Star Citizen is going spelunking

Star Citizen alpha 3.7 is getting away from the vast expanse of space and letting players delve into the caves hidden beneath its worlds' surfaces. 

The underground update introduces cave systems that you can explore and mine on foot. Who knows if Star Citizen will ever be finished, but at least you can now earn a living manually extract minerals from rocks. You'll need to scan the planets and moons with your ship first, though, and then pop down with your mining tools and get rich. 

If you find some minerals, or other harvestable resources, you can now pop them in your personal inventory to be sold later. As well as rocks, you can harvest plants and delicious alien tomatoes. 

Aside from mining, alpha 3.7 also introduces mission sharing, so you can share both objectives and rewards with other players. Character customisation has been expanded, too, so you can give yourself a makeover before meeting up with your pals. 

If you're desperate for a new ship and can't wait for your mining profits, you can also start renting. Select shops will let you slap down some in-game cash for a set number of days. You should be able to control them better with the new proximity assist feature, too. 

Finally, the Star Marine and Arena Commander modes have been given a bit of attention. There's a new Star Marine map, where you'll need to take back a terraforming facility from a cult, and in Arena Commander you'll be able to fight off swarms of pirates. 

Star Citizen alpha 3.7 is out now.