Hi folks -- here is a small update with some fun changes. My day job has been pretty busy these past few weeks but I should have some time to bring more updates online in the coming weeks.

1.5h Patch Notes

• Fixed a tricky bug that would sometimes cause the gross miscalculation of command points for a single turn following combat, plunging empires into immediate bankruptcy.
  
• Fixed an issue for existing ship mods that would import the modded ships as “pink” (i.e. the shader was messed up).
  
• Fixed an issue with modded ships that could cause game slowdowns if the mesh collider had too many surfaces
  
• Fixed an error where point defense weapons would sometimes do no damage to interceptable guided weapons
  
• Updated the graphics and characteristics of Anti-Matter torpedoes. They are supposed to be conventional torpedoes with AM warheads and instead they look like quantum torpedoes and move super fast, so I’ve fixed all that. Reduced the HP of the AM torpedoes so they have a shot of being intercepted by flak
  
• All torpedo weapons, even energy torpedos are jammable and interceptable. But the energy torpedoes have a lot of hit points and are unlikely to be disrupted with point defense fire.
  

Hello Space Friends,

This is a small bug fixing update to get back into the swing of things after a few days off. Please keep your bug reports coming.

1.5g

1. Fixed an issue where the “criminal rendezvous” event would attempt to spawn and cause the game to hang
   
2. Fixed issue where pops would transport instantly
   
3. Fixed a bug where pop transports could get stuck in space near their destination
   
4. Fixed issue where starting a new game after having a game loaded would cause the game to hang
   
5. Fixed bug where Micro-Singularity Cannons were not ignoring shields
   
6. Fixed issue with Canopy Shields that would sometimes send ships flying off into space. This may have fixed other wonky observed behaviors with Canopy shields. Everything appears to be working as intended but please let me know if you see any oddness.
   
7. Fixed a bug that could cause the game to hang upon completely eliminating an enemy race
   
8. Minor optimizations to strategy map

This patch contains some nice optimizations and under-the-hood work, plus some good bug fixes. As always, let me know if you run into any troubles.

1.5f Patch Notes

• Changed the audio for event popups to remove the drum sound effect
  
• Changed diplomacy so that expansionism does not make the AI nearly as angry, except for Expansionist AIs who remain very angry
  
• Fiddled with the Events system to have some more flexibility and reliability. There were times where certain events would trigger unexpectedly or at the wrong time, and I want to iron all of that out
  
• The unique bonus buildings will now only spawn once per empire (hellforge, private shipyard, wormhole institute, Solar array, etc). This was causing a ton of late game spam.
  
• Updated the fleet icon / associated text to have a little animation
  
• Updated the default deployment breadth to support more ships in a line (and to prevent ships from spilling out across the whole battlefield during deployment)
  
• Made rendering optimizations to the strategy map to help it run faster in the late game
  
• Removed the AU distance readout from fleet icons. It’s basically useless. All that matters is ETA and fuel.
  
• Removed the “you unlocked a technology” song because it gets old after a few time
  
• Fixed a bug in the shipyard with the Upgrade Armor button. Should work as intended now.
  
• Fixed a bug where the AI would sometimes launch troops from a planet that the player was invading (and would steal the player’s troops in the process!)
  
• Fixed an issue with the time controls changing the speed of the entire game if used in the battle arena
  
• Fixed issue with firing leaders Vos and Wyatt making the game hang
  
• Removed final references to the old ground combat system...I think!

Hi folks -- I caught a few AI bugs that will make the AI a whole lot meaner. I think that this mod will now successfully bring the AI Community ship pack into full action.

I snuck a few other bug fixes in there. Not implementing the version number, just slipping it on top of 1.5e.

1.5e AI Hotfix / Update

• Updated the AI to always build the best frigates and corvettes available to it. It was randomly choosing from the available roster earlier
  
• Fixed an issue where the AI was not accessing its full ship roster. This was a big problem--they will build very dangerous ships now. Watch out!
  
• Fixed an issue where ships might not be rendering on the strategy map
  
• Toned down a few visual hotspots in the nebula background on the strategy map
  
• Upgraded the AI to be smarter about resource allocation on core worlds when there is nothing important to build. They will now reallocate to research or money depending on their needs.
  
• Fixed an issue where the AI could end up building way too many spies. Hopefully this chills them out a bit in the late game
  

Hi folks. This is a small update that fixes some nasty bugs and rebalances the tech tree. It also has some critical optimizations. No promises that I didn't break anything. Please let me know if I did!

• Updated the AI so that it will not attempt to build any ship designs that the player will made. It is drawing all of its designs from the big community made pack from years back
  
• Updated the tech tree with overall higher technology costs. I really want to stretch out the early-mid game instead of just rushing through things. It makes the early techs feel a bit more meaningful when you get to actually use them in combat
  
• Changed UI behavior so that clicking the X button in the notification panel will now clear all active notifications
  
• Disabled old ground combat missions while it gets reworked
  
• Implemented object pooling for spaceship explosions in the battle map and made other optimizations related to exploding ships. TONS FASTER IN BIG BATTLES
  
• Fixed issue where subspace projectors were amplifying the slowing effect of nearby terrain
  
• Fixed an issue where ships would open fire at extreme long range, and the projectile falls short by a meter. Ships will get just a little bit closer now.
  
• Fixed an issue where fleets on the strategy map would sometimes be too large or display more than one “hero” vessel as a representative
  
• Fixed a bug where the Osiran event would cause the game to hang
  
• Fixed a bug with saving and load that would sometimes cause game objects like troops and fleets to forget their home planet, which had odd lingering effects
  
• Fixed an issue where weapons would not reload fast enough when doing battle at 2x/4x speed

There has been a hotfix to 1.5d to address major issue where fresh installs were blocking on load.

This also contains a fix that was causing the Osiran event to make your game hang.

I put a lot of effort into this one. I really like the new look of the battle screen, and along with the new time time controls it should really enhance your experience. Let me know what you think! I will continue to upgrade and refine the battle screen so that every battle is beautiful and unique, and I will continue to focus on QoL upgrades and bug fixes.

As always, if you see a gamestopping bug, please try to get me a saved game for diagnosis. Thanks, and have fun.

1.5c change log:

• Added the ability to click the “Empty Slot” button in the Colony Management interface to open the shipyard and assign a ship design
  
• Added a Load All / Land All buttons to the troop land/load interface
  
• Overhauled the basic combat screen background to be more readable
  
• Added some new assets and configurations to the space battle screen
  
• Added new engine thruster fx to all ships
  
• Added more time controls to the battle screen (2x / 4x speed), updated user interface for same
  
• Changed AI behavior so that they will declare war when they enter your territory for a sneak attack. Earlier there were edge cases where they would only declare after the attack, but now you will typically get a warning unless they are very fast
  
• Fixed an issue where existing game installs weren’t necessarily getting the updated weapon characteristics
  
• Fixed a number of issues that had shield hit effects not working as I would prefer them to work
  
• Changed shield fx to adjust size depending on shot damage
  
• Fixed an issue with ships rolling incorrectly during turns in combat
  
• Fixed a bug that would sometimes have fleet icons rendering out of place
  
• Fixed issue where random space sounds in the background not respect the volume slider
  
• Fixed issue where the volume of weapons fire was not being affected by the volume slider
  
• Fixed issue where explosions on the strategy map would not respect volume slider
  
• Fixed issue where the subspace rifts would make noise and not respect the volume slider
  
• Fixed music volume on diplomacy screen
  
• Fixed issue where the Unlock Technology jingle was not respecting audio sliders
  
• Fixed BrainPal tech not working
  
• Fixed an issue where sectors graphics would not immediately update after coming under your control
  
• Fixed a bug where you couldn’t launch a leader from a planet if you didn’t have available freighter capacity
  
• Fixed an issue where controls would some times lock up upon starting a new game
  

It is my goal in 2021 to release a total remaster of StarDrive 2, and this is a juicy update on the Road to Remaster (tm).

If you find that I broke something in your saved games, please upload it somewhere so I can grab it and see what went wrong. I've got a long way to go yet before this game is in a remastered state, but I think this gives you a great taste of what's to come.

• Added an Auto Combat toggle to the battle screen to let the AI handle combat for you
  
• Continued optimizations of strategy map performance
  
• Swapped out a few building graphics courtesy of wolfy301
  
• Asteroid fields on the battlemap are now more asteroidy
  
• Enhanced weapon sound fx system to allow for more variation.
  
• Upgraded and rebalanced weapon sound fx for:
  
• PD lasers
  
• Medium lasers
  
• Vulcan Cannons
  
• Disruptor Cannons
  
• Anti Matter Cannon
  
• Artillery
  
• Mass Driver
  
• General improvements to Muzzle Flash FX across the board
  
• Modified weapons:
  
• Disruptor max cannon range reduction
  
• Anti Matter Cannon increased projectile speed
  
• Cluster cannon range decreased
  
• Removed the old ground combat system entirely, and all associated quests. An upgraded quest system will bring these back in a new form soon.
  
• Solar Systems that are out of sensor range will now have the display of their names dulled slightly as an indicator
  
• Hex tiles that are not in sensor range now have a slightly faded coloring as an indicator
  
• Hex tiles that are unexplored have an even further reduced coloring
  
• Softened the color of the huge empire name plates on the strategy map to increase map readability
  
• Fixed an issue where antimatter cannon fx trails would disappear immediately upon impacting with a ship
  
• Updated Microsingularity FX to be cooler
  
• Fixed inoperable cluster cannon weapon
  

Hi Guys--

I fixed a major bug that affected fleet intercepts, and I fixed an issue screwing up Russian localization. Let me know if you see any more show-stoppers. Thanks!

This was a fun update. I really fiddled in the guts on this one and things should be running a lot faster in a number of different areas. Plus, I fixed some things that I think have been broken for a long while. For example, check out how ships fire their cannons now. They come out of the wings and such now--much more visually pleasing.

• Overhauled system for loading assets. Game loads much faster now.
  
• Optimized the strategy map’s idle computations to reduce late game lag
  
• Optimized the end of turn processing to reduce hiccups when the turn button is pressed
  
• Subspace projectors now have graphics on the strategy map
  
• Substantially increased projectile speeds for lasers and disruptors to make them more exciting. I will probably update other cannons in the coming days as I work through them.
  
• Overhauled visual fx for ships taking damage and leaking fire and plasma into space
  
• Need to go through all ships
  
• Overhaul ship shooting fx so ships create projectiles from sensible locations on their hulls
  
• The AI will no longer use the expansion pack ship hulls, to keep something special for the player
  
• Fixed Russian localization problems
  
• Fixed UI scaling issue affecting widescreen setups
  
• Fixed an issue where event popups could sometimes appear to have no choices due to a scrolling error
  
• Fixed a problem with the Avnar Minor Race event, where not all discussion options resulted in the proper outcome