Star Citizen Releases Huge Alpha 3.18 Update, But Post-Launch Bugs Bring Issues and Potential of Possible Wipe

mmorpg.com:

Star Citizen, the ambitious space simulation game by Cloud Imperium Games, has just released its latest Alpha 3.18 update titled Lasting Legacies. This update is a major step forward for the game, bringing in new gameplay features, vehicles, and technology improvements. However, the release has not been without its share of problems.

One of the biggest additions to the game with the 3.18 update is Persistent Entity Streaming. This feature is crucial for creating a fully realized Persistent Universe that evolves with the players that inhabit it. The update also brings in a new gameplay feature called Salvage, which allows players to dismantle crashed haulers or tear apart the losers of battles to make a fortune. The new Drake Vulture vehicle is also added in this update, which is built purely for salvage and is ideal for enterprising pilots looking to make a living breaking wrecks apart.

Another major addition is the Soft Death gameplay feature. If a ship's critical components are destroyed, the ship will remain intact but stranded, leaving its contents and crew hanging in the balance. Soft death is key to the Salvage career, as abandoned vehicles can be ripped apart for serious profit by ships like the Aegis Reclaimer and Drake Vulture.

The update also introduces a new graphics renderer called Gen12 Graphics Renderer, which is a next-gen update to the graphics engine. This initial version renders all transparent geometry but will ultimately deliver vastly improved performance and visual fidelity in coming patches.

While the update brings in many exciting new features, it has also experienced a lot of problems, particularly with login issues. Some players have not been able to login, and support has stated that they will be