New beta build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:Multiplayer_Alpha_And_Beta#Beta_2.758_Threat_Explanation
You need to use the current_beta branch on Steam or GOG to play this one. If you have trouble with it, there is a most_recent_stable_beta, now, too.
Badger has gone in and made some tweaks to my sidebar display to make it even more awesome. I am very pleased with his results!
Plasma Guardian's have gotten a nerf from ArnaudB, which I think is a big sigh of relief for everyone, heh.
I fixed a whole lot of random bugs, most of which were relating to accurately and clearly explaining information to the player.
The most notable new thing is that it is now making is super clear when hunter forces aren't threat, and aren't a cause for you to give up in despair. We were having multiple people with situations where the hunter fleet was 600+ strong, and just seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle. But the interface was showing them a far lower number for threat (a quarter or less of that hunter value). This seemed like a display bug (and actually there were some, but the widest view of it was not actually a bug).
So, here's a fun thing that was never clearly shown in the interface of the game before now: sometimes some Hunter units just don't care about you. Instead, they REALLY super hate someone else. These hunter ships are not counted in threat, but when you filter for hunter ships you will shoot them. If you go fly into range with them, they will happily pass the time by murdering you. But they aren't hunting you, they won't come to the aid of some other planet of the AI, they won't do anything other than hunt whoever it is they are after (unlucky dyson sphere? Marauders? It varies.)
This is pretty awesome, because there's this large force out there, and you probably should make a point to go around, but they are no danger normally. The real hunter danger was usually 1/10th the total shown. Now you can see it in game clearly!