Squadron 42, the single-player campaign segment of the sprawling space RPG Star Citizen, is now entering the final stage of development, according to Cloud Imperium Games founder Chris Roberts.
Roberts took to the stage during the just-wrapped CitizenCon 2953 to announce that Squadron 42 is “feature-complete.” Alongside that, the developer dropped an extended video of the project, including cinematics, gameplay, and commentary from members of the development team.
By the commentary, the designation of feature-complete sounds like what we would usually think of as the beta stage, where all of the content is now in the game and what’s left is polishing and optimization. The video goes quite in depth as to what that means for Squadron 42. Senior game director Richard Tyrer is the first to discuss it, saying that one of the focus points is “ensuring things feel fun.” He says that ranges from the way combat encounters play out to the micro level of control over your avatar, ship, and how they interact with the in-game universe.
Later, narrative director David Haddock talks about the process of improving the cinematics and adding extra interactions to help make the cast of characters feel more present within the world. Animation director Steve Bender talks about ensuring that the various locations — including a hangar and medbay present in the video — seem alive and NPCs act realistically within them. Finally, art director Nate Dearsley discusses the process of ensuring fidelity across the board and giving the different locations distinct atmospheres and aesthetics.
It’s a lengthy, in-depth video that’s well worth watching in full if you’re interested in Squadron 42. Unfortunately, Roberts ends the video without providing any sort of release window for the project. He does, however, note that with Squadron 42 now at this crucial stage of development, we should begin seeing “a lot more things” coming to Star Citizen and more progress on the multiplayer Persistent Universe.
The lack of any firm release window probably shouldn’t come as any surprise, as it’s been a hallmark of the game’s lengthy development. Star Citizen first sought crowdfunding way back in 2012 and is yet to enter final release, while Squadron 42 was announced in 2014, with the last major update being an indefinite delay back in 2020.
