What is the Public Test Universe ?
The PTU is a replica environment of all servers needed to operate the game and the platform. This environment exists to allow public testing phases of unreleased patches of the game and platform. This environment will be publicly available to players, but under tight CIG access control. This way we can, if we want, have an internal playtest of a patch in a release environment without needing to expose it to the public.
Contents:
Gameplay
Battle Royale and Squadron Battle have had their maximum player count increased to 16
Respawn penalty has been applied for situations where a pilot would intentionally destroy the ship to either reload missiles or prevent another player from getting a kill
Reworked the server, instance, and matchmaking service from the ground up
Lobby system and game servers now talk to each other about the teams that a client is on in the lobby and in game
Lobby system will now remove players from a lobby if the instance system crashes rather than letting a group remain in a broken lobby
Game Instances are able to transition from completed matches to hosting a new match more quickly
Ships
Vanduul Scythe is hangar and combat ready (shows as captured vanduul fighter in lobby)
P52-Merlin is hangar and combat ready
Due to being a snub fighter, the Merlin does not have intakes. As such, it does not replenish fuel while flying. In the PU, it would do this by docking with a Constellation
Accounts that have constellation variants that come with a snub fighter will be given a Merlin loaner ship to use in Arena Commander
Like other loaner ships, loaner Merlin’s cannot be placed in the hangar
Placing a Constellation Andromeda in the hangar will also spawn a Merlin
Components
Added support for spray patterns to weapons based on weapon mount type
Added new attenuation for missiles explosions
Added weapon names to Vanduul armaments
Added blade extension for captured Vanduul Scythe. It is activated by turning the item on in the weapon UI
Human engineers have increased the weapon lethality for the ship for the captured version of the scythe
User Interface
Added a HUD effect to the Vanduul Scythe where the alien ship HUD will appear in some situations
Electronic Access button has replaced the Arena Commander button in the main menu to help with indicating that Arena Commander and Star Marine and simulations within the game fiction
Arena Commander and Star Marine icons have been added for each game module
Game module icons will be grayed out for accounts that do not have access to them (Star Marine is grayed out for all accounts)
Game modes and maps will have a red overlay for accounts that are invited to lobbies which contain game modes they can’t play
Lobby host will receive an error if a player in a lobby doesn’t have access to the selected game mode
Match ID’s have been put back into the game to make it easier for players to report issues with specific instances
Match ID length and complexity has been increased to ensure that they’re always unique
Environment
Transitioned the audio system for all game content over to new cross-platform sound engine
Added additional ambiance to the VFG Industrial hangar
Added new splash screens when initially logging into the game
Balance/Tweaks:
Gameplay
Updated how ships calculate their mass when in the hangar
Points that are earned for doing damage to ship hulls has been adjusted due to the changes in ship health
Rebalanced Vanduul Swarm to be in line with desired difficulty due to the balance changes made to ships
Ships
Boost consumption has been rebalanced so that it involves more decision making for when to use it and involves less attrition
300-series hull health increased x2
Aurora hull health increased x3
Aurora top speed increased to 175
Avenger hull health increased x2
Avenger wings upsized from size 1 to size 2
Gladiator hull health increased x2
Gladiator adjusted to drift more when turning so that it handles appropriately for its size and role.
Gladius hull health increased x2
Hornet family hull health increased x2
Hornet rotational velocity increased
Hornet rotational acceleration decreased
M50 hull health increased x3
Restricted missile hardpoint sizes from size 1-3 to size 3 only to restrict possible missile racks on the Hornet Series
Cutlass hull health increased x3
Decreased Cutlass boost angular velocity from 3x normal to 2x normal
Components
Weapon damage increased by about 25%
The weapon damage disparity between sizes increased to 75%. Helps to make fixed weapons vs gimbaled weapons a more valuable decision.
Weapon accuracy for gatling weapons decreases/spread increases over longer sustained rate of fire
Weapon mount and gimbal slew rates are now set based by size
Adjusted weapon mounts so that their IM and EM signature generation scales with mount size
Increasing cooling flow for weapons due to higher health and shield values
Chaff counter measures will now fire in bursts of 4 across a 120 degree horizontal arc, chaff counter measure ammo box sizes have been quadrupled to match the burst
Size and potency of chaff reduced
Missile damage raised x1.5 for all missiles to help compensate the increased ship/shield health and the raised Shield absorb for splash damage
Tempest II reduced explosion radius and overall damage
Stalker V reduced explosion radius and overall damage
*Shield values have been doubled
Shield splash damage absorb factor increased from 1 to 1.25 as a baseline. SECO-Splash shields raised to 1.5 and SECO-Drop shields raised from 0.8 to 1
Shield recharge rates have been reduced
Shield regen delay increased across the board for all sizes. Shortest delay is 9.5s for Size 1 and 19.5s at Size 4
Environment
Rotated the holotables and moved most of them next to a wall
Fixes:
Gameplay
Client and server performance for when ships are destroyed and respawn has been greatly improved
Clients that enter a team game mode from the same ranked lobby will now be on the same team
Characters rolling while prone is now seen by other clients
Characters no longer spawn in as a pair of eyes
Fixed a few issues that were causing characters to spawn in a pilot seat standing up (some still exist)
Fixed an issue causing ships to sometimes sink into landing platforms in Multiplayer Free Flight when using automatic landing
Fixed a crash that would occasionally occur when landing in Multiplayer Free Flight
Ships
Fixed an issue where the ship name would appear as debug text for the tutorial Gladius’ ship AI
Front panels on the Mustang now animate when used
Mustangs no longer float in the air after landing with damaged or destroyed wings
Fixed the mustang turret showing debug text in the holotable
Fixed an issue where swapping turrets in a constellation would cause character animations to malfunction
Killing a Cutlass now gives proper credit
Components
Delta Rocket pods no longer display their name as debug text
User Interface
Fixed an issue that caused cross-hairs and reticule to sometimes go missing upon respawn
Thrusters can now be deactivated in power management
Holding tab will no longer cause the score board to default to on
Environment
Murray Cup poster now appears in the Asteroid Hangar
Cloud in race maps are no longer popping in and out
Known Issues:
These are not representative of all known issues in the build. The following issues are bugs that were introduced with this version of the game that we feel are most impactful to play experience.
Gameplay
Spawning will sometime cause blood splatter to appear on the helmet
Pressing tab five times will open chat in Arena Commander
There are a number of issues that prevent progression through the Arena Commander tutorial
Connection error 8 will occasionally occur when connecting to a multiplayer match
Spectator cameras cannot be controlled and will shake too much when observing another ship
Comstab can no longer be disabled/enabled
Matchmaking will load clients queued up for different race modes into the same server instance
Client can get stuck on an infinite load screen if they are matched into a server instance that no longer exists due to the game ending
Client will black screen when entering a lobby if it is unable to communicate with the Generic Instance Manager
The ability to send invites does not recover if the Generic Instance Manager crashes (workaround, enter your own lobby as a host to update your clients online status and invites should work again)
Leaderboard statistics are not being communicated to the website
Ships
Ships will sometimes spawn without IR and EM signature
Ships will sometimes not be able to respawn in Arena Commander
Merlin jerks when boosting after lateral turn
Merlin HUD cannot be interacted with
Constellation Andromeda ship surfaces are missing textures and lighting, causing them to be black in some areas
Freelancer variants are missing textures and lighting, causing them to be black in most areas
Retaliator is missing collision in several locations
Components
Motion blur settings for some ship components is set higher than it should be
User Interface
There is no message or timer indicating the penalty for early ejection
Error codes are not being displayed in hangar and are not visible until a client loads into another match, making it seem like they appear at the start of a match
Game Mode selection resets when returning to the lobby (this in turn can cause the lobby host to see duplicates of other players in the lobby)
Environment
Large blocks of invisible collision are present on the left and right sides of the Aeroview hangar
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son Of God.
Should this patch be automatically downloading when I sign in to the game? It is not doing so for me at this point, and I also see that the Merlin should be available to fly, but it is not available for me as of yet. Am I doing something wrong again, or has the patch not yet been released for download. In any event thank you for the update, William!
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you, and be sure of this, I will be with you always even unto the end of the age. Mathew 28:20
Download PTU Launcher - You should probably delete the current launcher.
Copy Account to PTU
Star Citizen - PTU Account Copied
Load new Launcher.
Your RSI Account has been copied over to Public Test Universe. Get ready to play Star Citizen's Test build!
Please take the following steps to access the PTU Game :
1 - Start your up-to-date Launcher, and log in with your real RSI account.
2 - Go into your Launcher's Settings (the cog at the top), and you should now see the Game Channel list.
3 - In that list, select Public Test Universe and close the settings.
4 - Log out (you should now be on the PTU login screen at the launcher), then log in again with using the password received via e-mail:
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son Of God.
Thankyou! In the process of downloading the new patch right now.
Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you, and be sure of this, I will be with you always even unto the end of the age. Mathew 28:20
Update: We're pushing out quick fix update to the 1.1.5 Publish to PTU!
Launcher Updates:
- New music added.
- Music volume lowered.
- Username remembered.
PLEASE NOTE: Launcher 2.0 is currently being tested on PTU, but it will NOT be part of the upcoming 1.1.5 Publish to Live. Players will continue to use the older launcher as we continue to work on features required for a wider release.
Additional 1.1.5 Game Balance and Updates:
- Merlin will now be available to Andromeda owners.
- Reduced drift on the Merlin.
- Updated Merlin thruster effects.
- Increased rotational strength and tightened up lateral strafe on Hornet.
- Increased ballistic damage vs shields.
- Reduced Gatling spin up time; the gun now fires while spooling up.
- Increased Suckerpunch range.
- Reduced energy absorption of armor.
- Increased overheat and cooldown times on Vanduul Scythe lasers.
- Increased boost consumption.
- Tutorial Vanduul now have difficulty suitable for intro tutorial.
- Shield values for Vanduul in Vanduul Swarm have been reduced.
Additional 1.1.5 Fixes:
- Fixed Comstab indicator.
- Fixed an issue where game instances were consumed without spinning the instance up.
- Fixed an issue that was causing clients to get kicked back to hangar due where client connected to a match but never finish the connection process.
- Fixed spectator camera issue of uncontrollable shaking.
- Fixed hangar elevators that were causing crashes.
- Fixed a server crash that was causing large amounts of players to disconnect.
- Fixed issues preventing Tutorial completion.
- Fixed an issue where the Merlin would randomly change direction when boosting.
*********************************************
Hi everyone!
We’ve been feverishly hammering away on all sorts of fantastic things in the past few weeks, so we’re very excited to push out the Star Citizen Alpha 1.1.5 Publish to Public Test Universe today!
Let’s go over the step-by-step instructions first:
1) You’ll first need to uninstall your current copy of PTU. You can do this by simply deleting the Public_Test folder inside of Program FilesStarCitizen.
2) You’ll then need to first re-copy your account over to the new PTU version at https://robertsspaceindustries.com/account/copy/ptu which is now available. This process is required for each new PTU test.
3) The 1.1.5 Publish to PTU will also require a new installer which is now available at this link as we’re rolling out the first version of our new, completely rewritten launcher! More on that below.
4) Players will be able to start patching and game servers at Saturday July 18 at 330pm CDT/830pm GMT.
Important note: With the new Launcher 2.0, this 1.1.5 Publish to PTU update will be a considerable 25.1 GB. As such, 1.1.5 to PTU is NOT recommended for anyone with slow download speeds or bandwidth caps, particularly since we could have additional 1.1.5 bug fix updates in the coming days, plus you'll also have to download the 25GB again when we publish 1.1.5 to the Live service.
On to the meat of 1.1.5…
We'll have a complete list of Star Citizen Alpha 1.1.5 Patch Notes here but this a small preview of all of the features available which we’d love for you to test and provide feedback on in our 1.1.5 PTU Feedback forums:
- Flight-ready Merlin and Scythe!
- Significant fixes have gone into addressing the freezing issues on ship spawn/destruction.
- Increase to 16 players on Squadron Battles and Battle Royale maps.
- The “Electronic Access” button has replaced the Arena Commander button in the Main Menu.
- Arena Commander and Star Marine icons will be seen in the Electronic Access Menu.
- Arena Commander and Star Marine icons will be grayed out for accounts that do not have access to the respective module.
- Game modes will have a red overlay for accounts that are invited to lobbies which contain game modes they do not have access to.
- Players entering a game from the same Lobby will now always be on the same team.
- Lobby now has music!
Several game balance changes have also been introduced:
- One hit kills have been reduced.
- Reduced CS missile damage.
- Increase health (2x) for all human ships.
- Weapon disparity per sizes increased.
- Rebalanced boost consumption and recharge rates.
- Rebalanced ship thrusters to be in line with ship goals.
- Chaff dispersion has been increased.
We’re also deploying several sizable new, backend technologies:
- New Launcher 2.0. Not just an updated version of the old launcher, but the first version of the new launcher! This will look similar to the current version but is a complete tech rewrite which significantly improves download speed and stability, as well as giving us much more visibility into troubleshooting launcher issues. Launcher 2.0 also allows us to start the work on our strategic goal of having much smaller incremental patch sizes.
- General Instance Manager (GIM). A full rewrite of the backend services that not only allocates and manages Arena Commander and Star Marine game server instances, but also the framework for multiplayer Hangars and the Persistent Universe game servers.
- Matchmaker Service. A full rewrite of the matchmaking system that will keep players in public groups on the same teams, eliminate long waits, and resolves the issues of perpetual Match Not Founds.
- “Phoenix” Dynamic Environments. A completely new backend service that allows us to spin up and scale services and environments at an exponentially faster rate with sharply improved stability. What does this mean for you, the players? We can scale up to test much faster to quickly and safely provide identical environments on Live that we use while in dev and in testing, and we can rapidly compensate for spikes in traffic.
Remember, the full list of Star Citizen Alpha 1.1.5 Patch Notes will be available soon but in the meantime, thanks for helping us test 1.1.5 before it hits the Live service and happy hunting!
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son Of God.
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