As the game approaches the end of its Early Access roadmap, especially in terms of major features which will be added, it can now support full C# modding without breaking mod compatibility every version (hopefully).
As such, this version now introduces the full range of mods, letting enthusiastic members of the community contribute their own visions of apocalyptic darkness and Lovecraftian terror. Full C# modding allows them to write code to be run alongside the game's own, and add to nearly every part of the game. Already a number of gods are being play tested, from Uravlv's Living Void, to Wonderblundr's expansion of the Deep Ones, to the demonic Kishi from Doopliss and NPC's Ixthus (apologies if I missed anyone, the discord moves so fast and new gods are introduced so quickly it's hard to keep up).
Alongside this, further opening up of the game allows texture mods, and already on the Steam Workshop Scrdest has put an AI to good use, generating thematically appropriate art replacements for items which Shadows' usual collection of old paintings couldn't cover.
This is a very exciting time, and while this update might potentially be a bit bumpy, as we work out the last few unexpected issues with the modding process (hopefully nothing too major will come up), it will herald a new chapter for the game.
Sadly, the Insect God has been delayed. It will remain on the beta-branch for another version, waiting for some art assets and a bit more work and balancing before it's fully ready. Fear not, it's well on the way, and playable on the Steam beta-branch, if you want to risk more bugs than just the infested fungal monstrosities it introduces.
Holy Orders have also been improved a bit, with the first pass of a set of `Divine' Entities which humanity worships. Their trust in these creatures may or may not be well-placed, as you can occasionally sway them to your sides, if you pay attention to their desires. This feature too will hopefully be expanded in the next update, along with the finishing up of the Insect God. Normally I'd have delayed a bit more, but there were so many great mods in such a good state of completion, it felt rude to tell the modders to wait for me to be done with my bit before they could show their work to the general public.
In detail:
Gameplay:
-Victory is now calculated, in most cases, as percentages of population
-Ophanim's sap life only drains one temple's population, as opposed to all temples
-If you force a hero to retreat when attacking you, the default menace/profile gain is now lower
-The hunger is now a level 2 blood magic
-Heirophants' special abilities now cost 40 complexity, but add 50% of their intrigue to the progress per turn
-Rulers preference towards Deep One now increases or decreases the cult's maturation speed
-Theocracies won't join battles if they risk attacking other theocracies
-Your agents can cure madness in a location, if need be (not madness effects in locations, however)
-Holy Orders now worship minor divine entities, which have an agenda, and will reward/punish you for changing the world to fit their desires
-Sovereigns can now appoint 'national religions' which will force all their kingdom to adopt their Holy Order
-Your corrupted acolytes or agents from nation-state religions can preach to sovereigns to get them to like your Holy Order to a higher degree
-Your agents can 'undermine religion' in an infiltrated temple in a multi-faith nation to reduce the sovereign's liking for the temple's religion
Other:
-Mod loader added, to allow you to enable or disable mods and to re-order them if necessary
-Mods can now change parameter file
-Mods can add cultural naming schemes
-Map view for population added
-Game now checks for resolution issues more aggressively, and should avoid being in the wrong resolution in fullScreen mode, regardless of minimising and system resolution changes mid-game
-Dark tendril graphics now cover more of the face, to be more obvious in dark background situations
-You can now click on a unit's task on the left-hand-side to go to its destination, if it is performing a "go perform challenge" task or a "go to location" task
Bugfixes:
-Holy Orders can't be turned into Dark Empires
-Fixed graphical issue with orc warlords
-You can no longer perform 'unite the hordes' while either horde is at war
-Fixed Iastur's mechanics description
-Ghasts (and other uncontrollable evil units) can no longer be stolen from
-Witches covens can now turn into Deep One sanctums
-Organised dissent now properly ends on the death of the ruler
-Bugfixes to orc expansion behaviour in locations with ancient ruins
-Attempt at reducing the risk of clicks outside of the game causing undesired inputs
-Fixed bug with Iastur power gain not giving the 33% amount gained
-Lay low can no longer cause profile/menace to increase
-Acolytes will no longer consider curses such as Deep One or The Hunger as 'not a Holy Task'
-Typing into the map filter should no longer move or scale the map
-Fixed bug in insanity