New Feature: In-Galaxy map faction limit information
Now when you zoom into the galaxy map, you can see the faction limit variable listed within every sector. This is to help avoid having to click through sectors to know what faction limit it is. What is Faction Limit? Essentially the size of the sector's battle map, faction limits limit the number and class of warships that can enter that sector.
Ma'Alaketh Shadow Ships now updated with appropriate ship models
All blockader and interceptor type shadow ships (ships with dampening fields) now have the updated and appropriate ship models. All shadow ships also look different on the combat turn bar, so they are more easily identified compared to non-shadow variants.
Hive Weapon systems activation buttons updated
All hive weapons systems (Plasma beam, Plasma Launcher, Plasma Wave) now have new graphical updates for their specific activation buttons in combat.
Weapons: The Hive
Hive Bombardier launching a plasma attack
New Hive Features
As the Hive race is continuing with development, two veteran players were invited to playtest the Perseus Hive before it goes public in two servers.
This Hive-Only update added more sound effects as well as weapon animations for their plasma wave and plasma launchers.
Also, proper stats info now included when you examine a Hive creature/ship: Life: Equivalent to hull strength, when it goes to zero, the creature is destroyed. Energy: Equivalent to engine power. Mind: When it goes to zero, the creature is 'knocked out' temporarily and loses a round. The stronger the mind the less chance it will get stunned (some skills also improve the resistance to being stunned).
A Genari Guardian III on the receiving end of a Hive plasma attack
In addition a small update to Ma'Alaketh, high-end Captains' rankings:
Commodore is now Virtuous Advisor Rear Admiral is now Luminous Advisor Vice Admiral is now Grand Advisor Fleet Admiral is now Prelate
New PvP Server: Mercury I
Back to full-on PVP!
The Mercury server allows three races (Sol, Genari, Ma'Alaketh) to fight it out on even grounds for the first time in Space Wars history. Some upgrades and tweaks behind the scenes have been made in preparation for this server, and also two new starter ships for Sol and Genari:
The Monarch Stealth Corvette
(Sol)
Special Operations focused on developing some of the most powerful ships in the Sol fleet, such as the Exeter and Yamato capital ships. It is now well known that the dampening field technology the Exeter possesses under the guise of a Genari Monolith was some sort of reverse-engineering of stolen Ma'Alaketh tech, so in theory it could be applied to smaller ships as well. Not as efficient as the Ma'Alaketh stealth technology, but effective enough, this miniaturized version could be placed on a small corvette-class ship and applied as a counter to the new Ma'Alaketh incursion. Because of the significant power costs of the 'stealth device', power savings were made in the efficiency of the shield generator, and the return of rudimentary fission warheads. The ship could deliver a payload of fission warheads in close combat, and evade enemy fire with enough distance from the target warship. Still somewhat of an experimental design, it has found itself even more useful in combat against Genari corvettes.
The Vanguard Missile Corvette
(Genari)
The newest Corvette-class warship uniquely designed by the Moshtigh matriarchy is a different take on the Star Warrior, whereby the ship focuses on a singular fission warhead. The FW-6 is a more powerful, longer range weapon, used on the Victory class Light Cruiser -- and can be deployed with same potency as three of Star Warrior's missiles with one-third the power cost. The superstructure was designed with improved power collectors which increase the damage of the fission warheads by as much as 15%. Some smart captains have trained their Tactical Officers to focus on creating stable overloading of the missile launcher, thus giving this weapon far greater potential. As new as this ship is, it is unknown how popular it will be among battle-hardened Genari captains who take preference over more maneuverable warships.
The Avenger Suicide Corvette
(Genari, unique)
Now with a war on three fronts, the Genari were losing ground to the sudden Ma'Alaketh awakening, and Sanethi captains were finding themselves in more desperate situations. Ma'Al ships were harder to hit because of their dampening fields, and their shields too hard to penetrate with basic lasers. Some captains would go suicide with higher powered, disposable ships like the Agile Flyer, using the ships' explosion as a way to knock down enemy shields and their weaker hulls. Matriarch Zeranghi who found her forces at the forefront of the Ma'Al incursion devised a new corvette with a unique tactic in mind. The Avenger is a small ship that could be produced cheaply and be mostly automated with only a token crew -- with one goal -- to explode adjacent enemy ships and stations. With dual frigate-class FHD-5 fusion drives, it could propel itself quickly to an enemy target, and explode with very significant splash damage to all of its surroundings, destroying nearby enemy corvettes outright. It has also been proven to be quite effective against Hive swarms, which could be disabled or destroyed by the explosion wave. If anything, this ship is so fast that it can keep out of danger, and time its approach when it is strategically significant.
Do'Oran Server, Ma'Alaketh's first Victory
Ma'Alaketh Wins in 40 days
Ma'Alaketh Battleship in confrontation with a Genari Starfire Heavy Cruiser
Grand Sovereign Dreadnought seen over the skies of Earth
After taking out the Sol Homeworld, a fleet of Cruisers, Heavy Cruisers, Battleships and a Dreadnought ended the Homeworld of Saneth, thereby completing the 3-faction victory requirement (Taking out two homeworlds).
All top Ma'Al players win 1000 credits to carry over to future servers.
Though this was essentially Ma'al PvE, some took the challenge of fighting the alien onslaught as Sol or Genari.
Congratulations to Sgt. Slaughter (Genari) and Nikolay (Sol) who also win 1000 credits for being the leaders of their race in opposing this unstoppable run of Ma'Al opponents.
Some images of the final battle on Saneth:
-An Archon Heavy Cruiser attacking a defense station
-A cluster of Ma'Al ships using the moon to hide against the Genari base
-The Grand Sovereign Dreadnought attacking the Sanethi home base from the distance, with a Nova Battleship in the background.
-The Grand Sovereign Dreadnought sheer size compared to the Nova battleship and Starfire Heavy Cruiser
SpaceWars Update V1.36
AI Director Faction Limits Some players were taking advantage of 'averaging' down in certain sectors to make the AI director send lower tier ships to defend the region.
-8 faction sectors will now send a minimum class4 (frigate) ship to defend the sector
-10+ faction sectors will now send a minimum class5 (destroyer) ship to defend the sector
-Shipyard (spawn sectors) will now send a minimum class8 (heavy cruiser) ship to defend the sector
3-Race Victory Condition The new Ma'Alaketh race, now playable, can win only by taking out both the Sol and Genari homeworlds. Same goes for Sol/Genari, they have to take two homeworlds to proceed to victory.
Ma'Alaketh: AI ships now have 10% base evasion instead of 25%
New Ma'Alaketh Ship Models
The Blockader and Interceptor Classes Updated
The following ship models (and their variants) have been updated: Centurion Blockader Class IV
Legionnaire Heavy Blockader Class V
Intrepid Heavy Interceptor Class IV
Tetrarch Light Cruiser Class VI
Archon Heavy Cruiser Class VIII
The Ma'Alaketh ships look sexier than ever!
Ma'Alaketh Introduction Video Added
The introduction video when you start a Ma'Alaketh character has been updated, which gives you insight into their intentions on dominating Sol and Genari.
10 Days Later: The Ma'Alaketh Invasion
Ma'Alaketh Players Advance...
85% of the players have chosen Ma'Alaketh since it went public 10 days ago; those who wanted a big challenge chose Sol or Genari to counter this Ma'Alaketh onslaught.
The map below shows big movements by the different races:
As you can see, large Ma'Alaketh incursions have taken both Sol and Genari regions, while Genari has made its own push against Sol, while defending against Ma'Alaketh where they can. Sol is currently in the weakest position. Hive has also made its advances into enemy territory, and for the first time ever, had direct contact with Ma'Alaketh.
Here's the original, starting map for reference:
New Server: Do'Oran PvE Now Open
This new server is the first to open the Ma'Alaketh faction to the public, come try the new race!
This server is intended to be mostly PvE, that is most players working as Ma'Alaketh, learning this new race, and conquering the neighboring Genari and Sol regions.
You may choose, however, to take the challenge of defending against the Ma'Alaketh onslaught by playing as Sol or Genari if you wish.
However, it is recommended that newcomers to the game select Sol Imperial Worlds first, learn the tutorial before trying other races.
Good luck and have fun working together in a co-op format!
Europa Server Victory: Sol
The Europa server has been won by Sol Imperial Worlds in 67 game days.
A strange parasite seems to follow the Yamato Battleship
Congrats to the top players; many of which are rewarded with 1000s of credits to carry over to future servers.
Notice that for the first time, you see three different races listed in the Top10 rankings.
The upcoming server, Do'Oran starts on Wednesday July 17th -- is essentially a PvE server, where everyone is encouraged to try out Ma'Alaketh, as it is finally accessible to any player who would like to try this 3rd faction.
Ma'Alaketh 3D Ship Models Added
All 40 Ma'Alaketh ships have had their ship models updated, with new textures and designs.
In preparation for the launch of the Ma'Alaketh race for full public access, all 3D models of the ships are complete. The Do'Oran Server will be upcoming after the Europa server is completed.
