Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) still seems a bit ambitious.

Last year, CIG talked about Squadron 42, the star-studded single-player spin-off, and there was a surprising amount of emphasis on first-person shooting and even physics-based puzzles, which were essentially taken to a new level by Half-Life 2. Since then, CIG seems to have taken the FPS aspect of spaceflight simulation to heart, as in the latest Inside Star Citizen video, gameplay programmer Pascal Greim talks about how improvements could bring FPS combat up to today’s AAA level.

One of these improvements will be the ability to reload from a backpack. You’ll be able to put a few rounds of ammo on your spacesuit, but when you run out, you’ll get a longer reload animation while your character searches for the clip in your backpack. According to systems designer Zac Preece, the idea is to keep you in the fight without having to search through inventory menus. (If this reloading system becomes mandatory, a lot of people will be annoyed…)

This new feature will be coming to Star Citizen with the Alpha 2.32 update and will include procedural recoil on all weapons. Why does a laser rifle have recoil? Greim says it’s needed to balance the game and make it fun for everyone. More zooming options are coming with the 2.32 update, and there will be a dynamic crosshair, so it won’t point to where you’re aiming when you reload your weapon, but you can turn that off. Weapon wear and tear will be added to Star Citizen in the future.

There’s a lot of focus on shooting in CIG, whereas Star Citizen is more about starships. If there’s going to be shooting, it’s understandable that there’s some focus on that, but the studio shouldn’t overdo it. Just one question: when will the game be released? Will we still be alive when the studio gets there?

Source: PCGamer