Alpha 4.7.2 Releases, Evocati 4.8, and Roadmap Roundup

Good afternoon citizens! I’ve got a brief update to follow up with my previous post, “Alpha 4.8 Evocati Arrives, 4.7.2 soon, and Roadmap Roundup!”, mostly to tackle the developments with Evocati playtests and provide an update on the Roadmap. Both have some critical things to note, but otherwise this post will be on the shorter side as most of this week’s content was covered in the post linked above. So lets get to it!

Release of Alpha 4.7.2, Nyx Mission Stack 2

This Wednesday saw the release of Alpha 4.7.2 which brings along a second series of unique mission sets in the Nyx system, as well as other miscellaneous bug fixes and server stability updates. This patch was not an LTP (Long Term Persistence) reset, so players will have found themselves simply back at their home locations without any of their ships, items, or even the clothes they were wearing bothered at all. The Nyx system saw various mission sets added to the number of contractors in the jurisdiction. Missions such as the adored Courier “box delivery” missions make their return, bombing runs on target settlements make their debut for owners of the A1 Spirit, A2 Hercules or any other ships with equippable bomb racks, and much more to bring Nyx more to life with things to do. Not much else to add here, as much of the larger features and content are being spooled up in the test environment preparing for a seemingly incredible Invictus Launch Week next month.

Evocati testing update for Alpha 4.8

After another go at the Evocati playtest for Alpha 4.8, I managed to get a bit more confirmation on what has been the initial test focus for these first iterations. While I did not manage to get into a group to run Tactical Strike Groups, others have and have managed to progress through the entire gauntlet of missions. How the mission set faired, it seemed to be functioning mostly okay, of course in the typical buggy state that Evocati tends to operate in. One user states that the anti-capital ship turrets on the QV Extraction station are “no joke. They can destroy a Polaris in roughly 10 seconds of laser exposure”. That’s quite intimidating, and surely a sign is apparent that the developers clearly want capital ships not involved in the first steps of the operation. Another note to be said, and after discovering it myself, Drake Interplanetary signage is all over the Area 18 Bevic Convention Center, indicating that Drake DefenseCon is indeed taking place through the full duration of Invictus Launch Week, and is taking center stage at the convention center rather than Riker Memorial Spaceport as usual. Refueling missions have been taking a backburner in focus, however the missions are in our contracts tab in the mobiGlass but the mission itself is broken and unable to be interacted with.

Datamined 4.8 Material (Spoilers!)

This is very much going to be a unique event this year, as according to datamined material, we have indication that Anvil Aerospace is set to reveal what is to be CIG’s very last concept ship and sale for the promised “Battlecruiser” ship class, this being the Anvil Odin. Tis ship is rumored to be larger in size than the Javelin-class destroyer but smaller than an RSI Bengal carrier, taking the crown from the Javelin as the largest player-owned ship available for pledge. There will be a “unique holographic experience” come the event for players to get a closer look at it. Drake is also set to reveal the confirmed release date for the Drake Kraken, a highly anticipated carrier ship akin to traditional carrier ships of today in design. Excited to see what’s in store for us this year at ILW!

Roadmap Roundup update

An update to the Roadmap has been made, indicating a few content and feature releases may be imminent. The UltiFlex “Novia” Crossbow has had its card on the roadmap updated, paired with a short description:

Implementing the long-awaited crossbow, featuring a devastating, shattering bolt and harsh projectile drop, the UltiFlex “Novia” Crossbow rewards skilled aim with immense power. Its near-silent firing mechanism lets you strike quietly and gain the upper hand on your foes.

This comes to many players’ excitement, notably to those who had participated in the crossover sale between Star Citizen and Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues who may even see the release of a unique skinned version of the FPS weapon. Other FPS weapons that are currently in game are also seeing a continued art refactor, improving on the visual detailing of the platforms. This includes the Deadrig Shotgun, and various Kastak Arms weapons like the Custodian SMG, Scalpel double-barrel sniper rifle, and Devastator and Ravager shotguns. The “Tailwind” flightsuit is also being introduced as “tentative” for a 4.8 release, giving an indication that G-Force resistance traits may be introduced to specific undersuits sometime soon. And lastly, Item Recovery: Vehicle Loadouts was set as “tentative”, soon giving players the opportunity to save and claim vehicle loadouts via the ASOP terminals. This also comes with an annotation that claimed ship and their components will be “bricked” after some time, with entitlement seeing a major refactor on the backend servers regarding this. We shall see how detrimental a change like this will affect the scope of gameplay in due time!

That’ll be it for this week! Take your time in Alpha 4.7.2, and really get a feel for Engineering, crafting (and subsequently mining and refining), and get comfortable as we wait for the much-awaited Alpha 4.8 to continue down the pipeline. Invictus Launch Week is approaching our doorstep, and there is a whole lot coming our way in the name of ships, gameplay and more. As a reminder, remember to check out Star Bulletin’s various guides and keep up with the latest at the Citizen’s Blog! Until next time…

Cheers, citizens!

– Snoochy Boochy