Stardock Entertainment and Ironclad Games are happy to announce the availability of Beta 2b (0.80) for Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion today.  Now available via the Steam client for all pre-order customers, this update contains a number of bug fixes, performance optimizations and balance adjustments.

Change Log:

[ Graphics ]

• Added correct icon for Mine Control ability.


• Updated some UI textures.


• Removed name from texture on TEC Corsev battlecruiser.


• Increased zoom-in distances for all ships/structures.


• Moved out build emitter point on Advent Titan Factory to prevent mesh clipping.


• Fixed various mesh point errors on Advent Discord battleship.

[ Gameplay ]

• Players are now limited to a total of four simultaneous superweapon structures. Based on feedback this amount may be increased, decreased or the weapon effects buffed, etc.


• Adjusted AI to allow AI players to make better use of their available Fleet Supply. This is one step in a multi-step process that will be continued in the next update.


• Autocast conditions added to most ultimate abilities; allowing the AI to use them.


• Replaced Advent refinery drone mesh/texture with trade drone mesh/texture.


• Updated game Victory/Loss strings.


• Fixed typo in Advent racial description.


• Reduced shield regeneration rate on all Envoy cruisers from 2.0 to 1.0.


• Artifact Planet players (Occupation Victory) will no longer be placed as random militia on maps.


• Replaced TEC Rebel corvettes at Pirate planet with Pirate Rogues.


• Fixed bug that allowed temporary or illusion ships to be cloned by abilities or research subjects.


• Updated Pirate Raid fleet compositions per level. Raids will now have a broader range of ship types and numbers. The max level raid is now particularly brutal, so you won't want to be the target of that!


• Pirate Mission costs adjusted for new raid levels (based on average summoned fleet supply). Pirate Missions are now substantially more expensive to account for the greater difficulty.


• Reduced Pirate research upgrade costs for all subjects.


• Reduced number of research upgrades per raid from 2 to 1.


• Increased rate of points gain for Diplomatic Victory and decreased the number of points required to win. This should greatly speed up Diplomatic victories and make them a more viable option.


• Increased roll rate of all Titans from 0.65 to 1.65. 


• TEC Loyalists:


• Inspire and Impair (Ankylon Titan ability) updated to include AlliedOrEnemy and NoOwner planet types.


• AntiFighter Frigate balance adjustment: MaxHP reduced from 900 to 765; MaxShields reduced from 450 to 405; DamagePerBank reduced from 17.25 to 14.6625.


• Loyalist Corvette balance adjustment:


• Cost increased from 100/10/5 to 190/20/10.


• Fleet Supply increased from 2 to 3.


• XP increased from 4 to 8.


• Laser damage per bank increased from 30 to 33.


• AutoCannon damage per bank increased from 15.5 to 20.


• Missile damage per bank decreased from 25.5 to 25.


• TEC Rebels:


• AntiFighter Frigate balance adjustment: MaxHP reduced from 900 to 765; MaxShields reduced from 450 to 405; DamagePerBank reduced from 17.25 to 14.6625.


• Rebel Corvette balance adjustment:


• Cost increased from 100/10/5 to 190/20/10.


• Fleet Supply increased from 2 to 3.


• XP increased from 4 to 8.


• Laser damage per bank increased from 30 to 33.


• AutoCannon damage per bank increased from 15.5 to 20.


• Missile damage per bank decreased from 25.5 to 25.




• Pirate Mercenaries balance adjustments:


• Fleet Supply summoned range changed from 45-60 to 75-100.


• Weights now favor Pirate Cutthroat, Pirate Corsair, Pirate Rogue, Pirate Reaper, Pirate Pillager.


• Cost per use changed from 2500/150/500 to 6000 credits.




• Advent Loyalists:


• Subjugating Assault (Coronata Titan ability): Increased Cooldown from 2 to 20 seconds; reduced Weapon Damage modifier penalty from 40%/35%/30%/25% to 25%/20%/15%/10%; Antimatter cost per shot reduced from 6/5/4/3 to 5/4/3/2; removed PointDefenseLaser from ability; autocast defaulted to off while we create a better aiUseTime.


• Unity Mass (Coronata Titan ability) target constraint added to prevent it from being used against invulnerable targets.


• Assimilated Populace buff increased from 1200 to 5000.


• Fixed bug with Global Unity that caused players to gain culture at gravity wells they didn't own.


• Adjusted autocast on Repossession ability (Coronata titan) to cast only during planetary bombardment (when no other threats are present).


• AntiFighter Frigate balance adjustment: MaxHP reduced from 650 to 552.5; MaxShields reduced from 620 to 558; DamagePerBank reduced from 22.5 to 19.125.


• Domina Subjugator Perseverance ability no longer needs to face its target.


• Domina Subjugator Suppression ability no longer needs to face its target.


• Loyalist Corvette balance adjustment:


• Cost increased from 100/10/5 to 175/15/15.


• Fleet Supply increased from 2 to 3.


• XP increased from 4 to 8.


• Laser damage per bank increased from 25 to 30.


• PDL damage per bank increased from 23 to 25.


• Advent Rebels:


• AntiFighter Frigate balance adjustment: MaxHP reduced from 650 to 552.5; MaxShields reduced from 620 to 558; DamagePerBank reduced from 22.5 to 19.125.

 

[ Sound ]

• Fixed incorrect sound effect for planet bomb muzzle on Advent Loyalist Titan.

[ Misc. ]

• Optimized speed of quitting a game so there shouldn't be nearly as much of a delay on the Stats screen as before. If people still run into long delays, please zip up your autosave that repros this and send it to us at rebellionbeta@stardock.com.


• Optimized a variety of systems that are dependent on getting targets in range. This should resolve one of the biggest causes of slowdowns in large games.


• Optimized AverageCulturePercFromAllConnections, which was causing major slowdowns, especially in terms of targeting.


• Optimized pathfinding within the same orbit body for improved performance.


• Optimized threat detection system for performance.


• Optimized order system cleanup for performance.


• Fixed bug with Logitech G-series keyboard display that allowed players to see unexplored planet information.

Today Stardock Entertainment and Ironclad Games are pleased to release the first update for Beta 2 of Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion to testers via the Steam client.
NOTE: THIS UPDATE IS NOT SAVE GAME OR REPLAY COMPATIBLE WITH PRIOR VERSIONS.
Here's the list of the latest changes:

[Graphics]
• Added full quality intro video.
• Fixed bug with Fracture ability particle effects so they will now display on all affected ships.
• Fixed null pointer crash with the shadow system.
• Fixed bug that caused ships to disappear.

[ Gameplay ]
• TEC Loyalists
o Fixed bug that allowed TEC Loyalists to use Pirate Mercenaries on their Broadcast Center.
• Advent Loyalists
o Increased Acclimation of Will to two research levels; per level increase changed from 0.10 to 0.25.
o Assimilated Populace moved to Diplomacy tree; reduced from Tier 5 to 3; requires sufficient labs to function.
o Confluence of the Unity per level value increased from 0.10 to 0.25.
o Coward's Submission moved to Defense tree; reduced from Tier 6 to 4; pre-requisite tech removed.
o Global Unity reduced from Tier 5 to 4; added additional research level; pre-requisite tech removed; and now requites sufficient labs to function.
o Planet for a Planet Tier increased from 2 to 3.
o Fixed bug with Suppression Aura that would let it persist on ships captured with Subjugation.
o Global Unity should now affect newly colonized worlds. Culture caches are updated again upon colonization.
o Updated Coronata Titan's ultimate ability, Repossession, to not work against Capital Planets or the Artifact planet (i.e., Occupation Victory).
• Advent Rebels
o Cleanse and Renew moved to Military tree; Tier increased from 4 to 5.
o Expulsion moved to Defense Tree; Tier reduced from 5 to 4.
o Mass Communion per level increased changed from 25% to 40%.
o Protection of the Unity moved to Defense tree; Tier changed from 7 to 1; updated to 3 levels at 33% each; now requires sufficient labs to function.
o Reanimation Tier reduced from 4 to 2; now requires sufficient labs to function.
o Return of the Fallen Tier reduced from 4 to 1; now requires sufficient labs to function.
o Fixed bug with Reanimation that prevented it from cloning destroyed enemy ships.
o Fixed bug with Return of the Fallen that prevented it from resurrecting destroyed ships.
o Updated Chastic Burst to affect Starbases.
o Updated Wail of the Sacrificed to affect Starbases.
• General
o Multiplayer
 Added method to add/remove Friends by SteamID and sync to ICO.
 Fixed double friend message bug on ICO.
 Fixed crash in Steam game invites.
 Passwords will now work for joining password protected games on ICO via Steam.
o Added missing game win strings.
o Updated save system to save out fleet cohesion settings.
o Updated Titan weapon damage type vs armor values. Should prevent Titans from prioritizing strikecraft.
o Fixed incorrect Advent tech tree names.
o Fixed null pointer crash with the shadow system.
o Updated Starbase Destabilization InfoCard to more accurately display its effects.
o Flagships should now correctly bomb enemy planets when there are no other threats present.
o Fixed crash bug related to missions for the Pirate player.
o Updated other instances of Antimatter Recharger to Temple of Renewal in strings file.
o Increased warning threshold on when a planet will flip from culture.
o Fixed crash related to space mines - this was a big cause of random mid-game crashes.
o Added several constraints to corvette passives so they won't affect non-viable targets.
o Fixed bug that caused ships to spin in place.
o Fixed bug that would prevent ships from Phase Jumping.

[ Interface ]
• Tweaked some positions in the race select dialog.
• Moved tutorial text and OK button up slightly so they don't overlap notification messages.

[ AI ]
• AI players should be a bit better about when/who they offer missions to.
• Updated aiUseTime on Perseverance to Anytime.
[ Sound & Music ]
• Normalized all new sound effects.
• Fixed bug that caused the GameWin event to play continuously if you pressed Keep Playing after a win.
• Fixed incorrect allied game win voiceover.
• Added new sound effect for Wail of the Sacrificed.