Version 2.008 is the latest in a series of post-expansion-release hotfixes.  We've been posting about these on our forums, but individually these releases weren't really worth doing a full blog/announcement post about.  So let's talk about these cumulatively! First of all, for those who have been following along already, here's what is new in the very latest release:

• If you have been waiting for that setting that allows your dispatches to give you a warning whenever a race attacks another, your wait is now over!
• The selling of raw resources in Betrayal mode is back, just now at a really discounted rate compared to the other modes.
• Several changes have been made that will keep the AI acting a bit more appropriately when it comes to ground invasions.

But what else has been going on since 2.0, for those who haven't been following?

• Well, naturally, the very first thing that happened after launch of the expansion is that a couple of clever souls figured out a way to trivialize Betrayal mode by using a bumrush tactic that nobody had tried up until that point.  So there was much balance work and AI work and so on done around making that no longer an exploit.  Betrayal mode got even more interesting as a result, even for those not using that tactic.
• Obscura Discs aren't so common anymore during battles with the Obscura, because they were kind of obnoxious when found en masse.
• In Betrayal mode, when you're defending yourself you no longer earn such a negative influence with other races.
• Assassins now are only a standard-mode mechanic.  They only really made good sense there, and were particularly unbalancing on Betrayal mode.
• The ratio of number of flagships in combat to "base power" of an armada has decreased, meaning that you can't wipe out whole armadas quite so easily in combat mode.
• A lot of smaller bugfixes.

Enjoy! This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater, or if you have Steam it will automatically update it for you. To force Steam to download it faster, just restart Steam and it will do so. Click here for the official forum discussion about this release.

[ 2014-12-02 14:44:40 CET ] [ Original post ]