Star Citizen | Alpha 3.24.2 Patch Watch – Fuel, Faces, and Face-Lifts

Alongside marquee features like the RSI Zeus and updates to vehicle MFDs and power management, Alpha 3.24.2 brings additional updates across the game, from characters to Arena Commander!

Character Creator Updates

Are you like us and spend several hours perfecting your character’s look before you start a new game? 3.24.2 adds new options to the creator to let you tweak to your heart’s content, including new hairs, new beards, the addition of tattoos and piercings, and 21 new character heads added to the DNA pool. Here’s a few examples to get your gears turning ahead of release:

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-1

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-5

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-7

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-6

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-2

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-3

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-4

Arena Commander Front End Visual and Quality of Life Update

With 3.24.2 we’re introducing a visual overhaul to the front end of Arena Commander, with a few important changes to note.

For this visual update, a new brand style has been established for Arena Commander, the host of the Simpod experience. This style merges Star Citizen UI styling with the more military Squadron 42 style to create a unique blend giving Arena Commander its own identity.

Previously the Frontend background was limited to static image or video, but with 3.24.2 we are introducing a live 3D scene for Arena Commander’s background. Utilizing the Instanced Hangars, this allows you to summon your selected vehicle and can change in size depending on your selection. The player’s input is never blocked, ensuring that the scene is a purely visual & immersive experience. It can be skipped if you want to get into the action as fast as possible!

In addition to visual upgrades, we have made a few quality-of-life improvements:

Force Launch – Tired of that one player not readying up before going to grab a drink? Lobby hosts can now choose to launch the lobby despite their ready status.
Remember my Selection – Only play one game mode or just want fewer clicks? The game mode selection screen now features a checkbox to remember your selection. This causes your default mode to be the last one YOU selected.

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-8

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-9

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-11

alpha-3-24-2-patch-watch-fuel-faces-and-face-lifts-10

Quantum Fuel Consumption Changes

Alongside the power management overhaul that 3.24.2 brings, we wanted to point out some changes to Quantum Fuel coming in this update.

Quantum Fuel consumption has been unified across all drives at a rate of 1 Micro SCU per 100,000m. This consumption rate will be varied across the drive grade and size in the future, but on average it will remain around this level. We’ll let you know once further adjustments are made.
Quantum Drives will now reflect different strengths per size when traveling short or long distances due to differences in acceleration in each stage, as well as the top speeds they can reach. Over long distances, the larger drives will get you there faster, but over short distances you’ll find the size 1 and size 2 Quantum Drives are better suited to cut down travel time.
The longest journey in the Stanton system should now be under 12.5 minutes. If you find a journey that takes longer, please let us know in a comment with the name of your ship!
Additionally, with this change, some community tools may now be incorrect and reference fuel consumption rates no longer used in calculations, as we are using an entirely new fuel system with this update.