Stars in Shadow News

Come with me if you want to live.

Last month's patch was a big one, and so predictably there were bugs to hunt. Today's patch contains mostly bug fixes, and we also made some balance adjustments to the AI on "Easy" difficulty. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming!

Gameplay Changes and Additions

• AI-controlled factions now have an additional handicap when playing on the "Easy" difficulty level (ships cost additional Labor).
  
• The technology 'Cybernetic Organisms' is now available to all factions. This allows Harmonized population units to be De-Harmonized, and increases Battle Mech strength by +2.
  
• Unescorted transports carrying civilian colonists will now surrender to the enemy if attacked.
  

Fixes

• Eliminating an empire by capturing its last outpost should no longer cause an error.
  
• Fix for a coin rounding issue in the resource request event.
  
• Fix for a bug triggered by battles that included fleeing population transports.
  
• Destroying a colony immediately after creating it should no longer cause an error.
  
• Fixes for several bugs involving invalid starvation warnings.
  
• Fixes for several "likely bug in the attack confirmation logic" warnings.
  
• Fixes for logic errors in the "please do not colonize" requests.
  
• Reverse engineering captured ships should no longer cause errors in the technology queue.
  
• Updated the logic used to determine resource request quantities to better take into account what the player can practically afford.
  
• Destroying a ship while it's being refitted should no longer cause an error.
  
• Transports arriving at an outpost planet should no longer cause an error.
  
• Colonist morale modifiers should now persist when populations are transported between worlds.
  
• Agreeing to embargo an empire you don't have a trade charter with should no longer cause an error.
  

(Click here to view the complete development changelogs, and here to view the development roadmap post.)

The unknown future rolls toward us. I face it, for the first time, with a sense of hope. Because if a machine can learn the value of human life, maybe we can too.

Greetings, interstellar tyrants!

Today's patch has been a long time in the making: it includes extensive changes to the AI and diplomacy system, difficulty level balance, and adds an oft-requested Victory screen, complete with a stat graphs display. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming!


Upon achieving one of the victory conditions (Conquest, Diplomatic or Allied Victory), a Victory pane will become visible in the Diplomacy menu. This includes options to view a Graphs screen (with selectable displays to compare Population, Military Strength, Scientific Progress, Metal Production, Available Labor, Total Income, and Science Production), exit to main menu, or to continue playing. If the player chooses to continue playing, no further victory conditions will trigger.

The Graphs screen can also be accessed during a game (with display subject to faction visibility) by selecting the Intelligence Briefing option in the Diplomacy screen (or by hitting Ctrl-G). (Note that in games saved prior to the patch, graph data will be missing for pre-patch turns.)




The artificial intelligence (AI) for the computer-controlled opponent factions has been substantially reworked. We have added a variety of new behaviors and diplomatic events. In particular, AI factions have more context-sensitive behavior regarding its friends and enemies; it can now more capably offer or request help from an ally, and it is more likely to take offense when one is friendly to its enemies. Since the AI opponents now play more effectively, we have also extensively tweaked the balance of the various difficulty levels, removing some bonuses that the AI received on "Normal" difficulty setting, and giving the player some extra bonuses on the "Easy" setting. Even so, players may find difficulty levels above "Easy" noticeably harder than prior to the patch.



Gameplay Changes and Additions

• Changed balance and AI advantages on Normal, Hard, and Brutal settings. Players may find games on settings above "Easy" to be noticeably harder.
  
• The AI no longer receives resource bonuses on 'Normal' difficulty mode.
  
• The player now receives resource bonuses on 'Easy' modes.
  
• Torpedoes can now be placed in heavy hardpoints.
  
• Orthin and Gremak can now research Heavy Missiles.
  
• Strike fighters will now attack starships using beam weapons if their beam weapons are more powerful than their missiles.
  
• Significantly reduced the range of anti-missiles.
  
• Reduced marauder ship spawn rates.
  
• Reduced the strength of Marauder fleets.
  
• It is now possible to deploy outposts around planets you already control.
  
• Added several new diplomatic issues.
  
• Added the 'Expansion Request' event.
  
• Added the 'Trade War' event.
  
• Added the 'International Incident' event.
  
• Added the 'Wreckage Analyzed' event.
  
• Added the 'Technology Captured' event.
  
• Reduced the research cost of 'Defense Grid'.
  
• Increased many agreement influence costs.
  
• Increased upkeep costs for mid/late game ship hulls.
  
• Phidi no longer start without the 'Military Doctrine' technology.
  
• Changed the hiring cost formula of mercenaries; in most cases this is an increase.
  
• Decreased the spawn rates of mercenaries.
  
• Increased the cost of the 'Artificial Organisms' tech.
  
• Increased mid/late game strategic fleet speeds.
  
• Upgrading tanks no longer increases their build or upkeep costs.
  
• Increased the number of stars in 'small', 'normal', and 'huge' maps.
  
• Citizens from allied factions will now sometimes offer to join your empire.
  
• Allying with an alien faction now removes the "Alien Rulers" morale effect from colonists of their race in your empire.
  
• Increased the research cost of 'Battle Mechs'.
  
• Galactic council votes can now influence reputation.
  
• 'Graviton Physics' and 'Advanced Field Theory' now grant increased tactical speed.
  
• Increased mid/late game science boosts from experimenting on slaves.
  
• Reduced the number of technologies offered by the Herald.
  
• Updated mechanics for ancient data archives.
  
• Tinkers AIs should now make use of Asteroid Outposts.
  
• Changes to the random number generator used in planetary bombardment / invasions to improve the accuracy of the predicted outcome display.
  
• 'Artificial Sentience' now provides +15 science on all worlds instead of +1 improvement slot.
  
• 'Adaptive Energy Grid' now provides +10 labor on all worlds instead of +1 improvement slot.
  
• 'Social Engineering' now unlocks a varying number of improvement slots depending on planet size.
  

AI Changes and Additions

• Various tweaks to the Strategic AI. (Thanks to Harpy Eagle for his contributions.)
  
• The AI's ship building strategies should now reflect its research strategies, and vice versa.
  
• A variety of fixes and improvements in the AI's economic logic.
  
• A variety of fixes and improvements in the tactical combat AI.
  
• Significant changes to AI behaviors around starting and stopping wars.
  
• The AI should now be less likely to spam colony ships.
  
• Adjustments to the AI's handling of planet production changes.
  
• The AI should now pursue more varied research paths.
  
• The AI should now sometimes transfer population units between planets.
  
• AI's will now be more likely to cooperate with allies.
  
• AI's should now wait at least 15 turns between making peace and restarting a war.
  
• AI's may now demand that you stop trading with their enemies.
  
• AI's may now demand that you release their people from slavery.
  
• AI's may now issue ultimatums before starting a war.
  
• AI's may now insist that your fleets stay outside their territory.
  
• AI's may now request to start joint wars against third parties.
  
• AI's may now demand that you return control of colonies they have a historical claim to.
  
• AI's may now object if you establish colonies/outposts in their territory.
  
• AI's may demand control of splinter colonies founded by members of their own species.
  
• AI's may offer gifts to friendly players.
  
• Allies should now better cooperate when routing defensive fleets.
  
• Tweaks to the logic governing AI tactical retreats.
  
• Changes to the AIs "sue for peace" logic.
  
• Changes to peace concessions.
  
• Changes to formula used in resource request events.
  

UI Changes and Additions

• Added a Victory screen that includes a Graphs screen.
  
• Added an "Intelligence Briefing" option to the diplomacy screen which will display Graphs for known factions (hotkey Ctrl-G).
  
• Added a Credits pane to the Main Menu.
  
• Added various faction-specific weapon art assets.
  
• Updated the layout scheme for population icons in the planet information screen.
  
• Added a 'Max Pop' option to the list of sorting criteria in the Planetary Report
  

Fixes

• Fix for a low level bug in the AI task dispatching logic.
  
• Added debugger hooks for VS Code.
  
• Fix for a bug involving intercepted AI transport fleets.
  
• Fix for a bug involving AI City Planning.
  
• Fix for a bug in the city planning food consumption logic.
  
• Fix for a bug caused by absorbing an empire that contained outposts.
  
• Fix for a star shader glitch affecting many cards using newer AMD drivers.
  
• Attempted workaround for a bug affecting ship designer part placement.
  
• Fix for a bug in the AIs handling of captured ships.
  
• Fix for a bug in the war/peace logic.
  
• Fix for a bug in the AI improvement selection logic.
  
• Fix for a bug caused by reverse engineering captured Tinker technologies.
  
• Fix for a bug involving ignored ship capture reports.
  
• Transferring control of planets will now also transfer control of all orbiting stations.
  
• Tinkers should no longer request food aid.
  
• Fix for a bug caused when one AI empire absorbs another.
  
• Fix for a bug in the "empire eliminated" report.
  
• Transfers of planetary ownership should no longer leave invalid "encounter" reports on the starmap.
  
• Fix for a bug caused when transports arrive at a planet that has changed allegiance.
  
• Annexing a planet will now reduce its planetary defense level to match what is permitted by your technology.
  

(Click here to view the complete development changelogs, and here to view the development roadmap post.)

We hope you enjoy these changes. Until next time: good luck, Emperor!

I bid you a formal welcome, Captain.

Today's patch contains a number of updates and tweaks to the base game, adds a new strategic territory overlay, and new functionality for the Orthin capacitors. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming!


As part of their mania for high energy physics, the deep-water dwelling Orthin have developed a unique high pressure metallurgy that allows for ultra high capacity energy transmission subsystems, enabling their vessels to mount unusually powerful beam weaponry. The elegant and elaborate cooling mechanism used by these high-pressure superconducting busbars takes up a significant amount of the ship's hull infrastructure, but also allows for the possibility of useful components being attached to this subsystem.

Each Orthin military hull of cruiser size and larger now has a single special “Busbar” hardpoint. The busbar can accept four different components, the latter two of which are new:

• Blast Doors (Titanium Construction): increases armor
  
• Shield Regenerator (Deflector Screens): increases shield regeneration rate
  
• Shield Capacitor (Shield Capacitors): stores a portion of damage absorbed by shields for later offensive or defensive use
  
• Power Converter (Zero-Point Energy): provides additional power
  

Shield Capacitors
The Shield Capacitor is the primary target for the busbar slot, and it provides additional tactical actions. Whenever a ship equipped with a Shield Capacitor takes shield damage, a portion of the energy is stored in the capacitor. This energy can be released at any time and used either to boost shields or overcharge weapons. The "SHIELD BOOST" and "OVERCHARGE" buttons in the tactical UI show the current charge of the capacitor. Clicking on either action will spend the current stored energy on the appropriate function. Once the capacitor is fully charged, no additional energy can be stored until the capacitor is discharged.

• SHIELD BOOST: applies the stored energy to reinforce shields. Damaged shields are restored up to the reinforcement amount. Reinforcement over the normal maximum shield strength lasts until the next turn.
  
• OVERCHARGE: diverts stored energy to the main weapons. Only affects direct fire weapons in the retractable forward hull slots and any siege hardpoints; does not affect missiles, fighters or point-defense weapons. The available energy is divided amongst the eligible weapon mounts.
  

Outpost Transports can now be used to deploy a custom station equipped with any available station module (including a Space Habitat or Construction Module). Editing the Outpost Transport in the Ship Designer will now edit the payload station rather than the transport itself. For example, to create a deploy-able space habitat:

• From the Ship Designer, select "New Design"
  
• From the New Design list, select "Outpost Transport"
  
• Add the appropriate components for your custom station
  
• Type in a descriptive name (such as "Habitat") and save the design
  

Done! The "Habitat Transport" will now be available in your build menu, in addition to the existing Outpost Transport (or any other custom versions you design). Note: be sure to embark colonists aboard a Space Habitat station before leaving!

Already built Outpost Transports in older saves may not work, so you may need to scrap them and build new ones.





Gameplay Changes and Additions

• Orthin 'Capacitor' hardpoints have been renamed as 'Busbar' hardpoints. The Orthin Dreadnaught now has only 1 Capacitor slot. (Old designs may need to be edited.)
  
• Orthin ships equiped with Shield Capacitors now have access to the "Overcharge" and "Shield Boost" special abilities.
  
• Orthin players can now unlock the 'Power Converter' busbar component after researching 'Zero-Point Energy'.
  
• Colony ships can now colonize a planet if the colonists on board would be comfortable there, even if the owning faction's race would not.
  
• Editing an outpost transport design now edits the design of the created outpost.
  
• Outpost designs are no longer required to include a fuel depot.
  
• Outpost designs that include Space Habitats can now embark colonists prior to deployment.
  
• Outpost transports built in old saves will no longer function.
  
• Colonists in deployed Space Habitats now consume food.
  
• Viscid now have the 'vermin' trait, making them immune to starvation.
  
• The 'Energy Refocusing' technology is being retired, and will not appear in new games.
  
• Added the 'Supergrain Discovery' planetary event.
  
• Reduced the frequency of some Star Harpy events.
  
• The Phidi Torpedo destroyer, human Missile Cruiser, and human Battleship all now have 'Torpedo' rather than 'Missile' hardpoints.
  
• It is now possible to place 'Blast Doors' and 'Scanners' in a Heavy hardpoint.
  

UI Changes and Additions

• Added an empire territory overlay to the strategic map. It can be enabled or disabled with 'Show Empire Territory' in Options. The Empire Insignia displayed on the overlay can also be independently disabled.
  
• Fleet destination lines can now be disabled with 'Show Fleet Route Lines' in Options.
  
• Most options in the Map Settings screen now default to the values used in the most recent savegame.
  
• Replaced the 'Pirate Activity' advanced setting with 'Raider Activity', which now also controls the level of Star Harpy activity.
  
• A warning icon will now appear at systems blockaded by enemy ships.
  
• In tactical combat, +healed numbers will now appear when ships regenerate shields or armor.
  
• Clicking on a planet's special resource icon will now open the planet info entry for that resource.
  
• Clicking on a fleet's empire icon will now start a conversation with that empire, if possible.
  

Fixes

• Fix for a tech tree bug that could be triggered by reverse engineering Fusion Torpedoes while playing as Orthin or Gremak.
  
• In the case that battle salvage unlocks techs that are impossible to research, the player will no longer receive a "tech unlocked" notification.
  
• Fix for a bug that could be triggered when Vindicators retarget on a new ship.
  
• Fix for a bug that was preventing the Shield Piercing abilities of the Force Lance from working as intended.
  
• Removed redudant post-battle 'technology unlocked' notifications.
  
• The components list should no longer show incorrect small craft graphics when designing planet defenses.
  
• The 'hail fleet' option should no longer appear when an empire you are at war with attempts to colonize a planet.
  
• It should no longer be possible for the food cost of City Planning to be negative.
  
• Fix for a game state maintenance bug affecting battles in which the right-click inhibit weapon fire toggle had been used.
  
  

(Click here to view the complete development changelogs, and here to view the development roadmap post.)

Well then, we bid you farewell.
We hope to see you again
though with you sitting here, dead in space
vulnerable and alone
we won't hold our breath.

Good luck, Captain.

I bid you a formal welcome, Captain.

Today's patch contains a number of updates and tweaks to the base game, adds a new strategic territory overlay, and new functionality for the Orthin capacitors. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming!


As part of their mania for high energy physics, the deep-water dwelling Orthin have developed a unique high pressure metallurgy that allows for ultra high capacity energy transmission subsystems, enabling their vessels to mount unusually powerful beam weaponry. The elegant and elaborate cooling mechanism used by these high-pressure superconducting busbars takes up a significant amount of the ship's hull infrastructure, but also allows for the possibility of useful components being attached to this subsystem.

Each Orthin military hull of cruiser size and larger now has a single special “Busbar” hardpoint. The busbar can accept four different components, the latter two of which are new:

• Blast Doors (Titanium Construction): increases armor
  
• Shield Regenerator (Deflector Screens): increases shield regeneration rate
  
• Shield Capacitor (Shield Capacitors): stores a portion of damage absorbed by shields for later offensive or defensive use
  
• Power Converter (Zero-Point Energy): provides additional power
  

Shield Capacitors
The Shield Capacitor is the primary target for the busbar slot, and it provides additional tactical actions. Whenever a ship equipped with a Shield Capacitor takes shield damage, a portion of the energy is stored in the capacitor. This energy can be released at any time and used either to boost shields or overcharge weapons. The "SHIELD BOOST" and "OVERCHARGE" buttons in the tactical UI show the current charge of the capacitor. Clicking on either action will spend the current stored energy on the appropriate function. Once the capacitor is fully charged, no additional energy can be stored until the capacitor is discharged.

• SHIELD BOOST: applies the stored energy to reinforce shields. Damaged shields are restored up to the reinforcement amount. Reinforcement over the normal maximum shield strength lasts until the next turn.
  
• OVERCHARGE: diverts stored energy to the main weapons. Only affects direct fire weapons in the retractable forward hull slots and any siege hardpoints; does not affect missiles, fighters or point-defense weapons. The available energy is divided amongst the eligible weapon mounts.
  

Outpost Transports can now be used to deploy a custom station equipped with any available station module (including a Space Habitat or Construction Module). Editing the Outpost Transport in the Ship Designer will now edit the payload station rather than the transport itself. For example, to create a deploy-able space habitat:

• From the Ship Designer, select "New Design"
  
• From the New Design list, select "Outpost Transport"
  
• Add the appropriate components for your custom station
  
• Type in a descriptive name (such as "Habitat") and save the design
  

Done! The "Habitat Transport" will now be available in your build menu, in addition to the existing Outpost Transport (or any other custom versions you design). Note: be sure to embark colonists aboard a Space Habitat station before leaving!

Already built Outpost Transports in older saves may not work, so you may need to scrap them and build new ones.





Gameplay Changes and Additions

• Orthin 'Capacitor' hardpoints have been renamed as 'Busbar' hardpoints. The Orthin Dreadnaught now has only 1 Capacitor slot. (Old designs may need to be edited.)
  
• Orthin ships equiped with Shield Capacitors now have access to the "Overcharge" and "Shield Boost" special abilities.
  
• Orthin players can now unlock the 'Power Converter' busbar component after researching 'Zero-Point Energy'.
  
• Colony ships can now colonize a planet if the colonists on board would be comfortable there, even if the owning faction's race would not.
  
• Editing an outpost transport design now edits the design of the created outpost.
  
• Outpost designs are no longer required to include a fuel depot.
  
• Outpost designs that include Space Habitats can now embark colonists prior to deployment.
  
• Outpost transports built in old saves will no longer function.
  
• Colonists in deployed Space Habitats now consume food.
  
• Viscid now have the 'vermin' trait, making them immune to starvation.
  
• The 'Energy Refocusing' technology is being retired, and will not appear in new games.
  
• Added the 'Supergrain Discovery' planetary event.
  
• Reduced the frequency of some Star Harpy events.
  
• The Phidi Torpedo destroyer, human Missile Cruiser, and human Battleship all now have 'Torpedo' rather than 'Missile' hardpoints.
  
• It is now possible to place 'Blast Doors' and 'Scanners' in a Heavy hardpoint.
  

UI Changes and Additions

• Added an empire territory overlay to the strategic map. It can be enabled or disabled with 'Show Empire Territory' in Options. The Empire Insignia displayed on the overlay can also be independently disabled.
  
• Fleet destination lines can now be disabled with 'Show Fleet Route Lines' in Options.
  
• Most options in the Map Settings screen now default to the values used in the most recent savegame.
  
• Replaced the 'Pirate Activity' advanced setting with 'Raider Activity', which now also controls the level of Star Harpy activity.
  
• A warning icon will now appear at systems blockaded by enemy ships.
  
• In tactical combat, +healed numbers will now appear when ships regenerate shields or armor.
  
• Clicking on a planet's special resource icon will now open the planet info entry for that resource.
  
• Clicking on a fleet's empire icon will now start a conversation with that empire, if possible.
  

Fixes

• Fix for a tech tree bug that could be triggered by reverse engineering Fusion Torpedoes while playing as Orthin or Gremak.
  
• In the case that battle salvage unlocks techs that are impossible to research, the player will no longer receive a "tech unlocked" notification.
  
• Fix for a bug that could be triggered when Vindicators retarget on a new ship.
  
• Fix for a bug that was preventing the Shield Piercing abilities of the Force Lance from working as intended.
  
• Removed redudant post-battle 'technology unlocked' notifications.
  
• The components list should no longer show incorrect small craft graphics when designing planet defenses.
  
• The 'hail fleet' option should no longer appear when an empire you are at war with attempts to colonize a planet.
  
• It should no longer be possible for the food cost of City Planning to be negative.
  
• Fix for a game state maintenance bug affecting battles in which the right-click inhibit weapon fire toggle had been used.
  
  

(Click here to view the complete development changelogs, and here to view the development roadmap post.)

Well then, we bid you farewell.
We hope to see you again
though with you sitting here, dead in space
vulnerable and alone
we won't hold our breath.

Good luck, Captain.

Greetings, galactic despots! We hope you've had a triumphant holiday campaign season. Today's patch includes some expanded functionality for the Legacies features, including some new weapons and technologies. Next we will be working on improving some of the base game systems, including AI, diplomacy, tactical UI and victory conditions. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming!


The Herald of the Arda Seed now tracks faction reputation with the player. Completing peaceful trades with the Herald will increase reputation over time, while destruction of Arda Seed units or intrusions into Hyperspace Anomalies will decrease reputation. The roster of items which the Herald will offer for sale is also now dependent on reputation; more advanced items will require higher reputation.

In addition to existing technologies, the Herald will also now sell Codexes for new technologies that are otherwise unobtainable. Once a Codex is obtained, the new unresearched technology will appear in your technology tree and will be available for research. New technology codexes that can be purchased from the Herald include:

• 'Pulse Generators' allows the player to build a version of the Steward Electrocyte shield/weapon system.
  
• 'Plasma Torpedoes' allows the player to build a torpedo version of the Protean.
  
• 'Arda Thrust Vanes' increases the tactical speed of all vessels.
  
• 'Arda Focusing Lens' unlocks a beam weapon modificiation that increases range.
  
• 'Arda Puzzle Box' improves morale of all colonists.
  
• 'Arda Persuasion Matrix' improves reputation with all foreign factions.
  
• 'Arda Fabrication Techniques' increases the Labor output of Factories.
  
• 'Core-Tap Mining' unlocks Tier 3 Mines.
  
• 'Warp Node Attunement' allows Hyperspace Anomalies to improve your fleets' range as if they were your own bases.
  
• 'Warp Node Dynamics' increases hyperspace speed and range.
  
• 'Harpy Repellant' prevents Arda Seed units from automatically attacking your fleets in real space.

Some of these Codexes can also be looted from destroyed Arda Seed or Star Harpy units.





Changes and Additions

• The Herald of the Arda Seed now tracks reputation with the player's faction, and available purchases are now dependent on reputation level.
  
• Players may now purchase and discover Codexes, which unlock previously unavailable technologies for research.
  
• The Tinkers' Bomber has been replaced by the Vindicator, which is an expendable multiple-warhead manned missile which can be launched from torpedo hardpoints as well as hangars.
  
• Arda Seed Proteans will now use an offensive suicide attack after closing on enemy ships.
  
• Added five new achievments related to the Legacies DLC.
  
• The mining activity now provides +50% output per mine (up from +33%).
  
• Earthquake random events are now limited to destroying at most 2 improvements.
  
• Added the 'minerals discovery' random event.
  
• Added the 'artifacts discovery' random event.
  
• Increased Market Coin production from 4/7/12 to 5/10/15.
  
• Increased second and third tier Factory Labor production.
  
• Adjusted Dread Star production costs.
  
• Added a 'hostile environment' upkeep cost for colonies in harsh environments. This new mechanic is suppressed in any game started prior to r21718 so that it will not affect existing saves.
  
• AI empires should be less likely to choose to colonize hostile environment worlds.
  
• Marauder factions should be less hostile to AI empires.
  
• AI empires will now make use of outposts to extend range.
  
• Increased the planetary bombardment power of carriers.
  

Fixes

• Fix for a rare bug that could be triggered when Harpy fleets returned to their source HSA.
  
• Losing a planet should now reliably resolve all pending construction complete warnings pertaining to that planet.
  
• Fix for a bug caused by unresolved attacks against fleets belonging to a defeated empire.
  
• Fixes for bugs that could be triggered by refitting ships while in the process of issuing a move order.
  
• Fix for a production display bug affecting planets with space habitats.
  

(Click here to view the complete development changelogs, and here to view the development roadmap post.)

That is all for now!