Star Citizen Gets Huge UI Overhaul in Alpha 3.18 With Card System

During the latest episode of the Inside Star Citizen video series, Cloud Imperium Games showcased a number of new ships coming to the game, but on top of that, the developer teased a huge step forward in the UI design by introducing the brand new UI Card System.

The UI Card System is actually the holographic AR system that will bring 3D real-time UI to Star Citizen not only at your ships but everywhere in the verse. So, when you are getting closer to a restricted area in the middle of nowhere, you will spot a holographic circle appearing around the area that is not supposed to trespass. The same goes for doors, elevators, any other types of entries.

Hopefully, there is even more about this new UI system. As the Inside Star Citizen video teases, the UI Card System will add new 3D holographic terminals to the game, making the actions such as buying or selling stuff much easier and user-friendly. So, instead of looking at the monitor in terminals, you will step into a terminal to activate a big circle around you, which shows off all the details you need to know when buying something new for yourself or your ship.

It still remains unknown whether the UI Card System will be replacing the current monitor-based terminals in the future or not, but we will receive more new information about this huge upgrade as we get closer to the launch of Alpha 3.18.

In addition to the UI Card System, Cloud Imperium Games also plans to implement some improvements to the ship UI, adding more information screens to the real-time UI that allow you to track multiple parameters of your ship including the free cargo storage and more.

Currently, there is no official release window for Alpha 3.18, but regarding the fact that Alpha 3.17.2 was launched later last month, you shouldn’t expect the next build to arrive anytime soon. Probably the final months of 2022 could be a target for CIG to launch the next update with all the new improvements as well as the new ships.