Star Citizen Alpha 3.23 Patch Is Largest to Date, Adds First Native Animals
Star Citizen just received its latest update, Alpha 3.23: Adventure Beckons, which adds the space sim's first native animals, new hoverbikes, FPS upgrades, and more.
Alongside the game’s first native wildlife are massive terrestrial mission hubs, FPS and UI enhancements from single-player story spin-off Squadron 42, as well as quality-of-life improvements and new features, such as what’s called Star Map 1.0, which adds a full 3D view of the system, and new cloud and water tech. Elsewhere, there are new Master Modes for more intense space fight combat.
Developer Cloud Imperium Games said Alpha 3.23: Adventure Beckons (yes, Star Citizen is still in alpha) is Star Citizen’s largest patch to date, adding the first native wildlife for the Stanton system. This includes the small, bird-like marok and the more dangerous hound-like kopian pest, which can be found across habitable planets and feature their own unique behaviors “as they’ve adapted to humanity encroaching on their territory.”
New Distribution Centers throughout Stanton let players pick up combat and non-combat missions, with an expansion to the Arena Commander mode adding new space, ground, and experimental objectives. CIG said it had re-tuned all ships currently in the game, improved ground-based FPS combat, and expanded support for the New Player Experience.
Alpha 3.23 launches two months after CIG began talking about Star Citizen’s 1.0 launch being within sight, some 12 years after the game released its first crowdfunding drive.
Star Citizen is considered one of the most controversial projects in all video games. Over the 12 years since its crowdfunding drive began, it's been called many things including a scam by those who wonder whether it will ever properly launch. Its virtual space ships, some of which cost hundreds of dollars, are often the focus of criticism. At the time of this article’s publication, Star Citizen had pulled in an eye-watering $683,055,935 from players. CIG calls this money “funds raised.”
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