Star Citizen

After getting caught up in the hype of Citizen Con and regaining a little bit of hope lost throughout the years this patch turned out to be... an experience to say the least.

I'm really happy with all the technical improvements so far - game is running better than ever, is more stable and the replication layer recovery, while not perfect, works pretty well. I did stumble over few issues but none of them were really game breaking and after years of SC being what it is, that's something I can deal with.

As for the feature/gameplay changes and additions, my experience was rather mixed. This post turned out to be way longer than I initially planned so I'll put a TL;DR at the end.

UI

UI still suffers from the "cool" factor and at times is even less readable than the old one. I can't wait for options to customize the colors and get rid of the awful ghosting effect. I really wish CIG employed an experienced UI designer who realizes the importance of usability. Accessibility consultant also wouldn't hurt (I feel bad for people with vision impairment).

New mobiGlas is alright. Still has a ton of wasted space and the heart beat sound on the main screen is annoying as hell but it's functional (as long as you don't switch to a different color mobi).

(Mini) Map could be better - it's working fine but the stupid blue holo art style not only can be an eyesore but also makes the whole thing less readable then it should be at times. Also, trying to use the map inside a Distribution Center kills my framerate for some reason.

Flight UI is not great. We lost some info (either completely or partially), gained crap ton of useless and view obstructing markers, labels and other nick-knacks. QT icons are way worse - they are less recognizable and harder to figure out at a glance, especially with additional movement and animations used on them.

One good thing I can say about it is that coupled/VTOL/landing gear/G-SAFE toggles are finally easily identifiable. It's a simple change that should've been here from the start (hell, it wasn't even a problem back in 2.0) but hey, we finally got it.

New FPS UI is pretty great. HUD looks good and provides a lot of useful info (we finally have a compass!) - a really great update. Looting screen isn't particularly bad but it has some issues. It feels kind of messy (yeah, it's readable but there's something about it that I needed time to actually get used to it) and the switching between your main loadout and armor space doesn't seem like the best idea (or maybe just implementation).

It also isn't consistent. You can use Click and Shift + Click for some actions (in the direction from the container to your equipment) but other times you can only drag the items (when putting them back for example). This really needs some tweaking as right now, I still prefer to use the normal inventory screen when it works.

I do dislike the hit- and killmarkers (yes, I know they existed before) as I feel they cheapen the experience and make for a "must have" feature whenever PvP combat is concerned (especially over long distances or in an environment with limited visibility) - "just turn it off" is not an argument as it's a big handicap to however turns it off.

Interaction UI... I'm gonna be honest, I really don't like this one. The constant F is annoying and even if you turn it off, interaction name is still visible. Auto selection is really annoying - it often highlights items on the edge of the screen even if I try to aim at something right in the middle of it. It also makes accessing the old "thoughts" menu more fiddly, even though it's a way faster and better way to do some stuff (like inspecting or placing an item).

Shopping "cards" are big, ugly, have a lot of empty space while providing very little info and just feel like a step back compared to the old system.

Gameplay

FPS Combat is good. Weapons changes feel fun for the most part, enemies are active and aggressive, increased TTK doesn't seem to be a problem. I did enjoy my experience so far, except for the fact that some missions seem to spawn enemies indefinitely - it's not even difficult, just stupid and doesn't really fit with the "immersive universe" we're suppose to play in.

Distribution Centers are kind of cool to check out but don't really bring much to the table as far as interesting gameplay is concerned at the moment.

Master Modes and flight changes - I'm going to be honest, there's no way I can give this a fair shake as I disagree with the whole idea on a conceptual level and I already disliked their previous attempt from 2.0 days. It's especially "funny" that not only is CIG going back to a flight model they already tested and decided against, they are also bringing it back using the same arguments for why it's needed in the first place.

I did try to get used to it and I did try to look at it fairly but despite that, I really don't like these changes.

I'm not going to write an essay on what, why and how since it doesn't really matter - CIG is in a push towards 1.0 and they will stick to a direction of their choosing (well that and they don't visit this community). I just wish they didn't waste the last 2-3 years making yet another flight model instead of committing to and tweaking the existing one, like they promised when patch 3.14 (?) was released.

Also... while I was never particularly interested in space-combat, new changes made me certain that I'll be staying away from it for good. There's no point in wasting your time on something you don't enjoy.

New EVA is great. I did have to get used to it for a few minutes but it's a much smoother experience. Probably the most polished and the best designed part of this patch.

The Future

I could live with a mixed patch - it wouldn't be the first time with this project. I am however a bit concerned about the future of SC. Not necessarily on whether it's going to get finished but rather if the game that comes out will be something I'll want to play.

It's not just some of the changes from 3.23 and .1 that are the cause of this worry. Some of the dev's actions and words since Citizen Con make me wonder whether the direction of the project didn't change away from what I backed all those years ago.

I might just be getting jumpy and distrustful due to the already mentioned "closeness" of 1.0 requiring them to actually commit to specific design decisions instead of redesigning stuff every few years. Hopefully, it's just a temporary issue on my part.

I want to stay positive and keep looking forward to what's in store in the future but it's not as easy as it was 5 or 10 years ago. The next few releases will most likely be a make or break for me and that's a pretty rough spot to be in after all this time.

I really wish CIG released their updated design docs on each gameplay pillar to see what they're planning - the stuff we have now is years old, often outdated and without any actual details. It's not a situation a game in "open" development should be, especially after this many years.

TL;DR

Flight and new interaction UI are not great and need a lot of tweaking before I'll be happy with them. Rest of the changes are pretty good.

FPS and DC gameplay are in a good place for now, EVA is great, MM and flight... please no.

I'm starting to wonder if SC isn't changing in a way I'm not happy with and if I'll keep playing after release.