Hello explorers!



We are very happy to announce the start of Phase 6 of Master of Orion’s Early Access Program.



This new version packs a lot of improvements under the hood so I will try to do my best to explain them as always.





UX

We are finally adding some much needed improvements to the UX. Specially regarding to important feedback (critical notifications, starving citizens, tooltips, etc.). We still have to do a final pass on a lot of toolips in the game, but there’s been significant progress.

We also did some minor adjustments to all the buttons in the game, they are now sharper and clearer (and more readable when appearing over very clear backgrounds). We hope you like their new look.

Balance and pacing

Most of you seem to appreciate the new population growth rhythm as it demands more strategic thinking and planning. Following this model, we are now introducing some further adjustments.

Now, population growth also depends on planet size, making small planets more interesting for early colonization. We also slowed down population growth when the planets are reaching its population cap, to make those cloning centers more important.

Finally, we added game pace configuration to the match setup. We’ve set the default experience to Classic for now. Please also try the Quick option as we are thinking of making that option the default one for Release since we want to reach a broader audience.

AI

During the past month, the AI has learned some important new tricks:

It’s much better at building Starbases thus having bigger fleets

It’s much better at invading

It knows when to build civilian transports to populate new colonies

It attacks and defends more efficiently

AI is better at deciding when to retreat from tactical combat

On the strategic/diplomatic side, the AI is now capable of selecting victory conditions dynamically depending on racial personalities and the overall situation of the match.

We also fixed several issues with the audience system so the AI is now triggering animations, dialogue lines that where not being triggered before.

Tactical Battles



Tactical balance weapon systems went through a major re-balance. We improved the way that the ships move and how they engage each other resulting in more dynamic and interesting battles. We also improved the abstract representation (when you see the battle from a distance) and the readability of the health bars.



The following is a list of the most important changes in tactical battles



Tactical UX improvements:

Improved GUI

Improved camera transition (now shows your fleet regardless of starting position).

New "Abstract" (Fully Zoomed Out) Representations for ships.

Camera no longer resets to abstract view on Pause.

Cleaned Hull/Shield Bar Legibility up.

Tactical mechanics & AI:

Improved ship movement.

Improved engagement behaviors for fast ships.

Generally improved Opening Moves.

Fixed several issues with the Pulsar.

Fixed Issues with Point Defense efficiency.

Ship design Improvements:

Each AI Race now has Unique Ship Blueprints for auto design (Player Blueprints remain "neutral" .

Tactical Balance:

Minimum Damage per Impact is now 1 (Shields can no longer nullify all damage).

Reworked Beams (Now much more effective at Long Range).

Nerfed the Dauntless Guidance System (Now has limited retargeting attempts and missiles fizzle if the ship firing them dies).

Greatly Reduced FTL Jump Tech startup animation (Subspace Teleporter and Displacement Device).

Rebalanced Automated Repair Unit (Now Cost, Size and Effect properly scale with Hull).

Shield Capacitor effect now scales with Hull Size.

Reinforced Hull no longer incorrectly scales with Armor (Always provides Bonus HP equal to 50% Base Hull)

Rescaled Armor and Shield Cost (Now are increasingly less HP/Cost Effective as Tech Level Increases).

Battle Pods now use 20 Space (Still provide +50% Space, mostly affects Frigates).

Ship Deployment now splits squadrons evenly.

Reduced Missile Miss Chance inside Nebulas to 50% (Was 100%)

Starbases are now tougher but deal less damage. Military Outposts now have Longer Range and deal more damage.

Finally, and by popular demand, we added real time rendered cuts-cenes to Military, Economic and technological victories (for every race!) Let’s see who gets to see them all!



We believe that EA6 is a good step forward for the game.

For those of you who want the detailed info you can take a look into the patch notes: http://forum.mastero...tch-notes-v464/

As always, we can’t wait to get your feedback!



Best,



- Chilko and the MoO development team