Between Starfield, Eve Online, and Star Citizen itself, we’re so overwhelmed by the wonder of space that we forget how terrifying it can be. Vast and unknowable, when traversing the final frontier, a single wrong decision or the slightest miscalibration of your ship’s computer can mean the end. As Star Citizen 4.0 grows nearer, marking the arrival of the new planetary system Pyro, Cloud Imperium is keen to remind us how frightening it is out there in the great black yonder. Jump points, the platform for traveling between systems, demand much more than just a couple of button presses and the right tech. One of the most in-depth space sims ever made is about to get even more brutally real.
So, we already know that Star Citizen 4.0 will introduce Pyro, a new system that exists alongside Stanton as part of the prospective persistent universe. We also know that Pyro will be accessible in the space game using jump points, but the mechanics of these intergalactic highways have been shrouded in mystery – until now. Cloud Imperium shares extensive details on Star Citizen’s new travel options, outlining precisely how jump points work, their demands, their hazards, and who can access them and who cannot. Frankly, as much as I want to go to Pyro, I’m a little afraid to try.
The first thing you should know is that there is already a permanent jump point between Stanton System and Pyro, but it won’t be active until Star Citizen 4.0 is launched in full. In time, other, impermanent jump points will be established in both systems that players will be able to use for limited periods, but even then, you’ll need to meet the requirements.
If you want to go through a jump point, you need a jump drive and a sufficient amount of quantum value. Differently sized ships need differently sized jump drives, and different jump drives need larger or smaller provisions of quantum fuel – put more simply, if you want to jump something big, it’s going to take more resources.
After that, you need to get clearance from air-traffic control. If your crime stat is level three or above, clearance will be denied. Now, jumping from Stanton – which is controlled by the United Empire of Earth – to Pyro, this makes perfect sense. How it will work in return, however, is slightly different.
Pyro is meant to be a bit more Wild West, so you can commit crimes without attracting as much attention as you might on the Stanton side. But if you travel there and then break the law within proximity of the jump point, your level will still increase and you might be denied clearance for a return journey, so watch out.
On a similar note, jump points will spit players out at different navigational intervals – when you come out the other side, there will be a distance between you and other players who used the same jump point. It’s a smart method to stop opportunists from camping the exit and shooting at everyone as soon as they arrive. But even then, safety is far from guaranteed.
You can find jump points on your radar, but even when you have a drive, fuel, and clearance, you have to physically fly into them and traverse them in nav mode. Smaller ships are going to be more affected by turbulence; bigger vessels face the problem of debris and obstacles.
If your jump drive gets sufficiently damaged during transit, one of two things will happen. If you’re lucky, your drive will fail and you’ll be spat out of the jump tunnel in some desolate corner of mid-space, severely damaged and probably a long way from help. If you’re unlucky, you’ll die and return to your nearest respawn.
Not that I ever expected it to be, but this is definitely not a convenient, blithe fast-travel system like you might find in RPGs. Star Citizen 4.0 makes the journey between Pyro and Stanton fraught with peril and heavy with potential consequences. We don’t know precisely when the update will arrive, but it’s slated for some time in 2024.
Until then, you should try some of the other best MMOs, or maybe the best simulation games available on PC.
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