Star Citizen Volumetric Clouds

Star Citizen gets a 25-minute tech demo video for StarEngine


Cloud Imperium has shared a 25-minute tech demo video for Star Citizen, showcasing the key features of StarEngine. This is a must-watch for all PC graphics fans out there, so be sure to watch it if you are one of them.

At first, I wasn’t planning to write an article about it. You see, this is an improved version of the video we shared earlier this month. So, in a way, we’ve already shared it. Since the last few days have been really slow regarding gaming news, though, I’ve decided to finally share it.

Now if you’ve already seen the previous video, you can skip this one. There are some slight differences and improvements, which is why I’m sharing it. It’s also of a higher quality than the previous one. Still, it doesn’t show anything new. And no, the tech demo does not showcase the upcoming Ray Tracing effects.

In Star Citizen, the devs are using a 64-bit engine that lets you smoothly go from space to the ground without any loading screens. This means you won’t have those annoying loading screens like in Starfield. The game will also feature physically-based atmospheres with multiple light scattering. Not only that but you can expect planet surface generation on the client and server at different levels of detail. StarEngine in Star Citizen also promises to be good at streaming. As such, both Star Citizen and Squadron 42 will have huge outdoor and interior areas. Cloud Imperium also said that there will be real-time transit systems in the city districts.

StarEngine in Star Citizen has even more awesome stuff too. One of them is its stunning volumetric clouds that are like the ones in Microsoft Flight Simulator. And get this – the water in the game will react in real time. There’s also a system where things can break in a way that’s just like real life. It sounds interesting, right? I wonder, though, how much stuff you can break. Can you only smash a few specific things? And what about playing around with smaller objects – like, can you move or shoot them?

Finally, for those wondering, there is still no ETA on when Star Citizen will come out. There is also no ETA on when its Early Access version will get support for Ray Tracing. According to reports, its next version will finally allow you to use the Vulkan API. So yeah, that’s at least something.

Enjoy and stay tuned for more!

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