Sword of the Stars 122 Retail Patch description
Sword of the Stars is a breakthrough Space Strategy game that seeks to reinvigorate the sub-genre.

Sword of the Stars is a breakthrough Space Strategy game that seeks to reinvigorate the sub-genre. Players will explore planets, manage their empire and research new technology.

Sword of the Stars provides quick, intuitive play, state-of-the-art graphics and tactical combat that make the game instantly involving and rewardingly fun without forcing you to learn difficult strategies.

Here are some key features of "Sword of the Stars":

· A return to the action-packed roots of the 4X genre with some new twists, including a 3D starmap and real-time combat resolution in a 3D environment!
· 4 races - Human, Hiver, Tarkas and Liir - each with technology advantages and disadvantages.
· Each race has a unique mode of transport between star systems, creating very different styles of play, depending on what race you choose to control.
· Slider bar controls and simplified interface to avoid the confusion of other games without sacrificing depth of gameplay.
· Over 150 distinct technologies to research on a dynamic tech tree that changes from game to game. While the core technology of the tree is consistent, certain offshoots are random from game to game. There is no perfect path up the tech tree to memorize and exploit, because the path keeps changing!
· New technology reflected in detailed ship models, weapons and combat effects. Over 40 weapons from six different weapon classes, in various size classes, from point defence, turrets, and massive spinal mounts!
· Players can design and build ships from three size classes - Destroyer, Cruiser, and Dreadnought - by mixing and matching ship sections (command, mission, and engines), then outfitting them with armour and weapons to suit their preference.
· Up to 8 players can play against the AI and one another over LAN or online.
· Choose from a variety of scenario campaigns to play alone or with friends, each adding more colour and depth to the Sword of the Stars universe.


What's New in This Release:

· AI now builds more defenses more selectively.
· Fixed minor frustum culling bug that would might models to disappear at the edges of the screen.
· Liir maneuvering increases.
· Changes to combat maneuvering to take more advantage of the vertical field.
· Boosting plague and AI research now carries additional risk.
· Rebel AI changes:
· Weapon arcs now shown in combat weapon overlay.
· Improved AI reasoning about when to auto-resolve combat peacfeully.
· Improved AI tech research strategies.
· AI now receives a 5x disposition bonus with an enemy who auto-resolves combat peacefully.
· Reviewed AI diplomatic reasoning and fixed a number of related small bugs.
· Improved initial AI-to-AI disposition.
· Modified AI exploration strategy to make better use of existing scouts by pushing fronts.
· Modified contested AI colonization to improve interaction with allies.
· AI will no longer surrender due to a large chunk of its empire being lost to a rebellion.
Rebel AI changes:
· Changed color.
· Added rebel AI conception splash screen.
· Rebel encounters with AI virus/slave technology will cripple some of its ships.
· New ship design names.
· Adjusted output rates.
· Player who caused the rebellion loses all progress on current AI research.
· Defense platforms are now subverted.
· No longer has to research translation technologies.
· All AI Command sections act as deep scans for the rebel AI players.
· Number of victim's colonies received on its first turn.
· Now receives an output bonus on its first turn.
· Now receives a savings bonus per system on its first turn.
· Ship construction cost reduced.
· Automatically colonizes any undefended systems its ships encounter.
· No longer causes combat on its first turn.
Combat auto-resolution changes:
· Added auto-resolve peaceful news event.
· Now simulates assault shuttle return runs and node missile tactics.
· Increased effectiveness versus an undefended colony.
· Tweaks to planet development effects.
· Increased waypoint-reached thresholds for ships in combat.
· Chat between players in the game lobby and those playing is now possible.
· Move line and ruler now display the name of the target that the mouse is over.
· Cloaked ships now show up on combat card if a deep scan ship is present.
· Escape key now exits credits.
· Fixed lingering line-break issues in text rendering.
· Fixed subtle logic bug in random distribution on planet stats.
· Fixed lingering logic issues with end-of-combat detection.
· Fixed rankings dialog hotkey toggle.
· Fixed AI targeting versus Liir engine sections.
· Fixed System Killer combat round is now locked to exactly four minutes.
· Fixed trade slider no longer moves when output rates are adjusted after a colony is developed.
· Fixed rare bug where AI would suddenly break all of its alliances.
· Fixed AI now considers these weapon techs: WEP_PDtech, WEP_VRFtech, SLD_*.
· Fixed rebel AI Command section conflicts resulting from trying to build cloaked and deep scan ships.
· Fixed Liir CR Antimatter, Antimatter Flicker, AM Improved Stutter, and Strike Force CNC turret arcs.
· Fixed rebel AI players are now naturally immune to climate hazard.
· Fixed rebel AI players are now naturally immune to bio weapons.
· Fixed bug where attackers would not lose locks on cloaked targets.
· Fixed intangibility is now turned off when ship retreats to the back line.
· Fixed issue with player color rendering with low-end shaders.
· Fixed build screen queue sometimes displaying the wrong ship design image.
· Fixed auto-resolve now simulates repeated firing of a siege cannon.
· Fixed auto-resolve bug where assault shuttles were not destroyed when the carrier's mission section was destroyed.
· Fixed known UI cases where text might not fit (mostly for localization).
· Fixed avoidance versus large asteroids in the asteroid random encounter.
· Fixed intangible ships will no longer attempt to drive into the planet.
· Fixed incorrect puppet master avoidance.
· Fixed occassional bug where Hiver defenders coming in through a gate would cause damage to the colony.
· Fixed planet scaling.
· Fixed known low end shader issues (including white star effects).
· Fixed combat AI not correctly detecting weapon fire in F/C situation.
· Fixed bug where planet would not lose missile lock on cloaked ships.
· Fixed gradual memory leak in combat network client code.
· Fixed Human DE Minelayer turret arcs.
· Fixed rare combat AI crash that could occur when guarding a deployed gate.
· Fixed issues with Hiver ships retreating through gate.
· Hardware audio option now defaults to off for new game installs.
· Fixed occassional audio crash.
· Fixed TTL values for all torpedoes.
· Fixed excessive collision damage to massive objects being hit by small objects.
· Fixed torpedoes colliding with each other when launched from different ships.
· Meson shield tech now unlocks shield ship sections.
· Fixed potential peaceful resolution crash.
· Fixed Tarkas DN Battle Bridge turret arc.
· Fixed Hiver DN Battle Bridge turret arc.
· Added AI missing warhead tech replacements.
· Fixed AI cloaked invasion fleets not launching.
· Fixed ships with spinal mounts not turning to face their targets.
· Fixed standoff weapon family priorities and set more intelligent standoff ranges.
· Fixed team chat.
· Fixed starmap path errors for fleets originating at an enemy colony.
· Added Polish language.
· Fixed AI special project premature acquisition bug.
· Fixed sensor screen display issues for ships subverted by the PM in combat.
· Fixed bug where random encounters might be autoresolved peacefully.
· Fixed bobblehead bug.
· Fixed asteroid monitor build bug.