In this week’s Star Citizen Week in Review, Salty Mike discusses the winding down of the 4.2.1 PTU cycle, the reveal of the RSI Meteor ship—a heavily armed Mantis variant—and ongoing anti-cheat measures that have sparked mixed reactions. He also highlights technical updates like the integration of Planet Tech Vulcan V5, while urging the community to share feedback on the game’s development progress and challenges.
In this week’s Star Citizen Week in Review for July 14th, 2025, Salty Mike covers the winding down of the 4.2.1 PTU cycle, the reveal of the highly anticipated RSI Meteor ship, and the game’s ongoing battle against cheating and exploits. He begins by discussing recent patch updates, including minor fixes to escort missions, missile lock system tweaks, and the introduction and subsequent removal of ladder tier 2 due to issues that need further work. The update also improved visibility of escort ship health and tweaked player teleportation rules when trespassing, though some inconsistencies remain. Additionally, the RSI launcher received improvements to streamline the download and verification process.
The highlight of the week was the reveal of the RSI Meteor, a ship heavily promoted by Jared and designed to pack a serious punch with two size five ballistic cannons. The Meteor is essentially a Mantis with heavy fighter-class weaponry and is expected to fly faster than many light fighters, representing a significant power creep. Despite the hype, Salty Mike feels the ship is not particularly groundbreaking beyond being a Mantis with bigger guns and questions the level of excitement it generated. The interior was revamped with a cool feature—a weapon rack that emerges from the floor at the press of a button—though its practical use is debatable.
Salty Mike also addresses the game’s ongoing issues with cheating and exploits. The developers have responded by enabling more aggressive anti-cheat measures that block many third-party tools, which has upset some legitimate users like those using VR or localization tools. While the action is necessary, Salty Mike expresses some disappointment with the lack of transparency and public warnings about specific exploits, especially as the game moves closer to live status. He rates the response as moderate, acknowledging progress but emphasizing the need for faster and clearer communication.
On the technical front, updates from developer Ali Brown shed light on the integration of the latest version of Planet Tech, Vulcan V5, into Star Citizen’s code alongside Squadron 42. Although this new tech aims to address issues like popping when entering or leaving planets, it is still a work in progress and won’t be implemented immediately. The developers plan to test it on a single planet before expanding to more complex environments. Salty Mike notes that while the current planet tech isn’t perfect, it is sufficient for now, and the push for perfection seems driven more by vision than necessity.
In closing, Salty Mike thanks viewers for tuning in despite recording from a less-than-ideal setup and encourages likes, comments, and subscriptions for future week-in-review episodes. He invites the community to share their thoughts on the Meteor reveal, the anti-cheat measures, and the ongoing development progress. Overall, this week’s review balances excitement about new content with a critical eye on the game’s persistent challenges and development pace.