Greetings Lords of Rigel! For January we have continued fixes for community reported issues and AI improvements tied to autobuild and how the AI prioritizes buildings. Demography has also been reworked so if growth is into the multiple billions it is not capped to an increase of one population unit per turn. Demographic collapse from starvation or plagues will remain capped at a loss of one population unit per turn. Since the new year we've also added in some new content. There's also some memory performance improvements for tactical tied to weapon effects.
New Planetary Resources
New resources for planets include ones that reduce pollution, increase morale, provide a boost to population growth, and a set of ruins that increases the maximum population a planet can have. These can be found in new games.
Image 1. New Resources
New Weapon: Electron Flux
The electron flux is a new early game weapon in the Force Fields branch of the tech tree. It is for extreme close range combat but penetrates shields and armor. Like other beam and special weapons it does gain improvements from different technologies in the game and can be effective in the mid to late game when combined with other systems like tractor beams or cloaking to get into range or keep a target in place.
Image 3. An Electron Flux cannon in action.
Image 3. The Electron Flux is early in the tech tree.
What to Expect Next
More fixes for community reported issues are planned along with further work on council decrees which should provide some changes to how the mid and late game play. Council decrees will be voted on and enact economic sanctions or bonuses based on ranking. Decrees also impact the doomsday clock, buying more time to take positive actions to reduce galactic tension. Expect this later in the winter!