V3.5

V 3.5 Update

Retribution Expansion

New features

• New Artifact Powers. Artifacts are scattered across planets in the galaxy. You research them similar to how you'd build an improvement. Researching creates "charges" that can be used to do a variety of large scale effects.
• Hypergates / Hyperlanes: Building Hypergates allow you to build Hypergates or superhighways through the stars. Ships move substantially faster while traveling on Hyperlanes.
• Supply Ships can send production between planets in your empire
• Technology tree has been overhauled to adds depth and sharpens your strategic choice.
• Two new factions (Drath and Korath)
• New Retribution Campaign

Gameplay Changes

• Nano-Fabricator provides adjacency bonuses.
• Most improvements are now destructible.
• Fusion Power plant removed (redundant)
• Technology Capital cost reduced from 500 to 200
• New Wonder: Dimensional Observatory (increases Hyperlane speed)
• Aid Economy cost reduced from 200 to 75, benefit reduced from 50 to 25. Now available at the start of the game.
• Supply Depot added. Improves early game morale.
• Added ability to repeat Durational projects in the planet window.
• Updated Improvement graphics
• Military Academy is a player wonder (only 1 world can train your legions, was being abused by AI).
• Big boosts to influence based improvements
• Civilization Capital raw production bonus reduced from 2 to 1
• Civilization Capital influence increased from 4 to 10
• Civilization Capital population cap increased from 5 to 8
• Civilization Capital sensor power increased from 12 to 16
• Civilization Capital no longer provides free tourism
• Space Elevators now requires Space Elevators tech
• New Improvement: Colonization Center. Early game player achievement.
• Xeno Medical Center and other related improvements now provide a % population growth increase rather than a flat one.
• Default population growth is 0.01 per turn instead of 0.1
• Supply Module given a manufacturing cost (100) and mass. Requires Space Elevators
• Advanced Resource Mining moved from Age of Ascension to Age of War
• Space Lab tech cost reduced from 200 to 120
• First level techs increased from 24 cost to 36 cost
• Removed Xeno Irrigation tech
• New Techs:
  • Deep Field Inspection
  • Subatomic Organization
  • Beam Weapon Miniaturization
  • Warhead Miniaturization
  • Hyperfield Mass Launchers
  • Energy Defense Miniaturization
  • Counter-Targeting Computers
  • Armor Materials Science
  • Ministry of Alien Affairs
  • Department of Colonization
  • Spatial Manipulation
  • Space Elevators
• Galactic Council influence per turn increased from 1 to 25
• Changed the base repair rate for ships, starbases, and shipyards to 1/turn
• Prolific trait reduced from +0.2 flat growth increased to +50% growth increase
• Added the Arnorian Relic Study starbase module
• Added the Precursor Observatory starbase module
• Fixed an error in the text string for the ancient Ability trait
• Drengin: now have Militant 1 and Brutal 1 instead of Influential 1 and Brutal 2
• Iridium: now have Handy 2 and Adventuresome 2 instead of Influential 1
• Onyx Hive: now have Adventuresome 2 instead of Influential 1
• Personality traits on some factions have been adjusted
• Fix for refreshing the stats of colonies when transferring a citizen to your home planet.
• Strategic Command improves military production on the planet by 50%
• General pass on ship design templates for AI and player to make for better designs.
• Carrier modules cost more.
• Show the planet class in the unit transfer screen
• Drengin given Influential trait
• Altarians lose Peaceful trait, given Aggressive trait
• Iridium Corporation loses Handy trait and Adventuresome trait, given Cultural and Influential traits
• Onyx loses Opportunistic trait and given Cultural trait
• Onyx loses Adventuresome trait, given Influential trait
• Arceans lose Trader and Diplomatic traits (because they're neither)
• Map Sizes increased:
• Thrusters cost increased from 7 to 30 while space used reduced from 8 to 1
• Ion Thruster cost increased from 12 to 40 wile space reduced from 9 to 1
• Field Thruster cost increased from 16 to 50 while space reduced from 10 to 1
• Inertial Accelerator cost increased from 48 to 60 while space reduced from 12 to 1
• Deflectors beam defense increased from 2 to 4
• Shield beam defense increased from 3 to 6
• Barrier beam defense increased from 5 to 8
• Force field defense increased from 6 to 10
• Invulnerability beam defense increased from 8 to 12
• Armor and Point defenses get similar buffs
• Generals now available with Militarization Tech

Base game

Gameplay

• Recommended memory requirements for map sizes reduced based on memory savings.
• AI manages tax rate with more focus on how it affects approval
• AI uses tiny hulled ships to build defenders to help dissuade easy conquest.
• Fixed bug that was preventing AI from stationing garrisons.
• Cruel AI personalities are more focused on weapon tech
• AI is more conscious of existing enemies before declaring war on more.
• Going to war with most favorit-ish civ penalty changed from a 25% penalty to a flat 0.1 to goods and services.
• Exterminators can now colonize toxic worlds
• Changed it so that the bonuses will show a decimal place if the decimal value is greater than zero. E.g., +2.5% shows up as +2.5% but 5% does NOT show up as 5.0%.
• "Defiant Civilizations" list in the UP details now scrolls correctly
• Lighting update for battle viewer.
• Added Commonwealth race trait that gives +5 diplomacy bonus to the Commonwealth
• Updated the description for Corrosive worlds.
• Fixed the icon of corrosive worlds in the base game.
• AI is more likely to build transports
• Shipyard size reduced slightly
• AI is more aggressive towards shipyards and starbases
• Added a defeat message when another player achieves an ascension victory.
• Carrier modules use a bit more space.
• Shipyards and Starbase base HP increased from 50 to 100.
• Hull Changes
  • Tiny hull: Reduced manufacturing cost from 40 to 25
  • Small hull: Reduced manufacturing cost from 60 to 40
  • Medium hull: Reduced hp from 60 to 30, increased mass cap from 64 to 72
  • Large hull: Reduced hp from 100 to 80, increased the mass cap from 128 to 144, decreased tactical speed from -10% to -20%, decreased acceleration from -10% to -40%
  • Huge Hull: Increased manufacturing cost from 600 to 800, increased mass cap from 256 to 300, increased logistics cost from 18 to 24, decreased tactical speed from -20% to -50%, decreased acceleration from -20% to -80%
  • Cargo hull: decreased manufacturing cost from 24 to 16, removed maintenance, reduced hp from 10 to 3, increased tactical speed from -90% to -50%, increased acceleration from -80% to -20%
  • Starbase hull: increased hp from 50 to 250
• Starbase Module changes
  • Starbase Defense Systems: Removed Durantium, Elerium, and Antimatter cost
  • Advanced Starbase Defense Systems: Reduced Durantium cost from 2 to 1, removed Elerium cost, removed antimatter cost
  • Omega Starbase Defense System: increased Durantium cost from 3 to 5, removed Elerium cost, removed antimatter cost
  • Economic Ring starbase module: removed maintenance
  • Starbase factory: tech prereq moved from Xeno Manufacturing to Orbital Manufacturing
  • Cultural Forum starbase module: tech prereq moved from Translator tech to Cultural Exchange
  • Information HUb starbase module: cost reduced from 200 to 100
  • Interstellar Exchange starbase module: cost reduced from 300 to 100, Promethion cost reduced from 4 to 3
  • Interstellar Embassy starbase module: cost reduced from 400 to 100, Promethion cost reduced from 8 to 4
  • Interstellar Ministry starbase module: cost reduced from 500 to 100, Promethion cost reduced from 10 to 5
  • Added the Indoctrination Center starbase module
  • Added the Hive Mind Starbase module
  • Added maintenance cost to all the mining starbase modules
  • Removed Maintenance from all Starbase modules except rings.

UI

• Starbase resource mining display now has a 0.n precision.
• Removing"jitter" when basic UI controls unhide
• Changed setup label from Galaxy Type to Galaxy Setting
• You can now search for techs based on their searching for its flavor text name
• Increased size of offer text in the Conversation window
• Added Military stat to the Colony summary list screen.
• Asteroid context window now shows hotkey to build a mining base
• Taxes changed to "Tax rate"

Bugs

• Carrier fighters are not accounted for in displaying ship battle stats outside of battle
• Fixed starting event that gives you a scout when it's not supposed to
• Fixed a common MP desync on starting a new MP game during map generation.
• Fix for missing translation for Subspace Resonator B improvement.
• Fixed crash related by spawning a new planet.
• Fixing a couple of potential crashes from the AI getting awarded a starbase when it doesn't have a place to put it.
• Prevent two planets being generated on the same tile. Gets awkward real fast. Fix for random crash using a destroyed object
• Fixed a MP desync where diplomacy wasn't be calculated the same for all players.
• MP crash fix (peer was looking for non-existent colony)
• Fixed the bug that was allowing players to build multiple wonders. Hopefully, this bug is now dead forever.
• Fixed the Neutral option of the Precursor Artifact starting event
• Fixed error descriptions after game within a game (cannot build a starbase within %d bug)
• Fix for MP shipyard crash
• Deleting a starbase in scenario mode in the map editor no longer does bad things
• Update arrows on the Headers in the Ship Design window.
• Show the updated turns for the overflow from shipyard overflows
• Changed Specialty ships to default to being unfiltered, not just when there are no favored ships
• Improvement tool tip precision increased to show tiny population growth changes.
• Fixed a typo on the Relic starting frequency dropdown (Precusor >> Precursor)
• Added Divide by 0 check for production, preventing a crash

Crusade Expansion

• Changed the base repair rate for ships, starbases, and shipyards to 1/turn
• Prolific trait reduced from +0.2 flat growth increased to +50% growth increase
• Added the Arnorian Relic Study starbase module
• Added the Precursor Observatory starbase module
• Fixed an error in the text string for the ancient Ability trait
• Drengin: now have Militant 1 and Brutal 1 instead of Influential 1 and Brutal 2
• Iridium: now have Handy 2 and Adventuresome 2 instead of Influential 1
• Onyx Hive: now have Adventuresome 2 instead of Influential 1
• Personality traits on some factions have been adjusted
• Fix for refreshing the stats of colonies when transferring a citizen to your home planet.
• Strategic Command improves military production on the planet by 50%
• General pass on ship design templates for AI and player to make for better designs.
• Carrier modules cost more.
• Show the planet class in the unit transfer screen
• Drengin given Influential trait
• Altarians lose Peaceful trait, given Aggressive trait
• Iridium Corporation loses Handy trait and Adventuresome trait, given Cultural and Influential traits
• Onyx loses Opportunistic trait and given Cultural trait
• Onyx loses Adventuresome trait, given Influential trait
• Arceans lose Trader and Diplomatic traits (because they're neither)
• Map Sizes increased:
  • Tiny: 28 to 32
  • Small: 40 to 50
  • Medium: 50 to 64
  • Large: 70 to 72
• Thrusters cost increased from 7 to 30 while space used reduced from 8 to 1
• Ion Thruster cost increased from 12 to 40 wile space reduced from 9 to 1
• Field Thruster cost increased from 16 to 50 while space reduced from 10 to 1
• Inertial Accelerator cost increased from 48 to 60 while space reduced from 12 to 1
• Deflectors beam defense increased from 2 to 4
• Shield beam defense increased from 3 to 6
• Barrier beam defense increased from 5 to 8
• Force field defense increased from 6 to 10
• Invulnerability beam defense increased from 8 to 12
• Armor and Point defenses get similar buffs
• Generals now available with Militarization Tech

Hot Patch

• Mods now load properly.
• Fixed an issue keeping players from researching the "Hyperfield Projection" tree
• Ancient factions can now research "Inherent Talent"
• Ancient factions can now research the "Precursor Tradition" tree
• Devout factions can now research "The Path" tree
• Intuitive factions can now research the "Xeno Anthropology" tree
• Scavenger factions can now research the "Recovery" tree
• Vigilant factions can now research the "Stellar Forge" tree
• Knowledgeable factions can now research the "Gravitonics" tree
• Removed non-working Durantium costs on hull sizes (no actual impact since they weren't working anyway)
• Re-assigned some ship classes to have the appropriate strategic icon (bombers now have bomber icons) which will sort them into their right category for the ship style set builder.
• Fixing a bug where repeatedly saving and loading games within a single game session would increase the save game sizes. Fix is not retroactive.
• Fix for custom citizen images and flavor text not showing up.
• Changed Tourism adjacency on the Consulate bonus to 200% from 2%.
• Removed references to the "Trade Capital" in the tech tree because the improvement was removed from the game.
• Fixed issues that prevented Synthetics from accessing advanced Trading techs
• Nebula movement penalty costs work properly again
• Train Celebrities now requires Cultural Beacon, not Diplomatic Corp
• Added alternate trigger to end mission 1 the Korath colonize Yiven III.
• You can no longer place Bazaars in the map editor if you don't own Mercenaries Expansion Pack
• Fixed typos in the campaign
• Fixed a couple of MP crashes
• Synthetic, and Silicon-based life forms no longer get the Disease event because machines don't get sick. They just get angry.

Other Resources

V3.5 Forum Post