STANTON

[icycalm]

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... gomjs/onyx



Star Citizen's NEW Secret Lab...
https://youtu.be/Ptes1UUvNck



That's a 15-min video and I only watched the first couple mins to get a sense of the architecture and atmosphere. Feel free to watch more or less, or nothing, as you prefer.

August's mission is shaping up to have Dead Space/Control/Half-life vibes and feedback from PTU is uniformly positive. We could even be playing it next Saturday, or Saturday after at the latest.

Word on the street has it that—gasp!—the Emperor himself will gear up in his heavy battlesuit and check out these facilities with a retinue of his Sardaukar, and perhaps also an Elite Sardaukar or two if anyone can manage to procure the required gear [ > ]. If you don't have any of these suits, I have one to lend, and anyone beyond that can gear up as Medic.


P.S. I named the thread "Onyx Facilities" until we have the mission's name.

[icycalm]

CIG has gone a new direction with their communication of this event. Because people were complaining that Inside Star Citizen was spoiling all the events, they basically didn't cover this one in the latest ISC [ > ] beyond a few seconds' worth of trailer at the end, which is fantastic. Couple with the fact we no longer look at guides at least for our first attempt (if you look at them I don't want you playing with us) it means we're going in pretty much blind starting from this event.

That said, I did glean some general info from Reddit/Twitter that's worth sharing: It is a huge multilevel underground facility with fantastic production values in which you can land a ship and apparently even "live there" while taking multiple new contracts offered exclusively in the facility. They have nearly a hundred of these facilities dotted around Stanton's moons, and they'll be expanding them in the next patch in September with a new wing and more enemies/puzzles. I had the sources for all this saved to post but I am posting from my phone and it's a bitch to make complex posts so you'll have to take my word for it.

It's basically an FPS event so our tactics in terms of vehicles will be simple. Either we go in a large ship and land in the hangar, or we land a ways out and drive there to ensure we have a ship to leave with. Only use purple paints as it's an Emperor mission and wear your XenoThreat gear if you have it (and make sure it's indeed XT by checking the name of every armor piece). Weapons and everything else same as Inquisitor, unless you have a heavy XT armor in which case same as Master Chief. I have a medium XT set to lend to whoever might need it, and beyond that you can gear up as Medic if you don't have XT gear.



I'd like to take the Headhunters Carrack there as it's an expedition vehicle that suits this expedition well I think. I have the paint but not the Carrack. Does anyone have both, and is playing tomorrow? If so you'll be our pilot. If not, do we have 34.4M aUEC so I can buy one? Let me know.

For ground vehicles bring whatever purple cars you can find (inc. ideally a purple Medivac) and I should have a matching Headhunters C8R (also pictured) to land in the hangar.

I am beyond excited for this. It sounds like an expanded version of the Contested Zones but more geared towards PVE, yet still with some PVP potential, i.e. the exact opposite setup. It's like an entire new videogame dropped inside our videogame! And I heard you like videogames.

[icycalm]

Apparently the Onyx facilities are so big they have an armistice zone. I saw it in the testing chat. Yet more evidence that you can sort of "live" down there.

[icycalm]

Official Page: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/c ... -Territory



Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCJlD2M ... XVyolQO3wj

An underground complex. Immoral experiments. Feral creatures. The truth is not found easily. Venture deep into ASD's forsaken Onyx facilities to uncover its hidden secrets.

Cheers for still making this happen during the weekend!

These Onyx facilities are one of the best things to happen to this game.

Star Citizen becoming a horror game was NOT on my 2025 bingo card. Why do I suddenly love the comfort of my hangars and habs?

Man, I thought this was a Destiny 2 dlc trailer with a Hunter for a sec. This looks so good, bravo CIG.

Maybe we are getting to see our first Vanduul with the last wing they open?

Who the frak opened a warp portal ? who though it was a good idea ?
More importantly, where is my purity seal ?

(seriously, it's incredible :D )

Purity seal is a 40k reference.

The Onyx facilities make me really hope at some point we get horror versions of derelict ships. I'd love to be doing a salvage run and it turns into a scene from Alien.

All that's missing is the pulse of a handheld motion sensor as something gets closer, and closer, and "It's right on top of us!"

Looks awesome! Nice touch with the Vanduul Blade.

He means the derelict Blade ship, not an actual blade.



Release Notes: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/c ... -Alpha-430



Spectrum Thread: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spec ... -territory



Onyx Facilities FAQ: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spec ... lities-faq

[ysignal]

Dark Territory #1 with ysignal and ExiledOne Part 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04d5kZUyB6k



Dark Territory #1 with ysignal and ExiledOne Part 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kA48M386SiY



Instead of launching on Thursday, the patch ended up going live late on Saturday, and only Exiled and I were online by then, so only the two of us ended up visiting the Onyx facilities. We took a Cutter out to look for a personnel file we needed for a mission. The entrance has a fully-usable hangar and an armistice zone with a medical station. You can't regenerate there, but you might be able to use it to treat injuries. We searched for the file in the Research wing of the facility, which is filled with ASD troops and entry points for reinforcements. When we reached the very bottom floor, we were attacked by a wave of around ten mutant kopions. These waves kept coming as we continued to search for the file, seriously draining our ammo supplies. In the end, we were taken out by a group of three players in heavy gear, and we didn't find the personnel file. We found some terminals that seemed related to the mutant kopions, but we didn't get a chance to use them, and there's a whole other Engineering wing that we didn't explore, so there's plenty left to explore down there.

If you want to get the new VOLT Zenith sniper rifle, you can find it in a hidden room a few floors from the bottom of the Research wing. We also kept finding pieces of the Geist armor set in loot boxes, if you're interested in those.

[icycalm]

Not much to say for our second attempt in terms of different tactics from the first. The first one ended up being a scout mission due to the late patch so the second will be the real attempt. ysignal and Exiled brought back some blueprint images and the thing is huge.



The good news is this time we have the Carrack I just bought with people's help [ > ], and it will be loaded with a C8R and Ursa Medivac, both mine and everything in imperial purple. Beyond that, I urge people to buy Zeus ESes if you have a purple paint for it (Headhunters Trauma or Lovestruck, not Purple Haze), and there may be a heavy Elite Sardaukar armor for you from shubn if you do. Look for more details in the #citizen-chat channel and update us there if you make a purchase or need aUEC to make the purchase.

For those who do buy a Zeus ES and want to take a ground vehicle along, the biggest that will fit is a Cyclone, no Ursas. Try a Cyclone MT, but the paint must be the Lovestruck one. You can get them on the grey market. If the MT doesn't fit because of the turret, you can try the TR, same paint. Though these vehicles won't be useful in the facility, so you don't have to bring them at all if you don't feel like it. I am just sayin' in case anyone happens to have the Cyclone Lovestruck paint and wants to use it.


P.S. Bring lots of ammo!

[icycalm]

Dark Territory #2 with shubn and The Cult
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5PyW2r2GYI



Dark Territory #2 with ysignal and The Cult
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-7VXmugDmg



For our first real attempt at the Onyx Facilities we had 6 players/7 characters on with ysignal as Captain, shubn as Master Chief and the rest Inquisitors plus Adjudicator's clone as Medic. It was the coolest tactical play we've ever done, partly because we've been getting more and more comfortable with everyone playing their ranks, but also because of the extensive dungeon-like layout of the facility which forced us to play infantry for 6+ hours with no stopping so that we had plenty of time to get used to things, as opposed to most other on-foot locations currently in the verse which can be cleared in half an hour tops. These facilities really are a game-changer and feel like a Half-Life level has been plugged into the game, as people have been saying. They've also been saying it feels like Dead Space but I haven't played those so I don't know.

In terms of progression, I think we cleared 5-6 missions, or something like that. No idea how many they are, and apparently you are supposed to piece together a plot.

However, there are several issues. First, the facilities aren't complete. They have three wings—Engineering, Research and Science—but only two of them were done in time for the August update, so the Science one that according to CIG holds the deepest secrets will be added in September.

Also, there was supposed to be only one facility but with instancing enabled like the landing zone hangars so that once you entered a wing with your friends no one else could bother you, and the PVE Bobs would get their wish to be left alone. That's why the lobby has armistice, so the various groups wouldn't clash while moving between wings. But this tech wasn't ready in time, so instead they copy-pasted a hundred or so facilities all over Stanton's moons, and they made it so that each time you complete a mission you have to fly out of the current facility and into a new one to tackle the next mission. Needless to say players hate all this, in terms of immersion, but I have to admit that in terms of play it didn't really bother me, moment to moment.

So we know that September's update will bring the final wing online, but we haven't heard if the instancing will be ready yet, in which case all but one of the facilities will be removed. I think the official lore one is in Arial which is a Hurston moon, and that would bring Onyx under Adjudicator's jurisdiction, which would be quite a treat for him. But because we haven't heard anything on this front, I will assume the instancing has been indefinitely delayed, so we won't be waiting for it to complete the mission.

We will be waiting for the Science wing though, and once that's added later this month and CIG has confirmed that the entire subplot is available, we'll play a big Saturday session to kick off our attempts, and then people will be able to log in throughout the rest of the month at various times to complete it. There's no rush though because it's not a timed event, so people can take months for completion if they want.

In terms of tactics there's not much to say because it's not an open environment like much of the verse where you have limitless approaches and vehicles to use and you can theorycraft all day. It's just a dungeon, very cool dungeon to be sure, but pretty much the only variable you control is how many people you bring. And I have to say, with 6 people it was easy. I think 3 would suffice, 2 would be a decent challenge, and solo it is doable but tricky (good training challenge if you want FPS training!) So I don't see the need for 4+ unless you just want to play with all your buddies, which is understandable. If we have like 7-8 people on, then the player in command can choose whether to go as a group or split in two and spread out across facilities (or instances). Either is fine with me, whatever the players feel like doing on a given day. And of course the difficulty tuning can change between updates, so keep that in mind.

It was really cool how Pedro Camacho wrote music specifically for this location that kicks in even while you're flying towards it, and I will be posting later pro-level screenshots that show off the coolest parts of the facility. Eventually we'll post the pro guide that has also been published and the plot points once we figure them out, but note that looking up guide and plot are considered cheating before then, so please don't look them up.


P.S. There's a way to make respawns work in the hangar, but I wasn't the one to figure it out. I think we did manage to get it to work. Someone else can chime in with that info if they want and let us know if it's worth the trouble and what vehicle(s) work best.

[icycalm]

I remembered how we figured respawning out. You need to leave a character in the hangar with the medical vehicle so that the hangar doesn't despawn. Can be a clone, and it was Adjudicator's clone that we used. So, since Adjudicator is the only one of us currently multiboxing, we need him for respawning. I suppose a player could also wait but it'd be boring.

I wonder if keeping the hangar occupied prevents other players from arriving? But I remember the roof staying open, so maybe it's the opposite: maybe it invites players to crash your hangar?

There may also be a second hangar in the facility if I remember correctly.

Anyway, this is why clones and multiboxing can be so useful. Imagine if each of us was multiboxing: we'd have half a dozen extra characters to be placed strategically for excellent support logistics. One day.

[icycalm]

https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/co ... nt/ndpfg4f

The medical beds in an Onyx Facility don't support respawn, and I believe they say so if you try and register your imprint there.

Additionally, you usually can't respawn at a vehicle in the hangar at a facility, because it gets streamed out.

What I have done in the past is parked my Carrack with a hangar just outside the facility, then flown into it with my Pisces. If I died, then I respawn in the Carrack and flew back into the hangar (grabbing my Pisces, flying it and my Carrack out, and repeat).

Genius. This is what we're doing next time with my Carrack that we blew our entire bank on.

[icycalm]

Official Page: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/c ... es-Descent



HUGE TRAILER SPOILERS WARNING! I WISH I HADN'T WATCHED IT! You can always just watch it after we play. It's a shame because they did a good job steering clear of spoilers last month, but this month they blew it. I am sure they'll dial it in eventually. It's up to you if you wanna watch this one right now. I had to because it's my job. Either way it's a fantastic trailer so make sure you watch it at some point.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq7XEWa ... XVyolQO3wj

The pull of the Onyx facilities' deepest hidden secrets can't be ignored. Site B is open and Dr Jorrit's most twisted experiments are waiting to be unearthed. Are you ready to face the darkness again?

1:12 There is something magical in Pedro's score here. Love the synths, the piano, the cello.

One of the best trailers you have ever made to date CIG. Bravo.

>"virtue" as part of the name
>MGS sounding ringtone

Yeah somebody's been playing Delta recently.

I really love the story tie-in to these patches with the features and gameplay changes/refreshers. the cinematics teams that does these is really flexing at this point, from the initial upbeat feature and role introduction, to the eerie and ominous continuation of the ASD storyline. I really think that we need like monthly 20 min videos of different stories from the game going forward. It would be a great way to introduce people to the lore of the game as well as showcase the engine and game mechanics.

This guy gets it. He's basically asking for the cinematics equivalent of all the novels, comics etc. that Paizo publishes for Pathfinder.

Guy dedicated to medical, in the dedicated medical ship. Uses the ship to taxi himself around and hit people with pens. Nice one CIG.

It's hilarious. He got 615 upvotes and 21 replies.

Oh man first a new Fat Bird video now this. I feel spoiled today lol.

We'll be talking about Fat Bird soon.

"we don't want to spoil in ISC or SCL..." so we can spoil in the freakin' patch trailer :(

Yep. But, they just started these monthly "campaign" updates and they're clearly experimenting with the format. Give them some time and they'll nail it just like they nail everything.

I was actually laughing out loud on the first half... and genuinely tense and uneasy on the second. Good stuff!

CIG should make animated movies instead of games, it's actually pretty impressive.

whynotboth.gif

They sort of did a set up for what could be an actual series several years back, called The Reunion. Shame they never did more with it (perhaps post-SQ42?)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPJA54sWAec

Wow Star Citizen is really heating up this year. From Contested Zones/Executive Hangars to Hathor to Storm Breaker and now these ASD spots. It's truly been amazing so far.

Release Notes: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/en/c ... -Alpha-431



Spectrum Thread: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spec ... -s-descent



Onyx Facilities FAQ: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spec ... lities-faq

[icycalm]

ASD Science Wing Entrance
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm ... j3sYx69WI8


Stunning 8600x3600 screenshot by Irmdall

Site B is open and we're going in tomorrow with an Asgard piloted by ysignal as Master Chief and an Apollo Medivac piloted by shubn as Medic. I'll be riding with shubn as Captain, and everyone else will be piling into the Asgard (which may or may not be carrying an Ursa Medivac, depending on how ysignal feels about it). Both Adjudicator and shubn will be bringing clones, so it should be quite a group. I expect at least one or two more players on top of the above.

Not much to say. Bring lots of ammo and medpens. This is the big one. We might pick up right where we left off last time, or we might play the whole thing from the beginning. It depends on how quickly we get going, and whether there's any player who didn't participate last time so he can give us the first mission again.

I heard that the first part is 6 or 7 missions, which is about how many I think we did last time, and the new part is just 1 mission. So the new part might just take an hour or so, so maybe we should redo the whole thing for a total runtime of maybe 5-6 hours?

We'll see. If we end up with extra time on our hands, we can just do something else for a while. I'd really like to secure some mechs. We have none.

[icycalm]

Dark Territory #3 with shubn and The Cult
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2574655551

Dark Territory #3 with ysignal and The Cult
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2574366846

Dark Territory #3 with recoil and The Cult
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQv6AlUg0x8



This was the longest session we've played in years: 13.5 hours on shubn's stream (slightly less on ysignal's because he started streaming a bit later and "only" 8 hours on recoil's because he joined later) and they passed in a flash. I was totally amazed that I didn't have to go pee, and people played until they were exhausted. No one wanted to stop. It is the most engaging Star Citizen content yet, certainly on the FPS side. And we didn't even really manage to engage much with September's Site-B content, we just wrapped up August's Research and Engineering Wing missions, and only the last hour at most was spent in Site-B. And btw I was wrong when I said in the last debrief that we had played "5-6 missions" last time [ > ]. It was more like 2-3 missions last time, and the remainder 3-4 missions this time, plus one foray I think it was in the final mission on Site-B that's new to this patch. I was dead for most of the last hour and fell behind the team on the Site-B assault, and Rory and Adjudicator dropped out at that point, so only shubn, ysignal and recoil played that part, so I'll let shubn talk about what happened there in a follow-up post (Exiled might have been with them too, I am not sure if he dropped out earlier).

The new thing that happened is that we finally encountered the puzzles that required a mix of searching and mining/repair and lever-pulling. It was all quite new to the game and well done. I think there are some puzzles in isolated investigation missions elsewhere in the verse, but probably nothing on this scale. Not to mention having to stick things into slots in zero-g while being blasted with radiation waves and being shot at from Inception-style inverted enemies. And this isn't even Squadron 42, it's just a location and mission they whipped up in a few months! I remember a couple years ago there was a programmer minigame coming out on Steam that had a horror vibe and took place at an abandoned lunar facility and I was thinking they should just make stuff like this and stick it into SC a few times a year, and here we are! They did it even though I never got my advice to them just because it makes so much sense!

In terms of tactics, the new heavy medic armor plus the new Apollo medical ship and MedGel mechanics [ > ] inspired us to go all-out on the Cult Medic, and shubn did great at the role, running back and forth across our entire squad for the duration of the session and keeping everyone healed without us having to think too much about it and wasting medpens. And with 7 players/9 characters, it was a large squad, thanks mainly to all the regulars showing up because it was a much-anticipated mission, plus shubn multiboxing for the first time so that his clone was added to Adjudicator's. I am investigating ways I can join the multiboxing club too, and I hope ysignal will eventually find a way to get back into it (he sold the second PC he had been using). If all 4 of us manage to multibox, that's an entire second fireteam available! So many possibilities with that, including running an always-on-standby Cyberpunk-style Trauma Team!



Even better than 4 Medics for our purposes would be perhaps 2 Medics plus a Technician (for refueling, repairing and rearming) and a Hazmat specialist.

Speaking of which, I am preparing a Hazmat Spec because the reason I kept dying near the end of this session was the radiation blasts in the middle of the parkour section (and yes, there are parkour sections: nothing like Mirror's Edge, don't get your hopes up, but still a nice little addition to the game). Basically the further you get in the Onyx mission chain, the more radiation there is, and I suspect there will be tons near the end of Site-B, so next time we're ALL going in full hazmat gear to make sure everyone can make it to the end. If we'd been checking the strategy guides people have been posting we would have known this and gone prepared, but it's more fun discovering everything this way. We figured out all the puzzles on our own too, and I am proud about that.

So I am preparing a final assault on the Onyx facilities, but not this weekend because many of us are wrecked. We're playing the weekend after, and just in time to wrap up this mission chain for the new developments to be revealed the weekend after at CitCon. Everything points to Vanduul regen experiments via Pyro specimen smuggling culminating in Nyx, and it's terrifically exciting! Don't worry if you can't make our next session though, the game keeps your progress saved and I am sure you'll find people to help you finish the missions later in October or November. We'll be going back to loot in the future anyway (helped by the detailed guides I'll have posted by then), so whoever wants to finish the missions will be able to.

[shubn]

After icy dropped, Exiled, ysignal and I continued on through the Engineering Wing and to the power core for another puzzle involving pulling levers to establish a connection to retrieve some kind of data while fighting enemies in zero-g and inverted gravity. recoil had died a bit earlier and the Apollo's T1 bed was out of juice so he rejoined us all the way from Ruin Station. Shortly after we managed to figure out the puzzle, a few players arrived and killed recoil and myself, and Exiled and ysignal managed to escape. I'd mentioned that it felt like we were almost complete with the mission, but that was a confusion on my part. We never made it to Site-B, which probably means we were halfway through the mission at best.

Technically we did go through Site-B during an earlier mission, I think because we wanted to see where a hole at the end of the Research Wing was leading to. The others went through it first while I was stashing some loot in the Apollo, and I then went through it alone trying to catch up with the group, picking up one of the new Fresnel LMGs on the way for icy and one for myself.

[icycalm]

Site-B: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm ... ZSkB2j1JNF



This is the big one, boys. We're sending a Cult Hazmat Team to clear out Site-B and figure out what ASD and Dr. Jorrit have been up to with that Vanduul ship. A previous team has done the legwork up to that point, and we only have the very last mission to finish.

I think with the knowledge from the last session and the hazmat suits, plus at least twice as many players as recommended, we shouldn't have too much trouble clearing out the last mission, so I don't see another marathon session for us. Maybe 3-4 hours including prep? Five hours max. That's how I see it.

There's nothing new to say, tactically. Same tactics as last time but this time without having to worry about radiation (or at least that's how I think the suits work, could be wrong).

It would be cool if at least a few of us finished the entire mission chain so that we'll be all caught up with the plot and able to fully appreciate the developments that will be unveiled at CitCon on the 11th.

[Discord BOT]

CULT|icycalm
@CULT|shubn For Saturday I advise you to outfit your main as Medic flying the Apollo and your alt as Hazmat. Then I come as second Medic and ride in your Apollo. We won't use the Apollo as dropship again. It will be just our 2 Medics for a fully-crewed Apollo. And yours will stay with the ship to keep the hangar open while I join the squad. So your Medic will be using your main account but your laptop while your main rig will be running the Hazmat alt. Let me know if this works for you. In any case I think we're the only ones with the 2951 knife anyway.
Everyone else should arrive in Hazard C1s. Who has a C1?
Looks like I have one I can give to someone.
We should also be able to buy at least one for someone, it's only 3.1M.
Ideally it would be someone with the Hazard bundle to apply the paint easily.
2-3 C1s should do it.

CULT|Adjudicator
CULTCLONE-2 has a Crusader C1 and the Hazard paint for it as well.

CULT|icycalm
I especially like the idea that the alt staying with the Apollo will be geared as Medic instead of generic Inquisitor. It's fantastic to see a Medic on call every time you return to the Apollo in addition to the Medic with the squad.

CULT|Adjudicator
I also obtained the heavy medic armour for my main and CULTCLONE-2. I was originally intending to fly to the ASD facility in a Terrapin Medic with both the main and Clone 2 dressed as the standard Medic kit.

CULT|icycalm
Did you also grab the red knife from the 2951 CitCon pack?
It should be only about $20 from Star Hangar.

CULT|Adjudicator
I also checked my accounts and note that I have one CitizenCon 2951 pack with the red knife.
It was only for my main account - he got that from buying an Original Concept LTI Terrapin Medic for CULTCLONE-2 from Starcitizen_trades reddit.

CULT|icycalm
Okay so you can equip one Medic. But not on Saturday. The Apollo is enough. Bring 2 Hazmat crew.
2 Hazmat crew flying in your Hazard C1.

CULT|Adjudicator
Understood. Will re-kit main and CULTCLONE-2 as Hazmat standard.

CULT|shubn
Sounds good.

CULT|icycalm
Love the Terrapin Medic. We'll use it some other time when we aren't bringing the Apollo. With a smaller squad.

CULT|Adjudicator
Keep in mind that Hazmat/Heavy Utility armour like the Pembroke do not give as much damage reduction (25%) compared to the Inquisitor Medium Armour (30%) or combat heavy Armor (40%), so there is a tradeoff between better withstanding the radiation and environment versus incoming enemy fire.

CULT|icycalm
Good to know. I didn't know this. But we have way more people than the mission requires anyway, so it's not an issue on this outing.

CULT|shubn
I also have a C1. I guess I'll fly it using my clone?

CULT|icycalm
Yep sounds good. That's 3 C1s which should suffice.

CULT|shubn
When you say my main should be geared up as Medic, do you mean Hazmat Medic or regular?

CULT|icycalm
Hazmat, everyone will be Hazmat.