This update took slightly longer than initially planned, but more work was done too.
Demo 4 is as usual, an alpha test round to hunt bugs and test new features.
It will be available for the duration of the week-end.
Revised starting options
Starting...
- Spacecraft + the possibility to toggle as private property / allocated asset
- Wingmen (fleet)
- Cash (or debt)
- Influence in the organization
- Rank in the organization
- Allocated points are now computed differently and condition the possibility to get Steam achievements (although there are no achievements yet!)
Revised ship modules + designer + new modules
(Modules are weapons, cargo storage, thrusters, etc...)
- Characteristics are bound by modifiers rather than manual raw values. Variants for all sizes are generated as well.
- Every single module in the game has been balanced and granted new rules and characteristics.
- Added multiple modules and removed some.
Revised ship editor (dev/modder only)
- More robust and complete ship designer
- Preliminary work for an in-game ship designer available for organizations
Revised influence border
- Overhauled the border and territory rendering (more accurate and faster)
- Better evolution of system control and arbitration of ownership
Tweaked scenario
- Replicants faction extended
- Alpha Centauri is colonized by the SAE
- Something lurks in deep space...
Improved generation
General improvement to generating minor organizations.
Organization AI: Military
- Better theatre creation and allocation logic
- Much better fleet AI decision-making
- Improved police, operatives, and explorer AI and allocation
Organization AI: Economy
- Shipyard orders, with a simulated local (faction) and global market
- Better simulation of spacecraft demand
- Cargo, miners, and passenger transport target ship counts (AI and player)
- Value-added taxes, which replace profit taxes
Industry
(for outposts, colonies, and stations)
- Simplified how industries are built and capped for space-station-based industries
- Industry retooling: allows switching to a compatible industry type (currently free)
Revised diplomacy & war
- Improved most diplomacy and war logic
- Improved UI with sorting options, tooltips, and additional information
Improved fleet management
- Revised UI with many small features and QoL improvements
- Possibility to edit templates from the fleet screen
- Fleet formation
- Support for parasites
- Formation posture
Smart cursor & improved ship orders
When giving ship orders (tasks)
- Proposes a task given the context: Attack, Join Fleet, Dock/Land, Salvage wreck
- "Alt key" to switch the smart cursor to multiple options (context menu) instead of smart orders
- The player's ship can be given AI orders
- Extended AI order (task) options
- Possibility to queue tasks (hold Shift while giving orders)
- Better UI feedback for orders (barks, tooltips, descriptions, queued travel lines, etc...)