Although Freight Elevators and Personal Hangars were removed from Star Citizen Alpha 3.23 at the last minute, this new patch still has a lot to offer in many different areas.
With Alpha 3.23, you can expect big quality-of-life improvements over some of the existing gameplay mechanics and systems, as well as some brand-new features that will make life much easier in the verse. So, let’s get started.
Master Modes
Starting with the biggest new change that will affect the most important aspect of the game: flying with ships. Master Modes is simply the new way of operating and controlling your ship in zero-g space and atmosphere.
From now on, you will have two major flying modes to choose from, each having its own sub-modes, called Operator Modes. The NAV mode is built specifically for flying around at higher speeds and Quantum Traveling. When you switch to NAV mode by holding B, the ship’s Quantum Drive will automatically start spooling, and whenever you hold Left Click (LMB) on any of the target locations, it will initiate Quantum Travel.
When your ship is in the NAV mode, your shields will be ineffective and you will not be able to shoot with turrets or launch missiles. If you press the middle mouse button (MMB), you can switch between the Operator Modes of NAV, which includes the normal NAV and Flight (FLT) mode. The difference between these two, for now, is that the Flight mode will give you a clear view by removing all Quantum Travel markers from the screen.
The next major flying mode is SCM. This is the main combat mode, and upon switching to it, your shields will become active and all your combat weapons will be ready to fire. The ship’s speed in SCM will be lower than normal NAV mode and you can no longer initiate a Quantum Travel.
The Operator Modes in SCM simply switch between available offensive options like turrets and missiles. In case your ship features an extra functionality like mining or salvaging, that will also be a sub-mode in the SCM.
Precision Targeting And Gimbal Modes
While it is still a part of Master Modes, this one is a big topic enough to explain separately. From this patch on, all weapons installed on ships will be mounted to a gimbal. There will be only a few exceptions like Ares Inferno/Ion, Aegis Vanguard, and Vanduul series.
The gimbals will allow the pilot to switch between different modes by pressing G, with each mode affecting the parameters of the weapon. While Gimbal mode offers a better spread rate for bullets, you can change it to Fixed Gimbal Mode, where you will get the highest fire rate and DPS out of your weapons.
Moving onto Precision Targeting, this is a new feature available in all ships that allows you to target certain parts of an enemy ship rather than randomly shooting at it. This will first require you to scan a ship by keeping your crosshair on it for a few seconds when you are in the scan mode (press V).
When the ship is scanned, you can switch to Precision Targeting by pressing Left Alt + Right Mouse Button. This will zoom in on your target, highlighting all available parts to shoot at. You can switch between sub-targets by pressing R. Keep in mind that shooting in the Precision Targeting mode will massively reduce your fire rate.
Distribution Centers
Tired of bunkers? Distribution Centers are new massive industrial locations on planets, offering a variety of different quests. These locations are divided into two major categories, the economic Distribution Centers and the heavily guarded ones.
Similar to bunkers, you will receive quests for Distribution Centers on your mobiGlass and they could be Delivery missions, Investigation missions (yes, the work this time around), and combat missions where you need to go head-to-head with security guards or invaders to the location.
Distribution Centers feature more than one level, and of course, more than a few turrets. It is highly recommended you take a ground vehicle with you if your ship is capable of it.
Mirai Pulse Series And F7A Hornet Mk 2
Mirai Pulse and Mirai Pulse LX are two new grav-lev vehicles that accidentally became available in the Alpha 3.23 EPTU build before their official announcement, but we now know that they will be featured in the game with the upcoming patch, of course, only through the pledge store.
On the other hand, F7A Hornet Mk 2 is the next big surprise for Alpha 3.23. All players who successfully complete he Overdrive Initiative quests after the release of 3.23, will receive a 7-day free access to this new medium fighter. Also, those who already own F7C Hornet Mk 2 will receive a free upgrade token to F7A Hornet Mk 2.
New Wildlife
Not that there wasn’t wildlife in Star Citizen, but it is going to be expanded by adding two new animal species: Kopion and Marok. The former is a hostile wild boar-like animal with a pretty aggressive look, while the latter is a Pterosaur-like flying creature.
There will be a new mission type to neutralize hostile animals in different parts of the Stanton. Well, that does sound like a quest that only the stone-hearted would complete, but you can find these new animals through the quests more easily, even if you refuse to kill them.
Revamped UI System
The UI improvement in Star Citizen Alpha 3.23 is by far the most impressive part of the game. After all, everything you do in this game is tied to the UI somehow.
The new update will revamp the current mobiGlass, making it more visible and easier to navigate through different tabs. Also, the Starmap gets a massive overhaul, as you can now find planets and the POIs around them much easier in a pretty clean screen that allows you to easily click on the names.
The UI improvement goes further to add a new mini-map to the FPS screen, which will show you the interior spaces of space stations, cities, and even bunkers to make navigation easier.
Hopefully, it’s not over yet. The loot screen will also receive its dedicated UI, so you don’t have to get into the inventory screen every time you want to loot a dead body. This will help you a lot with quickly looting things like ammo, weapons, or Medpens without spending so much time with the clunky inventory system.
The visor and lens HUD, which are simply the personal stats of your character and weapons shown on the FPS screen will be changed as well, giving you a better visibility of the world without making the screen too crowded.
The weapons are getting a new dynamic crosshair, too. So, while you move, the crosshair will also react to those small movements to show you where hip firing will hit. This will help with the game’s realism even more.
Last but not least, the new interaction menu is also coming with Alpha 3.23. So, you will no longer need to hold F to switch to the interaction mode. Every interactable item will now have its own interaction buttons and info appearing next to it, and you can customize it to your liking.
More Ships Coming To In-Game Stores
If you rather buy new ships with your in-game hard-earned money, then there will be a good amount of new options at the in-game stores, as Cloud Imperium Games unlocks access to the following ships and ground vehicles with the upcoming patch:
- Aopoa Santok Yai
- ARGO SRV
- Crusader A1 Spirit
- Crusader C1 Spirit
- Cutter Rambler
- Cutter Scout
- Gatac Syulen
- Mirai Fury LX
- Mirai Fury MX
- Misc Hull C
- Origin X1
- Origin X1 Force
- Origin X1 Velocity
- RSI Lynx
- Tumbril Storm
- Tumbril Storm AA
All these ships and ground vehicles were already available only through the pledge store, but after Alpha 3.23 you can buy them by spending in-game currency, aUEC.
New Buying Terminal At NewDeal
Yes, you read it right! They finally listened to us. One of the most requested features for Star Citizen will eventually arrive in Alpha 3.23 as the developers add a second Terminal to NewDeal at Lorville.
If you have ever started playing Star Citizen in the first few days of a new patch’s launch, you have surely seen the long line at NewDeal. The place always used to be crowded with players who wanted to buy a new ship after a wipe, but they had to wait a long time in line because NewDeal used to have only a single terminal.
Those days are now gone, as the most popular dealership in Stanton will eventually add a second terminal.
New Character Customization System
While we did receive the new hair tech with Alpha 3.22, the new patch will fully bring Squadron 42’s character creation system to Star Citizen with a ton of options and adjustments available.
You can customize almost every part of the human head, and you will have a wide variety of colors available to create your beloved hairstyle.
Zero-G Traversal Improvements
Known as EVA T2, your character will have pretty smooth animations when traversing in zero-g space. In case you need more details, your character will no longer stand up vertically in space, instead, you will see it lying horizontally, which makes traversal through tight spaces a lot easier.
Also, when getting closer to a surface, your character will use their hands to slow down or speed up by pushing themselves toward the movement direction.
Reputation Upgrade
Aside from the reputation with certain people, you will now have a faction-based reputation as well, which will affect the way they treat you in the long term.
We have not received much information on this from either EPTU testers or Cloud Imperium Games itself, which still keeps it a mystery for the community.
Technical Upgrades
When it comes to visual improvements, you can expect the implementation of Vulkan API, which will lay out the foundation for the arrival of ray tracing in future updates.
Other than that, Star Citizen Alpha 3.23 will deliver Volumetric Clouds. This is an interesting visual upgrade as clouds now look more realistic and fluffier.
Moreover, Cloud Imperium Games will improve water rendering, which will make it react to the air coming out of your ship’s thrusters, adding the water splash feature to the game for a superior visual representation.
Balancing Updates
With the arrival of Alpha 3.23, the in-game prices for ships will be increased significantly. Just to give you an idea of the new prices, A2 Hercules will rise from 5.5 million to 44 million aUEC.
Now, not all the ships will have a massive increase in price like A2, but the new prices will surprise you. Check out the full list of new prices for ships here.
Aside from that, you should also expect some changes in the pricing for salvaging. While the price for CM (Construction Materials) will be reduced by around 350%, going down to 1.5K aUEC per unit, the RMC prices will increase slightly to become 15.4K aUEC.
Arena Commander Updates
Arena Commander will receive a new experimental Engineering mode, which allows players to try out the Engineering gameplay for the first time ever inside an A2 Hercules. You will be tasked to work with the ship’s engineering map, find out which parts need repair or replacement, and maintain the ship’s overall functionality to help it survive longer in the battle.
A bunch of new racing tracks as well as a new flight map will also be added to the Arena Commander mode. You can also expect a new race type for gravlev vehicles.
