Hi everybody, we're happy to announce that we just released the next major content update for Heroes of Science and Fiction! The main focus is on the new Psyker skill and the PSY combat abilities it brings, but there are also new maps, events and the usual round of improvements and bugfixes.
In the meantime, most of the team has been already working on the next big expansion, which will bring Tumori Tribes (working title: Hive Mind) as the 5th playable faction and the next campaign/storyline, so this is not even the biggest update this fall!
Psyker Skill and PSY Abilities
A new skill with 13 combat abilities for your commanders, all about manipulating your and your opponent's units in different ways. This also includes faculties at academies at all bases.
New day night cycle rules
These bring more variety to what happens on the map and some come with active events at the start of the cycle!
- Eclipse - night during the whole cycle
- Cerebral clarity - more XP from battles
- Each faction gets their own festival with a few different bonuses
- Dead rising - some neutral armies respawn
- Rain of resources: some of the treasures on the map get replenished. Can only happen once per map.
- Workers strike: everybody loses ownership of some of their resource-generating buildings. Can only happen once per map.
- Resource collectors - these creatures are hungry for resources and will appear around some of the mines
New interactive objects
- Escape module - contains various treasures
- Traveling merchant - if you catch him, you'll be able to trade for the best prices
- Mysterious wanderer - if you catch him, you'll get to improve one of your attributes
Content, features and improvements
- New skirmish maps: Blue Border & Sudden Death
- Map generator with more variety, configuration options and various improvements
- 5 new loading tips
- Increased size of tooltips and some panels in large UI mode, fixed a couple of layout issues on the Steam Deck
- Added info about remaining force field HP to force fields status effect tooltip in unit info card
- Implemented a custom effect for cloned units in unit order panel
- Added hint about "unequipping items by right clicking" to item tooltips
- Enemy commanders on the minimap are now better highlighted
- [EDITOR] New environment assets and brushes for Orbit
- [EDITOR] When running a playtest from map editor, there is now a way to go straight back to the map editor with a button it the top left corner of the screen
- [EDITOR] Re-enabled neutral faction as an option for level-based random units in editor
Fixes
- Fixed orbit not uncovered when starting a playtest from map editor
- Fixed army tooltips not taking into account modified army counts when showing exact or iron-mole army sizes
- Fixed stack can be healed over max HP when attacking with AOE on multiple stacks with walking rations
- Fixed consumables highlight effect rendered under roads and cliffs
- Fixed random units could sometimes choose fewer units than slots and end up with 0 unit count
- Fixed base UI erroring out after putting a unit into the gateway 'send to outpost' slot, closing the base and opening it again
- Fixed units from a defeated army showing that some have been saved by the renewed spirit skill
- Fixed custom unit hire buttons at UNSS bases sometimes not available when they should be thanks to Radiant discount
- Fixed tutorial text animation breaking with very high frame rates
- Fixed map completion not saved to player profile for scenarios that you win from a map event
- Fixed typing w-h-a-c-k in main menu wasn't much fun
- A few fixes in different campaign levels
- Fixed a few typos
Last but not least, thanks to everybody who helped us test the build before release and special thanks to the community translators! If you'd like to join the community, we'll be happy to have you on our Discord server:
