Today, Cloud Imperium Games released another update for its growing space simulator, Star Citizen, numbered Alpha 4.82.
The update ushers in Alien Week, which is the yearly celebration of the first contact between humans and aliens in the Star Citizen universe.
We also suitably get the release of two brand-new alien-inspired ships built on the same basic chassis, the dedicated hauler Gatac Railen and the carrier Gatac Tyilui.
Specifically, the Tyilui is a snub carrier. Unlike larger carriers, it’s designed to carry smaller snub fighters that don’t have their own quantum drive capability and rely on the mothership for long-range movement.
You can think of it as a spacefaring wasp hive. And honestly, the shape lends itself to the comparison.
You can see it below, with commentary from the developer.
The patch notes also include fixes for issues introduced in the previous patches.
- Potential Fix: Issue where the active route would reset when switching between SCM and NAV modes on ships equipped with the Command Module
- Potential Fix: AI characters were stationary and unresponsive across multiple locations throughout all star systems
- Potential Fix: Hangar doors would not open for the ship that needed to be escorted during Escort missions
- Potential Fix: HPA and temperature levels would spike dramatically inside the Drake Ironclad and Command Module during navigation due to missing atmosphere simulation
- Potential Fix: Actors wearing a helmet would still asphyxiate inside the Drake Command Module
- Potential Fix: The Drake Ironclad Assault did not have sufficient VTOL thrust to take off from a landing pad while carrying cargo
- Potential Fix: Actors could experience dangerously high HPA readings in certain areas of the Drake Ironclad after docking or undocking the Command Module
- Potential Fix: The Argo MPUV had incorrect acceleration behavior caused by improperly rotated thrusters
- Potential Fix: Players could not exit the Argo MPUV Tractor pilot seat using the Y hotkey or the PIT wheel
- Potential Fix: The Mirai Guardian’s radar was displaying incorrectly
- Potential Fix: Thruster lights on the Esperia Prowler would reflect and flicker into the cockpit while hovering
- Potential Fix: The Banu Defender’s AlienWeek 2023 liveries (Harmony, Wanderer, and Ocellus) were not applying correctly
- Potential Fix: Several doors on the hangar level of the TSG Idris Tranquility would appear open without player interaction
- Potential Fix: ATC would default landing requests to docking ports instead of landing pads for ships that support both, at dual-support locations
- Potential Fix: The Tailwind Flight Suit caused the actor’s hands and feet to become invisible
- Potential Fix: There are poor LODs throughout the MISC Prospector’s front and middle hull
If you’re unfamiliar with Star Citizen, it’s a PC exclusive, crowdfunded project directed by Chris Roberts of Wing Commander fame. It’s a multiplayer sandbox space simulator that has been in development for over a decade and in alpha for several years.
The crowdfunding total for the game just passed one billion dollars, and it’s currently sitting at $1,019,306,194. The game currently has 6,586,199 registered accounts, but we know that not all are paying customers.
Some are alt accounts, while others are simply created to enjoy the “Free Fly” periods that fairly often let non-backers enjoy the game at no cost.
It’s notable that Star Citizen’s funding tally for 2025 has beaten all records from previous years by a large margin.
A single-player campaign titled Squadron 42 is also in active development with a recently confirmed 2026 release window, starring an exceptional cast of famous actors, including Mark Hamill, Henry Cavill, Gary Oldman, Liam Cunningham, Gillian Anderson, and more.
Since the project has been in development for over a decade, you can see how Squadron 42 has evolved since its first reveal.
Full disclosure: the author of this article has backed Star Citizen’s crowdfunding campaign.
