This week’s Star Citizen Around the Verse begins with a project update recap. CIG says it’s working on legacy armor sets, shopping kiosks, audio and VFX, ships (including the Starfarer’s landing sequence), props, environmental art to make spaces feel more lived-in, and planetary tech, at least some of which is planned for 3.2. The feature for the week is on service beacons, which sounds super boring until you realize they’re basically player generated content, from mining contracts to bounties. Not boring at all. This is the good stuff.
“At a conceptual level, the service beacon is a mechanism that allows players who want something to easily form a short term contract with others who want to provide it,” PU Director Tony Zurovec says. “This is a much more important feature than it might initially appear because it effectively means we’re leveraging the playerbase to supplement and enhance the scripted and systemic content that’s available within the game, while at the same time – because other players are involved – injecting a very unpredictable element that’s ultimately going to result in a lot of very unique gameplay experiences. Just as importantly, by constantly pushing players together when they’ve got compatible interests, the service beacon is going to help foster the creation of relationships within the community, and that in turn will lead to the formation of a lot of new friendships, alliances and in the case of deals gone bad sometimes even vendettas.”
“Remember it’s Mother’s Day this weekend in the US and I think in Germany too, so don’t forget to call your mom,” Chris Roberts quips at the end. “She’s probably always wanted a Hercules A2 gunship. If not, settle for some flowers.”
