Lord of Rigel News

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!

Ticket #2098- Content- Electron Flux special weapon
Content- Updated sound effects for meson cannon, particle cannon, and KEW
Flavor text for planet resources
Memory optimization for weapon effects
AI- Optimized AI build queue priority system
AI- Fix for cases of autobuild constructing incorrect structures

Fix for maximum population display in tooltip
Balance- Multiple population increase in billions on same turn (note- existing games may require one or two turns for population calculations to adjust to new demographic statistics)
Turn rounding fix for very large industry and RPs
Balance- Telepathy bonus reduced to +5
Critical- Telepathic diplomacy bonus in tooltip displays and breakdowns (no longer a hidden variable)- Applies to new games
AI- Additional warp amplifier and terraforming construction filter fix for rare cases of AI building them in invalid siutations

Ticket #2097- Content- New planetary resources
Balance- Trade treaty and research treaty maximum values not lower than 1 in economic collapse
QOL- Camera edge pan speed in tactical adjusts with camera distance like hotkeys
Fix for cases where autobuild would attempt to create terraformers and warp amplifiers if they were present
Fix for case where build menu autobuild button wouldn't execute until second click
Fix for rare case of dead factions sending spy warnings
Fix for rare case where canceling fleet order did not refresh UI on turn
Fix for case where research and construction turns were off by one turn for some systems
Balance/AI- Higher priority for mid-tech tier flat bonus buildings (Autolab, Subterranean Farms, etc.)
AI- Empty build queues with autobuild will prioritize a new building if available on next turn
Balance- Trade and research treaties use linear growth curves over treaty establishment time
Optimization to large fleet (64+ ship) select all/select none button
Fix for rare case of fleet max fuel range being incorrect
UI- Population in "millions" instead of thousands, each population unit represents one billion
UI- Trade and Research Treaty name consistency pass

Greetings Lords of Rigel! For the first update of this year we have some stability and community reported issues fixed and a number of requested balance and quality of life improvements.

The main one is the new simple map mode that also displays natural navigation hazards (Black Holes, Nebulae, and Neutron Stars). Some players had accessibility issues with contrast from the stars, so this mode colorizes stars by faction and provides a clear marker of navigation hazards.

Some UI quality of life improvements also include the diplomacy menu remaining open when finishing an audience during a turn. Additionally a new option in settings (on by default) dismisses viewed event ticker items automatically.


Image 1. New Simple Map Mode

Balance wise abstentions are more common in early to mid game galactic council votes. This reduces the chance of final war triggering in the mid game.

AI has also been adjusted for colony focus for no farming, lithovore, and mechanoid species. If a research focus is selected fewer will be assigned to industry.

Finally, trade and research treaties will automatically renegotiate once they reach the maximum value for their stage and should expand (and contract) better as economies change one a treaty has developed.

Again your save files are helpful for narrowing down any encountered issues please send them to [email protected] while some issues may seem obvious they could be tied to your specific play style or custom species. Having the save with an issue makes it quicker to narrow down and resolve.

What's next? Additional community reported issues will be looked at, but the focus will be on council decrees which will add significant bonuses or penalties if enacted to your economy depending on your rank but also offset the doomsday clock.