Star Citizen's chilly new world, microTech, is coming in December

Cloud Imperium Games had quite a bit to show off at CitizenCon 2949 over the weekend, including Star Citizen's new game mode, another fancy ship and stealth missions with non-lethal takedown. A new world, microTech, was also introduced, and you can get get a glimpse of it in the keynote demo, the first part of which is above.

Star Citizen's newest planet will be popping into existence next month, letting you freeze your butt off as you explore and attempt missions, including sneaky jobs where you'll have to slink through facilities, knock out guards and try to not set off any alarms. In the demo, the job doesn't go off without a hitch, prompting a quick escape.

The weather's pretty unpleasant on microTech, but it will also be dynamic, with the system procedurally generating blizzards or rain that can impede flight or on-foot exploration. All planets will be affected by the system, but hopefully diligent meteorologists will keep us up to speed on the foul weather.

At the end of the demo, the ship travels through a wormhole and enters a new system, Pyro. So far, Star Citizen has been stuck in a single system, but from next year players will be able to travel to the game's second star.

From the 3.8 update, coming in December, you'll be able to check microTech out, along with new procedural planet tech that will apparently increase the diversity of environments while taking the pressure off artists, and a new streaming system designed to improve performance.

The dynamic weather and New Babbage landing zone seen in the demo, however, won't be added until next year, along with the new Theatre of War mode, second star system and the Anvil Carrack ship.

In the meantime, a free fly event is already underway, once again opening up the game and its full roster of ships to everyone until December 5. Take a look at the free fly schedule to get started.

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.