New beta build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:Multiplayer_Alpha_And_Beta#Beta_2.743_Scourge_Growth_Chart
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.
More refinements, and more work on features for the upcoming DLC2. Nothing dramatic in terms of vanilla/DLC1 changes this time... well, except for the scourge balance!
Essentially, the Scourge have a number of mechanisms by which they grow in power. Mostly it is based on things the player does, like rising AIP or capturing science or whatever. It's not meant to be pacing you like rubber-band AI, but it is meant to take the pressure off of you in a time sense. In other words, these are milestones you would hit no matter what, but each player hits them at a different speed. So we made it so that the scourge ramps up on a similar timescale to you, rather than being free to ramp up on its own independent timescale. That way you're not in an all-fired rush, time-wise, which is something we prefer to avoid doing to you even with extra-dangerous secondary factions like the Scourge.
Well... the game balance has shifted a lot over the last year in general, but in particular over the last few months. Players taking more planets is more of a viable strategy now than ever, and more people do it. The Scourge balance levers were last tuned prior to some of these changes, and as a result it wound up starting very weak, and then growing too strong depending on how many planets and similar you took. Thanks to ArnaudB for looking into this and making changes, the Scourge now starts a bit stronger but then also grows in a way that is more natural-feeling in the current game meta. This keeps them strong and interesting, but not the late-game extermination force they were before on high intensities.
Several other bugfixes and balance tweaks, but other than DLC2 work things are happily calm!