Star Citizen’s New Arena Commander Update Adds New Features

Cloud Imperium Games has just released a new update for the Arena Commander dogfighting module for Star Citizen, so backers of the game will have more to experience and enjoy with new content available in the patch, which brings the module up to version 12.4.

The patch is intended to quash numerous bugs, from fixing the flickering Freelancer’s to improving server backend stability. Additionally, the patch contains several improvements, including control mapping for the Logitech G940, improved sound effects, and a new set of explosion effects. 

According to the devs, the patch will invite an additional 30,000 Citizens into the fray, bringing the total to 60,000. If your Citizen number falls within that range, you can join the game. 

Here’s a video to show you what to expect.

And here are the patch notes in full:

Fixes

• Players able to connect to Broken Moon
• Performance improvements when targeting enemies in single player
• Chainguns firing sounds and animations no longer cut out
• Matchmaking and server stability improved:
• Reduced rotational and positional errors of players in multiplayer
• Resolved issue with players returning to hangar in the middle of matches
• Bandwidth optimization improvements – a case where less is more
• Session token authorization added
• Improved sync between instance manager and matchmaker
• Improved matchmaking queue functionality

Here are some of the crash fixes:

• Attempting to zone into a multiplayer match is fixed
• Choosing “Return to Hangar” is crushed
• During multiplayer matches – stability FTW
• No longer crashes when round ends
• After running out of map border – you die, but you don’t crash [Well your ship crashes, and explodes, but the game doesn’t crash or explode – Ed.]
• You can now alt-tab on the loading screen, without crashing
• Sounds no longer stutter on missile lock sounds
• Freelancer model no longer flickering
• Missing textures on the calendar are found

Animation issues:

• Reintroduced y-bobbing on character movement
• Cleaned up freelancer bed animation
• Source file corruption issues are improved
• Metafile launcher errors are improved

Balancing

• Balanced ballistic weapons ammo – no longer unlimited

Additional Features

• Shield indicators added to ship model on HUD
• Added Control Mapping for the G940 HOTAS
• Improved weapon fire sounds that have more guts and punch
• The whoosh of other ships flying close by you
• The whizz of other players’ ordnance as they fire at you
• New explosions
• Improved sound mix

Known Issues

• 300i right landing gear offset from ship
• Firing range no longer aims after entering a second time
• Higher latency connections can experience the following issues (after initial spawn or respawn):
• IFCS issues causing the ship to fly erratically or very slowly
• Character standing in the cockpit or offset from the seat and controls – restart client to reset
• Character experiencing an extreme head shake – restart client to reset
• Matchmaking can show stuck in queue and may require another attempt
• Can get kicked back to hangar on connection attempt
• Sometimes the helmet turns invisible when you pick it up
• We’re continuing our work with AMD, NVidia & Crytek to try and resolve the Crossfire/SLI issues and improve multiple GPU performance