Update #97 rolls out on a Monday afternoon with another one of the most hotly requested improvements since the game's launch in August. We've been hammering our way down the priority list and will continue to do so as we work to rolling out bigger story and feature bursts of the roadmap.
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Double the Speed!
For veteran players looking to cover more space faster, the new travel speed doubles your rate of flying across the quadrant map. This new option took a while to complete, as a lot of optimization was required to keep the game and the underlying simulator running smoothly as turns tick past. While this option does allow you to play roughly twice as fast as before, it is probably not the best choice for new players or perhaps even in the early game for veteran players. As you move more quickly, the same number of events will be flashing by in the event screen, and it is easier to miss the need to reroute to a nearby system or change your plans as an accident on board leaves crew or ship components maimed. As it's an option -- the choice is yours.
Conflict Notifications
The start and end of galactic conflicts and treaties will now appear in your event log as you travel, land or complete any activity that passes time. These new notifications can give improved visibility into the state of politics or a reminder of a new opportunity of which you should take advantage, or a vulnerable Contact that you need to protect. Hovering over the end of a Conflict notification includes the final score.
High Challenge Enemy Captains
The enemy ship and captain builder has gained 3 new advanced AI types -- a Pirate that flies the Palace Interceptor, a Military Officer that flies the Cautela Titan and a Bounty Hunter who hunts in a Sword Battlecruiser. These advanced AI are flying deadly ships but appear in high difficulties and we have tuned their appearance on the time-based difficulty curve to line up with when players should be ready to face them. Veteran captains -- beware the factions who hunt you!
We've also fixed a pile of bugs in ship and crew combat, improved logging of use of the Doctor Life Saver's Talent and implemented the Flashbacks Trait. Flashbacks is especially bad -- the 25% Stun basically knocks the character out of crew combat viability immediately. If you have a character who suffers from this debilitating Trait, seek out a Gestalt Technologist who can use Gestalt trait conditioning to remove it.
v2.3.47 - 8/27/2018
- Added option for faster movement/animation speed during map travel
- Added Event Log notifications for start and end of Conflicts, improved Spice Hall News entries on Conflicts
- Added new Captain's Log entries for Doctor's Lifesaver Talent
- Added new Pirate AI that flies 'Palace Interceptor'
- Added new Military AI that flies 'Cautela Titan'
- Added new Bounty Hunter AI that flies 'Sword Battlecruiser'
- Fixed issues where both ships use Twitch Surge not giving chance to advance twice
- Fixed issues with Crew HP not being saved after specific crew combat situations
- Fixed issue with Turn 2 displaying as Turn 3 in crew combat
- Updated "Flashbacks" Crew Trait to always cause 25% Stun during crew combat (visit a Gestalt to cure)
- Fixed issues with some stories creating indie contacts or indie contacts offering rank/edict/permit
- Fixed issues with price displays in table for Shortage, Surplus and Tax Rumors
- Fixed crashes in new game with deleting maps