Initially announced to fans as the $33 million crowdfunding goal for Cloud Imperium Games’ ambitious sci-fi space-simulator Star Citizen, the Anvil Aerospace Carrack quickly became one of the most anticipated and beloved ships in the game. It has taken some time for the Anvil Carrack to be developed, with it being added and removed from the roadmap time-and-time again to make room for ships more relevant to gameplay mechanics being deployed.
But, after years of continued interest through concept artwork and the odd preview or dev-video, Alpha 3.8.2 would be the patch the ship was made flyable. Months became weeks and anticipation rose, bringing on what some users on r/starcitizen and other channels termed the “Gibbening”. This resulted in one of the biggest hype trains I have seen in Star Citizen for years. The weeks turned to days and finally… Star Citizen Alpha 3.8.2 went live.
The main addition of Star Citizen Alpha 3.8.2 is the long-awaited availability of the Anvil Carrack. This ship comes in four variants, each being a combination of main ship livery (Standard or limited edition White) and the snub craft included in the ship (standard or exploration). Far from its original purchase price (mine cost me just $350.00 USD), you can now nab yourself a Carrack for between $550.00 USD and $709.00 USD dependant on warbond status and variant of choice.
For a ship so popular, it certainly isn’t cheap. Can’t fathom spending anywhere near that amount of money on a crowdfunded game but do want to see more of the Anvil Carrack? Read my Take That (In-Game) Snap Daily Photo article on the Carrack for an in-depth look.
Other additions to this patch include initial long term persistence which will allow player purchases and UEC earnings to persist between database wipes. It also comes with lighting improvements to the Cutlass Red and many bug and server crash fixes. Full patch notes are located HERE.
In development by Cloud Imperium Games and their studios across North America and Europe, Star Citizen is being helmed by Wing Commander (1990s) creator Chris Roberts. The game has currently been in a long-term alpha phase with no confirmed release date. Despite this, the studio has raised more than $265 million USD through on-going crowdfunding. Please keep in mind should you decide to purchase towards Star Citizen, that this is an incomplete project and that you are pledging towards an extended crowdfunding campaign with no 100% guarantee of a finished product.
