Letter From The Chairman - Roberts Space Industries | Follow the development of Star Citizen and Squadron 42
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4.0 Preview Build
➣ Alpha 4.0 will be released soon to the Live servers, as part of a “4.0 Preview” channel. Expected release is within 12 hours from this post.
➣ Missing mission types and other issues prevent 4.0 from being released to everyone at once.
➣ Two Live Releases will be maintained in parallel:
ㅤ✦Alpha 3.24.3: All existing data, missions, events, and inventories maintained. No transfer to 4.0 or future versions.
ㅤ✦4.0 Preview: Clean slate 4.0 Preview. Includes server meshing, Pyro, and many other 4.0 features.
➣ All progress in 4.0 Preview is intended to carry over to future releases.
➣ Save Stanton and related events will continue to be available on 3.24.3 over holiday break.

Alpha 4.0 Content
➣ Server Meshing:
ㅤ✦ Seamless navigation between Stanton and Pyro with invisible server boundaries.
ㅤ✦ Server crashes are now localized, improving performance and playability.
ㅤ✦ Server load is reduced by having each server simulate fewer entities.
➣ New Content in 4.0:
ㅤ✦ Pyro System: Adds two competing mission chains tied to the Headhunters or Citizens for Prosperity factions.
ㅤ✦ Contested Zones: Locations in Pyro controlled by gang factions (Fire Rats, Horizon, XenoThreat) offering high rewards but requiring player conflict or cooperation.
ㅤ✦ Reputation System: Expanded to allow players to align with factions, affecting friendly/hostile areas.
ㅤ✦ New Progression Methods: Introduction of reputation and physical rewards, setting the stage for more in future updates.

2025: A Focus on Playability
➣ 2025 Focus: The primary goal for 2025 is improving playability in Star Citizen, concentrating on Performance, Stability, and Content
➣ Quality of Life (QoL): Efforts will focus on smoother gameplay with fewer bugs and obstacles, addressing tech debt while balancing new features and tech introduction.
➣ Challenges in Feature and Content Testing: Previous testing of new features within content pipelines caused instability and delays. This approach will change to improve reliability.
➣ Decoupling Feature Development:
ㅤ✦ New features will be tested separately from content releases.
ㅤ✦ Complex features will go through an Experimental PTU (EPTU) for focused testing before integration into the main pipeline.
➣ Stability and Predictability: By isolating feature testing, development will improve stability, performance, and QoL without disrupting content delivery.
➣ Connected Content Drops: Future content releases will be more focused and narrative-driven, offering rewards (ships, armor, weapons) to enhance playability.
➣ More Frequent Content Updates: Aim to deliver more content, more often, avoiding delays caused by tech or feature development.
➣ Objective: Make Star Citizen more stable, performant, and fun in 2025.
➣ Development Philosophy:
ㅤ✦ Chris Roberts reflects on creating games based on personal passion and vision, unimpeded by publishers.
ㅤ✦ Crowdfunding allowed Star Citizen and Squadron 42 to pursue ambitious, niche projects.
➣ Community Impact:
ㅤ✦ Ongoing support from the community is vital for development.
ㅤ✦ In 2024, the community hosted 203 Bar Citizens, with large in-person events like BE@Con and CitizenCon, drawing thousands.
ㅤ✦ Over 1 million players contributed 32 million hours of gameplay, and the community grew by 500,000.

  • macniel
    5·
    2 days ago

    This may feel like our usual PTU process, but there is one key difference: by running both builds on the Live environment, we can take steps to ensure that your progress on 4.0 will carry over. Our goal is for anything you do and earn in the 4.0 Preview to persist without any further wipes—unless something major happens, though we do not anticipate that.

    this is nice, and very welcomed.

    That said, it’s important to note that progress made in Alpha 3.24.3 will remain tied to that version and will not transfer to 4.0. This allows us to maintain a clean slate for the new systems coming online in the 4.0 Preview, ensuring a consistent and stable environment as we look to deprecate 3.24.3 in the new year.

    so many will choose to not play LIVE as their “progress” wont carry over to LIVE 4.0

    decoupling feature development from content creation and general fixes

    thats a nice approach, so new gameplay loops and other features (systemic economy, rastar, StarArchitect, Dynamic Server Meshing) will go through TECH PREVIEW while content and ships with existing loops will go through PTU.

    I just hope that LIVE 4.0 will be a bit more civilised (it wont) perhaps the AATs at Outposts will shoot at hostile actors (they most certainly wont) but Stanton will be safe? Sometimes I hate being a Solo and too awkward to ask others for crewing up.