Earlier today, Star Citizen developers revealed through Message of the Day that a Tech Preview channel might go online soon to test Server Meshing, but it didn’t take them too long to confirm that the test will be happening on Thursday and all backers are welcome to participate.
This is the first time that CIG allows all backers to freely participate in a Server Meshing test session through the Tech Preview channel. That being said, the testing period will be quite short, as the Tech Preview channel will only remain online for 4-6 hours.
According to CIG, the test will “split Stanton into three servers per shard with a more efficient setup.” The goal of the test is to monitor server or network performance.
If you are interested in trying out Server Meshing, keep in mind that the Tech Preview channel will require its own version of the game, which might not be the same as the current Live build. So, you will also need a pretty fast internet connection to download the new files before making it to the testing session.
It remains unknown if CIG will change the player cap for each server. Currently, the player cap for servers In Star Citizen is 100, but we also have one server per shard. So, with three servers per shard in the upcoming test, it would be interesting to see how many players can enjoy a smooth experience in the verse.
With Alpha 3.23, CIG introduced the Replication Layer, which is the base for the first phase of Server Meshing aimed to be delivered with Alpha 4.0 in Q3 2024. With the Replication Layer, players no longer disconnect from the game entirely when a server crashes. Instead, the game puts players in a standby station until it replaces the crashed server with a new one, and then the play resumes.
Currently, the replication process takes from 1 to 10 minutes to complete, and it has its own bugs. Players will lose their contracts and objectives after moving from one server to the other during the replication process, but most things like the ship, the cargo, the items, and the state of the entire universe remain the same.
The ultimate goal of Server Meshing is to allow players from multiple servers that are located in a single shard to have a seamless experience in a shared universe. It is yet to be known what is the ultimate goal for the number of servers in a single shard, but it will make Star Citizen feel more alive and denser than what it is now with 100 players per shard.
