Update:Star Citizen Alpha 3.3.0

Star Citizen Alpha 3.3.0 is an upcoming Star Citizen release planned for October 2018 (Q3). The update is set to include new locations and landing zones, such as the planet Hurston and location Lorville. New gameplay options, including Salvaging, Repair, and Refuel mechanics are planned to be released. Several Core Tech advancements are also planned. These include Network Bind Culling, Object Container Streaming, and Faceware's FoIP (which includes VoIP). The features in this update may be subject to change as stated on the official roadmap.

Characters
Mission Giver: Recco Battaglia

''Creating a new mission giver to add to the Levski location. This includes concepting with the character team, creation of the character's clothing/props and environment, capturing performance/lines, solving the animation and audio files for implementation into the engine, creating the Behavior tree, and hooking up mission content for this character. This task will also include the creation of any text needed to accompany their mission.''

Mission Giver: Clovus Darneely

''Creating a new mission giver to add to the Lorville location. This includes concepting with the character team, creation of the character's clothing/props and environment, capturing performance/lines, solving the animation and audio files for implementation into the engine, creating the Behavior tree, and hooking up mission content for this character. This task will also include the creation of any text needed to accompany their mission. This feature is dependent upon implementation of Object Container Streaming.''

RSI Odyssey Flightsuit Rework.

Updating the RSI Odyssey flightsuit to the current artistic fidelity.

Virgil TrueDef-Pro Armor

Design, creation and implementation of the Virgil TrueDef-Pro armor set.

Hurston Clothing Collection

Creating the Hurston costume sets.

''Design, creation and implementation of the various clothing sets that would be used by the inhabitants and stores of Hurston. This feature is dependent upon implementation of Object Container Streaming.''

Additional Solar System Locations
Hurston

The creation and implementation of the planet Hurston and will also cover points of interests positioned around the planet. This feature is dependent upon implementation of Object Container Streaming.

Lorville Landing Zone

Creation of the primary landing zone, Lorville, on Hurston, as well as populating the city with NPCs, Missions and Stores. This feature is dependent upon implementation of Object Container Streaming.

Hurston Moons

The creation and implementation of Hurston's four moons: Arial, Aberdeen, Magda, and Ita. This also includes constructing outposts and populating the planet surfaces. This feature is dependent upon implementation of Object Container Streaming.

Rest Stop (small)

Creating and implementing the rest stop stations that players will be able to visit during long flights. This will include installing stores, ATC, and character work. This feature is dependent upon implementation of Object Container Streaming.

Gameplay
Ship System Degradation

Functionality for upgradable ship components, implementing wear and degradation causing reduced performance and misfire events.

[Missions] Scramble Race

Designing and implementing Scramble Race missions. The Scramble Race is a mission type that can occur in space or on the ground which sees racers battling to be the first to reach a series of randomly spawned checkpoints. Each race is designed to bring racers into conflict, eliminating competitors by any means is encouraged.

Improvements to Retrieval and Delivery missions

Delivery missions have been the first to be converted to modular pieces of logic, allowing pick-up and drop-offs to be added into any mission in a matter of minutes. Players will notice that the delivery items will always correlate sensibly to the locations they are being delivered to thanks to the development of data sets which enable us to create relationships between data. Finally, general delivery missions will benefit from new automated lockers which will leave the admin officers free for station-specific deliveries.

FPS Combat Missions

Implementing FPS Combat Missions to allow for players to engage with enemy targets on the ground or in ships to add an action element to some of the missions.

Asteroid Mining

Implementation of the systems needed for a player to extract minerals from free floating asteroids, as well as from rocks on the surfaces of larger asteroids.

Improvements to Mining on Planetary Bodies

Upgrades to surface mining on planetary bodies with improvements to UI and general functionality.

Shipboard Ping & Scanning

Extend shipboard Ping and Scanning to much larger distances, differentiate Ping behavior per signature type, and expand information received from Scanning vehicles.

Transit Systems

Improvements to systems that allow players to transfer between various map sections such as doors, elevators, and airlocks.

Arena Commander and Star Marine REC Rentals

Adding the ability to rent ships, items and FPS weapons from the Main Menu with REC, for use in Arena Commander and Star Marine.

Groups System Improvements

Implement new mobiGlas and Visor Chat Systems Features and UI, and remove Legacy Group System and interface with new backend Chat Systems.

Improvements to Manned and Remote Turrets on Vehicles

Further improvements to player-manned and remote turrets on vehicles including input controls and feature toggles.

No-Fly Zones

Adding no-fly zones to some areas of the PU for logistical reasons, and enhanced intrigue. This feature is dependent upon implementation of Object Container Streaming.

Item Kiosk Shopping Improvements

Further improvements to Item Kiosk shopping experience, including polishing item previews, adding item comparison, selling functionality, and a general usability upgrades.

AI
[Flight] Improved AI Behaviors

Further improvements to the existing flight AI that will continue to develop new and deeper flight behaviors and characteristics for AI pilots.

[FPS Combat] Movement Smoothing

Improvements to AI movement animation, making certain actions smoother, in particular performing large direction changes, transitioning in and out of cover, and avoiding other characters.

[FPS Combat] First Reactions

Implementing behavior for first reactions to different events. Ranging from nearby footsteps to grenades going off close-range.

[FPS Combat] Multiple Enemy Combat Behaviors

Implementing and iterating on combat group behavior, such as multiple AI reacting to new circumstances together, target coordination, suppressive fire for flanking, and fighting from multiple cover locations.

[FPS Combat] Search Behavior

Making the AI search contextually relevant to different events. (gunshots, explosion, enemy seen etc.) and implementing search behaviors for different alert levels (slightly suspicious to combat search).

Ships and Vehicles

 * TUMBRIL Cyclone-TR

Tasks associated with building, implementing, and balancing the Cyclone-TR, Tumbril's variant of the popular ground vehicle used by military and security forces around the 'verse.


 * TUMBRIL Cyclone-RC

Tasks associated with building, implementing, and balancing of the Cyclone-RC, Tumbril's racing variant of the Cyclone, to get it playable in game.


 * TUMBRIL Cyclone-AA

Tasks associated with the creation, implementation, and balancing of the Cyclone-AA, Tumbril's variant of the popular ground vehicle designed to protect ground troops against airborne targets.


 * TUMBRIL Cyclone-RN

Tasks associated with the creation, implementation, and balancing of the Cyclone-RN, Tumbril's variant of the popular ground vehicle designed to quietly scan ground targets.


 * RSI Constellation Phoenix

Implementing and balancing RSI's luxury variant of the Constellation, the Phoenix, as a flight ready ship in the game.


 * AEGIS Hammerhead

Building, implementing, and balancing Aegis' patrol ship, the Hammerhead, as a flight-ready ship in the game.


 * CONSOLIDATED OUTLAND Mustang Beta - Revision

All of the tasks associated with updating and implementing the revised version of Consolidated Outland's pathfinder variant of the Mustang and getting it into the game.


 * CONSOLIDATED OUTLAND Mustang Alpha - Revision

Implementing and balancing the updated base model of the Consolidated Outland Mustang to make it flight ready in the game.


 * CONSOLIDATED OUTLAND Mustang Delta - Revision

All of the tasks associated with updating and implementing the revised version of Consolidated Outland's light fighter variant of the Mustang and getting it into the game.


 * CONSOLIDATED OUTLAND Mustang Gamma/Mustang Omega - Revision

All of the tasks associated with updating and implementing the revised version of Consolidated Outland's racing variants of the Mustang and getting them into the game.

Weapon and Items
Kastak Arms Karna

Designing and creating the Kastak Arms' Karna assault rifle for use by characters in-game. The work includes asset creation, passes by numerous departments, and Design input on weapon balance.

Hurston Dynamics Dominance Series

Designing and creating the new Hurston Dynamics Dominance series ship weapons to implement in the game. This not only includes asset creation, but also animations as well as Design input on weapon balancing.

Hurston Dynamics Attrition Series

Designing and creating the new Hurston Dynamics Attrition series ship weapon to implement in the game. This not only includes asset creation, but also animations as well as Design input on weapon balancing.

Core Dev Tech and Systems
Environmental Blending Shader

Development of a multilayered shader for objects that supports dirt, sand, ice, and organic matter, and allowing the object to believably blend in with any environment on the surfaces of planets and moons.

Network Entity Streaming

Restructuring how the network code handles entity spawning and binding to allow for asynchronous streaming.

VoIP & FoIP Integration

Add Voice Over IP to the Chat System and Face Over IP to the game.

Weapon System Refactor

A general overhaul to fine-tune and improve various components of the current weapon system.

Network Bind Culling

This work aims to help improve performance in multiplayer by cutting down the number of entities that exist on clients. Entities too far from a player will be removed from the local client, and when the player moves or the server otherwise detects new entities entering the player's range they will be added to the client. Because clients will then only consider updating entities that are near to them the overall CPU load will be reduced and performance should improve.

Performance Optimization

General optimization and engine improvements to increase stability and performance for the players. This includes continued transition of gameplay systems to Item 2.0 as well as investigation and resolution of possible memory leaks and performance spikes.

Object Container Streaming
At its core, Object Container Streaming allows Star Citizen to create our Universe. We will no longer be restrained by the physical memory on your PC and will be able to stream in new environments, locations and ships seamlessly as you approach. This will also be one of the biggest wins for increased performance as your graphics memory will no longer be overloaded. This work requires that a handful of other Object Container Streaming prerequisites be completed.

Code Conversion

Foundational work for object container streaming, converting all legacy Lua code to C++ for improved performance and greater flexibility for multi-threading.

GameObjectExtensions Conversion

Foundational work for object container streaming, converting all remaining GameObjectExtensions so that they no longer use the script table. This will allow for improved performance and greater multi-threading flexibility.

Asynchronous Background Spawning

Foundational work for object container streaming, reworking various game systems to trigger more entity spawns in the background, relieving spawning pressure on the main thread and leading to fewer stalls.

Background Spawning

Foundational work for object container streaming, allowing entities to spawn from background threads so that vehicles or object containers can be spawned with minimal stalling.