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Star Citizen Alpha 3.23.0 is a major update for Star Citizen, with major engine updates and a wide range of Quality of Life updates and content. The major updates include a Starmap and mobiGlass rework, First-Person Combat Rework, Personal and Instanced Hangars, Freight Elevators, Master Modes, a new character customizer, along with mar HUD and Player Interaction updates. [1].
Major updates
Feature | Description |
---|---|
Updated Character Creator | ![]() |
Distribution Centers | ![]() |
Fauna - Kopion + Marok + Animal Hunting | ![]() |
FPS Loot Screen | ![]() |
Item Banks | ![]() |
Arena Commander Updates - New Map + New Modes + Custom Lobbies | ![]() |
mobiGlas Rework | ![]() |
Map Rework + FPS Map System | ![]() |
Visor & Lens HUD Rework - Dynamic Crosshair | ![]() |
Player Interaction Experience | ![]() |
EVA T2 | ![]() |
Reputation - Hostility | ![]() |
Vehicle Modularity | ![]() |
Master Modes | ![]() |
Replication Layer Update | ![]() |
Image Upscaling | ![]() |
Patch Notes
Features and Gameplay
3.23 comes with major updates to default keybinds that have been longstanding. The main keybinds have been updated in the game menu as well as the new updated control hints system.
- Launcher 2.0 Update - Showcasing a brand new look and several new features.
Characters
- New: Character Customizer - Fully Reworked from the ground up with many new features and creative options. This includes multiple new base head models, new hairstyles, new eyebrows, makeup, facial hair, character creation saving and retrieval, and more!
Locations
- New: Inclusion of Major New points of Interest and Missions With Distribution Centers. This initial release includes the surface levels of the facilities with many new locations on Hurston and microTech and include many new, bespoke NPCs, hangars and landing pads, legal and illegal traversal pathways and more! Currently, underground areas of the Distribution Centers are coming in a later update. These new Distribution Center Locations will play a major role in cargo when the new cargo lift and personal hangar update is introduced in an upcoming release but currently come with many new Legal and Illegal activities that include Multi-Eliminate All, Eliminate Boss, and Assassinate FPS missions.
AI
- Overhauled and More Intelligent AI Ship Combat Behaviors
- Ship Combat AI has become much more formidable in 3.23. With this update, AI ship pilots have been toughened with new behaviors, based from real PU combat via collecting data from experienced dogfighters, to give them more move sets allowing them to do strafe runs, new orbits, more intelligent maneuvers and distancing, and much more, blurring the line between Player and AI flight.
- New Fauna: kopion and marok including hunting missions and New Harvestables
- Kopion: The kopion is a 4 legged hound-like creature that resides in Savanas, snow, desert, and cave biomes. This creature is not hostile when alone and will retreat to the nearest kopion if it exists. Although afraid of humanoids when alone, the kopion tends to roam in packs which will cause the pack to become hostile to creatures they encounter where they will use their sharp claws and teeth to do multiple melee attacks which include biting and pouncing at their target.
- Marok: The marok is a birdlike creature with a long beak and batlike wings is part of the BOID (Bird-Oid Objects) family with flocking behavior. They are not hostile to humanoids and their flocks will disperse when approached. The marok are native to savanas, snow, desert, and cave biomes and come in multiple feature colors that suit their environments.
Gameplay
mobiGlas Rework
Reworking the mobiGlas system to use Building Blocks, which will also allow for easier development of mobiGlas apps. This update includes completely reworked overwall UI along with reworked Home, Starmap, Contract Manager, Mo trader, Niknax, Journal apps, and more.
Starmap Rework
Implementing the new and improved Starmap with improved visuals and usability, including easier search and trip planning functionality.
FPS Map System
Implementing a minimap for the HUD as well as interior maps for FPS gameplay, helping players stay oriented in close-quarter encounters.
EVA T2
Bringing the full Squadron 42 EVA implementation into Star citizen for the first time, this greatly improved EVA system adds much needed control, animations, game-play, and finesse for players traversing zero-g from outside their ships
Animations and Traversal: Player movement and position is a completely new experience with Star Citizen 3.23. The first thing players will notice is that they will no longer be vertical while maneuvering and instead be in more of a superhero pose. This pose gives much more flexibility with player maneuverability, rotations, and viewing angles while also feeling much more natural and overall more aesthetically pleasing to see! From this new pose, players will have full 360 horizontal rotations while body direction will remain constant, until thrusting in a direction. Slower EVA speeds are now enforced in interior spaces. Improve Strafe maneuverability. Made transition between gravity and no-gravity more robust. There are multiple new animation poses for no weapon, weapon (pistol, stocked, shouldered), grenades & consumable use, 1 and 2 handed items, and mobiGlas use.
Fuel system & consumption: Players will now have a limited EVA fuel in their suits which makes planning trips into zero-g much more necessary. This adds support for EVA thrusters on undersuit, torso armour, and backpacks. In an emergency situation, if a player's suit runs out of fuel, their suit will transfer oxygen supply to thrust when fuel supply is empty which could be the slight boost needed to survive. Suit oxygen replenishes quickly while in breathable atmosphere. Nitroxy Pens will resupply suit fuel and oxygen.
Player Interaction Experience
Implementing the updated Player Interaction Experience; a holistic array of complimentary features and systems, all related directly to the player. Player status, item status, environment status, as well as interactions with both the game world and the objects within it, are covered under these systems.
This system includes:
- Visor & lens HUD Rework
- Control Hints
- Helmet Equipping & Removal
- Personal Interaction System (PIS) & Personal Inner Thought (PIT)
- The Updated New Player Experience
- and more
Visor & Lens HUD Rework
Converting SQ42 Player Visors over to Star Citizen. The Visor and Lens systems have now been updated to use Building Blocks for improved performance and flexibility. This updated system brings much needed user experience updates to adapt on the fly to the player's situation in and out of combat.
Helmet Equipping & Removal
When placed in the world (i.e. not equipped on a character), helmets display nothing on their visor. When a character equips a helmet, the player’s lens HUD will shut off and the Visor/HUD UI system will activate, and an animated UI bootup sequence will trigger and play out.
Similarly, when removing a worn helmet, the Visor/HUD UI will play a shut-down sequence, and transition back to the lens HUD.
Personal Interaction System (PIS)
The Personal Interaction System (PIS) is the interface the player uses to interact with entities in the world; the primary means of interacting with the environment (outside of combat and diagetic UI) is through interactions.
- A dedicated interaction input (F on the keyboard) triggers an interaction on an entity when it is in range and the current focus (typically centre screen)
- ranges (max distances) vary between entities, but are typically around 2m
- An interaction prompt displays to indicate when an object can be interacted with (and it is the current focus)
- a simple, relatively small UI element displaying the control input required to trigger the interaction, and the name of the interaction
- only one interaction prompt displays at a time, as there is only one “current focus” at a time
- Entities can have multiple interactions available at any one time. Other available interactions are available via the interaction wheel menu.
- Interactions typically trigger a player animation,
- for anything the player can carry, this relates to the Carryable system and sees the player pick up and manipulate an entity
- for anything the player attaches to in order to control (such as a pushable trolley, mounted gun, or a usable seat/bed etc.) this is usually in the form of locomotion, followed by an enter and new idle animation
- for anything else it typically results in the character pushing a button, triggering a corresponding prop animation, or triggering HUD UI
- some interactions trigger synchronised animations with other characters (such as reviving with a medpen, body dragging, or placing another character into a medical bed)
- A separate interaction mode displays a cursor which, when hovered over interactable entities, allows their current default interaction to be triggered (mouse1), or the interaction wheel to be opened (mouse2)
Personal Inner Thought (PIT)
The Personal Inner Thought interface has had a complete visual and contextual update to bring it in line with all of our updated systems.
PIT provides an interface to
- trigger actions possible to the player in their current state
- an easy way to check the current input that triggers said actions, and easily rebind said actions
- access to the player’s personal inventory and the items they have equipped or attached to them
Inner Thought Wheel Navigation Default Keybinds:
- Personal Inner Thought > Open: LAlt (hold) + F
- Quick Select Wheel > Select: mouse1
- Quick Select Wheel > Cancel / Exit / Back: mouse2
- Quick Select Wheel > Contextual menu: mouse3
- Quick Select Wheel > Pages (fwd/back): mouse wheel
- Cursor Select Wheel > Contextual menu: mouse2
- Cursor Select Wheel > Page navigation forward: right (arrow key) (& menu buttons)
- Cursor Select Wheel > Page navigation back: left (arrow key) (& menu buttons)
FPS Loot Screen
Introducing a new screen for looting critical items quickly, allowing for more reliable inventory management in tense situations. With this update players can rapidly transfer items to their weapon, magazine, consumables, and throwables slots or transfer all into their backpack. Selecting loot option on a crate will bring up the new FPS looting interface while opening will bring up the original inventory window. Added button on top right of Inventory screens to swap between the new and old looting interface.
Physical Shopping UI
The way items in shops interact with players Augmented Reality has been updated to give clear and detailed information about the physical item they are browsing. Players will no longer need to hold "F" when approaching items on store shelves. Looking at an object while close to it, a new AR informational window will appear next to the objects in view with descriptions of what the item does, it's stats, price, your current funds, and a new hold keybind to buy option.
Reload improvements
Reload Improvements have been integrated from Squadron 42 into Star Citizen. This includes many quality of life additions such as Ammo repooling and backpack reloading. Re-loading during tense situations has been overhauled to allow multiple reload types, allowing players to first reload from their equipment slotted magazines and then from their backpack/personal storage with a bit longer of a search time once those have been exhausted. Implemented similar functionality for Quick Select Wheel “From Inventory” rummaging. This new functionality includes UI on the player HUD to let the player know where their next reload will come from and how many overall munitions they have left in all personal inventories for the currently held weapon. Empty mags will now result in them being tossed away instead of being re-attached to your suit.
Dynamic Crosshair
Combat helmets now support the dynamic crosshair which allows for quicker target acquisition in close-quarter situations.
The Dynamic crosshair is a system which allows the crosshair to accurately represent to the player where the projectile will leave the barrel and hit. Unlike most first person shooters, our projectiles fire from the barrel, and when firing in hip mode this can make it difficult to judge just where bullet is going to land. The dynamic crosshair can help combat this issue with moving with the player when they move their mouse input around the screen. For example, if the player should move around the corner of a building, the crosshair will stick to the wall until the entire barrel has moved past the wall and will then appear in the foreground. We want the crosshair to be dynamic to your movement and actions. The crosshair is animated while you move and perform an actions to help the demonstrate the amount of spread your movement has on a projectile.
Players will have a choice of 2 options when it comes to the dynamic crosshair. Have it permanently off or have it permanently on screen when wearing any combat helmet. Players can decide to toggle the crosshair on and off via the settings options.
Combat Helmet Required: In terms of the lore of Star Citizen, the crosshair will appear on the players helmet visor via augmented reality. This means if they player does not have a combat helmet on, they will not be able to use this feature. Taking your helmet off or using a non-combat rated helmet will cause the dynamic crosshair to not display. In the PU, with there being multiple brand manufactures for helmets, there is an option for the crosshair to change it’s visible looks, based off the manufactures designs. The crosshair will not snap to different objects, since we are trying to add a level of AR realism, the crosshair should be responsive but soft float onto different objects.
Hit Markers: With the return of crosshairs, we also want to introduce a new hit marker back into the game. Currently we have a flash setup for the hit markers in game but 3.23 brings this over into building blocks. These hit markers are visible from both the hip and also in ADS mode. The new hit markers will have style and sound changes based on body, head, and kill shots. Hitmarkers are directly tied to the dynamic crosshair so if the player turns off the crosshair in the options or changes to a none combat helmet, they will not receive any hitmarkers for hitting their target.
Reputation Based Hostility
The current reputation system has been updated so that players can affect their long-term reputation with in-game organizations via means outside of missions, such as reduction of reputation for killing a member of that faction.
AI belonging to certain factions will react differently based on their reputation with you. Being an ally provides the player benefits, such as more generous friendly-fire thresholds and providing medical aid. Being an enemy will mean harsher friendly-fire thresholds and may result in an attack on sight. Lawful organizations will not attack on sight as long as they're in a monitored zone, whereas unlawful factions will attack on sight no matter what. This is the foundation which allows players to become allies with in-world criminal factions and enables places like Grim Hex to enforce their own law.
Vehicle QT / Targeting Keybind Updates
With 3.23 we are moving slightly towards the S42 scheme for targeting. This comes with vast, default keybind changes for on foot and in vehicles.
- Moved default binding to enable quantum drive to Left Mouse Button
- Long press (B) to swap master modes
- T (short press): select target closest to crosshair and iterate forward (based on crosshair angle)
- T (long press): enable / disable auto targeting, it will pick the closest hostile in view (based on crosshair angle)
- R: Iterate subsystems (if available and target was scanned, based on angle from crosshair outwards)
- G: always swap gimbal mode
- E: turret gyro on / off
- LALT+R: disable subtargeting
- Added keybinds to magnify the aiming UI (none set by default)
- 4: Target closest ship targeting you and iterate (based on distance)
- 5: Target closest hostile ship and iterate (based on distance)
- 6: Target closest friendly ship and iterate (based on distance)
- 7: Target closest contact and iterate from there (based on distance)
- LALT+B (short press): Set BOMB target
- Default binding for turret ESP has been removed but can still be assigned.
- Ping - Tab (Will be the same for FPS when it's ready)
- Scoreboard - F1 (Arena Commander)
General Gameplay Updates
- Quantum Dampener Will Now Limit Ships to SCM speeds
- Made it so only jamming will block Qdrive spooling
- Disabled requirement to scan a target before subtargets are available
- Made Friendly markers fade out after 50 meters
Weapons & Items
- Salvage Standalone tool Balancing Pass The standalone salvage tool has undergone a complete balance pass to improve it's overall use
- Doubled the range than the Multitool
- Increased Gathering and Repair speed
- Allow to repair a little higher than normal multitool
- Less efficient (higher loss of material when gathering)
- Allow toggle to fire Crafting / Filler Station update Added Cambio SRT container empty and full to the Filler Station crafting list in the Vulture and Reclaimer General FPS salvage changes Allow repair in green zones. Allow gathering to continue with the ammo container being full. CureLife Medical Gun Added Interact pose moving the gun closed to the camera to make the screen elements more visible. Made the UI elements always interactable. Fixed issue where you could not interact with the med gun screen in Heal Target Mode.
Ships & Vehicles
- New Vehicles We've added two new gravlev vehicles to Star Citizen in 3.23!
- Mirai Pulse
- Mirai Pulse LX Added the following ships to in game shops
- Fury MX and Fury LX
- Lynx Rover
- Hull C
- Spirit A1
- Cutter Scout and Cutter Rambler
- Spirit C1
- SRV
- Storm and Storm AA
- SAN'TOK.YĀI
- X1 Base, X1 Force and X1 Velocity Freelancer Component Pass Polish and Updates for Freelancer Series to bring it more in line with standards with additions of Component Doors, included components, Animations, and internal body work. General Ships & Vehicles Updates
- Every ship has had major updates to flight, performance, fuel, and more. For the full details of everything involved with master modes, please look in the Master Modes dedicated section of the notes.
- Heavy Optimizations to Anvil Pisces thrusters, and visual improvements
Core Tech
New Tech: Replication Layer / Server Recovery
The Replication Layer has now been moved off of the game servers and set up as its own standalone service. In the short term, this allows for game servers to recover without disconnecting players so their progress will not be lost. During a crash, as message will display saying the server is recovering. In this phase, it could take as long as 2-5 minutes so please wait on this to complete and the replication layer will move everyone to the new server.
New Tech: Vulkan Renderer (Beta)
Vulkan Renderer has now been enabled in Star Citizen. This new renderer will be off by default but has been added to the Graphics settings menu. In this first release, the focus is on hardware/driver issues, stability, and any major performance issues. At this point we do not expect Vulkan to be outperforming D3D11 on the CPU usage due to the fact we haven't enabled multi-threading of the rendering submission yet, but do expect CPU performance to be within a 30% margin. Once we have multi-threading enabled we expect a significant net-gain. On the GPU side we should be closer to parity.
Performance improvements and stability improvements will be on-going throughout 3.23, with the aim to make Vulkan the default and more performant implementation in a following release. In the meantime we appreciate any and all feedback towards this.
Additionally, you may see a few new folders now in Star Citizen's appdata. These relate to our new Graphics Settings file (just includes the Graphics Renderer setting for now), Vulkan's Shader Cache, and Vulkan's Pipeline Cache.
We are currently working with AMD and Nvidia to improve functionality and compatibility for later Driver Releases. It is recommended that you update to the latest GPU drivers for this release but there are still a few known issues that could cause instability and crashes with Vulkan until a later AMD/Nvidia Driver update. If you run into major issues you may want to swap back to DX 11. If the game crashes on launch after switching to Vulkan, you can reset this by deleting your shader folders in %localappdata%\Star Citizen
Vulkan PSO Precompiling
With the latest update to add Vulkan, Star Citizen will now precompile all PSOs (Shader Cache) for the current quality setting when the game starts for the first time after an update or when graphics settings are changed. This may take up to several minutes but will prevent any stuttering/hitching of the game at runtime due to PSO compilation in the driver. It is advised to wait until this process completes before jumping into the game. There is a text shown in the lower left while this compilation is happening (Optimizing Shaders...)
Changing the graphics quality settings in the menu will restart this process and compiles all PSOs for the current setting.
New Tech: Image Upscaling
Implementing support for GPU upscaling, including DLSS, FSR, and an in-house TSR solution. These include multiple quality and performance settings to test out to see which is best for you.
Volumetric Cloud Update
We've updated Star Citizen's volumetric cloud technology to improve overall visual quality and performance, including the addition of both planetary scale volumetric shadows as well as the implementation of ground fog.
Multiple New Graphics Settings for Clouds have been added
Photo Mode setting: Extremely high Visuals and raymarching steps that will give the best possible looking clouds but at the highest performance cost
Very High Updated Setting: With recent improvements to the half res atmosphere and cloud render mode, we've been able switch to this mode (instead of rendering in full res) and significantly increase the number of raymarching steps for this setting, resulting in much improved visuals while while greatly decreasing the runtime cost on the GPU.
New Tech: Water Simulation & Rendering Improvements
We have completely reworked the wave simulation and rendering of all water in Star Citizen in addition to creating a new multi-scale region-based water surface simulation system. Oceans and Water Volumes are now affected by all physical objects as well as forces from thruster and ship wake. Caustics are fully reworked to be both faster and driven by the dynamic results of the new water simulation. Underwater fog has been reworked to resolve various rendering issues, and the appearance of water when intersecting the camera has been vastly improved.
Tobii Accelerated View
Accelerated View enabled for Tobii Eye Trackers. Improves field of view control allowing players to see more with precise head and eye movements. Customize the sensitivity in the settings menu.
General Core Tech Updates
- Server Performance Optimizations
- UI Performance Optimizations.
- Nvidia Shadowmap Memory Performance Optimizations
- Visarea Performance Optimizaitons
- Physics Thread Performance Optimizations
- Further Polish for Planetary Effects, Visual Improvements, and Optimizations
- Updated DLSS SDK to 3.7.0
- Updated Tobii to Version 9.0.3.25
- Tweaked Some Tobii Eye Tracker Defaults
Vehicle Combat & Experience: Master & Operator Modes
There are vast changes to Vehicle Combat and Experience coming with 3.23. These new modes and updates are shown in major detail in the main note link above.
IFCS : Master modes enabled across the game
- All spaceships now have a master mode setup. Your ship can be in one of two master modes: NAV and SCM. SCM mode is used for any gameplay that is not traversal (meaning going from A to B). Your shields are functional, your weapons work and salvaging and mining can be used normally. However your speeds are harshly limited. NAV mode is used for traversal. When activated your quantum drive will start spooling up and once completed you can go very fast (around 1km/s) with your thrusters and your quantum travel techniques are available to you. Weapons and shields will still be powered and regenerating, however shields will be ineffective and weapons are not allowed to fire. If your quantum drive gets powered off or becomes distorted, the high speeds will be unavailable again. Your quantum drive in general is very susceptible to distortion damage so make sure you are not in danger when entering NAV mode. Swapping the modes can be done via “HOLD B” (so you don’t accidently swap it) but it will take a few seconds between the mode swaps. You will find an indicator for the currently used NAV mode in the top left of your HUD. It also shows a spool time when the modes are being swapped.
Cockpits - Operator Modes
- Operator modes (not to be confused with Master Modes) change the behaviour of your current cockpit dashboard. They have been in Star Citizen (e.g. Salvage, Mining, Missiles, Guns, Quantum Travel) for years but we are now making them very explicit in the UI. In the top left of your flight HUD you will see a label. The first part of the label denotes the current MASTER MODE (NAV or SCM) whereas the second part of the label denotes the current OPERATOR MODE. You can use the Middle Mouse Button (MMB) to cycle through your available operator modes. Unlike before MMB will not just change between GUNS and MISSILE mode but between all available operator modes of your dashboard. Specifically for the NAV Master Mode we also added a generic FLIGHT operator mode (FLT) which allows you to just fly around without the Quantum Markers. Please note that turrets currently do not have an indication about the current operator mode. This will be added with the MFD rework later.
IFCS - New flight tunings
- Due to the inclusion of master modes a lot of things have changed in IFCS. All ships got an initial tuning pass for master modes. They are currently relatively close to each other, we will roll out more drastic differences in later quarters. Keep in mind that we’re starting with a clean slate and that we need your feedback to help shape the tuning correctly. That also means that the typical activities ranging from simply flying over combat to racing will feel very different. Specifically our racing tracks have not been built with master modes and thus might require some adjustments in the future.
IFCS - Boost
- Thruster Boosting will now ramp up instead of instantly firing with the full strength. Thruster boost won’t be available for a short amount of time after usage. Boost will now also affect rotation rates, the actual increase however is dependent on the capacitor assignment.
IFCS - Gravity Compensation & Automatic Precision Mode
- A couple of safety functions have been added to IFCS to keep players safe. Currently there are no UI indications for their states as they will be part of the new MFDs which will ship after 3.23. However we added keybinds so you can still enable / disable them:
- Gravity compensation is now enabled by default in coupled and decoupled modes in areas with gravity, independent whether the landing gear is in or out. You will find the keybinds under Flight - Movement at the bottom of the list. They are labelled as Gravity Compensation.
- Automatic Precision Mode enforces a maximum speed limit of 20 to 30 m/s when your landing gear is out or extending (later we will extend that to flying within hangars, etc.). You will find the keybinds under Flight - Movement at the bottom of the list. They are labelled as Automatic Precision Mode.
IFCS - Reworked Cruise Control and Throttle Trim
- The core functionality of cruise control has been reworked to be more like a “sticky” throttle. Instead of pressing a button and the ship lurching forward with max acceleration, swapping to cruise mode will put the ship into a “sticky throttle” mode. When you switch to it (by pressing LALT+C), IFCS will use your current forward speed as the goal speed it tries to retain. Pressing W + S (or using your main throttle axis) you can then smoothly decrease and increase that forward goal speed. To reset it to zero, press or hold X (same button as the space break). When Cruise Control is active, your speed gauge will show you a second number that shows the goal speed. Cruise control is not automatically cancelled when you swap to decoupled. As an advanced function mainly for dual-stick users that use a spring loaded axis for throttle control we added a Throttle Trim function to automatically keep a speed without using cruise control. It works by the pilot setting a certain throttle value (e.g. 75%) and then pressing the “set” button. The pilot can then let go of the stick and IFCS will retain 75%. Any further inputs are scaled based on those 75%. The pilot can release the trim by pressing the appropriate button. Our recommendation is to use a long press to set the trim and a short press to release it. There are also additional key bindings that allow you to set the trim to a specific value (50% and 100% available at this point). This allows you mimic the old cruise mode behaviour. Search for the button binding Throttle - Trim - Set to 100% under Spaceship - Movement. You can reset the trim by pressing X. Currently there is no UI for trim, the new throttle widgets for the Q2 release will show it though. For advanced users: If you want the input axes to reset when you swap into cruise mode, set the following CVAR: v_ifcs2_input.throttle_mode_swap_behavior = 0
Persistent Ship Settings
- We removed a lot of user options in favor of replacing them with persistent ship settings. Certain things like decoupled, ESP, GSafe, UI gunnery magnification and a few other things will now be persistently saved for each individual ship. For the time being you need to use keybinds to change them. For the upcoming MFD rework in future releases these can also be changed by dedicated MFD screens. Please note in that in 3.23.0 these settings will not transfer to your Arena Commander ships and replacement ships (as they are technically new ships). We will however add a set of options that will be “copied” into a newly spawned ship when you sit in it for the first time. That will hopefully come in 3.23.1.
Gunnery - Precision Targeting
- Precision targeting is available on all pilot seats and turrets. You get the most use out of it with gimballed weapons. On switching to Precision Targeting (LALT+RMB for now) the view will zoom in on your current target and (if you have scanned the target) all available sub-targets will be highlighted. Use your crosshair to “paint” the target at a certain position and your weapon computer will automatically lead your gimbals to hit the target at the marked spot. Precision targeting will also heavily reduce fire rates on certain weapons to decrease the spread. Please note that there is a outstanding bug that does not create graphical outlines for sub-targets that are positioned inside the OC of a ship. Shield generators, etc. will currently not be visible.
Gunnery - Gimbal Modes and turrets
- By default all ships and turrets are now equipped with gimbals. There are a few exceptions to rule, e.g. when the guns have been built into the frame of the spaceship itself, e.g. the nose guns of the Vanguard, the S7 guns of the Ares or in general on all Vanduul ships. That means just as with pilots, turret gunners now swap the used gimbal modes with G. In cases where a ship has a mix of gimballed and fixed weapons, the fixed weapons will NOT fire outside of the fixed gimbal mode. Auto gimbal mode has been removed for pilots and is now exclusively available to turrets for the time being. Gimbal modes are now also affecting fire rates and (within precision targeting) the spread angles. Fixed modes have the highest fire rate, i.e. highest DPS output. Turrets do not have a functioning weapon status UI yet. This will be fixed with the MFD rework. The ship loadouts also have been updated. Where possible the gimbal mount sizes were updated as from now on a gimbal of a specific size will carry a weapon of the same size.
Gunnery - PIP changes
- There are too many changes to the gunnery system to count them all up but here the most player facing ones - PIPs are now calculated per weapon and are visibly summarized in groups with the same projectile speed - The more diverse weapons you mount, the more PIPs will be visible - The following points are persistent options. In 3.23 they can only be changed via keybinds, when the new MFDs release you will also find them there:
- PIP Grouping allows you to change whether PIPs are combined or shown for every individual weapon
- Gunnery UI magnification will increase the visible size of the PIPs and the crosshair
- Precision Lines will give you an indication of how close you need to be on target based on the aim assist and the spread values of the used weapons.
- PIP Fading allows you to set whether the PIPs fade away when they are directly over the target or too far away from the crosshair.
Gunnery - Aim Assist Suppression
- As a hold button binding you can disable all aim assists that your gunnery system does for you. While most player won’t need this, it might help in the occasional PVP match when pilots use maneuvers that distract the bullet prediction. You can find the key-binding under Vehicle - Weapons. It is unbound by default
Gunnery - ESP
- ESP was reworked to account for existence of multiple PIPs.
- We decided to remove all player facing ESP options except for the a single “strength” slider. This allows us to tune ESP individually for every ship differently, avoid confusion what the settings mean and remove potential exploits for PVP environments.
- ESP is also used during precision targeting, but the ESP point is the ship itself and the radius is as big as the ship.
Gunnery - Weapon Tuning
- All weapons in Star Citizen have been retuned and have very diverse characteristics. Since that is a complete diversity pass there will be certain outliers. Please keep using as many different weapons as you can and feedback to us which weapons work for you and which don’t. As a rough guideline we split the weapons into the following categories:
- Anti-Fighter: high projectile speeds, low DPS
- Anti-Material: low projectile speeds, high DPS
- Unspecialized: jack of all trades that are neither very fast nor very damaging.
- Specialized: highly specialized weapons (distortion weapons, scatter guns, mass drivers, etc.) Targeting - Button changes and Auto Targeting The targeting system now features an auto targeting functions. You can tell by the shape of the target brackets when it is on or off. Auto-Targeting will automatically switch to the next best hostile target in your view. This is useful in a furball or when trying to quickly re-target after chaff is dropped.
- By default it is enabled but any kind of manual targeting interaction will disable it.
- You can always HOLD T to enable and disable it.
Targeting - Subtargeting
- The functionality for sub-targeting has slightly changed. When you press R to enable it, the first sub-target will be the one closest to your crosshair. Further presses on R will then iterate to the next available sub-target based on the angle to your crosshair. After a certain time (currently 0.75s) the order will reset and your next press on R will again target the sub-target closest to your crosshair. Use LALT+R to disable sub-targeting. You can tell that sub-targeting is active when the target bracket is not surrounding the ship but an area on the ship itself.
Targeting - Button changes and Sub-Targetin
- T (short): reset target in view and iterate
- T (long): Enable / Disable Auto-Targeting
- R: Cycle sub-targets and iterate (Initial selection is based on your crosshair position. Further presses cycle outwards)
- LALT+R: Disable Sub-Targeting
- 4: Reset to closest attacker and iterate
- 5: Reset to closest hostile and iterate
Head Bobbing & Look Ahead
- There were several updates to the head-bobbing which is now reacting a lot more to g-forces and rotational movements. Unintended motions from missing eye stabilization have been removed. The only thing that remains is the slight breathing motion. Due to the legacy HUD layouts in 3.23 (where the HUD elements are placed between the dashboard and the player) there is a risk that certain players might get motion sick. In that case you have the option to freely define the strength of the headbobbing. In the options menu go to the game settings and set G-Force Induced Head Movement to 0. That gets rids of the head bobbing. Look Ahead is a small helper where the game tries to help you to look at the direction you might be interested. Certain people might find this jarring as well, so it also can be turned off. Either by LALT+L or disabling it in the options. The appropriate options are called Pilot / Turret / Driver - Look Ahead - Enabled.
Keybind: ATC Cargo Transfer Request changed
- To avoid conflicts with look ahead, the keybind for calling ATC has been moved to RALT+N.
G-Force Induced Afterburner Zoom
- By default the zoom during boosting is now enabled. When you boost you will see visual effects and FOV changes. You can change the strength of that via the options.
Quantum Traveling
- Your quantum drive will automatically be spooled once you are in NAV mode.
- To initiate a jump align yourself with your jump target and long press the left mouse button (LMB).
- Holding B is now reserved for switching master modes instead.
FPS Combat Overhaul: Weapons, Movement, and Tech
New scopes & Sights
- Scopes and sights will no longer have blinding reflections on them
- Optics Now increase Aim Down Sight Time (15% for 1x to 3x. 20% for 4x. However 8x and above remain the same due to being sniper exclusive with already long aim down sight times)
- Scopes that are 8x and above will have a glint visible to players when a scope is targeting them
- Optic zoom has returned on multiple scopes
- Armour will no longer block the players vision when aiming down sights Attachment Updates
- Underbarrel Laser pointers now decrease spread by 12.5%
FPS Control Keybind Updates
- Primary / Secondary weapon - 1 or 2 (can alternate)
- Side arm - 3
- Unarmed melee (fists) - 6
- Cycle next / previous weapons - Mouse scroll wheel
- Change movement speed – Left Alt + Mouse scroll wheel
- Lean Left – Q
- Lean Right – E
- Multitool / gadget - 5
- Consumables (Medpen, etc) - 4
- Throwables (Grenades, etc) - G
- Equip melee (knife) - V
- Weapon customise - J
- Crouch - C
- Prone – Left Ctrl
FPS Combat
- The overall intention for many combat updates in 3.23 is that the player is slowed down in firefights when committing to a fight but is still safe to retreat during a fight
- Adjustments have been made to make the overall experience more consistent
- Weapons should no longer get stuck in the falling pose
- Force reactions have been adjusted so FPS weapons will not cause staggers on any weapons
- When moving diagonally, players will now use strafe movement values
- Body mapping adjusted so shoulder shots will no longer count as headshots
- Equipment will no longer block bullets (such as backpacks, weapons)
- Bullets will no longer damage multiple body parts of a singular player (meaning if a shot went through the players arms and chest, it would damage the same target twice. It will still damage two different players as expected)
- Naked damage multiplier on the player has been reduced by 50%
- Attachments will work with new procedural Recoil
- Majority of weapons now feature new iron sights
- New procedural Aim down sight Animations on all weapons
- Spread has been fully removed from all ADS (some weapons still had it when they shouldn't)
- Various issues causing hit reg issues have been fixed
Major Weapon Balance Changes
Pistols
S38
- Damage Increased by 50%
- Magazine size increased from 15 to 20
- New Procedural Recoil
- New iron sight
LH86
- Damage increased by 24%
- Recoil adjusted to be more consistent
Salvo Frag Pistol
- Damage increased from by 6%
- Additional pellets and spread increase now interpelates as opposed to needing to be fully charged for additional benefits
- Min distance for damage drop from 25 to 30 metres
- Min damage increased from to near damage cap
- Min multiplier of charge mode decreased by 41%
- Damage multiplier of charge mode decreased by 12.5%
- Removed cooldown for firing after a charged shot
- No longer causes knockdown / staggers
Arclight
- Iron sight improved
Koda
- Damage increased by 25%
- Min damage increased by 75%
- 3 shot mediums, 4 shot heavies (to the chest)
Yubarev
- Damaged incresed by 90%
- Zoom time increased from 0.15 to 0.185
Rifles
P4AR
- Ammo count increased from 30 to 40
- Damge increased by 11%
- Recoil adjusted to be more consistent
- Aim down sight speed increased from 0.33 to 0.25
- Removed all spread from ADS
- Iron sight improved
S71
- min damage increased by 75%
- projectile speed increased 100%
- Recoil adjustments (smoother)
- Aim down sight time decreased from 0.375 to 0.275
- Iron sight improved
- now defaultly uses iron sights
Gallant
- Recoil adjusted to be more consistent
- Damage increased by 27%
- Iron sight improved
- projectile speed increased by 100%
Karna Rifle
- Recoil adjusted to be more consistent & Overall Recoil Reduction
- Damge increased by 7%
- Ammo count increased from 30 to 35
- Removed all spread from ADS
- Alt fire damage multiplier increased by 100%
- Iron sight improved
SMG
With item blocking being removed SMGs are now even more powerful as they're typically in CQC envrioments to compensate for this SMG recoil should be more consistent when firing leading to their range being increased
P8SC
- Recoil Adjusted to be more consistent
- Iron sight improved
C54
- Recoil Adjusted to be more consistent
- Recoil return should be more smooth
- Max spread reduced 66%
- Iron sight improved
- Magazine size increased from 40 to 50
Lumin V
- damage increased from by 35%
- burst delay decreased by 11%
- Recoil overhaul to pull consistently to the left
- Max spread reduced by 90%
- Iron sight improved
Custodian
- Damage reduced by 11.5%
- Recoil made to be more consistent
- Aim down sight time increased from 0.156 to 0.2
- Iron sight improved
- Min spread increased drastically
- Due to the custodians higher ammo count players are holding hip fire down in CQC as opposed to aiming which causes the custodian to be over represented in the SMG area
LMG
FS9
- Damage reduced by 3.3%
- ADS spread has been removed from this weapon (leftover from 3.22)
- Aim down sight time decreased from 0.44 to 0.4
- spread increased
- Iron sight improved
- Recoil adjusted to be more consistent
F55
- damage increased by 25%
- Now fires only after a wind up has finished
- Fires at full fire rate after spin up
- New Procedural Recoil
- Spin up time increased from 0.4 to 0.5
- Spin down time reduced from 0.95 to 0.15
- Spread min & max increased drastically
- Iron sight improved
Demenco
- Damage increased from by 15%
- Recoil adjusted to be more consistent
- Iron sight improved
Shotguns
Shotguns now when aiming down sight have a tighter spread
BR2
- Shotgun Spread Reduced
- Damage increase by 150%
- Minmimum damage increased drastically
- Aim down sight time adjusted from 0.175 to 0.35
- Spread has been changed to a consistent 6
- Pellet count decreased from 12 to 10
- Iron sight improved
R97
- Damage increased by 33%
- Aim down sight time adjusted from 0.175 to 0.29
- Spread min and max adjusted for smaller mins and larger maxes
Ravager-212 Twin Shotgun
- Force reaction reduction
- Shotgun Spread Reduced
- Damage reduced by 7%
- Min damage increased by 380%
- New procedural Recoil, it will no longer have a barrel offset between shots meaning you can tap as quickly as possible, this was changed because players wouldn't understand they had to wait for the barrel to reset before firing again
Devastator Shotgun
- Damage increased by 26%
- Damage range drop off increased by 300%
- Spread tightened
- pellet count increased from 10 to 12
- damage multiplier is now 1.35 when fully charged
- No longer causes staggers / knockdowns
- Pellet count increased by 66%
- Aim down sight time adjusted from 0.175 to 0.35
Deadring
- Damage increased by 80%
- Min damage increased by 50%
Snipers
Due to the changes with projectiles no longer dealing damage to the same character multiple times, snipers will no longer one shot on a body shot (still hits multiple players)
- Snipers in general now have a more drastic projectile drop
- No sniper scopes are able to auto zero anymore
- Zeroing ranges have been adjusted on sights
P6LR
- No longer causes staggers / knockdowns
- Firerate decreased by 45%
- Damage increased by 11%
- Fall off adjusted (will 1 shot medium heads till 300m)
- New Procedural Recoil
- Spread adjusted drastically
- aim down sight time increased from 0.45 to 0.55
A03
- New Procedural Recoil
- Damage reduced by 15%
- aim down sight time increased from 0.23 to 0.435
Scapel Sniper RIfle
- Damage increased by 5%
- Aim down sight time adjusted from 0.23 to 0.4
- projectile speed increased by 105%
- Scapel should now be far more consistent as both projectiles fire at the same time meaning the recoil position now no longer effects where the 2nd projectile lands
- Min damage increased by 125%
- ksar sniper is fast, deadly but cannot deal with targets as effectively over 150m compared to the P6LR
Atzkav Sniper Rifle
- Force reactions Reduced
- Damage increased by 20%
- Projectile Speed decreased by 50%
- Aim down sight time adjusted from 0.23 to 0.52
- damage drop minimum range increased to 350
- Spread increased by 50%
Arrowhead
- Charge Damage now interpolates
- Charge timer reduced from 2 to 0.5
- Charge now increases projectile speed by 5x
Special
- Explosions hit multiple body parts so 5.5 to 10 is still a dramatic increase
Grenade Launcher
- Min radius increased from 0.25 to 2
- Max Radius Increased from 3 to 6
- Damaged increased from 14.2 to 16.5
Railgun
- Explosion min radius increased from 0.75m to 5m
- Max radius increased from 2.5m to 8m
- Damage increased from 5.5 to 10
- Damage to ships remains the same
Grenades
- Min Radius increased from 0.25 to 3
- Max Radius Decreased from 7 to 4.25
- Damage increased by 43%
Arena Commander: New Maps, Game Modes, And More
- Custom Lobbies, previously referred to as “Private Matches”, makes its return to Arena Commander. Utilizing the new Frontend & Lobby Systems alongside new features such as moderation controls. Amongst those new features this release includes the first of what makes this “Custom” over simply “Private”. Experience the first of our Custom Settings including Map Selection, Score Limit, Time Limit, Match Cycle options and Team Switching. Allowing players to set up and play matches for any game modes at any time, with their own rules. We’re excited to expand upon Custom Settings in future patches. Custom Lobbies will follow the same game mode rotation as other network types.
- Streaming has been enabled across all of Arena Commander. This technology, previously exclusive to the Persistent Universe, allows us to stream in only what is needed in the Arena. This change will allow us to streamline our location porting to utilize references to locations rather than copies; meaning if the PU updates, so will AC. Additionally streaming will see performance improvements across select maps as we continue to convert them take full advantage of Streaming over the next few patches.
- Resource Network: Free Flight, Squadron Battle, Duel
- Three Limited Test Experimental Modes featuring the engineering gameplay (also referred to as "Resource Network") showcased at last year’s CitizenCon. Help shape the future of engineering gameplay in Star Citizen by testing and feedbacking to the features and balance showcased in this limited test in Arena Commander before it hits the Persistent Universe.
- Miners Lament – All Flight Modes
Included in the recent Master Modes Experimental Mode tests as a high-density, close quarters dogfighting arena, this unique location allows players to take advantage of asteroids, debris and more to take full advantage of the lower SCM speeds out-maneuver your opponents.
- The Skyscraper – Classic Race
Challenge the skies above Area18 and conquer the Sky Scraper by narrowly threading your way through towering high-rises and dense urban-sprawl at breakneck speeds.
- Caplan Circuit – Classic Race
Race through the intricate framework and sharp turns of the Caplan Industrial Platform, just a short flight away from the August Dunlow Spacesport. The Caplan Circuit is a rite of passage for all local racers.
- Dunlow Derby – Classic Race
This intense test of skill debuted for 2952’s Invictus Launch Week’s racing contest. Do you have what it takes to take a podium place?
- Lorville Outskirts – Classic Race
A sprawling network of interworking cranes, pipes, and industrial machinery line the winding quarry of this active worksite that doubles as the Lorville Outskirts racetrack.
- Stanton-Pyro Jump Point – Classic Race
Introduced as part of the Master Modes Experimental Mode tests this track enters core rotation as our 2nd zero-g racetrack alongside Miners Lament. Do not be fooled by the clear beauty of the track, this will push your use of the new flight systems to its limit in 3 varied splits designed for both SCM and NAV mode.
- Character Customization
Arena Commander will now utilize your personalized character from the Persistent Universe across all game modes.
- VOIP
VOIP has been enabled across all of Arena Commander, by default in team modes players will join the team voice chat, while in non-team games players will join the match voice chat. Additionally, proximity voice has also been enabled match wide. The speaker icons in the Scoreboard can be used to mute players.
- Gun Rush Update
Multiple Weapon Lists! - 3.23 introduces a great number of weapon tunings and FPS balancing that we couldn’t contain it in a single Gun Rush weapon list. Players will now experience one of a random selection of curated weapon lists per match. This also allows for activation/deactivation of lists through the patch cycle, so keep checking into Gun Rush as we may rotate them throughout the patch!
- Online Map Selection
Map selection, previously exclusive to Offline and Custom matches, will now be enabled in select game modes. Including: Free Flight, Classic Race, Grav Race, Pirate Swarm and Vanduul Swarm. By default, “Any Map” will be selected; this option is recommended to get matched with other players quickly.
- Free Flight Ground Expansion
Free Flight, our beloved sandbox mode has received an update for both Winner’s Circle & Bloodshot Ridge maps. With new ground spawners, players can now spawn any ground vehicle they own and drive around with ease in Arena Commander. Plan out your best tank battle scenarios or just take a leisurely “grav-stroll” across the lakes of Green.
- Pirate Swarm Update
The Javelins of the UEE Response Fleet are under routine maintenance. To ensure we keep the Pirate Swarm at bay the UEE have sent two of their latest Idris capital class frigates to now host the F8 Lightning Squadron as part of the response fleet. Survive until wave 10 to witness the difference between a fully crewed, fully trained UEE frigate vs the stolen Pirate Idris.
- Team Balance Adjustments
After using the previous patches to experiment with different team balancing configurations we have landed on a simplified version where Squads will only be separated in cases of extreme team imbalance, for fair gameplay. In addition, we’ve added a new team balancing step to the pre-game which’ll give players more time to connect before team balancing takes effect.
- Game Mode Adjustments
Control: Removed from Core Game Mode Pool
Elimination: Added to Core Game Mode Pool. Elimination may be disabled when certain Experimental Modes are active, such as Team Elimination and Kill Collector.
For a list of all achievements & their rewards visit the Arena Commander Comm-Link: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/Comm-links/19735-Arena-Commander-Modes-Schedule
- 2953 Vanduul Aggressor
Reach wave 25 of Endless Vanduul Swarm to earn the 2953 Vanduul Aggressor spectrum badge and unlock access to the Vanduul Glaive pledge page.
- 999th Test Squadron
Achieve this achievement by playing all Experimental Modes associated with the launch of 3.23.0 (listed below) to earn yourself the 999th Test Squadron Spectrum Badge.
- Tank Royale
- Team Tank Battle
- Single Weapon Elimination
- Kill Confirmed: FPS
- Kill Confirmed: Vehicles
- Duo Showdown
- Team Elimination
- Grav Race
- Engineering: Squadron Battle
- Engineering: Duel
- Significant performance improvements have been made on The Good Doctor.
- Awards (such as Badge, Pledge & Item Unlocks) gained at the end of a match will now display in your CommLink Notifications.
- Hitmarkers and damage indicators against/from a friendly should no longer appear when friendly fire is disabled.
- Racing scoreboards now display three decimal places in the displayed times.
- Players can now switch between Master Modes (SCM/NAV) during pre-game.
- Players can now change their power configuration during the pre-game.
- Scoring UI has been converted from Flash to Building Blocks.
- Removed auto-invites from Party hosts upon entering the Arena Commander Frontend.
- In Kill Collector FPS, pickup duration increased from 30s to 60s.
- In most flight game modes, increased the de-rez time of debris from 8s to 30s
- In non-team game modes, “Team” chat channel should no longer appear.
- In Endless Vanduul Swarm, the 2953 Vanduul Aggressor badge is now achievable by reaching Wave 25.
- After utilizing the “Join Friend” function you should now match cycle into the same game mode you joined, rather than the one you had selected before joining.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue causing some players to receive a disconnection (CODE 30000) when attempting to enter the PU
- Fixed an issue where shops could be missing items off the shelf and in kiosks
- Fixed an issue that could cause UGF elevators to go missing
- The Hornet Mk2 audio should no longer have placeholder/other ship sounds
- Fixed an issue causing many ships to spawn incorrectly at the start of an Arena Commander match
- AI should now spawn correctly inside Security Post Kareah spawn closets
- Fixed an issue causing players heads to go missing
- Fixed an issue causing too many AI to spaw during the Additional Derelict missions
- Bounties should now complete correctly after killing the target
- Fixed many rock assets have physics proxies that can trap the player in a falling state when walking over them
- Fixed some caves have gaps in geometry players can fall into
- Fixed an issue causing some assigned hospital room's door from opening
- Closed hangar doors of a hangar occupied by a ship should no longer open when another ship collides with them
- Fixed an issue causing large client performance drops when flying large sized ships near planet and moon surfaces
- Players should no longer get a "Something went wrong (Error code: 20)" when attempting to get a refining quote
- Players should no longer get stuck in bed after loading into PU after recovering from a server crash
Known Issues & Information
- PU - Stanton - GrimHEX - Locations / Actor Feature - Player corpses will not despawn at GrimHEX
- PU - Stanton - UGF - Locations - Bunker elevator does not return up when called
- PU - Stanton - Lorville - Female / AI - Females - There are no female social AI present around Lorville
- PU - Stanton - Lorville - ASOP / Fleet Manager - UI - The ASOP terminals for ground vehicles at Lorville gates get stuck on infinite load, accessing list of ships
- PU - Stanton - UI - HUD / AR Markers - Misaligned HUD Markers with Ultrawide or TSR graphics upscaling enabled
- PU - Gamewide - Using a medpen causes you to drop your weapon
- PU - Locations - Transit - Elevators - Internal Transit Elevator shows up when called but doors remain closed, no carriage
- PU - Greycat ROC - Stanton - ROC Mining Laser Not Activating
- PU - Stanton - Multiple Locations - Transit / Network - Transit will intermittently desync off course
- PU - HUD - Vehicle - Ship warning/alert text is very small and can be difficult to read
- PU - Locations / Vehicles / VMS - Can't repair/refuel/restock at Pyro Gateway Jump Point Station
- PU - Locations - Distribution Centers - Security Checkpoint elevator vis area and missing collision
- PU - Stanton - NPE - Missions - Objectives can be softlocked by player leaving bed before their objective record has updated
- PU - Multiweapon - Graphics - Backpack Reloading - Weapons reload invisible magazine when reloading from backpack
- PU - RSI Scorpius Antares - Vehicles/EMP - unable to activate EMP
- PU - Multivehicle - Vehicles / UI - QT effects are breaking HUD UI
- Reclaimer Claw Cannot Deploy: Power Required Error Message (Workaround: Press the power button a second time)
- AC - Squadron Battle - Friendlies showing up as enemies
- AC - Grav Race - All Maps - Low gravity can launch players far above the track when hitting bumps or hills
- ↑ Alpha 3.23.0 Patch notes. Comm-Link. Retrieved 2024-04-09