#1 Post by Geoff the Medio » Fri Aug 02, 2013 2:20 pm

Download:

Key Changes:

Shields now reduce damage, and all new shield & armor content

Many fixes and improvements to the AI

Detailed combat log display

Numerous GUI tweaks and improvements

Galaxy Generation is now based on a editable random seed

New clouds and nebulae on empty systems and moving around the galaxy.

Change Log

FreeOrion v0.4.3 has been released.This is the version of FreeOrion you should choose if just want to play, and don't care about participating in game development or getting the latest development version with new features but potentially more bugs.FreeOrion is still very much in the middle of development. There are still major features to be added, and much work left to be done. However, we think the project has reached the point where most 4X players will get some enjoyment out of it, not only those interested in game development. Follow FreeOrion on Twitter if you want to receive related news, especially announcements of releases.since v0.4.2 February 2013.~ Fundamental change to ship shield mechanics: ship shields reduce the amount of damage suffered from a hit by a fixed value (determined by the shield strength stat), instead of providing additional structure that regenerates between battles~ Reworked supply block / fleet movement blockade mechanics~ ~ Supply blocks and fleet movement blockades have been harmonized to occur in the same situations~ ~ Non-stationary ships no longer create blockades / supply-blocks~ ~ Armed aggressive fleets arriving in a system and then remaining stationary will maintain any supply flow for their empire, and block it against enemies not already having armed aggressive fleets present.~ ~ If armed aggressive fleets for two enemy empires arrive at a system at the same time, supply maintenance takes precedence over supply blocks -- they will each maintain supply for for their empire, and not block supply for the other, for so long as both sides remain and survive.~ ~ An empire 'secures' use of a starlane as an exit from a system simply by having a fleet enter that system along that starlane. If no armed aggressive enemies were already present in the system, then passage through all exiting starlanes is secured for that empire so long as it maintains an armed aggressive fleet presence in that system.~ ~ Passage of an empire's fleets through 'unsecured' starlanes exiting a blockaded system is blocked until the blockade is completely broken, by defeating all armed aggressive enemy forces present (previously movement was only halted for one game turn); exit along a 'secured' starlane will be allowed after the fleet has halted for at least one turn in the system, even if the blockade is not broken.~ Raised max number of systems to 5000 in GUI.~ ~ Note FreeOrion is balanced for and performs best with a galaxy in the low 100s of systems. Higher numbers make a game increasingly unbalanced and make rendering performance and turn processing times worse.~ Many fixes and improvements to the AI~ Added a configurable random seed value for galaxy generation~ Made focus visible on detected planets a player doesn't control~ Detailed combat log display~ New Moderator player type in multiplayer mode~ ~ Sees the full universe like an observer.~ ~ Controls the length of turns.~ ~ Can create and destroy objects, add or remove starlanes, and set ownership of objects.~ ~ Can be used with no other human players and several AIs to have a more-controlled AI test arena than using observer mode.~ Made fields visible if any part of them is within detection range, rather than their centre.~ Major revision of shields/armor/weapons (due to the new shield mechanics)~ ~ Added new shield techs and parts~ ~ Added new armor techs and parts~ ~ Rearranged tech tree for armor and shield techs~ ~ ~ Changed starting techs: instead of basic shields players now get basic armor at the start of the game~ ~ Completely reworked/rebalanced shield, armor and weapon parts stats, tech and build costs~ ~ Adjusted space monsters accordingly~ ~ Adjusted a few basic pre-made/starting ship designs, discarded the rest~ ~ Adjusted affected species picks accordingly~ ~ Reduced Acirema ship shield bonus to +1~ Added molecular clouds that reduce ship shields, which spawn outside the galaxy and move in~ Added nebulae that spawn on no-star systems.~ Added more species write-ups~ Added terraforming reversion building~ Translation updates: Finnish, French, German, Italian, Polish, Spanish, Russian~ Tweaks/refinements for Evacuation building~ Concentration Camps now cause a lingering negative effect on population, of indefinite duration even if the camp is removed.~ Fixed Solar Orbital Generator building description~ Fixes to Psychogenic Domination and System Defense Mines techs~ Corrected description of requirements for the Static Multicellular hull~ Fixed Egassem species description~ Tech tree reorganization and various adjustments to techs~ To avoid confusion removed "can colonize" property from species that can't build ships~ Fixed weapon species picks:~ ~ Grant not only a specific refinement level, but also all preceding techs at the start of the game~ ~ Lowered weapon tech for ultimate weapons from Laser 4 to Laser 3, adjusted premade ship design "Mark IV" accordingly~ Replaced galaxy map toolbar button text with icons~ Added detection range circles opacity control to galaxy map options~ Added empire statistics to empires window~ Sitrep window will not pop up if the design, research or production screens are open~ Sitrep messages:~ ~ Added sitrep message when tame monsters mature~ ~ Added sitrep message upon total population loss from Concentration Camp~ ~ Added sitrep messages for mines~ ~ Added sitrep messages for Psychogenic Domination~ ~ Reordered sitrep order of presentation; is now customizable via content files~ Augmented census popup with tag/characteristic info~ Reorganization of species description text~ Planet and field icons in objects list~ On the ship design screen ship parts are now hidden for which improved/refined parts have become available that are superior in every aspect (so, Laser 2 hides Laser 1 etc.)~ Added "X" close buttons to objects list and pedia windows~ Added aggregate fleet stats icons at top of fleet window~ Moved focus drop box to top level of planet panel, out of the resources subpanel~ Overhauled research screen rendering~ ~ Rewrote rendering of tech panels.~ ~ Adding tooltips to tech panels with details that are now not shown on the panel itself.~ ~ Highlighted enqueued techs on tree.~ ~ Tech panel mouseover and selection indicators~ ~ Removed tech type buttons on tree filter~ ~ Added prerequisites and unlocked techs to tech descriptions in pedia~ ~ Removed tech navigator. Pedia entry for techs have equivalent links.~ ~ SHIFT + single click enqueues a tech~ ~ CTRL + double click enqueues a tech to top of queue~ Ship stats of a ship design displayed on the ship design screen now take into account effects groups acting on a ship~ Readjusted fleet window summary bar to show current stat rather than projected next turn values~ Modified pedia panel "up" button behavior to always be enabled and to always go directly to the index, regardless of what page the view is currently on~ Replaced pedia panel button text with arrow icons~ Tweaked multiplayer default empire names, species and colors selection~ Reduced required distance to moving ships for Collective Thought Network (from 500 to 200)~ Species balancing:~ ~ Having xenophobic species in an empire causes disruption (in form of maluses) for the colonies of the xenophobic species as well as for other colonies near them~ ~ Xenophobic species get the Concentration Camp tech at the start of the game~ ~ Reduced Etty detection range malus (from 20 to 9)~ Increased chance for no star systems~ Made Gas Giant Generator and Interstellar Lighthouse building bonuses non-stacking~ Fixed spawning of Acirema guard ships so as to not be triggered by (player owned) Acirema ships~ Fixed several issues with one click colonize/outpost buttons~ Fixed issue with empty fleets appearing in-game after their ships have been destroyed~ Various fixes/adjustments to Concentration Camps~ Fixed issue that sometimes stars were stacked on top of each other during galaxy generation~ Fixes for various issues with loading/saving games~ Restricted speed bonuses granted by Infrastructure Ecology tech and Interstellar Lighthouse building to ignore immobile ships~ Fixed stealth reducing effect of Interstellar Lighthouse building~ Fixed display of system name for systems that have no star but do have planets~ Fixed map hotkey issues~ Fixed issue that production progress stops for ships if their design is deleted~ Fixed non-working "Cancel Scrapping Ships" order for fleets~ Fixed issue where planets that lost population and converted to outposts retained their focus setting~ Fixed some crashes in research screen / tech tree~ Fixed detection range circle overlap artifacts at high detection ranges~ Fixed issues with fleet stat calculations~ Fixed sometimes inaccurate population projections on colonize button and planet suitability report~ Numerous other bug fixes