Greetings Explorers, Today marks the release of version 44.4, known as Early Access phase 4. The focus of this build was polish and improvements based on your feedback, so read on for the patch notes! We also have a progress update from the dev team, which you can read here: http://steamcommunity.com/games/298050/announcements/detail/939377342248576449

General

• Starting Age option added to match setup (Options: Pre-warp, Post-Warp and Advanced)
• Production speed and Population growth speed options added to Advanced section of match setup
• Savegames are now ordered by date
• Added new galaxy model to reduce brightness of the core
• Removed mouse drag in match setup
• Added new text to the GNN news ticker
• Added Host Migration timeout (15 seconds) to multiplayer and an error message to allow players to continue the game in single player mode
• Optimized batch rendering; Reduced vert counts drastically improving performance in lower end systems
• Fixed issue where Quick match AI players were not being properly loaded, resulting in only AI present regardless of Galaxy size
• UI tweaks for both tactical and ship design tooltips
• Added graphical indicator for non-assimilated pop in colony management
• Minor Civilizations have been removed from the game temporarily

Linux

• Fixed an issue in Ubuntu that prevented the user changing resolution when in windowed mode.
• Fixed an issue with Ubuntu that prevented users to switch to full screen (this is a partial fix as Full screen is only working at the monitor's native resolution).

Gameplay & Balance

• Colony ship, Troop Transport, Civilian Transport and Space Factory blueprints are now auto-upgraded.
• Moved one of the Technological Victory buildings from Moleculartronics to Multi-Dimensional Physics technode
• Re-balanced planet composition (improved algorithm for diminishing returns)
• Silicoid Population growth speed reduced
• Uber-planets have been adjusted to play more like the Gaia biome
• Races with Uber-planet perk now start the game in a planet with the Biome they can Uber-terraform
• Additional wormholes added to Circular Large and Circular Huge galaxies
• Troop Transports no longer remove marines from the colony
• Increased minimum number of shares desired by races for better balance of the GMF

Diplomacy

• Diplomacy balance update to improve strategic decision-making of AI
• Made it less likely that the AI will reject reasonable deal proposals
• Tech trades: Made it less likely that the AI will also offer credits as part of trade
• Improved analysis for Candidate Ally selection (both Defensive & Offensive)
• Tech trades will only be offered by races with which you have a good disposition

Espionage

• Acquire Data mission now reveals all current colonies of target
• New mission: Steal Charts
• New functionally allows queuing future missions
• Added queue info to spy mission description
• Overall missions duration adjusted
• Revolt mission effect now last 20 turns
• The camera no longer automatically changes zoom level or centers on a spy when selecting them
• A "spy location" button has been added to the Espionage window allowing you to quickly switch the camera to the colony the spy is located at

Artificial Intelligence

• Improved efficiency for Production
• Improved offensive and defensive strategies
• Improved planetary ratings and potential colonization awareness
• Improved Engage command to allow for multiple actions in the same turn (i.e. Engage and Bombard)
• Defensive fleets now take into account immediate hostiles and empire under threat scenarios
• Uses radars to determine settlement orbital defenses if possible
• Added Blockade and EngageToBlockade targets
• Changed engage distance for bombarding pirate settlements from Distant to Neighbors

User Interface

• New multiplayer top bar added
• Improved Match Setup screen
• Improved Ship Design Screen
• Race information panel added to Audience screen
• Improved Espionage screen
• Improved Invest pop-up
• Fixed Build pop-up alignment and added minor improvements
• Establish Embassy deal renamed to Accept Embassy

Tactical

• Range Dissipation and Armor Penetration now affect Weapon Damage
• Increased the size of battlefields
• Fixed multiple bugs and Improved Overall performance
• Fixed several modifier bugs and reworked the Continuous Fire mod
• Added a simple Tactical Tutorial
• Implemented AI Groundwork for Opening Moves and added new Targeting Profiles
• Fixes and tweaks on tactical intro
• Ships no longer attempt flanking maneuver against structures
• Reduced size of Pirate Ship collision box by 50%
• Fix for collision check parameters for asteroids and added a safeguard condition to choose which behavior to use
• Added a base accuracy for energy weapons
• Re-balanced DPS and Ship Survivability

Ship Design

• Tooltip upgrade showing HULL SPACE USED.
• Fix for creating new ships, now the screen handles the info properly
• Fix for attack rating scale factor
• Fixed typos and made improvements in weapon and module descriptions

Localization

• Several fixes on dialogues and descriptions

Sounds Effects

• Meklar Emperor SFX added
• Emperors' audience SFX added
• Audio notifications for Spies added
• More audience sounds added and updated for all races

Notable Bug Fixes

• Fixed exception caused by selecting Build on a Worker Ship when is about to merge with another ship.
• Fixed softlock when ordering a Spy to Hold.
• Fixed a softlock in the tutorial after switching planets with the keyboard arrows.
• Fixed the Buy button not always working properly.
• Fixed freeze when trying to use the "Stasis Field" special (special not yet implemented)
• Fixed the battle with the Orion Guardian lasting forever when simulating certain scenarios.
• Fixed the emperor's voice not stopping when skipping the Council
• Fixed bug in Tech tree that caused some Tech Nodes to appear as locked when they were in fact available
• Fix for tactical weapon tooltips and combat speed tooltips from enemy ships
• Optimization fixes to Navigation Caches and AI_CanTravelTo/Fleet's FindPath
• Fix for items missing when upgrading blueprints
• Fixed incorrect Pollution perks descriptions
• Fix for a blueprint sometimes becoming overweight after autoupgrading
• Fixed two AI asking for Share Charts at the same time
• Fix for diplomatic deals spamming when the first one is invalid
• Fixed update for blueprints not showing when discovering a new computer
• Crash on early game when reaching unknown civilizations
• Fixed biological bombs so they don't affect Attack Rating