When we first covered G-Man's New Horizons Star Trek mod last year, the Stellaris total conversion boasted an impressive 38 pre-scripted races with canon starting positions, and five playable factions and their ships, among a host of other neat mechanics and features. It's now dropped its Alpha 0.9 update which lifts that number of races above 50, and adds a load of new ships and weapons to boot.

In preparation of its eventual Beta 0.1 stage, Alpha 0.9 also introduces new mechanics which allow players to customise their ships, spaceports and empires; while also adding re-designed edict and policy trees, an overhauled ground combat system, and larger star bases. Of the exhaustive list, this particular addition sounds great:

"More Espionage! As the federation grows stronger, the secret order of the Romulan Tal Shiar plans its downfall… a new espionage and sabotage mechanic has been developed, allowing the Romulans to do harm to their enemies from afar. Will you destroy their fleets? Or go after their infrastructure? Of course, the Tal Shiar are not the only organization… and the Obsidian Order is about to teach those pointy-ears how it’s done."

Here's YouTube person Lyellin2 putting the latest iteration of New Horizons through its paces:

Look out for more on New Horizons soon when we catch up with its creators. More information on the mod itself can be found this way.