There was a time when most of the mission-based gameplay out of Star Citizen was focused on players answering others’ beacons, but that was expanded when CIG started introducing its own series of missions on top. Those studio-built layers are going to expand a bit more, as the game’s latest video digest showcases for followers of the evergreen alpha.
Several of the previewed mission types are headed for alpha 3.20, including an unlawful salvage mission where players have to scrape incriminating details off of a hull before law enforcement arrives, additional floating platforms on Crusader to facilitate multiple missions at once on the gas giant, and new consignment missions that let players find locker access keys and snag items for as long as they want, though staying around does increase the difficulty of spawning enemies.
Another mission type that’s coming sometime later is the barge heist, which basically works as assumed: Players raid a cargo barge, find a terminal to open specific cargo containers, then find and exfil with the loot from those containers, all while trying to defend the barge from other enemies.
Finally, the video offers an update to unlawful entry of spaceships. Right now, whenever an unauthorized player enters another’s ship, a pop-up warns the ship owner of a trespasser. That warning UI will soon go away, effectively allowing other players to illegally stow away and board others’ ships and try to remain hidden, though ship owners and party members of that ship owner can kill the trespasser without any dings to their crimestat. CIG does point out a few systems that will be in place to prevent using this mechanic for griefing purposes, but for the most part, sneaking aboard others’ spacecraft is going to be a bit more… well, sneaky.
