Westwood is ramping up the public test of Earth & Beyon, over the next few months. Thousands of new testers will be selected in this month, and anyone wishing to participate in the public test can sign up online at www.earthandbeyond.com.

The patch includes:

Improvements to the grouping and formation systems, including the addition of the basic functionality of a guild system
Improvements to the in-game monsters, including damage effects, combat attributes, and behavior patterns
Upgraded interiors in several star bases
Improved chat interface, allowing players to more easily initiate a chat channel and to also find friends in-game
Upgraded skill system, including new skills, improvements to existing skills, and new visual effects
Enhancements to existing sectors, including new sounds and art
Improvements to the in-game music, including the addition of new music in space and inside starbases
New animations for many avatars, and improvements to existing avatar movements
More options during character creation
An upgraded and expanded star map, so players can more easily find their way around the game universe
Improvements and bug fixes to many random and scripted missions
Improvements and bug fixes in the warp system
Upgraded vendor terminals, allowing players to more easily buy, sell and compare goods
An updated look and functionality of the manufacturing and vault terminals

Current testers will be automatically updated with the new patch the next time they log onto the game.

In Earth & Beyond, players become the captain their own starships and live star-spanning adventures as they explore, trade and fight with thousands of others. Testers will be part of the creation process and will see the universe take shape around them as the developers add more sectors, planets, missions, quests, monsters, characters, features, evolving plot lines and more.