It's an interesting and somewhat painful stage of development. I revise various mechanics and... chop features that were not so great :) It's usually a stage when I realize something can be done much simplier without losing any depth (after the overly complex feature is already implemented :(). So what exactly was done? The whole army tab was slated, several mechanics changed/redone. Introduced a nice budget mechanic (I like it). Also rebalanced economy.
- [removed] Army tab removed, army officers merged with fleet, most of army officers removed
- [removed] Powerplants removed (not worthy of attention of the mighty Emperor :))
- [removed] Forts removed (will be replaced with defensive subsidies in the next version), planetary defensive priorities removed
- [feature] Budget mechanic (finances tab), it allows investing in various areas, also it's a nearly infinite money sink if one so desire :)
- [feature] Electricity mechanic introduced, it reused gas (which no longer is a fuel for ships, but a source of electricity). Planets and cities require electricity, if you have a shortage grasdually worse and worse effects come into play (those are listed on the electricity tooltip). Not all electricity shortage effects work in this version.
- [feature] Political officers added to fleets (in future they will be optional), also generals assigned to fleets.
- [feature] Changed army model to local, no more a global pool for defensive infantry (only stormtroopers have such a pool), it's all more simple and intuitive now.
- [feature] Happiness mechanic adjusted.
- [balance] Adjusted starting planetary infrastructure, starting population, resources production rate, etc. Overall you start with more at the beginning but it becomes harder later.
- [balance] Adjusted food & population growth
- [interface] Reforms renamed to edicts (more logical and intuitive)
- [interface] Better tooltips, some beautifications, etc