Greetings Citizens,
We are excited to announce that the first concept model of the Xi’An Khartu-al scout is now available !
As part of the development process, our artists first create a ‘concept model’ to show how a ship will work before beginning work on the finished game-ready mesh. That’s what you’re seeing today: the concept model for the scout that lets us see how its unusual thruster configurations, cockpit, landing gear and more will function!
Here’s the original description of the Scout from the Stretch Goal that added it. The goal is to build alien ships that fly totally differently than those you already know; something that Star Citizen’s robust physics simulation allows us to do!
The Khartu is the light attack craft of the Xi’An military. Contrary to Human ship design, the Khartu doesn’t have a traditional main thruster, instead featuring an array of maneuvering thrusters on articulated rigs. This design allows for incredible agility, making them the bane of UEEpilots, who bestowed the nickname ‘Quark’ because when all of the thrusters are firing, the ship looks like a spark flying through space. The Xi’an Aopoa corporation also manufactures an export model, the Khartu-al, for sale to human civilians as a dedicated scout/explorer. The export model features the same Xi’an maneuvering rig, but control surfaces modified for human use and a more limited armament.
We’ve also found some rough footage from a UEE reconnaissance drone, available below; this is a pre-viz of how the Khartu should function in-game!
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