Star Citizen Talks About Alpha 3.17, Ship-To-Ship Refueling, Desync Issues, And More

In the latest episode of the Star Citizen Live dev stream, Game Director Todd Papy outlines what’s in store for the space simulation MMO in the upcoming Alpha 3.17 build.

Of significant note is the addition of a ship to ship refueling system. The existing refueling system will also be getting a balance pass to ensure that players won’t keep running out of fuel while out exploring or doing their usual tasks out in space. There are also plans to offer various grades of fuel in the future with different ranges, efficiency, and wear.

According to Papy, ship refueling is the first step in their plans to introduce a ship-based resource management system which will include life support and basic repair functions. The system will allow for more strategic combat scenarios where players can choose to disable an opponent’s ship instead of simply blowing it up.

The team will also be introducing the first iteration of the Quanta system in Alpha 3.17 which will have a direct effect on the price of certain in-game commodities such as repair materials and fuel. Players can also look forward to more quality-of-life features and changes and a fix for the broken star map.

Papy also touched on desync issues which have seen noticeable improvements with the new Desync Smoothing feature. The feature prioritizes the travel time of a target over its actual position to ensure a smoother flight path. Players, however, may notice that ships jump around and are more jittery than before. This will be addressed in a later update. Unfortunately, Papy admits that the feature won’t work as well with slower PCs compared to powerful top of the line gaming rigs.

If you’ve got time to burn, you can watch the entire