Update:Star Citizen Release 1.0

Star Citizen Alpha 4.0.0

Unknown

Upcoming

Star Citizen Release 1.0 is a planned major update and long-term goal for Star Citizen that represents the game's stable release as a game. This is also the baseline product for ongoing additions in a live-service model. At this point the game's status will no longer be considered an Alpha. Planning and scheduling for 1.0 has been in the works since 2023, running in parallel with development on Alpha 4.0 and was cited as the reason for the ongoing delays to updates on the public Roadmap. A deep dive on 1.0 was presented at CitizenCon 2024 and it was the overarching theme of both days. This release is slated to have improved performance, finished gameplay loops, no more wipes and be a polished experience. Endgame content is planned including Instanced content, Org content, Open world content and Dynamic content provided by StarSim. Beyond 1.0 will be continued development with a higher quality benchmark and no more "Tier 0" mechanics. Some of the features listed below may arrive in an earlier patch, but in combination they form the vision of what a complete 1.0 experience will comprise.

Star systems

Stanton (implemented across Alpha 3.0 through Alpha 3.14)
- Hurston, Crusader, ArcCorp, microTech, GrimHEX
Pyro (due in Alpha 4.0)
- Pyro I, Monox, Bloom, Pyro IV, Pyro V, Terminus, Ruin Station
Nyx
- Nyx I, Nyx II, Nyx III, Delamar
Castra
- Castra I, Cascom
Terra
- Aero, Pike, Terra, Gen

During the Crowdfunding campaign and early development, the scope of Star Citizen was pitched as featuring more than 100 star systems. However this decision was made at a time before the inclusion of large-scale planets and numerous points of interest in systems that would've otherwise not required many assets to create. As such, the current game scope necessitates a launch with considerably less star systems (but many more points of interest). With the currently available Stanton system and the release of the Pyro system in Alpha 4.0 - as well as Nyx and Castra in subsequent Alpha patches, the fifth system Terra will round out the "First Five" systems in 1.0. Stanton, Castra and Terra are designated "Lawful", while Pyro and Nyx are designated "Unlawful". The People's Alliance of Levski has come under attack from Vanduul raids into the Nyx system and the Earth-centric Castra acts as a counter-point to Terra. Delamar has been reworked into a true asteroid from its former implementation, with Levski now being accessible via EVA.

Story and mission content

Main Story

Star Citizen Release 1.0 features an NPC-driven Main Story in the Persistent Universe that acts as a soft framework for the game - an introduction and tutorial for a variety of different gameplay mechanics and Factions, as well as serving as a primer for the lore. The story revolves around growing tensions between Terra and Earth, introducing each of the game's Guilds and taking the player through all of the Star systems available as of 1.0. The story features a cast of new and known characters and can be engaged with or ignored at your own pace.

Citizenship

The key reward for completing the Main Story, which offers a number of rewards and benefits including the ability to purchase land anywhere in the UEE.

Location stories

Location Stories are short NPC-driven missions and narrative arcs set in specific areas, allowing players to experience the uniqueness of various locations in the 'verse and providing lore relating to that location.

Guilds

United Resource Workers (industrial) - Protecting the people who are the lifeblood of industry who can always be found harvesting minerals, scavenging or crafting
Interstellar Transport Guild (cargo) - One of the oldest professional unions in the UEE, overseeing the movement of goods and people everywhere
Imperial Sports Federation (racing) - A league of sporting organizations that banded together to standardize competitive sports throughout the Empire
Academy of Science (science) - Originally based out of Rhetor, it has expanded to become a congress of scholars dedicated to the expansion of knowledge throughout the universe
The Council (criminal) - Organized as the "governing body for illegality", a collective of syndicates, gangs and outlaws who mandate criminal activity throughout the systems
Mercenary Guild (law/security) - Formed after first contact with the Xi'an, providing combat and logistical expertise everywhere

Guilds are high-level entities that oversee a number of Factions. When performing actions for a Faction, you also gain Reputation with its parent Guild. This reputation can be used as a currency to purchase Guild affiliated rewards, like Ships, Blueprints and Items. Each Guild has a unique inventory of rewards. Guild Reputation is intended to act as a progression system alongside the Economy.

Profession based missions

A range of new mission types are slated for 1.0 that span a range of professions, skill levels, legality and PvE / PvP / non-combat playstyles. Notable additions include Hull Repair, Refining, Towing, Refueling, Crafting, Fuel Gathering, Building, Passenger Transport, Data Running, Cargolympics, Hunting, Parkour, Competitive Racing, Animal Capture, Research, Fire Fighting, Search & Rescue, Location Mapping, Farming, Crafting, Hacking, Bounty Capture, Arson, Bribery, Vehicle Delivery, Shipjacking and Race Fixing.

These missions are given by a variety of Factions and fall under the umbrella of a particular Guild. The aim is to move as many missions as possible away from the mobiGlas, so many missions will be given instead by Mission Givers associated with a particular Faction. Your interactions with these characters will come in various forms including messages, calls and in-person meetings.

Genesis

"More worlds. Better worlds. Faster."
Benoît Beauséjour, CTO

Genesis is a suite of tools within StarEngine that enable the developers to create high content density on the surface of Planets and Moons rapidly and with the quality, variety and liveliness necessary to make every location and adventure feel unique. The initiative is intended to support the massively increased player counts enabled by Server meshing and to expedite the creation of the "First Five" systems for 1.0 and onward into creating post-release locations at a sustainable pace and with minimal bugs. It is also intended to allow players to find interesting content through Exploration without having to follow a Quantum Marker.

Planet Tech v5

The culmination of Cloud Imperium's work on planet creation - A simple, scalable workflow for planet artists that uses data-driven physically-based rules to emulate nature, with continuous variation to biomes and extremely high visual density where appropriate. Planetary data includes Temperature and Humidity (implemented as of 2024), plus Geology, Soil Type, Soil Depth and Nutrients. Additional data such as Sunlight exposure and Slope Aspect can also be derived. This data drives the assignment and unrepetitively tiled blending of terrain textures, the distribution of each individual type of Flora based on competition rules and override variables, and the placement of rocks and debris derived from erosion simulation. Physics-interactable (from any source) assets can be included in distributions. Tree leaves are tinted and shed based on various input factors, one of which is Seasons that play out over time. The planet shader is able to draw on data to evaluate required terrain color when viewed at a distance - taking into account the distribution of assets that are not loaded in, such as trees or grass. Performance is improved and pop-in is eliminated.

Archetypes for emergent biomes are created as asset packs using the new workflow:

Swamps - High Moisture, Medium to High Temperature - includes assets that interact with water surfaces
Jungle - High Rainfall and Sunlight year-round - includes assets that exhibit stratification
Redwoods - Regular Rainfall and modal Temperature - includes assets that emphasize extreme scale

Starchitect

A similar workflow to that of Planet Tech v5 that shares the same data pool, Starchitect is used to populate Planet and Moon surfaces with data-driven generated points of interest such as Outposts and Caves, ensuring a minimum content density of 100KM. Distribution is intended to be logical, interesting and coherently scattered, with each POI having a unique personality and not feeling repetitive. Data-driven mission generation via StarSim plugs into these POIs. Thousands of POIs can be generated on a surface, with elements of pre-existing locations modularized to create a library of layouts, buildings and assets that can be combined into a large variety of layouts that suit the situation. For example an outpost generating near ore deposits with mining structures, power facilities and habitation, or a derelict ship generating in proximity to an AA turret. POI variables include:

Art Style - Frontier / High Tech / Utilitarian
Archetype & Function - Mining / Farming / Homestead
Faction & Loadouts - Lawful / Unlawful / Unoccupied

A number of POIs generate logically in a nearby Cluster, with the following mining & distribution example of 15 POIs given:
Distribution Center x1 -> Forward Operating Bases x3 -> Mining Outposts x4 -> Caves x7
Clusters can have overarching Factions or Commodities to tie the POIs together thematically
Unlawful Clusters generate far from other Clusters
A number of Clusters generate as part of Sectors. Like Clusters, Sectors can also have overarching rulesets driven by data

Data-driven NPC behaviors

Datasets from Planet Tech v5 and Starchitect plus handcrafted and player-made locations as well as the day / night cycle and dynamic objects can determine NPC behaviors. NPC vision perception cones and ranges are affected by the day / night cycle, environmental lighting and personal headlamps (which don't illuminate the peripheral vision). Lower light levels come with a reaction delay. Certain Fauna have better perception than Humans. Dynamic cover generation is able to take into account Maelstrom destruction as well as the movement of Ground Vehicles. Navigation meshes also allow for NPCs to access tight spaces using crouching.

Data-driven lighting

Global Illumination provides visual improvements to the lighting of both interior and exterior spaces in a data-driven way. The single environment probe is replaced with around 40,000 ray-trace probes. A grid of probes generated around the player provides lighting data for transparencies including volumetric clouds. For gloss surfaces, half-resolution ray-tracing data is cleaned with spatial and temporal filters plus anti-aliasing to produce grounded reflections for a full range of surface roughness. GI also gives a significant improvement to the realism of character appearances.

A new shading model simulates light scattering multiple times within both clouds and atmosphere. Enhanced occlusion emphasizes light shafts piercing through layers of cloud.

StarAudio

A new suite of tools and tech aimed at improving the quality and fidelity of sound in Star Citizen. Like other parts of Genesis it draws on Planet Tech v5 and Starchitect data pools to automatically implement audio in the world based on rulesets that can include visual scripting. The player's experience of this audio systemically factors in the speed of sound, resulting in the doppler effect - affecting the pitch, speed and delay of what is heard based on the relative movement and distance between the sound source and the listener. Atmospheric Pressure and Temperature variables are taken into account in calculating the speed of sound for a given environment.

Dynamic weather

Real-time simulation of weather fronts on a planetary scale, including rain, wind and thunder. Draws on Planet Tech v5 data sets to emulate in real-time the natural cloud processes of formation and dissipation in realistic conditions - taking into account things like the location of Oceans and Mountains, Prevailing Winds and the Temperature. As a weather front rolls in, it can be accompanied with a gradient increase in precipitation and potentially lightning (with accompanying thunder from StarAudio). Rainfall applies a wet shader to terrain, rocks and foliage. Wet dirt turns to mud and puddles form in appropriate areas. Droplets can be seen on surfaces and ripples in water. Rain is visualized on helmet visors and can be wiped away much like snow. Lightning can hit structures and ships with appropriate results such as fire ignition, MFD glitching and hull damage. Lightweight solid props and cloths can be buffeted and moved by gusts of wind. As well as weather fronts, weather can also be localized or planet-wide, making Ship usage dangerous and forcing players to engage with content in a Ground Vehicle or on-foot.

Other engine features

Dynamic Server Meshing

Implementation of dynamic scaling and server re-assignment for Server Meshing, allowing for MMO-scale player counts. Whereas static server meshing means that servers are pre-allocated and cannot be changed, dynamic server meshing means that servers can be dynamically moved as needed to respond to the needs. For example, if a single server was to only be able to handle 100 players, static server meshing would be insufficient if more than 100 people were in a single static server area, but with dynamic server meshing if 200 people, or 2000 people were in the same area, this area would get seamlessly subdivided between as many servers as needed when needed.^[1] Static server meshing is part of Alpha 4.0.

StarSim

StarSim is the successor to (or new name for) Quantum - a behind-the-scenes system designed to allow Star Citizen developers to create and manage a realistic and dynamic universe through in-world actions by NPCs. StarSim has access to all backend services and actively manipulates game data in real-time to adjust to the needs of the star system in question. Game systems planned to be covered by StarSim include NPC spawning, the Economy, Missions, Interdiction scenarios and true Dynamic Events triggered by ingame thresholds rather than a developer cue.

Maelstrom

Many of the structures created by Starchitect or Base Building will feature the Maelstrom destruction system, allowing for a range of scales of geometry fracturing and physics dependent on the force used. For instance, a P4-AR may be able to shoot small chunks out of a barricade, while a GP-33 could be able to raze a small structure with one shot.

Crafting

Crafting is a widely impacting game-system. More than 1000 Blueprints can be obtained via various means, many of which are exclusive to a certain Faction or Guild Reputation, in-game vendor or such. Once claimed, a Blueprint is permanently Character-bound. Raw Resources can be sourced from hunting, harvesting, Salvaging, Mining or purchased from the NPC or player market. These can then be processed through Refining (not just Mineables). Refined Resources can be used to craft Items, Equipment, Components and even Ships that have the potential to be better than anything purchasable from an NPC vendor. Resources will gain the new property of Quality which will impact Item Stats for the crafted end-product. The Quality of a Resource can be ascertained via a high-end Radar. Research allows the unlocking of advanced Item Tiers for your Blueprints, where the Stats of a higher Tier item will be better despite having the same Quality. High Tier item crafting requires more advanced Resources. Ships can be increased in Tier using an Upgrade Blueprint. These are unlocked by performing certain actions and have a Research time, Resource and UEC cost. Crafting is performed by Crafting Machines which come in various types and sizes, such as Item, Chemical or Nutrition Fabricators or even a Fabrication Hangar.

Base building

Base building allows for the construction of habitable structures on the surface of a Planet or Moon. These structures include Player Habitation, Hangars, Refineries, Construction Buildings, Freight elevators and Extractors. Extractors are able to tap into new underground Resource deposits depending on the type of Extractor. Production structures including power sources have upkeep demands, such as Resource consumption or manually replacing Fuses. Freight Elevators at the same base can be linked to share a local inventory within a distance limit. Bases can be decorated in Decorator AR Mode using a variety of props, furnishings and items that can be mag-locked. Decorator AR Mode will also be available in player Hangars and Ships. Shops can be set-up in Bases using a Trading Terminal connected to a Freight Elevator or by listing mag-locked items for sale in Decorator AR Mode. Building paints will be earnable ingame and the buildings can be customized with text.

Building sizes

Small - Built using the Construction Grav Cart or any of the below. Resources must be provided separately
Medium - Built using the CSV-FM or any of the below. Can store 4 SCU of resources internally
Large - Built using the Starlancer BLD or the Pioneer, both of which have ample cargo storage for direct use in Base Building. Once a base is established, the Construction Hub can also build up to Large buildings.
Extra Large - Built exclusively using the Pioneer.

All of these Ships/Vehicles are able to survey the land, claim it (in a UEE system) and begin building using Drones.

Base security factors

Base building has no prerequisites in an Unclaimed System (Pyro or Nyx) but is vulnerable to attack without guaranteed access to UEE-provided Planetary Shields (base invulnerability). Defences such as base shields, walls and automated turrets can be built in lieu of Planetary Shields. Bases in these systems are likely to be more profitable as they contain High Quality Resources. In a UEE System (Stanton, Castra, Terra), a Land Claim must be purchased from the UEE with access to Planetary Shields (as an ongoing tax). Land in Castra is only available to Citizens. Base owners can assign permissions to visitors, including the ability to build structures.

Base raiding

In instances where a base does not have Planetary Shields, i.e. in an Unclaimed System, it will need some form of defence - such as walls, automated turrets and Ground Shields. This defensive variety makes the prospect of Base Raiding require a combined arms approach as Ground Shields are able to protect from the bombs dropped by an A2. However it is possible to get through these shields on foot, allowing an infiltrator or footsoldier to potentially hack and sabotage your way to the shield generator and take it offline. With the shields down, the attacking force can choose whether to raze the base to the ground or attempt to take it for themselves.

Player-to-Player Trading

Implementing the ability for players to set up their own shops and sell wares to other players. (also applies to Player Space Stations)

Org and social content

General Org Features

Player Orgs are being brought in-game and will include the following features:

Parity / synchronization with Spectrum on the web
Advertise and recruit with title, description, icon, founded year, member count and language
Application management with search and filters
At-a-glance information for joined orgs - Announcements, Org information, Events log, Events calendar
One of your maximum six org memberships selected as "Representing" - can be switched but with limitations
Org Tag appended to start of your name from Represented Org
Hostility indicators overhauled - White = Neutral, Party = Blue, Org = Dark Green, Ally = Pale Green, Rivals/Kill List (legal to kill) = Red, Rivals/Kill List (illegal to kill) = Orange - with accessibility options
Orgs can align with a particular Guild
Representing members can increase the Org Alignment through Guild contracts
Increasing Alignment unlocks Loyalty Tiers
Loyalty can be increased through one's personal actions either in favor of the Guild or the Org itself (such as Org Storage deposits)
Increasing Loyalty unlocks more Guild-thematic bonuses (dependent on Alignment thresholds having unlocked those Loyalty Tiers)
Org management tools - member ranks with permissions, notes, rich presence
Org Alliance agreement management, Rival designation and truce requests
Alliance chat and calendar items
Org emblem and color schemes for Clothing, Armor and Ships

Station warfare

Station warfare ties in heavily with Base Raiding and Org gameplay. In Nyx and Pyro, Orgs are able to assault and take control of node locations on Seal Corporation's abandoned Planetary Shield Network. Depositing resources at these locations and holding them earns Seal Tokens. At the end of each week Seal Tokens can be used to bid for access to Planetary Shields. There is limited coverage and not enough to go around. Only top Orgs will gain access to Planetary Shields for the following week. Offers the chance to become de-facto leaders of a system.

Shield Base - On planetary surfaces, provides a low number of Seal Tokens
Shield Station - In planetary orbit, provides a medium number of Seal Tokens
Shield Relay - At Lagrange points, provides a large number of Seal Tokens
Shield Core - The network hub at the edge of the system, provides a very large number of Seal Tokens

Player space stations

Envisioned as the ultimate end goal for Orgs and requiring vast quantities of Resources, Player Space Stations act as a base of operations for system-wide Org activities. Construction of a station begins with building a Supply Bay, which can be done by the Pioneer. Resources are then shuttled to the Supply Bay, which automatically deploys Drones to construct the station itself, at which point the Supply Bay is integrated into it. Stations can be customized and decorated internally and given tints and decals externally. Automated anti-personnel and anti-vehicle defense turrets can be constructed internally as well as blast doors. Interior expansion can be performed at size-tiered bulkheads to create a variety of themed rooms or decorate from empty. Exterior expansion includes minor expansions such as shield generators, turrets and radar, as well as major expansions such as the Cargo Wing and unique expansions such as the Crow's Nest. Further hub modules can be constructed going out from the Station Module Core.

Social tools

A plethora of quality-of-life features for socializing, getting help and group-play. These are intended to bring Star Citizen up to par with MMO peers and include:

Rich presence including Persistent Universe locations, Arena Commander, Spectrum on the web and Last-online
Streamer options to hide rich presence
ATC removed from friends list, shard player list removed
Parity / synchronization with Spectrum on the web
Friends list shared across a player's multiple characters
Friends list notes and favorites
VOIP integrated into friends list
Blocked and Hostile lists
Party statuses including Dead, Downed and Offline
Party ship list with seat breakdown
Party permissions and ready check
Party finder with contract-linking and application management with search and filters
Chatbox customization including custom tabs
Chatbox combat log tab
Chatbox slash commands (DM, Party, Local) and Links (Missions, Locations, Items and Players)
Upgraded FOIP including using it in the Character Creator
In-game version of the Guide System with additional Guide types and a new eligibility and reward framework
Guide Beacons that function like Service Beacons
Upgrades to both beacon types included Guild subsidy, notes and responder Proficiency ratings
Holders of Plantinum Proficiency ratings are placed on a leaderboard
Beacon trust ratings for last five recent beacons

Rights and penalties

Law and security

Lawful Systems (Stanton, Castra, Terra) comprise of a mixture of High, Medium and Low Security areas that are monitored by law enforcement agencies. The higher the security, the faster the emergency response times. Responses to threats are greeted by an escalating force culminating in overwhelming force. This means that a law abiding player coming under attack in a Lawful System can count on support if they are able to hold out for long enough, so long as monitoring is available. Unlawful players can bring down monitoring in Comm Array Sectors by disabling Comm Arrays. Dynamic missions are generated to bring them back online. With the exception of security responses, this gameplay was already implemented in Alpha 2.0.

Death of a Spaceman

The term "Death of a Spaceman" was coined early in Star Citizen's development for the envisioned penalties and mercies that may take effect when a player dies, tying into progression and immersion under the philosophy that loss should matter. "Death of a Spaceship" applies this same design philosophy to the loss or destruction of Ships. Features of these systems include:

Sustaining permanent injuries that carry across through Regeneration.
Regeneration via Hospital Imprints requires paying for Medical Insurance.
When certain criteria are met, a player character can no longer continue to regenerate.
Your new character inherits an amount of the old character's Reputation and forfeits an amount of UEC as Inheritance Tax.

Death of a Spaceship

A Shuttle ship can be used to return to a lost but intact Ship. This is free to claim and automatically returns upon arrival.
Ship Insurance alone only pays out in UEC based on wear and age, while Insurance + Warranty replaces the ship.
Ships purchased on the Pledge store include the advertised Insurance and a permanent Warranty.
Warranties for ships acquired in-game are rare rewards, for instance given for completing the Main Story.
Warranties are transferable between ships, requiring a cooldown
Ship claim timers proportional to the time to craft the ship.
Ship claim availability based on the size of the ship.

Ship insurance / warranty levels

Level 1 - Chassis
Level 2 - Chassis & Component
Level 3 - Chassis, Component & Decorations

Ownership

Ownership is robust system for items, vehicles, and more, including the ability to transfer ownership both legally and illegally
Ships can be marked as stolen (such as by initiating an insurance claim), which activates a Dead man switch. After a period of time the ship will cease to function
Stolen ships must evade customs scanning, which is present at Stable Jump Points
Players that have a high Reputation with The Council can pay to disable the Dead Man Switch and activate a new Title deed to become the ship's new owner
Alternatively the ship can be Salvaged or Towed for later use

Ships

The following anticipated ships & vehicles were listed in the 1.0 presentation at CitizenCon 2954:
Ranger, Galaxy, Apollo, Perseus, Ironclad, Kraken, Merchantman, Pioneer, Centurion, Legionnaire, Liberator, Vulcan, Idris, Javelin, Guardian
While the following were absent:
UTV, G12, Odyssey, Nautilus, Endeavor, Crucible, Genesis Starliner, Railen, Arrastra, Orion

For flight-ready ships, the Scythe was absent, but that's not actually obtainable in-game so would not fit the panel's message of closed game loops
The CSV was also missing, but the reveal may not have been originally planned until IAE The F7A Hornet Mk I was also cited as being earnable ingame

AI Blades

A new vehicle component enabling to autonomous operation of various aspects of vehicles, such as turrets. On 27th October 2024, Rich Tyrer confirmed on Spectrum that AI Blades are part of the 1.0 plan, primarily to support solo players. These require additional power to run and can be upgraded through tiers like other items and components. AI Blades are not intended to be as good as player crew. NPC Crew on the other hand will "most likely" be a post 1.0 plan.

Open world content

Dynamically generated solo and group mission content as well as server-wide events serve not only progression through guild reputation but also ones that are tailored to endgame play

Utility tunnels

Utility Tunnels are a new location archetype that brings sandbox content to Landing Zones, such as the Municipal Works under ArcCorp - which is accessible from multiple places in Area18. Some access points are freely available while others are unlocked through mission progression. The Municipal Works features areas like maintenance, filtration and the sewer network. These areas are built similarly to the Contested zones in Pyro. They are areas to perform local missions including exploration, repair and pest control. Provides access to The Depths.

Building interiors

Gameplay-focused layouts to fill interiors of the various buildings in landing zones and other points of interest. These are being designed with advanced traversal in mind and will likely tie into Starchitect as they are being built modularly for procedural generation. A number of gameplay styles and professions are being taken into account with their design as well as player-owned habitation. High-rise buildings are split into sections with a variety of gameplay areas:

Rooftops - Landing pads, Access points
Maintenance - Technical rooms, Power rooms
Residential - Apartments, Social spaces
Commercial - Offices, Restaurants, Shops, Manufacturing
Lobby - Receptions, Communal areas, Shops, Access points
Underground - Subway, Sewers, Maintenance tunnels, Inter-building access

Apex Fauna and the Fauna Matrix

The Apex Valakkar megafauna hunt was pitched as being the first of several boss encounters that requires a group using a range of Ships, Ground vehicles, Weapons and tactics to fight. The rewards for defeating it include Harvestables obtainable with a Tractor beam and nodes that can be extracted using hand Mining. Creatures will come in a wide range of sizes up to the 300m Apex Valakkar and in variations according to planet and biome. Creatures can act in cooperation with NPCs, such as guard Kopion. A "Fauna Matrix" was shared depicting the creature roster for 1.0 of 74 creatures. These include:

Valakkar, Jungle Valakkar and Cave Valakkar
Kopion (implemented as of Alpha 3.23)
Marok (implemented as of Alpha 3.23)
Quasi Grazer (due in Alpha 4.0)
Tokyai
Pyro Crab
Xiphopod
Boreal Stalker

Instanced content

Implementing new technology that allows both existing and new content to be instanced for more crafted group gameplay and experiences.

FPS Operations

Descend into the underground parts of Distribution Centers (previously called "Raids") or The Depths of the Municipal Works in small tight-knit squads. The Depths extend beneath utility tunnels such as the Municipal Works and are linear areas with a sense of progression through multiple instanced levels of curated content. They allow for tailored missions including combat, exploration and puzzle gameplay.

Fleet battles

High-level contracts from government agencies that offer prototype and Military Blueprints as rewards. These missions require the full coordination of multiple players and an assorted fleet of Capital, Support and Fighter ships. The fleet Admiral can direct the armada from their holoGlobe.

Armor specialization

StarWear allows Clothing and Armor to be mixed and matched for players and NPCs, with some restrictions remaining such as the Undersuit & Helmet requirement to survive in a vacuum. Specializations are a series of attributes assigned to each piece of armor and clothing. They are not utterly role-restrictive classes and do not lock off other content. Obtaining specialized gear can be locked behind Guild or Faction Reputation or Exploration. These are the specializations demonstrated at CitizenCon 2954:

Leader - Clothing focused build for a high degree of location-access, weapon concealment and full mobility on foot and in flight
Pilot - Flight Suit focused build with the ship status MFDs cast to the HUD
Driver - Racing optimized build that features the best g-force resistance
Tracker - Scanning optimized build intended for Bounty hunting and creature hunting
Tank - Heavy armor focused build that can withstand a lot of damage and is resistant to force-reactions
Sniper - Stealth optimized build that cannot be detected on active scans

Miscellaneous features

Reputation v2 - ties in with Factions, Guilds, Beacons and more, with an overhauled mobiGlas app
Planetary Shields - already summarized within Base Building, this feature will also apply to developer-made content
Improved NPC social behaviors that reflect the tone and flavor of the areas they inhabit

Not part of 1.0

Confirmed

Fishing
NPC Crew ("most likely")
Star system discovery
Endeavor

Unconfirmed

Luxury transit
Reliant Mako functionality
Salvage drones
Modding
Private servers
Asteroid Base ownership
Loans
NPC permadeath
"Agent Smithing"

Outstanding questions

What is the end-goal for Shard population caps and will you be region-locked?
What level of player-density will be supported at locations and will there be mechanics to mitigate performance loss?
With the Death Race mission-type limited to Arena Commander, does this mean that Scramble Races will not return?
Can hull-sections be Crafted as part of Repair gameplay?
In 1.0, is Maelstrom used for more than ground structure geometry? i.e. Ship hulls
Has the Science career been reworked into the various Professions under the umbrella of the Academy of Science Guild?
Does StarAudio's systemic speed of sound create sonic booms?
Can character-bound Blueprints can be inherited, and if so how?
Are Unstable Jump Points part of 1.0?
While the Galaxy base building module has been re-confirmed, is this slated to arrive by 1.0?
What are the implications of being a member of two Orgs that become Rivals with one another?
How limited are players not acting as part of an Org in engaging with Base Building, Station Warfare and / or Player Space Stations?
As the Ship list did not specify Ship Variants, which variants are part of 1.0? - i.e. potentially Kraken but not Kraken Privateer
Are the future planned elements of Starchitect part of 1.0? - Integration of story, logical exploration, narrative development and data control
The only landing zone listed for the Terra system is Prime. Are the system's other landing zones post-1.0 content?
The Shuttle Ship appears to indicate that timetabled interplanetary / interstellar public transit will not be present in 1.0, is this the case?
The reveal of Sherman featured vocals in the Xi'an language. The Tokyai as seen on the Fauna Matrix is native to the Xi'an Empire. These, combined with the popular hypothesis that a Xi'an corpse was seen in the Squadron 42 gameplay demo raise the question - are the Xi'an are part of the 1.0 feature-set?
Do old plans regarding Squadron 42 integration still hold true, such as it being a means of earning Citizenship?
Are paint tints and decals strictly an Org feature or can they be used otherwise?
Will all existing Ships reach "Gold Standard" in time for 1.0?
Are Ship-to-Ship docking and Legionnaire boarding planned for 1.0?
What will stop players from exploiting the Guild subsidy of Guide Beacons?
Will some or all pledge perks be available alongside the release of 1.0? i.e. Star Citizen Soundtrack
NPCs were shown as able to have allied Kopion. Will this be possible for players too?