StarCitizen:Squadron 42 Gameplay Reveal
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Template:Stub The Squadron 42 Gameplay Reveal was a live demo of Squadron 42 presented during CitizenCon 2954, Showcasing the prologue of the game, which lasted over an hour. This presentation is in two versions: the first was presented live on stage by StarCitizen:Richard Tyrer, and the second was recorded and then posted on YouTube. This demo takes place one year after the announcement of feature complete of Squadron 42 at the previous CitizenCon. It also officially announces the game's release year: 2026.<ref name=":0">Squadron 42 CitizenCon 2954 Live Gameplay Reveal Youtube 2024-10-20</ref>
Narrative
This demo features the game's prologue. The player take on the role of a new gunner recruit aboard the UEE Gauntlet in the 2nd fleet during the attack of Vega II.
Gameplay showcase
The opening sequence focus on social interactions aboard the UEES Gauntlet. After speaking with Captain MacLaren, the player have the option to explore the ship and converse with crew members and officers, visiting both private quarters and common areas. Although the game sets a specific objective, the player appears to have the freedom to pursue it directly or not. It’s worth noting the effort put into the ship’s immersion and atmosphere through environmental storytelling, the crew’s routines, and the numerous personalized, voice-acted dialogues from NPCs. The player thus meets their fellow gunners, including Marcus Correl, under the supervision of Commander Moreland.
As a new gunner recruit, the demo shows us how the turret gameplay works. These simple turret sections (first in the hologram tutorial and then during the battle against the Vanduul ships) offer simple gameplay, with the only complexity being the need to switch between the heavy artillery and the machine gun depending on the targets. It also involves targeting the key components of the largest ships and taking down the Vanduul Cleavers that are trying to reach our ship.
After our turret is destroyed, our ship seams to be under boarding attack, so the player begins the FPS gameplay. The demo showcases basic movement mechanics, including crouching, lying prone, climbing over obstacles, and sneaking without attracting the attention of the Vanduul soldiers. It also introduces first-person combat using ballistic weapons, healing mechanics via the medpen, and interactions such as StarCitizen:personal scanning to identify points of interest, looting equipment, transferring data via the mobiGlas and using the minimap for navigation. The objective is to survive and reach safety. This sequence also introduces us to the concept of ship StarCitizen:engineering, as we have to fix the StarCitizen:fire of the power plant. After a fight that propels us outside, we discover the new EVA mechanics, using StarCitizen:push and pull movements to move in zero gravity. We have to find shelter before we run out of oxygen.
After reuniting with MacLaren, we get to pilot a ship for the first time in the game : the UEES Gauntlet StarCitizen:Javelin, no less.
Technical showcase
Beyond its storyline and gameplay, this demo showcases the latest advancements made to StarCitizen:Star Engine since the previous public presentations of Squadron 42, which address the need to render large-scale battles while maintaining a high level of detail at the player's perspective, as well as enabling large amounts of integrated cinematics of high quality.
Indeed, the cinematics take up a large part of the prologue (52%). There are seamless transitions between gameplay and cutscenes. Cutscenes often begin and end without a visible loading screen or camera cut This demonstrates that the cutscenes are rendered in-engine at the same time and with the same level of detail as the rest of the game.
The demo also highlights substantial graphical improvements in environments, lighting, and VFX. Particular attention was paid to the interior environment of the Gauntlet during these two gameplay phases, featuring a high level of environmental detail and redesigned graphical elements, while the outdoor scenes showcase the Star Engine’s ability to render hundreds of ships of various sizes and thousands of pieces of debris. However, StarCitizen:ray tracing and StarCitizen:global illumination do not yet appear to be implemented. Character realism has been further enhanced thanks to facial rendering that has been continuously refined since 2023, and the implementation of StarCloth, which simulates the movement of clothing and fabrics in real time.
The gameplay presentation also showcases the ongoing development of Maelstrom, the physics-based destruction engine.
Live presentation
The demo takes place at the end of Day 1 of CitizenCon. StarCitizen:Chris Roberts returns to the stage, accompanied by Rychard Tyrer. Despite some opposition, Chris Roberts decided to showcase a live, non-pre-recorded version of the game, assuring everyone that he had played it. Given that it was still a work in progress, he reiterated that the game was still in its polishing and optimization phase.<ref name=":1">CitizenCon 2954: Day One [Full Broadcast] Youtube October 10 2024</ref>
Technical problems
Several technical issues did indeed plague the demo: relatively severe screen tearing, two game crashes that were quickly recovered from thanks to the auto-save feature, and finally, some visual bugs with the NPCs particularly with StarCitizen:Rachel MacLaren at the end which brought the live stream to a close before before the real prologue ending.<ref name=":1" />
"There's something wrong with this computer it's literally... I literally played this last night full, our QA played it, like 10 QA today played this beginning to end, didn't have the crash and this one... is it's so annoying
A pre-recorded version without bugs or screen tearing was then posted on YouTube. <ref name=":0" />
"As soon as the show wrapped Rich headed back to the office to record a playtrough, and of course, one take, no crashes. Oh, the thrilles of doing it live!
Closing trailer and 2026 release window
Following the gameplay presentation, Cig has reveal an exclusive trailer of Squadron 42. The trailer showcases a montage of scenes from throughout the campaign, highlighting a wide variety of locations like the new design of the StarCitizen:UEES Stanton, new environments, characters, and combat sequences, although lot of this footage consists of graphical updates and design refinements of elements that have already been shown, while revealing very few details about the overall plot other than that the player has been assigned to the Stanton following a recommendation from Maclaren.
At the end of the trailer, the release date is set for 2026 with no specific date, and Chris Roberts returns to the scene.
Gallery
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Trivia
- The StarCitizen:42nd Squadron appears exactly at the 42-minute mark of the video.