Update:Star Citizen Alpha 3.7.0

Alpha Patch 3.7.0 has been released and is now available! The launcher version number should read: VERSION 3.7.0- LIVE.3180042. =New Features=

Gameplay

 * Added a voice activation option for VOIP transmission available in the FOIP/VOIP options menu.
 * Added ship rental kiosks.
 * Ship rental kiosks can be found at Teasa Spaceport in Lorville (Vantage Rentals) and Riker Memorial Spaceport in Area18 (Traveller Rentals). When renting, players can specify the duration (1, 3, or 30 days real time) with longer time being a better overall value. Rented ships are insured and customizable. The time remaining on the rental is shown on the mobiGlas and the ASOP terminal.


 * Players can now mine small rocks for valuable commodities while on foot.
 * To mine minerals and crystals while on foot players will need the multi-tool plus a mining attachment, both can be found at Area18, Lorville, and Levski. Once equipped players will be shown a UI interface for mining laser strength and fracture window similar to the mining mechanic on the Prospector. Once the rock is fractured, valuable minerals will be broken off and can be hand collected and stowed in the player's personal inventory.


 * Harvestable objects can now be found and collected on various planetary bodies.
 * Harvestable objects are valuable and can be stowed in the player's inventory for later sale at commodity kiosks. Currently, harvestables can be found on the surface of Hurston, Arial, Aberdeen and Daymar as well as within all caves.


 * Added a visor message that should notify the player if they are intentionally not respawned in a ship bed they had previously logged out of to help track down issues with bed logout.
 * Added: Player Personal Inventory
 * Player personal inventory can be accessed using interaction mode and selecting an activation dot in the player's view or by using the "i" key. From there a radial menu will appear showing the overall storage available, the percentage fill, and what items are stored. The amount a player can carry is based on the type of armor they are wearing, with storage capacities shown on kiosks and shop displays. Players can also highlight and drop items as well as "store all" items in a carriable box, provided they are standing within the cargo grid of a vehicle. Both the cargo grid stored box and the inventory itself can be sold at commodity kiosks.


 * Added caves to Daymar, Hurston, and Aberdeen.
 * Caves can now be found on the above rocky moons and planet, each contain harvestables and FPS mineable resources.


 * ATC will now restrict landing privileges based on crimestat.
 * Most major landing areas will now not grant landing privileges to anyone with a crimestat of one or more. GrimHex will allow anyone to land, including those in stolen ships. Rest stops, Port Olisar, and Levski will allow anyone up to crimestat level three to land but will not allow stolen ships.


 * New missing person "investigation" mission for caves.
 * Players can now share missions.
 * Accepted missions now have the "share" option, which shares the mission with all members of the player's current party. Upon mission completion, the total payout is divided up among the party members.


 * New Star Marine Elimination Map: The Good Doctor
 * Radical Outsiders cult has taken over an old terraforming facility on Leir II. Join the Marine task force and attempt to take it back, or join the loyal cultists and defend the honor of the good doctor himself, Dr. Marcus Fayel.

Ships and Vehicles

 * Added: Aegis Vanguard Harbinger
 * Added: Aegis Vanguard Sentinel
 * Added: RSI Mantis and player interdiction gameplay
 * From the pilot seat of the Mantis, players can activate a dampening field via interaction, labeled "QED", which will prevent ships from quantum traveling if they are within a short range. You can also begin charging the quantum snare via interaction "Q Snare Charge". Once charged, activate the snare with "Q Snare Initiate". Once activated, an enforcement bubble of 20 km will be put in place that will pull ships passing through out of quantum. When a ship is "snared", the location of the snare will be shown to the pilot and all players within their party. The snared ship will have its quantum drive dampened within the bubble. Note, this is the location of the snare not the ship itself which can move from that position. Charging and maintaining the snare costs significant power and cooling resources


 * An exclusion zone around major stations where the snare can be be activated has been put in place and activating the snare within monitored space is an imperial offense and will raise the player's crimestat.


 * Added: Banu Defender
 * The Banu Defender has a special shield that is best operated by two people via advanced hardening mechanics. The best way to utilize this feature is with a co-pilot adjusting hardening on their MFD while the pilot focuses on flying and engaging enemies.


 * Added a keybind "J" to manually toggle compatible ships into VTOL mode, shifting the ships thrust orientation when desired.
 * Some small ships can now mount size 2 gimbals into size 1 hardpoints, allowing them to gimbal size 1 weapons. Those ships include the Auroras, Mustangs, Merlin, Archimedes, 85x, Nox, Dragonfly, and Prospector.
 * Added new IFCS system: Proximity Assist
 * Proximity assist, which will now replace hover mode for near surface control, dampens ship acceleration when near surfaces to give the pilot better fine control and is enabled by default. Proximity assist can be disabled in the options menu.

Weapons and Items

 * New Ship Weapon: Kroneg FL-Series Laser Cannons.
 * With a steady hand and a sharp eye, there are few similarly classed laser cannons that can out perform Kroneg's FL-Series. This versatile, high-yield weapon was constructed with newly designed compensators to deliver damage at long ranges.


 * New FPS Weapon: Hedeby Salvo Frag Pistol.
 * While the Salvo can be used as a normal pistol, Hedeby didn't stop there. With a longer trigger pull, a freezing primer is injected into the chamber and when released, the heavy firing pin hits with enough force to pulverize the supercooled casing. Accidentally developed as an attempt to mitigate overheating, this charged fire option discharges a deadly spray of high-velocity fragments followed by an ear-shattering boom. The Salva Frag Pistol can be purchased at Livefire at Port Olisar, HUR-L2, CRU-L1, Skutters, and Tammany and Sons.


 * Added additional weapon sight attachments and updated some of the current ones.
 * Additional Attachments: NV-TAC 1x Gamma Projection Optic, NV-TAC 2x Gamma Duo Projection Optic. Reworked: NV-TAC 3x Gamma Plus Projection Optic, NV-TAC 4x Telescopic Optic, NV-TAC 1x Delta Reflex Optic.


 * FPS combat AI will now prioritize targets based on distance, visibility, and incoming damage and should engage the player more aggressively.
 * Added new chat group and party interaction functionality.
 * Chat groups can now be created in the commlink app and will persist between sessions. Chat groups are cross server, so anyone in game will see text from that group regardless which server they are on. Additionally, players can invite their entire current party into a group or invite an entire group into an existing party.


 * Added new barrel and under-barrel weapon attachments.
 * New under-barrel attachments from ARMA including a flashlight, laser sight, suppressor, flash hider (hides muzzle flash), compensator (recoil reduction), and energy stabilizer (recoil reduction). Like other attachments, these can be found at shops that sell compatible firearms. Activate attachments with the "U" key. Note: Weapon descriptions give the compatible sizes for all available attachment slots.


 * Flares can now be purchased at Conscientious Objects on Levski, Cubby Blast at Area18, Tammany & Son's at Lorville, and Live Fire at Port Olisar.
 * Flares can be equipped to utility slots, manually activated with the "use" interaction, thrown, and held.


 * Added high inventory armor, the MacFlex "Rucksack" Core, is now available at Conscientious Objects on Levski, Cubby Blast at Area18, and Tammany & Son's at Lorville.

Core Tech

 * Arena Commander and the Persistent Universe now use separate ship databases.
 * Arena Commander and the Persistent Universe now maintain separate ship and item databases. The status of your ship in the persistent universe, including fuel state, damage state, and whether it is destroyed or not will have no impact on your ship setup in Arena Commander. Loadout customization is also specific to each game mode and is no longer transferable. Rented items and ships in the Arena Commander customization menu will only be available in that mode and vice versa for purchased or rented items and ships in the persistent universe.

=Feature Updates=

Characters

 * Updated character customizer.
 * The updated customer has been streamlined to create better flow. Players now start by selecting a gender and a base head. Other heads can then be blended with the base as a whole or as isolated features by selecting on either the left column or on the region the player wishes to customize on the head itself. Players can also randomize any selection (dice on bottom center of screen).


 * Updated flashlight projection.
 * Updated stamina usage to increase sprint time and regeneration rates.
 * Visual polish to Pacheco's outfit.

Locations

 * Updated Arial's height-map distribution.
 * Temporarily removed rest stop HUR L2.
 * Removed the Argo from Area18's spaceport.

AI

 * Improved AI combat ship behavior for more dynamic target selection and engagement based on relevant threats.

Gameplay

 * Adjusted misdemeanor fine values including a significant reduction in illegal parking fee.
 * Improved the chat interface and multiple channel support for VOIP/FOIP.
 * Updated all mission rewards to better balance risk and time.
 * Temporarily disabled escort style missions.
 * Made crimestat restrictions more lenient for mission offerings.
 * Updated AI service beacons with new sequenced waves of enemies, more challenging opponents, and kill rewards.
 * Reworked and reintroduced the level 5 crimestat mission.
 * Temporarily removed several city locations from the delivery system.
 * Adjusted the position of some of the no-fly zones around horizontal hangars at Area18.
 * Updated tablet grip template so players can turn items like computer blades in their hand.
 * Updated Pirate Swarm.
 * Pirate swarm has been updated to 10 waves and now has a new suite of opponent ships and a challenging final wave.

Ships and Vehicles

 * Improved the fuel consumption of the 890 Jump.
 * Increased CryAstro refueling rates for larger ships.
 * Reworked audio for EMP.
 * Fixed assisted gimbals so it only requires the firing solution to be in the cone as originally intended.
 * Updated usables in the 890 Jump.
 * Updated the nose array on the Hoplite to BRVS Ballistic Repeaters.
 * Changed the exterior paint on the Hoplite.
 * Adjusted 890's health pool so it has more hull durability.
 * Slightly increased engine trails to increase motion readability.
 * Updated the Arrow to only have one shield generator as originally intended.

Weapons and Items

 * Rebalanced recoil for the Kastak Arms Karna
 * Removed size 1 and 3 Tachyon cannons and size 2 Tachyon cannons can now only be equipped to the Banu Defender.

Major Bug Fixes

 * The Vanguard should no longer lose shields and cooling if it loses the left wing.
 * Delivery missions should now complete more consistently.
 * Fixed scope magnification values on existing sight attachments.
 * Capture points going toward neutral should no longer continue to do so if no one is in the capture zone for Last Stand.
 * Fixed numerous issues with the pistol aim pose.
 * Storing the hacking chip should be consistent with stow behavior of other hand held items.
 * The character flashlight should now move with the character's head while in free look.
 * There should no longer be a gap in collision between the sky bus and the platform at Area18.
 * There should no longer appear to be blurring inside of ships during quantum travel.
 * The 890 Jump should now have countermeasures.
 * Port Olisar turret UI markers should no longer appear to float away.
 * Fixed 2x gravity around underground facilities.
 * Outlaws in Star Marine should now be able to equip armor other than light.
 * The Gladius should no longer have shield holes.
 * Fixed an issue where physical damage wasn't penetrating the 890's shields.
 * The 890 should no longer consume fuel more than intended.
 * Players should no longer be able to generate UEC by exploiting ship refueling.
 * The Reliant should be able to hold handheld cargo.
 * NPC service beacons should no longer spam the player.
 * Missile detach VFX should no play properly.
 * FPS weapon hits should now register properly inside the 890's hangar bay.
 * The options menu should no longer get stuck on when selected from the character customizer.
 * Ships should no longer quantum travel into Daymar and explode when spline jumping from between 2000 and 2500 meters.
 * Targeting and missile brackets should now appear properly for all ground vehicles.

Known Issues

 * Invisible rocks are present on the surfaces of planetary bodies and can sometimes block FPS mineable resources.
 * Kiosks and terminals are flickering.
 * Caution: Could negatively impact those sensitive to flashing screens.
 * REC rentals for Star Marine fail to process but still subtract REC.
 * Interdictions can happen twice in a row and sometimes spawn an asteroid very close to the player.
 * Quantum travel target selection does not always update when aligned.
 * Quantum travel sometimes doesn't work when too close to group members.
 * Workaround: Spread out from other group members, then quantum travel or spool and go one at a time.
 * Workaround: Aim the nose of the ship away from the marker, and then retarget the marker to reset."
 * The quantum travel HUD will vanish if the player exits the seat while in quantum travel.
 * The Combine cannon does function correctly in multiplayer.
 * Player's can't quantum travel in the Banu Defender with a copilot seated.
 * Ultra wide aspect ratios cause misalignment for personal inventory and Skyline icons.
 * Missile countermeasures are not working consistently.
 * Distortion damage does not apply correctly.
 * Duplicates of ship system components can appear listed in the VMA which, when equipped, will not function.
 * In Star Marine's OP Station Demien level, enemy indicators can sometimes be seen through walls.
 * Players may experience a stall when loading and firing weapons in Star Marine.
 * AI ships can get stuck and not continue on their route.
 * NPC beacons will sometimes display an incorrect distance.
 * Attempting to quantum travel to destinations from orbit of ArcCorp or its moons may result in the player colliding with the surface.
 * Ships can spin excessively out of control when their wing is clipped.
 * Landing illegally and having your ship despawn while a mission box is inside will break mission progress.