
- Location inventory can be accessed via Storage Access kiosks.
- Ship inventory is also tied to the storage closets in your ship.
- Players can use empty cargo boxes to store items inside a ship.
Star Citizen has introduced Storage Access with Alpha 3.24, but this update is broader than just adding kiosks to each space station or landing zone. In fact, all items are now physicalized and you can no longer magically attach them to your armor.
You are mainly here because you have pressed “i” and the usual inventory drawer has not appeared on the screen. Well, that’s how it is supposed to be going forward. There will be no magical inventory. Players should now interact with some sort of storage at locations to pick up things or store them.
How To Access Inventory
From now on, inventory will be split into two separate sections: Character inventory and location or ship inventory. Pressing “i” will only allow you to manage the former. So, if your character wears armor or a backpack, you can manage items attached to them or inside them. If you are naked or only wearing an undersuit, there will be no inventory available.
The location inventory, on the other hand, can only be accessed through Storage Access. These are new kiosks placed in major cities, space stations, and personal hangars. Once you interact with a Storage Access kiosk, the usual inventory drawer that you have been looking for will appear. So, this will showcase all the things you have stored in the city or station, which can only be equipped by the character.
Moving onto ship inventory, things get even more interesting. Most ships in Star Citizen do have storage access that you need to find. In fighter ships, the storage can be accessed from the outside, somewhere close to the ladder. But in bigger ships, you can find it around the hab area. For example, C1 Spirit’s storage access is located on top of the beds.
When you open the storage access in a ship, the drawer will show up, which allows storing items or equipment. You will also use weapon racks inside ships more often from now on as a unique storage to keep your guns.
How To Transfer Items Between Ships And Stations
This is where the Freight Elevator comes into play. So, if the items are more than a few, head back to your personal hangar and use the Freight Elevator terminal to bring all those items to the hangar.
Now, either move them one by one inside your ship and leave them on the floor, or equip them and then store them inside storage access. However, a better idea is to purchase a 1 SCU storage box from the cargo center and then place it inside your ship. Now, you can store all those items inside the storage box.
This comes in handy if you want to swap ships. So, instead of taking items one by one from one ship to another, you will just need to pick up the storage box and take it to the new ship.
This update is all about physicalizing items and cargo. It will probably take players some time to get used to this new system, as it feels like a huge step forward in making the gameplay loop more realistic and more believable by removing those magical techniques from the player’s disposal.
