Version 1.12 released

This is a pretty boring update with a few low priority fixes, interface improvements and some technical stuff. The only item from the list below that could potentially make you mildly excited is the optional notification when you accumulate enough legislation points to pas a new law. That is unless you play on SteamDeck or have a bad eyesight, in such case you might find this version revolutionary due to the font sizes adjustments. Basically all texts were reviewed on the size criteria and many texts that were very tiny became upgraded to a decent font size.

– [misc] Technical update (newest version of various libraries).

– [interface] Increased font size in several places, especially the very small font was increased significantly, so now everything is readable even on SteamDeck. Basically all tiny texts were enlarged significantly.
– [interface] Fleet details screen improved (displayed average statistics and officers centered).
– [interface] Optional notification when you have enough legislation points to enact a new law. Can be disabled in options.
– [interface] Other small improvements.

– [fix] Incorrect Stability instead of Centralization on Victory/game over screen.
– [fix] ESC key now always closes any open confirmation window (in some rare circumstances the confirmation window stayed open blocking the whole interface).
– [fix] Reforms priority button glitch.

Reminders
You can follow my Steam Developer Page if you wish to be notified each time a new game or expansions is being released.

Also, if you have a moment to leave a Steam review of the game it would be appreciated. It makes a big difference to an indie developer like me. Thanks!

Version 1.11 released

This version is intended to address various points raised in the “What do you find confusing” forum topic. While I tried to explain various concepts, I got a few times an idea how to better implement the thing that was confusing. For example governors’ statistics were adjusted heavily (instead of an unintuitive security rating boost now competence of governors simply adds a bonus to cities output and infrastructure points generation). There are now more descriptive tooltips and extended manual with more details. In addition, several changes were made which were at the border between a feature and a fix (mostly related to aliens). The last thing is an improvement of the interface, mostly aimed at better visibility on high resolutions (bigger fonts and dynamic sized fonts where possible). Overall, there is a bunch of changes but all those are very intuitive.

– [feature] Mechatrons implemented (can activate at an unspecified turn).

– [misc] Updated in-game help (added Rebellion chapter and listed all effects of all statistics of personnel).
– [misc] Arachnians will no longer wake up if their homeworld is lost, they will also instantly hibernate in such case.
– [misc] CyberMarch will become inactive (no more offensive operations) if their capital is lost.
– [misc] Governor’s Competence grants a bonus to cities output and infrastructure points generation. Governor’s Competence no longer affects Security rating of the planet.
– [misc] Fleets Loyalty affects SpecOps during rebellion.

– [balance] Extra defenses for CyberMarch near their capital. Also increased their power.

– [interface] Help improved (back buttons on all pages, bigger default font size).
– [interface] Ministry expansion naming unified (in some tooltips it was called level, in some called expansion and in some extension). Also added a better explanation that it increases effective Competence of the minister.
– [interface] Improved Aliens overview (list peace/war status, bigger fonts, more colors, etc).
– [interface] Bigger font size on Aliens description screen (will auto shrink to a smaller one if does not fit on the screen).
– [interface] Bigger font size on aliens portrait name (will auto shrink to a smaller one if does not fit).
– [interface] Bigger font size on Resources and Astronomy minimap planet highlight.
– [interface] Governor’s tooltip lists all effects of all statistics.

– [fix] Charisma of governors had no effect whatsoever. Now it’s added properly as a source of happiness from government. For clarity, the happiness from government on the happiness tooltip was split into two sources, one for Court and one for Governors.
– [fix] CyberMarch marking all planets as ready for conquest after losing their capital.
– [fix] Incorrect display of research points from blue sun on the Astronomy minimap tooltip.

Version 1.10 released

This version is intended to address the early v1.00 feedback, mostly related to things which are confusing when playing the first time and some minor features. In addition AI was fine-tuned and it contains one fix which altogether will make Admirals and Imperial High Command react to your orders better. There was also reset modernizations button added.

– [feature] Reset modernizations option (on ships screen) to let experiment freely with ships setup.

– [misc] Emergency reinforcements for planets under invasion made a higher priority than conquest/retake lost planet orders.
– [misc] Improved Admirals & High Command AI to better prioritize targets.

– [interface] Made granting honorary titles more intuitive (now all noble born have “Grant honorary title” button, but greyed out if ineligible, also with a tooltip explaining who and why).
– [interface] Rename noble house option (on houses screen).
– [interface] Help supports colored “bold” text.

– [fix] Admirals AI not sending emergency reinforcements to planets under ground invasion.
– [fix] Small spelling fixes.

Reminders
You can follow my Steam Developer Page if you wish to be notified each time a new game or expansions is being released.

Also, if you have a moment to leave a Steam review of the game it would be appreciated. It makes a big difference to an indie developer like me. Thanks!

Version 1.00 released

Finally, the day has come. The final version 1.00 is out! It does not mean the development has ended, but from now on the focus will be different. No more experimental drastic changes and crazy ideas, but more polish, balance adjustments, interface improvements and so on. This version has very few changes compared to the v0.90 since almost no bugs were reported in the meantime.

I would like to thank the early access community, all the people who provided comments, saves, bug reports, etc. It was a pleasure making this game with you all! Thanks!

– [feature] In-game manual (replacing the old encyclopedia).

– [balance] Event with 10’000 administrative points cost adjusted to make it cost less.

– [fix] Rare Absolute Monarchy bug not removing “red” agendas when those triggered the same turn the Absolute Monarchy went into effect.

Compatibility note: All savefiles from Early Access are incompatible with the full release version. Note that all E.A. beta branches will stay for around a month to let you finish any potential game in progress and then those E.A. betas will be deleted. From this point on saves compatibility is considered a high priority and it’s very likely those will never change.

Version 0.90 released

The long, long adventure of Early Access is coming to an end. Unless something drastic happens this will be the last Early Access version. This version focus was on finishing various unfinished parts, redesign of planetary orders, redesign of strategic weapons and command and control redesign. Overall, a lot of smaller but interesting tweaks were introduced.

Early Access is planned to conclude at the beginning of the next month with release of v1.00. This, of course, does not mean the end of the development. It’s more like from now on the priority would be on content, balance and interface improvements rather than addition of major features and experimenting with what would be most fun. Just like with my previous games.

I would also like to take the opportunity to thank all participants of the Early Access adventure. For all the posts, feedback, sending me saves, testing, etc. It was a pleasure!

– [feature] Planetary orders redesign. No more “Conquest” orders, now you just “Claim” the planet and the military will do the rest. With additional prioritization options, withdrawal orders, etc.
– [feature] Strategic weapons redesign (chemical and biological weapons merged into bio-chemical weapons, heavy radiation effect reduced, no need for orbit control to drop bombs now just space forces presence suffices, made strategic weapons cheaper). Overall, those are now less potent but can be used in many more situations.
– [feature] Encyclopedia (basic but functional, contains essential information and beginner tips).
– [feature] New event “Absolute Monarchy” triggered at Centralization 11 which adjusts some game rules (Votes counting procedure, Reasonable political agendas, Fiefs supervision). You will be presented an option to take those or not.

– [remove] Removed context help, instead Encyclopedia is used (hotkey “H”).

– [misc] New effect for Centralization, now it decreases slightly Opinion of noble houses.
– [misc] Authority and Monarchism can never fall below 1 (to avoid negative voting power and other strange side effects).
– [misc] Glorious achievement “Crush rebellion at least once” and “No rebel worlds” replaced with “Never let any rebellion to happen” and “Do not let rebellion to happen more than once” (in order to reward preventing the rebellion in the first place).
– [misc] Final score now also takes Centralization into account (not that anyone actually cares about score).
– [misc] Redesigned Command & Control (max active squadrons). Now houses provide squadrons command directly to their fleets and Border Guard and Strategic Reserves use separate Commands with separate pool of C&C. This makes it a bit more complex but more intuitive and easier to explain.

– [balance] Adjusted honorary titles generation chance to make the higher titles more likely to be generated.
– [balance] AI technological level now have a cap (useful for very long games at high difficulty levels).

– [content] All science perks implemented.
– [content] Added 3 new glorious achievements related to noble houses.
– [content] Additional mid and late game events.

– [interface] Military section of planet screen redesigned.
– [interface] Combat starmap markers redesigned.
– [interface] Improved crew skill tooltip to make it more intuitive.

– [fix] Various small fixes.

Compatibility note: NO CHANGE, this version works with v0.84+ 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).

Version 0.84 released

Finally, the game is feature complete. Every mechanic that was meant to be implemented before v1.00 is there. It does not mean that there won’t be new mechanics in future, but those would be done as regular updates after full release, if needed. Although I would rather resist making completely new mechanics after this point and rather focus on content, balance and possible tweaks of existing mechanics (for example secrets could use a redesign). There is still a bit of content still missing (like science perks) but overall it’s quite similar to what there will be in v1.00.

If everything goes according to plan there will be also v0.90 version and after that the full release somewhere next month.

– [feature] New game dynasty customization (house name, crest and color).
– [feature] All diplomatic stances implemented (some were removed in order to simplify).

– [misc] Experimental feature (needs to be enabled via options): ethnic customization (for now it supports only commoners).

– [balance] Rebalanced technologies levels.
– [balance] Rebel points generation rebalanced (to make rebellion more likely to happen).
– [balance] If rebellion was crushed at least once all future rebellions require double number of rebel points to prepare.
– [balance] Starting at difficulty 6+ additional rebel points are generated per turn, also difficulty affects rebel suppression points.

– [content] Most science perks implemented (all except two).
– [content] Additional technologies (usually two per tier).

– [interface] Assured that ships stats and squadron statistics always fit on the screen (auto resize fonts if needed, etc).
– [interface] Many tiny interface tweaks and improvements.

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).