Star Citizen Alpha 2.0 finally releases

Star Citizen’s 2.0 Alpha version has finally been released after a few delays.

This release is a big milestone for CIG because it’s the the first time some of the more talked about features of the game such as multi-crew ships and examples of missions have appeared for public consumption. First person elements are also now part of the experience, and this is probably the first time that Star Citizen has felt more like an actual game in the making.

A lengthy update has been posted by CIG which explains that 2.0 is “set in the environs of Crusader, a gas giant in the Stanton System” and they’ve “packed this area of space with multiple points of interest”.

2.0 has been in testing on the PTU for a while so hopefully some of the more nasty bugs haven’t made it into this release.

In related news, the monthly studio report has gone live bring all backers up to speed with all the work being done at the different studios.

If you want to keep track of the game’s development progress, check our development timelme.

Update: Read our impressions.

Feature List

Open World Missions

• 8 Comm Array missions involving dogfighting and EVA, 8 Research missions involving protecting civilians or recovering lost data and 1 Exploration mission of an abandoned station.
• 20+ Random Encounters – Most are random dogfighting encounters, often with a mix of friendlies and hostiles. 4 are random exploration missions involving finding lost wrecks.

First Person Shooter

• Recharging energy weapons.
• In-game pick-ups including ballistic weapons, ammo and MediPens.
• Player healing.
• Due to the open-world architecture of the Crusader system, FPS combat can occur on space stations, on the decks of ships, or even while engaged in EVA.
• A space station location specifically designed for and dedicated to FPS combat, including many stores and caches of personal weapons.

Spaceflight

• Constant and ongoing skirmishes and space dogfights between Pirate factions and insystem security forces in the Yela asteroid belt.
• Wreckage to scavenge in the Yela asteroid belt.
• Ship Repair, Refuel and Restocking at Cry-Astro.
• EVA – Extravehicular activity.
• Multicrew Ships.
• Multicrew ship gameplay! You’re not tied to your seat, you can walk around inside your ship with friends, and assume different responsibilities at different crew stations, such as ship’s pilot or copilot, engineer, or turret gunner.
• Ship to space transitions.
• Seamless first-person gameplay! Transit between the interior of your ship to outer space and back without any loading screen! Fly, fight, and spacewalk all in the same game.
• Quantum Travel, complete with limited fuel mechanics.
• All non-snub craft have a Quantum Drive that allows them to travel through local space at genuinely 0.2 speed of light.
• Mobiglass Mission and Journal system.
• EMP warfare in the Avenger Warlock.
• Large World tech that allows for extremely large expanses of space to explore without loading screens.
• New IFCS Flight models.
• Ship repair refuel and restock.
• Party system.
• Multi-ship crew stations.
• IFCS Flight Modes – Precision, SCM, and Cruise flight modes.
• Afterburner.
• Ship-to-ship EMP and disruption damage.

Locations

• 1 planet: Crusader.
• 3 moons: Yela with its asteroid belt, Cellin with a station and Daymar with a station.
• 3 distinct stations: Port Olisar (The new local shipping hub, a space hotel players get their start in), Security Post Kareah (our FPS PvP location), Covelex Shipping Hub (Abandoned shipping hub, acting as an EVAexploration location for players).
• 1 Cry-Astro repair and restock station.
• 9 Comms Arrays with encounters, missions and EVA exploration.