Star Marine is the name of Star Citizen's FPS module, dev talks zero-g combat

The FPS module of Star Citizen has been named Star Marine and the developer has detailed its plans for the space-sim's latest component.

Star Citizen developers have revealed Star Marine, the game's first-person-shooter module.

The lengthy post goes over the number of development disciplines that are working on the component, as well as technical aspects like animation, art, environment, movement in zero-g and more.

One interesting part of the update describes a sci-fi sport of sorts called SATA Ball. The game is played in a zero-g arena where two teams spawn at opposite ends. A ball is spawned in the centre and both teams must race towards it to control it. The players can only move using their limbs, as well as a grappling hook.

Shooting will play a small role, but it won't be the focus of this mode. Players can only disbale their opponents for a short period of time after shooting them.

"Since the days of Wing Commander, I’ve dreamed of integrating a first person shooter with a space sim. It’s such an exciting idea: you might land your fighter on a carrier and then race into battle to repel alien boarders… or you might put down on a seedy border world and fight off pirates eager to steal your cargo," said Cloud Imperium founder Chris Roberts.

"That's why we kicked off Star Citizen as a 'First Person Universe' right from the start, and it's why we picked an FPS engine to build on. Star Citizen isn't like my previous games: you aren't directly 'playing' a ship... you're controlling a character who is flying a ship. You've had first person action against fighters in Arena Commander, you've explored your hangar... you've even drawn your pistol in combat to take shots at other players and their ships!"

A number of teams within developer Cloud Imperium are working on the update in different ways. When it's released, it will be in alpha stage, but will feature "animation fidelity and attention to detail that you wouldn't normally expect in an 'alpha' gameplay module."