Star Citizen has started its first tests for the upcoming Alpha 4.0 client, according to a weekly update and several playtesters. Alpha 4.0 for Star Citizen promises a huge swathe of changes and features, including the proprietary Server Meshing technology, a new solar system, new ship maintenance mechanics, and more, and players got a small sample of these.
“We’re proud to share that Star Citizen Alpha 4.0 has begun initial testing with our Evocati, marking a significant milestone in our development journey,” the blurb in the newest “This Week in Star Citizen” reads. “This achievement reflects the hard work of our team and the incredible dedication of the community, whose support has made all of this possible. This initial test is just the start, and we’re excited to keep the momentum going!”
The Evocati are a group of Star Citizen players who are permitted to playtest certain features. They’re required to sign NDAs, meaning there are specific restrictions on what they can share about their playtesting.
After a playtest on Saturday, some details were shared by Evocati players who were limited in what they could explain. According to one Evocati on YouTube, The Eradicator, the first 4.0 test took about two hours and included the highly-anticipated Server Meshing test on a small scale, with about 100 players on the shard.
YouTuber SaltEMike revealed that there was a new solar system called Pyro with contested zones that players have been looking forward to. There are also “jump points,” which are essentially hyperjump features that take players through small wormholes. Traveling through a jump point requires players to work to keep their ship maintained during the 90 seconds or so of travel, and it’s quite possible to fail and end up somewhere you don’t intend to.
Since the playtest was only about two hours, it seems players weren’t able to get terribly in-depth with features, and it’s likely the upcoming CitizenCon this weekend will delay testing for a bit. However, it’s a major step for Robert Space Industries, which promised earlier this year that it’d be pushing harder towards a full 1.0 commercial release.