Cloud Imperium has good news for those fans who have been keeping up with their major space sim, Star Citizen. The game has a free trial period ongoing where new people can hop into the game and test out the basic features completely free of charge. The long-running space MMO is looking to usurp EVE Online as the king of player-driven MMOs, but it has a very long way to go. The game has been in a perpetual alpha state for years now, and many are suspicious of it ever being fully released. Despite these suspicious though, CIG and the development team have been slowly refining and improving the base game far beyond the original vision. Now augmented with a living universe and grand singleplayer campaign, the early efforts look strong, and the developer is hoping to pull more players in.
This “Free Fly” period as they call it, is one of many such periods in the history of the game. The hope is that these free trial periods entice players to buy into the game to support the massive costs of ongoing development. The basic Starter Pack runs for $40 USD and offers 1,000 UEC, the premium in-game currency, to spend on in-game items. There’s also three months of ship insurance that will pay out if your ship is destroyed. Players can also claim a free basic ship to get started in their space-based adventure.
The company also published a written update on the plans for the 3.7 patch saying, “Players can dive right into spelunking with Alpha 3.7’s new cave system as they mine, gather and accumulate valuable resources, evade the new RSI Mantis’ quantum enforcement device (or team up using mission sharing with friends to take down unsuspecting pirates) and sell resources to rent bigger and better ships with in-game currency.”
The set of new environments is further complimented by augments to the burgeoning mining system introduced in previous patches. This visual overhaul joins a bevy of other changes in the space sim. Cloud Imperium Games is really amping up the work on their flagship game these last few months to compliment these new additions. A review of the flight model makes combat and exploration more immersive. And a redesign of sounds and music within the universe makes Star Citizen even more realistic.
You can see more of this new patch series in a gameplay trailer from CIG, which can be seen below. You can download the game on this page.
The game is pushing a ton of new content, mechanics and other systems into these patches. New environments allow players to stalk their way through new on-planet environments Star Citizen 3.7 is packing on content in addition to fleshing out the engine with new visuals though. There’s a ton of economic expansion packed in as well. Check out some of the highlights below:
- Cave environments: This introduces stunning new VFX and lighting, as players delve into these dark and spooky places with their ship.
- FPS mining: With the help of the Greycat Industrial Pyro multi-tool, players can look around for deposits of minerals and more.
- Harvestables: Various locations now have items for harvesting, which can be used or consumed, or even sold as commodities.
- Commodity inventory: A personal system that makes it easier to manage collected items.
- Mission Sharing: This lets players share mission details with others, so they can keep track of rewards together.
- Ship Rentals: Can’t buy a ship? Try renting one out, with five different models on hand.
If you want to see more, check out the rest of the details about Star Citizen and the Into the Depths patch series on its official page. To see more Star Citizen news, check out some of the behind-the-scenes Around the Verse videos.
Check out the latest patch notes on the official site. The funding for the project continues to grow at a steady pace. As of writing Cloud Imperium Games has currently raised $239,605,055 from 2,394,925 backers overall.
