The features list for Star Citizen’s Alpha 3.23 release continues to be the focus of CIG’s regular video digests. This week, players are looking through the visors and eye pieces of new on-foot first-person visual updates that all seek to make peering through an in-game avatar’s skull more refined and much neater.
CIG talks up the diagetic nature of these HUD updates that take into account whether player characters are wearing a helmet or not, are looking through their mobiGlas UI, or require mission-specific updates. Of course there are the usual static widgets like ammo count, health state, and the new 3-D minimap, but much of what’s being done with the HUD is intended to clear visual clutter and keep things as focused as possible.
Another major HUD update is related to looting, with a new layout that shows both character inventory on the bottom and a corpse or container inventory on the top, allowing some less clunky and more obvious ways to root through dead enemy pockets, which should be useful especially during a firefight.
Finally, the HUD for buying stuff is being updated too: Currently, players have to interact with an item they want to buy with an awkward clicking interface, followed by a confirmation screen. Alpha 3.23 will let players interact with a buyable item by pressing an interact key instead, while a HUD element that shows an item’s cost and whether a transaction can be completed will hover over an item.
