Empyrean Frontier
Update 12: 10/25/17
-added damage absorbing shields in addition to regular health attributes for all units and structures
-shield bars and related icons are now cyan colored, while energy bars are magenta colored
-adjusted damage formulas to rebalance fighters vs heavy weapons
-numerous other balancing changes to units and campaign missions in response to the addition of shield healthbars
-enemy starting shield health during the campaign depends on difficulty level (0,50%, 100%)
-added new flagship ability module: Shield Recharge module
-improved unit and action panels to display a scrolling list of all selected unit types
-GUI buttons in scroll panels can no longer be clicked when the mouse is outside of the scroll panel
-fixed bug where guided rockets would ignore the unit's manually given targets
-move in formation orders now only limit unit speed if all selected units are moving (allows for rotating formations more quickly)
-fixed bug where turrets could retain power after the connected Command Center was destroyed
-fixed bug where tractor beams could pull small moons
-added text explaining "move in formation" orders to the tutorial campaign and tutorial 3
-various optimizations for better performance
More details at:
http://galdorstudios.com/devlog/2017/10/26/shields-and-other-changes/
Update 11: 10/5/17
-added "move in formation" controls
-fixed crash that occurred when returning to the campaign menu while certain screen recording software was running
-added "units lost" and "exp gains" tabs to the campaign battle results screen
-veterancy levels are now displayed for promoted units in the campaign screen
-units will no longer fire at enemy fleet portals
-unit action panel is now visible even when just the flagship is selected
-updated the campaign intro messages and several campaign nodes
-text now scales properly for monitor aspect ratios wider than 16:9
-enemy AI is now more aggressive in solar system planetary battles
A more in depth dev log on this update can be found on my website: http://galdorstudios.com/devlog/2017/10/05/campaign-changes-and-formations/
Patch 9/18/17
-fixed bug where the tutorial campaign was loading the main campaign after node 1
-adjusted the wording on several tutorial dialogue messages
-added missing dialogue option to one of the campaign nodes
Update 9: 9/9/17
-added new enemy sub-faction, the Wreckers League, to the campaign
-added new unlockable flagship with a boss fight node for the new faction
-added new flagship module: Ship Shredder
-added 5 additional mission nodes to the campaign
-the tutorial campaign now uses a separate save file so it won't overwrite the main campaign
-enemy flagship modules now transfer some of the damage taken to the flagship itself during boss fights, these modules also get an armor buff (the result is that the boss fight takes about the same amount of time, but the player can no longer destroy the modules before the flagship itself starts taking damage, so the player can no longer skip special attacks during the later stages of the boss fights)
-units no longer attack neutral capturable buildings
-unit abilities that target enemy units will no longer be activated by clicking on friendly units
-tractor beams now push/pull units more smoothly
-fixed bug where changing flagships with the left arrow would result in attached modules being left in the player's fleet
-fixed camera starting positions for several campaign nodes
-fixed problem where the text for the number of flagship weapon nodes was switched with the number of flagship building nodes in the campaign setup menu
-added updated portrait textures for some flagship modules
Update 8: 8/3/17
-added new building for the empire faction: Command Outpost
-added new building module for the empire faction: Microwave Transmitter
-Command Outposts are cheaper expansion hubs which provide building nodes for any Command Center from the same player
-Microwave Transmitters allow for sending excess power to any Command Outpost
-added 4 new campaign missions
-fixed potential exploit where the player could get extra resources by selling buildings while they were under construction (selling or cancelling building modules that are under construction now refunds the amount spent, minus any damage taken)
-repair bay moved to tech level 3
-harvesters can now be manually told to drop off their current load of resources if the player orders them to target a refinery
-improved the accuracy and responsiveness of formation drawing system when making complex shapes
-in the Fire Hawks boss battle, the enemy fighters now deploy shields in the last stage of the mission to defend the flagship boss
-the main quest in each zone no longer has 2 "continue" screens
-weapons on building modules and all of their sub-weapons no longer spin or rotate towards nearby targets when in low power (this was an issue for Gatling turrets)
-modules that become unattached from a Command Center or Command Outpost are now always set to low power state
-lowPower now decreases build times of production buildings by 75% except for command centers, which are only reduced by 50%
-updated the 2nd tutorial campaign node to include a supply limit
-replaced the 6th tutorial campaign node with the new enemy outposts node
-improved collision detection behaviors for cruisers
-various engine optimizations for better performance and stability
Additional details over at my devlog: http://galdorstudios.com/devlog/2017/08/03/outposts-optimizations-and-new-missions/
Update 7: 7/8/17
-added multi-grid map type with 2 new skirmish maps
-added "strike force" mission types
-added 5 new campaign missions
-campaign battle menu now shows unit strength graph
-harvesters can be set to "hold fire" stance to disable automatic resource collection
-improved shading effects for nebula clouds
-fixed several potential crashes and visual bugs
-cruisers bought or gifted in the campaign now start with default weapon modules
Additional details over at my devlog: http://galdorstudios.com/devlog/2017/07/09/multi-grid-maps-and-strike-force-missions/
Update 6: 6/15/17
This update adds 2 new units, the advanced fighter groups. The empire's advanced fighter is a multi-segmented unit that specializes at anti-fighter combat, while the union's advanced fighter is a hybrid fighter bomber that is effective against both fighters and larger ships. These are both buildable in all skirmish games at tech level 3, and the union version can be added to the player's fleet in the campaign.
Other Updates:
-added new models for the existing basic fighter groups
-added new flashing icons on several button types in the campaign screen to direct the user's attention to the dialogue buttons, the move button, or the battle button, when appropriate
-fixed potential bug in the solar system skirmish mode that prevented the creation of fleets containing only T1 fighters for union players
-additionally, I did some refactoring to make adding new unit types easier for future updates.
Update 5: 6/4/17
This update adds the new fighter shield ability.
-All fighter groups now have an ability that allows them to switch between combat mode (they move and attack normally) and shielded mode, where the fighters form a wall of directional force fields to absorb incoming attacks, but lose their ability to attack while the shields are active.
More details at my Devlog: http://galdorstudios.com/devlog/2017/06/04/fighter-shielding/
Update 4: 5/30/17
-The main campaign now continues on past the first zone, with increasing enemy strength in later zones
-Additional flagship types past the first two must now be unlocked by defeating the associated boss in the main campaign
-Added 2 new possible scenarios/events for campaign nodes, added additional variations to 3 others, and other changes to several others
-added additional variety in some quest rewards
-adjusted event probabilities to make more some of the more difficult events occur more often in later nodes/zones