Star Citizen's Arena Commander module has been updated to version 0.9. The module is meant to give Star Citizen backers a taste of what the game has to offer, providing a glimpse into both the technology and gameplay that the full game will provide when it launches later next year.
The latest update adds a few modes of gameplay as well as a system that lets users group up together with friends to play them. The first mode added is a race mode on a new map called New Horizon. Players race each other to be the fastest ship to the finish. With this mode comes two new racing ships, the M50 and the 350R.
The other update is a new mode called Vanduul Swarm, the game's first taste on taking on AI enemies in co-op. In this mode you'll team up with two other friends against enemies to honing your pilot and shooting skills along the way. To join friends or have friends join, you'll need to grab the match ID and let your co-pilots know what it is so they can join. This ID is located on screen in the lower right. This is essentially the "friend code."
There's a ton of other changes and enhancements this update added. Here's the full list of patch notes.
- Features
- Added Cooperative Vanduul Swarm game mode
- Added Classic Race game mode
- Added Private Matches
- Added Friend Codes
- M50 is now Arena Commander Ready
- 350r is now Arena Commander Ready
- Added New Horizons Speedway level
- New Hangars:
- Discount is now Self Land
- Business is now Aeroview
- Deluxe is now Revel & York
- Addition of VFG Industrial Asteroid Hangar
- Added backend support for Leaderboards
- Added ability to boost maneuvering thrusters by consuming fuel
- Additional controls for Six Degrees of Freedom in both coupled/decoupled mode
- Added various control schemes
- Added fuel gauge to HUD of all ships
- Greatly improved pilot g-force animations
- Added scalable directional pilot animations for hit impacts
- New game/pause menu
- Updated and improved a plethora of sound effects
- Added sounds for catwalk doors
- Updated countermeasure sounds
- Added response sound for hitting target
- Updated Character Animations
- New Sound effects for Vanduul wave spawns
- New ship flight sounds
- Updated Aurora paint jobs
- Updated 300-series paint jobs
- Added lead target indicators
- Added sound effect for failed missile lock
- Added sound effect for hit confirmation
- Fixed a multitude of ships bugs for hangar ships
- Double tapping throttle up/down on gamepad and keyboard sets throttle to full/zero
- Added spectator cam after you are destroyed
- Added support for Track IR
- Added support for players to select their active hangar on the website
- Updated HUD, revamped HUD controls, and greatly improved functionality
- Added slight head movement to look where you are flying
- Balance/Tweaks
- Increased top speed of ships to previous max boost speed
- Afterburners now increase thruster power instead of top speed
- Removed automatic lead shooting by ITTS. Training wheels are off.
- Rebalanced all weapons
- Improved weapon damage due to ITTS changes
- Improved weapon heat dissipation
- Boosting now overrides G-Safe
- Improved control sensitivity for finer control on joysticks and thumbsticks.
- Revised shield recharge rates and health
- Revised health of all ships and their discrete pieces
- Throttle now proportional to acceleration for more precise throttle control on gamepad and keyboard
- Revised missile speed, damage, and signature requirements for lock
- Updated flight performance characteristics for all ships
- Balanced energy consumption on weapons and items better.
- Updated and improved art and visual effects in Broken Moon and Dying Star
- Improved AI flight behavior
- Fixes
- Sound no longer plays while the loading screen is still active
- CTC Core radar icon changed to be more visible
- Fixed an issue where targeting reticles were still present after target died
- Fixed the performance issues with CTC Cores
- Fixed orientation of targeted ships on HUD
- Respawn message no longer shows when you eject on your final life in Vanduul Swarm
- Loading of ship hud no longer cancels lock-ons
- Memory optimizations for sound
- Missiles no longer pass through geometry
- Various Animation and IK fixes
- Freelancer door animation fixes
- Fixed an issue with the crab escaping its tank and wandering out of the hangar
- Fixed missing textures
- Fixed up ejection issues
- Fixed misaligned decals on ships
- Various crash fixes
- Fixed issue where player was able to exit ship while respawning
- Fixed an issue where player would sometimes die immediately when spawning during Free Flight or Vanduul Swarm
- Lighting adjustments
- Fixed a lot of animation issues throughout
- Fixed an issue with players falling through elevators
- Fixed an issue with character appearing to fall after loading
- Fixed camera angle issues in third person
- Fixed character missing eyes in some situations
- Fixed issues with audio cutting out
- Fixed collision issues with walls
- Console no longer displays user information such as username
- Adjusted landing pad to be easier to land on
- Fixed various server crashes
- Track IR adjustments
- Fixed issue where 300i could sometimes fail to eject the player
- Fixed 325a control panels missing
- Enabled Hornet volume trail
- Fixed avenger geometry, animation, and texture issues
- Fixed collision on the Cutlass
- Fixed issues with damage states and visual effects
- Fixed a potential security issue present when accessing the console
- Fixed various issues with throttle and stick pilot animations in the Hornet
- Fixed an issue where the Aurora’s cockpit camera was cutting off important HUD information
- Known Issues
- New Hangars are limited to the amount of ships that can be displayed
- You cannot select which ships will be displayed in your Hangar
- Non-Dogfight Hornets appear overly shiny
- The large Hangar doors in Revel & York drop out of view at certain distances
- Idris does not spawn in Hangar
- Arena Commander menu clips through the M50 canopy after boarding the ship
- 350R pilots have a slight chance of spawning into race mode with broken wrists
- The Hornet can throttle to 100% and boost to max speed even after its main engine has been destroyed
- Players receive a “You died” message and are forced to respawn after launching Free Flight
- Numerous locations with z-fighting on ships and hangars
- Numerous minor collision issues in ships and hangars
- Numerous locations in hangars where graphics will drop out at a distance
- Some weapons and components are missing information in the holo table
- Some weapons and components are showing one sided polygons in the holo table
- 300i variants cannot use their beds
- Avenger bed cannot be used
- Oculus Rift only works in Vehicle seats
- The Arena Commander menu in the Aurora Legionnaire, Aurora, CL, Aurora MR and Aurora ES are really low down in the cockpit and hard to read
- No Hornet variants have Arena Commander menus
- The overdrive / boost bar does not work in the m50 or the 300i
- Unable to change the power-triangle / priority in the 350R
- Issue regarding CIG2 keyboard settings
- In Race Mode if the player crashes towards the front of the starting grid, they will respawn underneath the hangar
- The 17th checkpoint ring currently does not display in the Murray Cup – Defford Link level.
Source: Robertsspaceindustries.com