Update: Star Citizen Alpha 4.3.0

Star Citizen Alpha 4.3.0 - "Dark Territory" is a major update for Star Citizen, extending dynamic weather by adding dynamic snow, and bringing improvements to ladder use from Squadron 42.

Major updates

• Characters
• Geist Stealth Armor: Adding a new Sniper Light Armor "Geist", specialized in stealth gameplay, with high mobility.
• Geist Armor Snow Camo: Adding the Special Light Combat Stealth Suit to Wikelo's Emporium.
• Geist Armor ASD Edition: Adding the ASD Light Combat Stealth Suit, a reward earned by players completing the ASD Delving Missions.
• New Hairstyles (4.3.0): Adding new additional hairstyles.
• Core tech
• Ladder Improvements: Improving the reliability and use of ladders in-game.
• Dynamic Snow: Introducing dynamic snow to select locations where snow already exists, leveraging the same environmental systems that power dynamic rain. This means snowfall will now appear based on weather conditions.

• Onyx Facilities (4.3.0): 4.3.0 includes the Research and Engineering wings. The Onyx Facilities are a network of abandoned research sites scattered throughout the Stanton System, on every moon. While there is still light security in these locations, ASD has abandoned the facilities. Players and mercenary NPCs alike will be exploring these derelict Associated Science and Development (ASD) installations to recover data, solve puzzles, and uncover the mysteries within these hazardous environments.
• Ships and vehicles
• L-21 Wolf: Implementing the Light Fighter Kruger L-21 Wolf, a classic built for the 30th century.
• Wikelo Special Ships (4.3.0): Adding the following Special Ships to Wikelo's Emporium: MISC Starlancer TAC, Drake Golem, Anvil Terrapin Medic, with upgraded components and a unique base livery. These ships can be unlocked by bringing the NPC Wikelo a number of favors in exchange of rewards.
• Ship Flight Tuning Changes: Light Fighters (4.3.0): Updates on Light Fighters for the Gladius, Arrow, Hawk, Banu Defender, Talon, Blade, Khartu-Al, and Mustang. SCM & NAV speeds, accelerations, angular speeds.
• Weapons and Items
• VOLT Zenith Laser Sniper Rifle: Introducing a powerful new weapon that combines the raw punch of a charged sniper shot with the rapid-fire precision of a marksman rifle, the zenith sniper rifles ability to automatically charge when held giving you far more flexibility in the battlefield at the cost of being audible to possible hostiles. Managing heat is however crucial, as overheating renders the weapon temporarily inoperable, leaving players exposed to enemy fire.

Patch notes

Star Citizen Alpha 4.3.0 has been released onto the LIVE environment! Your launcher should now display: VERSION 4.3.0-LIVE.10098575

Characters in this new environment have been built from Long Term Persistence (LTP) data.

Currently with LTP, certain player states such as personal hangar layout, unstowed ships, custom characters, in-progress refinery jobs, and in-game purchased consumables are not saved between releases which will cause some items to be lost in the update.

This release is highly focused on the new Resource Drive event, Ship Escort missions, Flight Tuning, and Wikelo Recipe Updates.

• Long Term Persistence: Enabled
• Server Meshing: 7:3:600 Player Shards
• Starting aUEC: 20,000

Gameplay

Onyx Facilities Onyx Facilities house a new investigation mission system set in approximately 100 newly added, abandoned research locations spread throughout Stanton. While ASD has abandoned these facilities, players and mercenary NPCs alike will be exploring these derelict Associated Sciences and Development (ASD) installations to recover data, solve puzzles, and uncover the mysteries within these hazardous environments. With the release of Alpha 4.3, the first 2 wings will be available, with the third and concluding chapter to this part of the Regen Crisis arriving the following month in Alpha 4.3.1.

Arken Mallor, a new mission giver from Hockrow Agency, tasks you with venturing into these abandoned ASD Onyx Facilities, recovering whatever research data still exists, and uncovering the true extent of ASD's experiments into the Regen Crisis.

Upon completion of the Phase 1 missions, four new mission tracks within the facility become available through the two open wings of the Onyx Facilities. These must be first completed in succession before becoming repeatable in any order.

Discover multiple data collection points containing valuable research data and audio logs that reveal the mysterious circumstances behind the facility's abandonment.

Navigate hazardous power systems and radiation zones while demonstrating careful environmental awareness and planning.

Mission Distribution Tech Updates in 4.3 include an updated way of directing players around locations for missions that are unlimited, such as Hauling, Wikelo, and the new Onyx location missions. This system should greatly improve location spreading when many players are attempting the same missions.

• Wikelo has had extensive reward requirement updates with the inclusion of new exclusive ships
• Increased max inventory storage of cargo to 5000 SCU at landing zones and space stations

Characters & AI

New Hairstyles Inclusion of 3 new hairstyles into the character creations. This includes 2 short and 1 medium length style.

Ships & Vehicles

Light Fighter Flight Tuning Changes Following the flight tuning adjustments Heavy and Medium Fighters in Alpha 4.1.1, Alpha 4.2.0, and Alpha 4.2.1, additional updates have been included in the 4.3 release.

This patch introduces further refinements across the entire Light Fighter class. Ships Involved:

• Arrow
• Blade
• Defender
• Gladius series
• Hawk
• Khartu-Al
• Mustang series
• Talon and Talon Shrike

• The SCM and NAV speeds for most of the listed ships have been readjusted to introduce greater variation within the Light Fighter class.

• The tuning for all linear acceleration profiles across most ships in the class has been revisited to introduce more variety and expand the range of viable choices during both flight and combat.
• This pass is intended to create a more engaging and balanced environment, with each ship offering more distinct and specialized flight characteristics.

• The overall angular speed has undergone the same treatment as linear acceleration, with the goal of increasing variety and emphasizing unique flight characteristics across the class.

• Angular acceleration tuning has been revisited to correct sparse issues and establish a more consistent and coherent setup across all Fighters.

As a result, ships in this class now offer improved rotational responsiveness across all directional axes.

• Some ships have had their health pools adjusted to better align with the overall balance framework.

• Engineering Weapon Modifiers: some ship received a specific Weapon Capacitor modifier to improve their weapon offensive capabilities.
• Khartu-Al Wing Tips Bug: the behavior where destroying the ship's wing tips resulted in significantly improved flight performance has now been corrected and will no longer have a major impact on the flight profile.
• Talon Shrike Flight Controller: this ship now features a dedicated flight controller, slightly different from the original Talon’s, to ensure its flight performance aligns with its intended role and loadout.

• The ship now features a single Critical Hitpoint (Body), removing the additional one on the Nose that was present since 3.23.
• HP values have been rebalanced to reflect this change, considering its gameplay impact.

• Wing HPs have been increased, making the ship more durable in close-quarters engagements.
• This helps reduce the risk of losing wings and their mounted weapons during combat.

Esperia Talon and Shrike: Now features an updated and improved maneuverability setup:

• Increased angular speeds (Pitch)
• Improved angular acceleration (Pitch and Yaw)
• Buffed linear acceleration (Upward and Lateral)

Additionally, Cross Section emissions have been adjusted to enhance the ship's stealth profile.

• The previous capacitor buffs have been tuned down slightly following initial feedback and performance data.

• Ships added to shops: DRAKE Golem, MISC Fortune, Mirai Guardian, ANVIL Hornet F7CS Mk II
• Added Anvil Hornet F7A Ball Turret to shops

Weapons & Items

Zenith Laser Sniper Rifle Introducing a powerful new weapon that combines the raw punch of a charged sniper shot with the rapid-fire precision of a marksman rifle.

The Zenith rifle's ability to automatically charge when held gives you more flexibility in the battlefield at the cost of being audible to possible hostiles. The Zenith comes with the first optic with a built in charge and a heat tracker, as managing heat is crucial and overheating renders the weapon temporarily inoperable.

• Fixed an issue causing the VOLT shotgun to cause knockdowns unintentionally

• Ammo type availability in stores has been greatly increased and balanced around all weapon shops
• Radiation pens added to Stanton shops and pharmacies

Core Tech

Dynamic Snow Introducing dynamic snow to select locations where snow already exists, leveraging the same environmental systems that power dynamic rain. This means snowfall will now appear based on weather conditions. Currently snow is enabled on planets such as MicroTech and Bloom. Added new cloud cover on the poles of Bloom.

Implementation of further ladder systems into Star Citizen. This update includes many new traversal mechanics to all ladders in ships and environments around the persistent universe.

• Look around while on ladder (180 degree whilst moving, 355 degree whilst stationary)
• Mid point enter/exits
• Being able to Jump off ladders while looking in a direction
• Leaning (used to dodge debris) function
• Collision (e.g. other Actor on ladder) prevents traversal up ladder
• FPS Camera required enter angle
• Ladder exit into crouch/small spaces

Players will now load directly into their personal instanced hangar at their home location. This update only affects your originally set home location and other locations will still spawn you in the habs area.

Bug Fixes

SC Alpha 4.3.0 contains approximately 100 bugfixes for issues occurring in 4.2.1, 21 of which originated from the Issue Council.

These fixes listed directly address the most impactful player-reported issues minus the numerous exploit fixes and should significantly improve game stability and the overall experience.

• Fixed Freight Elevators showing "Internal Error" when items were placed on top of the elevator building
• Fixed Anvil Carrack exterior cargo panel UI shifting position after interaction
• Fixed Lazarus freight elevator causing items to occasionally disappear when lowered instead of being added to the local inventory

• Fixed an issue causing multiple intro and very easy missions to go missing from the contract manager in the PU
• Fixed MISC Starfarer and Starfarer Gemini being ineligible for hull scrapping contracts
• Fixed Red Wind Linehaul not offering follow-up missions after completing Trainee missions
• Fixed certain Resource Drive "Support Attacked Ship" missions not progressing after completing objectives
• Fixed some delivered cargo crates in the Hull-C not counting towards the Resource Gathering mission
• Fixed Resource Gathering mission description incorrectly showing Corundum as located on the surface of ArcCorp
• Fixed the Wikelo Ana Endro armor set mission requiring itself as the requirement to turn in

• Fixed ASOP Terminal claims showing "currently being processed" error for destroyed ships
• Fixed players entering uncontrolled EVA mode when retrieving impounded large ships from docking ports
• Fixed MISC Freelancer MAX side door not opening properly and ladder clipping through door
• Fixed Esperia Prowler AR entry labels disappearing when looked at directly
• Fixed Scimitar Torpedoes not dealing damage due to incorrect proximity detonation distance
• Fixed missiles bypassing shields and destroying ship components
• Fixed Tumbril Cyclone MT missiles not firing when switching to missile mode
• Fixed ships being able to calibrate quantum drives while in interdiction fields
• Fixed quantum interdiction being bypassed by toggling ship power
• Fixed bespoke missile racks being visible for other vehicle hardpoints in the VMA
• Fixed the default Blade weapons becoming unavailable if unequipping in Arena Commander
• Fixed an issue causing the Drake Caterpillar Resource Gathering paints not applying correctly when used

• Fixed missing collision on hospital lobby floor at Maria Pure of Heart in Lorville
• Fixed hospital entrance doors at Orison General getting stuck closed
• Fixed players occasionally arriving at their destination when being Interdicted then "rubber banding" back to Interdiction origin area
• Fixed players occasionally not getting relocated when trespassing in another player's hangar
• Fixed Snare Event markers not appearing
• Fixed Interdiction system not able to interdict ships that are already in quantum travel when activated

• Fixed items randomly returning to original inventory when transferring, equipping, or dropping
• Fixed weapons becoming unable to reload when equipped to armor before adding a backpack
• Fixed Patient Check-In Kiosks stuck displaying "Room 0" and being uninteractable
• Fixed an issue causing players not to be able to drag equipped or attached items into their hands to carry

• Fixed Praseodymium atomic number showing as 597 instead of 59 in Dr. Jorrit's periodic table at Lazarus Complex
• Fixed floating assets at Farro Data Centers on Pyro IV

Technical Updates

• Fixed 7 Client Crashes
• Fixed 2 Server Crashes

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