The Glade 4.0

Additions/Improvements
Added subscriber jukebox
Adding cockpit shaking and sounds from damage and impacts
Missile sounds polished and improved
Additional shield sounds added (power down, power up, taking damage)
Added new Vanduul ship designated [REDACTED] by UEE Naval Command
Added Victory/Defeat/Draw message on end of round scoreboard
Added voice over announcement to denote which team has won the round
Added additional Hornet top bar warning lights
Freelancer bunk beds now interactable
Freelancer bathroom and toilet now interactable
Revised the Aurora interior to increase fidelity
Added Aurora warning indicator lights

Balancing
300i
Power plant charge reduced
Thruster power drain decreased
Shield HP increased
Shield regen delay decreased
Hull piece health increased

Aurora
Shield HP reduced
Shield regen delay increased
Shield changed from bubble shield to a front/rear shield
Shield face power allocation rate reduced

Hornet
Thruster health increased
Shield regen delay increased
Health values for shield and ship parts modified to impart a sturdier feel

Mantis Gatling Gun
Damage decreased
Heat per shot increased

Bulldog Repeater
Power recharge rate has been decreased
Repeater fire rate increased

Badger Repeater
Increased rate of fire

Behring M3A
Rate of fire decreased
Damage increased

Omnisky VI
Damage decreased
Rate of fire decreased
Bullet mass increased (to knock around ships with more force)

Missiles
Damage decreased
Missiles now properly deal damage to the shields instead of going straight to the hull

Vanduul Scythe
Decreased shield regeneration

Networking Improvements
Fixed issues that resulted in being kicked back to hangar during match load
Positional correction fixes to reduce rubberbanding
Failed connection attempts to HubServer will now timeout after 10 seconds
Removed socket disconnections due to login timeouts
Networked physics is now independent of frame rate
Reduced server load caused by console logging
Creation of http interface to capture server statistics
Fixed players not connecting to matchmaker
Added a handshake system to guarantee the correct initialization of servers
Server-to-server connection improvements
Adjusted ship network packet priorities
Fix for disconnections while in the hangar
Reworked network correction to use network sync’d packets and direct physics pushes instead of IFCS system
Greatly reduced hitching and performance issues associated with players joining or exiting a match

Fixes
Mantis cannons no longer takes damage without overheating
Player can no longer zone into a match standing in the cockpit
Helmet is no longer invisible
Fixed 300i landing gear placement
Fixed rare crash when loading into Vanduul Swarm
Fixed crash when receiving connection error
Fixed crash caused by players spawning on top of each other at beginning of map
CPU optimizations to improve client performance
Gatling gun audio stops when no longer firing
Destroying an asteroid no longer counts as a final kill
Energy bolts now scale properly when fired to the side
Winning music no longer plays at match end for losing team. You get nothing, you lose, good day sir.
Fixed ships in holotable no longer showing hologram model
Notifications, points, scoreboard and timer should now show in third person
Player movement prevented when interacting with helmet stand
Friendly killed audio no longer plays Hostile Eliminated, Target Destroyed or Enemy down
Removed use icon on ladder
Correct game mode descriptions added in Arena Commander UI
Adjusted bloom of objects on radar
Projectiles scale properly when firing in decoupled mode
Particle emitters now properly destroy themselves, reducing lag
Ship Energy system optimizations
Fix for sound velocity/speed being calculated incorrectly if its position is changed multiple times per frame.

Known issues
Weapon ammo shown as missile rack models in holotable
Gap in geometry can be seen between the engine and fuselage on 325a, and 315p ships
Exiting the Freelancer variant starboard top bunk results in character becoming stuck in a falling state
After respawn a rare issue can occur where the character’s head shakes uncontrollably
After exiting a vehicle the third person camera can become slightly tilted
Unable to enter the Avenger ship
Avenger ship missing wheels
Arena Commander Menu lists the incorrect Hornet version

Any rumbling if they are going to up the limit?

The good news is, I'm thinking we see more opponent and equipment diversity in Spectrum match AC this patch. I'll find that very welcome.

Oh, word!

I have to admit I haven't actually played at all since it first went live. I just did free flight for an hour or so. I just keep getting too busy with EVE, ESO, and Skyrim. I'll have to fire it up and get a little practice.

No rush. It's fun and all, but gold is still a ways off

We are very pleased to announce that Arena Commander’s multiplayer is now available for all of Star Citizen’s backers! We have been reviewing the user experience data from Patch 12.5 and have decided it’s time to open the floodgates! Everyone with Alpha Access or an Arena Commander Pass can now play the current multiplayer modes (with more to be added soon!) Multiplayer will also be available to anyone who picks up an Arena Commander pass going forward.

Thank you to every backer who has helped get us to this point. Your feedback has been absolutely essential in improving Arena Commander and the multiplayer experience. Thank you for your forum posts, your Twitch streams, your bug reports and your patience with the process. The knowledge we’ve gained from this tiered rollout goes well beyond just this release: it’s going to benefit how we launch every single future module and ultimately the Star Citizen Persistent Universe.

Remember: this is still a pre-alpha module! That means we still have plenty of work to do. The team is now working hard to add many planned features (like keybindings, scoreboards and additional ships) and also to improve what we’ve already created. In the coming weeks, expect to see a lot of work on game balance and Arena Commander’s game rules (where players spawn, how a kill is calculated, how the matchmaking server decides to connect users and the like.) Your continued thoughts on how the game plays will be invaluable in this process!

For those of you new to the Arena Commander multiplayer experience, the QA team has generated a quick list of beginner tips. We’ve noticed that some players are frustrated by their first matches, going up against pilots with different ships and more experience. We’re working on game rules changes that will alter this, but can also say that with a little patience you’ll be dogfighting with the best of them in no time! Winning at Arena Commander requires some skill… but these tips should help get you started right:

• Avoid flying slowly or sitting still. Especially after spawning into the middle of a chaotic fire fight.
• Use boost as much as possible (left shift). The higher speed makes you a more difficult target to follow and fire on effectively.
• Incorporate barrel rolls into your evasive maneuvers. Rolling and boosting can be very effective in helping to avoid enemy fire.
• Avoid fixating on a single target. Continue changing targets and flying evasively to maintain situational awareness and find the more vulnerable enemies.
• Avoid engaging another player head on. This is a sure way to get killed.
• If you must engage a target head on, switching to decoupled mode (capslock) and strafing can help to avoid a last second collision.
• Experiment with Comstab mode on and off (ctrl + capslock twice). Having it on will help minimize sliding while turning but having it off can help you become a harder target to hit.
• With g-force safety toggled off (ctr+capslock) you can perform more aggressive maneuvers but be careful because the additional g-forces can cause you to black out.
• If you have additional weapons at your disposal, experiment with alternate loadouts via the holo-table.
• Missile damage is absorbed by shields. For maximum damage, weaken your enemies’ shields by using standard weapons before firing missiles.
• Try getting almost on top of your target before releasing a missile, in order to reduce the amount of time that your opponent has to react.

UPDATE 8/06/2014: We are currently seeing server load issues associated with the multiplayer rollout. Our engineers are investigating the problem. Discovering issues like this is the benefit of making such an early build available to the public! We thank you for your patience and support.

As promised, Arena Commander is expanding! Now that multiplayer is available to all backers, we are beginning to roll out additional game modes. This process begins today with the launch of Capture the Core!

Patterned after classic ‘Capture the Flag’ games but with the additional challenge of operating in three dimensional space, Capture the Core is a team based game mode that rewards points to players for capturing ‘cores’ from the opposite side of the map. Players must capture the cores and then transport them to the other side of the map to add to their energy stockpile.

In order to capture a core, your team’s core must not be currently taken. You can steal the enemy’s Core by flying through it, either at their base or out in space if it has been dropped by a teammate. If a player carrying a Core is killed, the Core will remain at the location of his death for 30 seconds or until it is either returned by an ally or stolen by an enemy.

The game ends after one team has scored 5 captures, or 20 minutes have elapsed. Kills do not progress your team to victory directly, and spending your time trying to shoot down enemy pilots exclusively will be detrimental to your team! Points are awarded for picking up the enemy Core, Capturing a Core, returning your stolen Core or killing an enemy carrying your Core.

This mode is very objective based, and players will do best to focus on protecting their core, escorting their-core carriers, and taking down anyone who has stolen their core. When choosing a ship, it is not only toughness one should keep in mind, but a ship’s respective speed. Different ships can serve different roles.

Capture the core is available to all Arena Commander-eligible backers now. Please give it a try and let us know if you run into any issues; your feedback is essential to improving every aspect of Arena Commander.

Know Issues:

Sometimes when the player is spawned / re-spawned, the markers / icons used to denote the team rings and cores will disappear from the HUD.
If a player joins the game after a core has been removed from a ring and looks at the ring, the ring will still have the lightning effect displayed. If the core is returned to the ring, it will then begin to function normally.
In rare cases the particle manager will not cull old particles, which will lead to your PC slowing down over time. To fix the issue you will need to quit back to the lobby and re-enter.