Version 0.74 released

This version was a big redesign of the Great Council. I reviewed how it works, disassembled it and basically redid it from scratch using the parts that worked. Now it’s all more clear and logical, plus you can make a speech to alter the voting! Another feature is robots and androids population (build your own citizens). There is also a bunch of very nice interface improvements, the traditional removal of several features that were assessed as too weak and rebalance.

– [feature] The Great Council redesign.
– [feature] Three additional glorious achievements from Centralization.
– [feature] Robots (population type) introduced. Must be enabled via technology “Mechanical Servants”, this population is automatically manufactured depending on number of cities and provide labor only (everything explained in tooltips).
– [feature] Added option to mass order to mark for conquest even unexplored planets of that race.

– [misc] Aristocracy tax now affects opinion of noble houses.
– [misc] Adjusted initial budget points allocation.

– [removed] Ministry actions removed (only one action was implemented and it was not very useful anyway, better is such things are handled via audience events).
– [removed] Removed planetary markers concept (it looked great on paper but I could not find a way to make those work in game, those might be back in future in some other form).
– [removed] Removed unused Intriguer and Easy to Bribe traits.

– [balance] Rebalanced reforms (houses support and popular support grant higher bonus, reforms take longer to finish by default). Which means that now assuring a proper house support before attempting a reform is much more important.
– [balance] Number of glorious achievements required for coronation increased from 12 to 15 (because of additional sources of glorious achievements).
– [balance] Administrative points for audience events rebalanced (overall, on average audience options now require more administrative points).
– [balance] Opinion of houses for audience events rebalanced (on average audience options now affect houses opinion more). This change is intended to better reflect the opinion needed per reputation tier and make it more meaningful.

– [content] New technologies (robots related).

– [interface] Added mass orders tab on diplomacy screen (according to feedback many numerous first time players had trouble finding this option on the planet screen, it should be much easier to find now).
– [interface] Option to rename fleets and ships.
– [interface] Ships quick selector on Ships screen (ships marked as obsolete will be skipped by quick selector).
– [interface] Aliens quick selector on Intelligence screen.
– [interface] Beautified encyclopedia slightly (note: encyclopedia has no content yet).

– [fix] Incorrect population summary.
– [fix] Banquet option window now was not reacting properly to ESC key.

Compatibility note: INCOMPATIBLE, this version will not work with old saves (note that each time a savefile compatibility is broken a new Beta branch with the old version is created so you can always finish your game in progress).

Version 0.73 released

This version focuses on combat mechanic. Some rules were redesigned (like ground combat), some missing mechanics finished and many rebalanced or altered. More like many small changes to many rules than anything groundbreaking. Introduced defensive installations which are somewhat similar to those in the prequel but provide a flat bonus to squadrons rather than a bonus on itself. It has not that much of an effect on a tactical level, but much bigger on a strategic one since it makes defense easier than offense. The last thing was a slight redesigned the ground combat, which now should be more intuitive and work better with other mechanics, which includes merge of the combat reports, now you would be getting just one report per planet and it would include all the information related to combat over that planet (always the highest category is reported, so if planet was lost you would be getting only planet lost report and no more additional combat progress report). Oh yes, there were also some combat balance changes (missiles less effective, since it was needed due to extra missiles provided by defensive installations).

NOTE: Custom options have been reset to default (due to introduction of a new option “Screen Edge Panning”). You need to set them again.

– [feature] Implement several smaller missing combat effects (like officers competence, extra tactical maneuvers chance, etc). Also altered some minor combat mechanic (like jamming).
– [feature] Defensive installations introduced. Those are ground installations which provide extra fighters and missiles to squadrons fighting over the orbit of the planet. Can be destroyed by invading troops. Constructed and reinforced similarly to ground troops (the cap and pace determined by the Army budget).

– [misc] Changed Fortress World mechanic, now it adds more defensive installations, more ground troops and provide faster reinforcements.
– [misc] AI fortress works identical to player Fortress Worlds. Also AI fortress is now always destroyed on planet takeover.
– [misc] Ground combat redesigned. Now there are no ground combat casualties and the planet is taken over when the invader accumulate at least twice ground power than defender (and controls space orbit). Invading troops start to retreat rapidly if the invader lost orbit control.

– [balance] Missiles are less effective (deal less HP, Point Defense is more effective at shooting them down, easier to be jammed, etc).
– [balance] Unguided missiles are now slightly more resistant to Point Defense fire.

– [interface] Added Screen Edge Panning (Disable Edge Scrolling) option in Options Menu.
– [interface] Improved tooltips on planet military to explain invasion mechanic better.
– [interface] Merged space and ground battle reports (also won/lost). Which means that each planet is reported only once (using the most important report, so for example if the planet was won only this will be reported and the space/ground battle report will be omitted).

Compatibility note: NO CHANGE, this version works with v0.70+ savefiles (note that each time a savefile compatibility is broken a new Beta branch with the old version is created so you can always finish your game in progress).