Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Every two weeks, we accompany the Roadmap update with a brief explanatory note to give you insight into the decision-making that led to any changes. This is part of an effort to make our communications more transparent, more specific, and more insightful for all of you who help to make Star Citizen and Squadron 42 possible.
With that said, let’s go ahead and dive into this week’s Roadmap Roundup!
-CIG Community Team
Notable Changes for November 3rd, 2021
Salvage
As previously announced on the September 8th Roadmap Roundup, the Core Gameplay Pillar have shifted their focus to deliver features initially for Squadron 42, before then moving to integrate into the Persistent Universe. This has a two-fold benefit: Squadron 42 will benefit greatly from the additional resources and dedicated focus, and the Persistent Universe will see features come online in a more complete and polished state.
The Core Gameplay teams have re-calibrated their schedules after their project-focus transition and are now planning to complete their work on Salvage for Squadron 42 in Q1 2022. To allow enough time to implement this feature-set into the Persistent Universe, Salvage is now targeting a Q2 2022 release.
However, you may notice that we’ve renamed "Salvage T0 - Tech" to “Salvage T0”. This is to better represent the expanded gameplay releasing with Salvage's debut. More specifically, the initial release is no longer just the back-end tech implementation, but will introduce both hand-operated salvage, as well as ship-operated salvage (Hull Stripping & Repair) using the systems onboard the Drake Vulture.
Release View
The following cards have been added to Release View:
Derelict Spaceships - Points of Interest
Points of interest that will be scattered on planets. They will be derelict spaceships with some type of activity (puzzle, traversal, hostile AI) and some type of reward for resolving said activity. This card has been added to the Alpha 3.16 release window.
Mining Gadgets
Mining Gadgets will help to modify the rock and assist the player with mining a deposit. The player can attach a device physically to a mineable deposit in FPS to modify its stats, making mining either easier and safer, or quicker and riskier. This card has been added to the Alpha 3.16 release window.
Ship to Ship Refueling
Implementing the systems that will allow players flying specific ships to refuel other ships and get paid for it. The player can fill those specific ships' fuel tanks from a station using an updated Rearm, Restock, Refuel interface at Landing Zones and Space Stations. This card has been added to the Alpha 3.16 release window.
Updates - Dying Star Map
Updating the Dying Star map by increasing overall size, adding new playable areas, more cover options, and new space assets. This card has been added to the Alpha 3.16 release window.
Gravlev Physics Rework
A significant rework of the flight and driving model for gravlev vehicles when hovering. The aim is to improve general feel and stability, resulting in a far better experience for players using hover bikes. This card has been added to the Alpha 3.16 release window.
DNA Head Textures Update
Implementing art updates for DNA archetype heads that will improve the quality of all DNA heads, both for players and common NPCs. This card has been added to the Alpha 3.16 release window.
Selling Items to Shops
Players will have the ability to sell items from their local inventory to shops using a new interface powered by Building Blocks. This supports the recently added Loot Generation feature, allowing these items to be sold for money. This card has been added to the Alpha 3.17 release window.
NPC Taxi Mission T0
NPCs will request transport between rest stops in this mission type, with the rewards determined by the speed, safety and comfort in which the player delivers the NPC to their destination. This card has been added to the Alpha 3.17 release window.
Drake Vulture
Building, balancing, and implementing Drake Interplanetary's light salvage ship, the Vulture, into the game. This card has been added to the Alpha 3.18 release window.
Due to both the aforementioned re-calibration of the Core Gameplay schedule, as well as prioritization of the above added features, these cards are being removed from Release View until they've been properly rescheduled:
- Origin M50 Engine Swapping
- Dynamic Door Alignment - Vehicles
- Player Slide
- Prone
- Actor Tech - Physicalized Weapon Handling
- Ship Shield-Emitters