Star Citizen Alpha 3.13 Released With Plenty of New Features; Crowdfunding Passes $355 Million

Today Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games released to all backers the brand new version of the growing space simulator.

The update brings a lot of new content and features including ship-to-ship docking, reputation, new vehicles, and massive caves.

Below you can check out three trailers released with the update, alongside new images.

Here’s a handy summary of what’s included in the update:

• BIG Cave Content: Planet environments will see the introduction of big caves. And by “big,” we mean, “really BIG.” In terms of size, and scope, these caves are larger and more complex than anything players have explored previously. In addition, Bounty Hunter, Assassin, and Combat missions can now occur within these dangerous environments. New entrances allow for players to drive into the maw of caves, with sinkholes also offering a new way for players to fly in and explore underground.
• Ship-to-ship Docking: Ship-to-ship interaction sees a huge leap forward. This first iteration of the system allows the docking and undocking of the Merlin fighter from the Constellation Aquila, Phoenix, and Andromeda, with more ships receiving support in coming patches.
• Reputation Manager: Players can expect a new menu on their mobiGlas tracking their reputation with mission givers, organizations, and factions across the ‘verse. By completing missions and tasks players will earn reputation, improving their standing with said faction for a variety of rewards. The reputation manager represents the first such progression system introduced to Star Citizen.
• Greycat ROC-DS: Designed for when the job at hand is a little bigger than expected, this Dual Seat mining vehicle minimizes the headaches with a manually operated mining arm to reach even the most precarious deposits and maximizes profits with more than quadruple the onboard ore-storage of the very popular standard model
• .Cyclone MT: Outfitted with a combination gun and missile turret, the Cyclone MT offers players an all-out assault ground vehicle that carries increased combat options in the field compared to other Cyclone vehicles.
• Cargo Mission Updates: Cargo missions receive two new updates including Quantum sensitive cargo missions, challenging players to manually fly to their destination without relying on their Quantum drive. Multi-drop timed cargo missions come online as players are expected to deliver three packages each with slightly varied timers, requiring more strategic flight navigation for greater rewards.

In other Star Citizen news, the crowdfunding total  has just passed $355 million and it’s currently at $355,003,155

The number of registered accounts recently passed three million, and it’s at 3,062,285 at the moment of this writing.

As usual, you should keep in mind that it’s known that not all of them are paying players. The number includes free accounts created for a variety of reasons, including Free Fly events and more.

We recently learned that a new studio has been opened to create new systems and content for Star Citizen, while Firesprite will work on the Battlefield-like mode “Theaters of War.”

If you’re wondering whether the game is actually fun to play, this is a good place to start.

The game’s alpha is currently playable on PC, and a star-studded single-player campaign titled Squadron 42 is in development.

For the sake of full disclosure, do keep in mind that the author of this article has been a Star Citizen backer since the original Kickstarter campaign several years ago.