Slowly but surely, bits and pieces of Star Citizen are being made public. The latest is the release of the Star Citizen Arena Commander module. Early backers now have a chance to explore and partake in some dogfighting with their purchased ships.
The build we are releasing today is what we’re calling Version 0.8. You can download it by either updating your existing Hangar through the launcher or by accessing the Star Citizen Download page. V0.8 will give every qualified backer access to the Vanduul Swarm and Freeflight modes and includes the ability to fly the Aurora, 300i and Hornet. If you haven’t pledged for one of these ships, we’ll give you a loaner that is the closest in class to what you fly; we want everyone with Alpha access (or an Arena Commander pass) to get their first taste of spaceflight!

Arena Commander V0.8 also includes multiplayer functionality for the Battle Royale and Team modes. These modes will be available for a small number of players today. As we hunt down lag and synch issues and spin up servers, we will open these modes up to more and more players in the coming weeks.

Remember: V0.8 is just the beginning. It’s the start of a hard push for the development team as we head towards V0.9 and finally V1.0, at which point Arena Commander will be ‘feature complete’ with the modes, maps and options promised at PAX. By the time V1.0 drops, we aim for the entire community to have access to the multiplayer game modes!

Those who have backed and know they should have access to the module can head on over to the Roberts Space Industries download page. They also released a manual (PDF) to help players get started.

Here is what they're already working on to improve for the v0.9 release of the Arena Commander.
- Improved client and multiplayer server stability
- General performance optimizations and fixes for hardware specific issues discovered during community testing
- Audio improvements with additional SFX, music, mix, and improvements to the dynamic music system
- Improvements to the HUD to better differentiate the manufacturers, improve ITTS, and add mouse control functionality
- Additional character animations to add immersion to the cockpit and resolve outstanding animation issues
- Further flight model upgrades to better handle unique thruster power combinations and refine the control of each ship
- Additional ship, weapon, item, and thruster tuning to improve the balance of Arena Commander based on community testing
- New multiplayer game mode for public testing along with AI improvements and updates to Vanduul Swarm.
- Hangar bug fixing along with enhanced visuals and animations.
- Cockpit polish with improved damage effects and more dynamic lighting that responds to gameplay events and ship status.
- Some additional weapons and items for use with Arena Commander.
- Update player breathing sound effects and responses to incoming impulses and g-forces