Greetings Citizens,

Please note: this update applies only to backers living in the European Union. If you are elsewhere in the world, there are no store changes to announce.

Starting February 1st, 2015, Cloud Imperium Games will be launching a European publishing arm based in the United Kingdom, Roberts Space Industries International, Ltd. While Squadron 42 is being developed in Europe, the publishing side of the operation has always been located in the United States. The good news stemming from this change is that we will now be closer to our many European customers (and able to establish community and customer service operations in dedicated areas) and will be able to ride out some of the exchange rate fluctuations troubling multinational sales operations.

The downside of this organizational change is that starting on February 1st, we will be required to charge VAT on all purchases (including digital goods) made through the Roberts Space Industries International website, similar to how we must charge sales tax on items sold in Texas and California. And as you may have read in the press, as of 2015 every seller has to charge the rate applicable in the country of the purchaser. This means that in the coming days, the effective rate for European backers will go up depending on the VAT rate of their home country. We know that European backers are familiar with VAT, and likely have already encountered these charges on goods purchased elsewhere online. We wish there were an alternative to charging the tax, but also believe that it is in our best interest to expand Star Citizen’s footprint to a part of the world that has proven to be truly passionate about space games!

We are informing you today, with two weeks before the switch on Feb 1, in case you have been waiting to purchase a ship or package at the current rates. By popular request, we will make a selection of limited edition and wave two ships available again during the week of January 26, in case there’s a past favorite you missed out on and would like to pick up before the international publishing switches over to RSI. Please check this space on the 26th for a list of available ships.

Star Citizen Patch V1.0.1

Additions:

Weapons:
**Added fuel system to missiles
**Added IR signal to missiles so they can appear on radar

User Interface:
**Added UI and HUD overlays to display location of missiles that have been fired
**Added radar icons to differentiate between friendly and enemy missiles
**Added community request to allow ship roll to be bound to mouse input
**Buggy has been added to the holotable UI
**Added community request for invert option for analogue zoom

Art:
**Added new skins for the Greycat Buggy

Balance/Tweaks:

Ships:
**Avenger mass increased
**Avenger maneuvering thruster values adjusted
**Avenger center of mass adjusted
**Adjusted Cutlass thruster rotation speed
**Vanduul Glaive speed increased
**Corrected the amount of splash damage absorbed by shields

Weapons:
**Increased size and duration of chaff
**Increased amount of countermeasures per pod
**Flare lighting effect can now be seen further away
**Reduced missile ability to maintain its target
**Increased missile damage due to improvements made to shields
**Reduced acceleration of Rattler missile to extend fuel life

User Interface:
**Renamed “Controls” to say “Control Options”
**”Join” has been removed from the lobby UI since the “Launch” button has replaced its function
**When searching for a match, cancel and join will no longer display for players that are not the host
**Host can no longer cancel a search when a match is found

Other tweaks:
**Tweaked information that is reported to the leaderboards for changes in damage dealt and taken
**Updated some character animations for passing out and recovering from g-forces
**AI pilots will sometimes use a break away maneuver after using a flare to deflect a missile

Fixes:

Ships:
**The 350r is now able to mount missiles on its wings again
**Fixed a few issues where running towards the Avenger and using a door would result in an offset animation
**Avenger nose mount will now only accept the avenger Tigerstreik
**Fixed an issue where the Avenger’s Tigerstreik would continue to play weapons fire sounds when it runs out of ammunition
**Fixed an issue where the Avenger could only take damage from some directions
**Fixed some situations where the Avenger would deploy its landing gear while dogfighting
**Fixed an issue where Aurora LN would load in without a radar sphere
** Characters flying an Aurora LN and LX now show g-force animations while flying
**Mustang turret weapons are now bound to the correct weapons group
**Mustang Delta rockets will now explode when hitting 300 series ships
**Mustangs will no longer give the ‘forced error’ message when destroyed
**Hornet ladders will now have footstep audio when entering and exiting ship
**Hornets have had their missing missile rack returned to them
**Fixed an issue where the Hornet would fire its weapons through its nose at extreme angles
**Fixed an issue where the Hornet computer would say “Chaff offline” when activating chaff
**Fixed an issue that allowed for a Gladius to be flow in free flight
**Fixed an issue with Cutlass landing gear not deploying when near landing pad
**Characters flying a Cutlass will now show g-force animations while flying
**Fixed multiple objects in the base Freelancer variant that could not be used

Weapons:
**Fixed an issue where flares would only spawn client side
**Missiles will now detonate when they reach a flare
**Fixed an issue where rattler engine flare would drop out at large distances
**Fixed an issue where rattler missiles would not separate into their second stage in multiplayer
**Missile icons in the HUD now properly reflect the type of lock them missile uses
**Fixed a UI issue where changing power management tabs would show incorrect shield information if custom shield values were in use
**Fixed some of the issues that would cause a ‘forced error’ when killing opponents with missiles or ballistic weapons
Fixed an issue where the Tigerstriek would continue to play weapons fire sounds when it runs out of ammunition

User Interface:
**Blank chat messages can no longer be sent while dogfighting
**Closing chat while dogfighting now clears text from the entry field
**Holotable item stacks will no longer move position in the item list when they are used
**Entering a lobby will no longer request all the information from an accounts contact list at the same time
**Toggling gimbal lock and virtual joystick no longer resets virtual center of the screen
**Added a space between ‘New’ and ‘Horizon’ for the Old Vanderval race map
**Fixed an issue where changing the game mode in a lobby would reset a players ship choice

Gameplay:
**Fixed an issue where self-destructing would count as a final kill
**Fixed players being unable to connect to Vanduul Swarm Coop

Other fixes:

**Fixed an issue where getting inside the buggy would sometimes teleport characters outside of the hangar
**Fixed the attachment point for the characters hair
**Second story Self Land hangar bay doors now have audio when opened and closed
**Fixed an issue where the camera would snap to a scene of stars when sitting in pilot chairs or ship beds
**Fixed some flickering asteroids

Known Issues:

**Avenger maneuvering effects are green
**350r will sometimes spawn with damaged components
**Swashbucklers do not recoil when fired
**Paint objects in the Holotable are placeholder
**Missiles have a small portion of the ship targeting UI on them after being launched
**Character will sometimes spawn with the helmet on backwards
**Characters will sometimes spawn with red ‘replaceme’ spheres on them