Greetings Lords of Rigel!
We’re entering into Early Access 2. Over the coming weeks the last two playable species the Tulocks and Synth will be added to the game. The Tulocks can live in nearly any environment and do not have food production. The Tulocks are also repulsive, and don’t engage in diplomacy the same way as other species. The Synth are a mechanical species and consume industry instead of food. They also begin as exiles from their home galaxy with a larger starting fleet but needing to colonize a new homeworld. The Synth have major research bonuses and also the creative trait that means they receive all technological applications at once.
Gigantic galaxies (512 stars) will also be available.
We’ll also be adding in diplomatic victories with the galactic council. The council convenes when 2/3rds of habitable planets in a galaxy are settled and votes are determined by population. The faction with 2/3rds majority of votes becomes leader of the council and the Lord of Rigel. You can choose to defy the council and begin the Final War where a war of extermination begins against those that do not accept the ruling of the council.
Some EA2 features being unlocked later will include the Rigelans and Arcturans, the elder races, and the doomsday clock which is a measure of galactic tension which can boil over to the Final War. Certain actions will increase or decrease the doomsday clock and bring the galaxy back from the brink of a second great war.
The focus of EA2 will be on AI optimization and tactical combat. We’ll be adding in behaviors for the autocombat AI that you can select in tactical as well as a chase camera. Some new forms of space terrain other than the existing nebulas may also be added. Also in the works are some additional ground unit models for militia.
Since November we’ve done numerous bug fixes to reported issues along with under-the-hood reworking the end turn sequence, orbital bombardment, ground combat, ship designer, and the core economy. But what quality of life improvements happened over EA1 based on your feedback?
EA1 Quality of Life Features:
• Ship info tooltip
• Auto designed ship indicator
• Autofire toggle in tactical
• Tactical automode using player set formations instead of AI personality
• Tactical combat event log
• Load/Save Build Queues
• Post combat report
• Retreat option in fleet combat menu instead of AI personality based retreat or manual retreat in tactical
• Build queue access in empire menu without loading colony view
• Auto ship design generation in ship designer
• Visual clarity adjustments to fuel and sensor indicators
• Auto-exploring fleet indicator
• Cycling occupied systems or planets in system or colony view
• Build queue constructable building filters
• Planets menu filters
• Empire menu filters
• AI personality type and description tooltip in diplomacy and info screen.
• Weapon range indication in ship designer
• Sharpness graphics setting
• Gamma correction setting
• Hotkey default binding adjustments
• Simple mouse input
• Going to colony view automatically on new colonization
• Shift add for buildings/weapons for multiple items
• Volumetric cloud effects for planet view
• New starfield shader
• New bomb effects
• Offramps in tutorial and more open tutorial goals
As for our future roadmap the core of EA3 will include:
• Custom Species
• Research Victory
• Grand Menaces
• Legendary Galaxies (1024 stars)
Our deep dive this week is on the Tulocks, one of the two new species playable in EA2 and you may recognize them from the game banner! The Tulocks are a silicon based species able to handle hostile environments and do not require food production. Their form of communication is also quite different and so they have limited diplomacy options and tend to be isolationists. The Tulocks that you engage with and see in the game are a mobile polyp form, with their adults becoming sessile and entering a dream-like state. Design wise we wanted them to have a rock like appearance but also a bit like a tunnelling worm with a maw that could easily melt through stone.
With Tulock ship design we wanted it to reflect their large size, a vibe that felt connected to rocks, minerals and dirt as seen with their color scheme and almost rock like profiles, and their ships also being more vertically oriented than most sci-fi designs.
Image 1. Tulock Concept Art
Image 2. Tulock Destroyer
Image 3. A Tulock SoldierLet us know what further changes you would like to see or if you have encountered any technical issues. Please post on the forums, reach out to us via Discord or send an email:
[email protected] Saved games and clear steps to reproduce the bug are critical. It helps us more quickly track down the bug and get it fixed. Additional information on bug reporting tips can be found here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/437440/discussions/.
As always, we appreciate the feedback, conversations, and support from all of you!
Image 1. The Synth homeworld being attacked by their tyrannical creators
Image 2. Synth Concept Art
Image 3. Synth Diplomat
Image 4. Synth fleet with chase cam on in tactical in editor with AI debug displays