The Star Citizen Week in Review for August 25th, 2025 highlights ongoing issues with the 4.3 patch, underwhelming tech previews, and reveals progress on engineering gameplay features like ship repairs and shield mechanics, alongside delays and community feedback on ships and customization. Despite some positive developments and transparency from developers, significant bugs, balance problems, and gameplay challenges persist, impacting the overall player experience.
In this Star Citizen weekend review for August 25th, 2025, Salty Mike covers recent hotfixes and the ongoing issues with the 4.3 patch. While some bugs like ship refueling were fixed, many problems remain, including broken freight elevators, contested zone glitches, and disappearing mission markers. The overall content of 4.3 is seen as lacking, and the support for playability is criticized as insufficient. A small but notable change in refining materials was highlighted, which could impact future mining updates.
The tech preview for the new Vulcan renderer and AI improvements was underwhelming from a player perspective. Despite expectations, performance gains were minimal, with frequent server errors and AI behavior still problematic, though client crashes were notably absent. The test ended early, indicating that while the studio likely gathered valuable data, the preview did not offer much tangible improvement for players.
Significant information came from a recent ship showdown Q&A, revealing progress on the upcoming engineering gameplay feature. Over half the ships now have physicalized components for in-ship repairs, with single-seat ships using MFDs for repairs instead of EVA work. The Aurora starter ship is undergoing a major overhaul to meet current standards, explaining its removal from starter packages. Changes to shield mechanics will limit active shields to two at a time, introducing strategic depth. Additionally, rearming, repairing, and refueling from capital ship hangars is planned, enhancing multi-crew ship gameplay.
Other updates include the free inclusion of all six modular bays for the Apollo ship due to previous community feedback, and clarifications that some ships like the 600i and Vayner Merchant face delays or are off the 2026 schedule. The team also discussed challenges around ship paint customization due to inconsistent setups and the need for better armor mechanics to prevent players from easily breaking into ships by melee attacks. The review also touched on the ongoing balance between releasing new ships and updating backlog content.
Finally, the video covered community events like the ongoing ship showdown tournament and an additional Idris capital ship sale, which raised concerns about availability and in-game acquisition methods. A dev post discussion on the med gun versus pistol highlighted balance issues, as the med gun currently outperforms other healing tools. Overall, while some progress and transparency from the developers were appreciated, many gameplay and technical issues remain to be addressed for a better Star Citizen experience.