Return of the Shakturi Public Beta Update v1.501 Beta 1 Now Available

[Erik Rutins]

Hi Everyone,

The first public beta update is now available. Please note that this is not an official update. We are still testing it, but it looks good and will likely become official next week.

You can download the public beta update here:

http://www.matrixgames.com/products/latestdownloads.asp

v1.501 Beta 1 – December 23, 2010

• First Public Beta Update

• Bug Fixes
◦ Fixed crash where deleted default designs broke Action buttons when selecting uninhabited planets and moons (e.g. designs for resort base, monitoring station, etc)
◦ Fixed crash when view design of pirate ship or base (via Trace Scanner component)
◦ Fixed crash when view components for some resources in Expansion Planner screen (e.g. Iridium)
◦ Fixed crash when viewing galactic storms while zoomed in to system level
◦ Fixed bug where construction ships sometimes would not retrofit
◦ When take ownership of base or carrier, now also take ownership of fighters at base or carrier
◦ Fixed crash when no colony ship design and 'build and send colony ship' in Expansion Planner screen
◦ Fixed rare crash when planets/moons/asteroids had been added/removed from the galaxy
◦ Fixed resource transporting so that mining stations properly have excess resources taken to nearest space port
◦ Fixed 'Load Troops' Action button for individual military ships

• Modding Support
◦ Added new racial biases text file for controlling natural biases between races (biases.txt)
◦ Default in-game racial biases now applied when no biases file (biases.txt) present in a theme
◦ Fix to allow more than 22 race images in custom themes
◦ Prevent unplayable races from showing up in Start New Game screen or Quick Start screen after change themes

• Game Editor
◦ Fixed crash that occurred after adding new stars or systems in game editor
◦ Added following new options when editing planet/moon/asteroid in game editor:
▪ Toggle planetary rings on/off (for non gas-giant planets)
▪ Add/remove resources
▪ Edit planet quality
▪ Edit planet scenery bonus and description
▪ Edit planet/star research bonuses

• Empire Policy
◦ Prevent military ships of another empire from refueling at your colonies and bases unless have Free Trade Agreement or better (Empire Policy setting)

• Interface Improvements
◦ Added mass-fighter upgrade button for each carrier (Action buttons)
◦ Added mass fighter upgrade for entire empire (Empire Policy setting)
◦ Added separators for thousands in numbers (money values) in Trade screen, Diplomacy screen, Build Order screen and Advisor messages
◦ Added list of new techs that triggered mass-retrofit to advisor pop-up (so that can better determine whether to retrofit)
◦ Adjusted Selection Panel layout so that info does not 'fall off' bottom when colonies selected
◦ Excluded non-playable races from displaying in victory conditions screen (Ancient Guardians and Shakturi do not count towards victory conditions)
◦ No longer prepopulate build amounts in Build Order screen (from advisor suggestions) if Ship Building automation is set to manual
◦ Build Order advisor recommendations now limited by empire cashflow and cash on hand

• Game Balance Improvements
◦ Reduced flee/escape distance until begin warp jump (escaping ships jump sooner)
◦ Increased military ship-building levels for AI empires
◦ Ancient Guardians better defend their home colony with troops
◦ Ensure Ancient Guardians generate intelligence agents
◦ Ensure some intelligence agents always assigned to counter-intelligence for AI empires

• Performance Improvements
◦ Ship movement in galaxy map much smoother on multi-core machines

[ASHBERY76]

Good stuff.

[Igard]

Thank you. This was fast! [:)]

[alexalexuk]

Great! Thanks!!

[elmo3]

Looks great.  Is this compatible with existing games?

[TheLastRonin]

This looks like a very promising update Erik... You guys really set the bar high with your support for your customers and I'd like to thank you for that!

Now you guys have a good Christmas, ya hear? You earned it several times over [:)].

[WoodMan]

Thanks for the quick update!  Again, I commend Matrix/Codeforce for their fantastic community support.  Cheers!

[Spacecadet]

ORIGINAL: elmo3

Looks great.  Is this compatible with existing games?

Should be, but some additions (Policy refueling) probably won't work as it needs a new game.

[lancer]

G'day,

Appreciate the update, particularly just before Xmas.

Take a breather. Have a beer - on us.

Cheers,

Lancer

[PaulP]

Nice, great work. That list is like the answer to every annoyance I had with the game. Edit mode improvements, fixed the military ship refueling thing, fixes to the resource distribution, a button to auto upgrade all fighters, and even a separator for currency so I can quickly see the number without counting zeros.
 
Now all we need is the ability to edit the research tree [:D]

[TheLastRonin]

The edit mode improvements mean we essentially now have a map and scenario creator in-game that if someone is patient enough with can remodel how an entire galaxy looks [X(].

[tofudog]

Thank you Santa Rutins and Crew!!

[wozza]

ORIGINAL: Igard

Thank you. This was fast! [:)]

You would never get that type of fast service from the big publishers. It would at least take them a month to bring out a patch.

[caerr]

I played all night last night and the ship movement seems to be a lot smoother now, which results in directly better game experience. [:)]

[Elrohir525]

I'm really loving the expansion and the new patch!  Thank you to Erik and everyone at Matrix and Codeforce for all your hard work, especially over the holiday season.  Happy New Year everyone! 

[Starfry]

Has anyone notice that AI spying seems anemic in this version? I have spying set to suggest only and yet I have yet to see a spy mission suggested or got any enemy spies caught by my human empire.

[ehsumrell1]

ORIGINAL: Starfry

Has anyone notice that AI spying seems anemic in this version? I have spying set to suggest only and yet I have yet to see a spy mission suggested or got any enemy spies caught by my human empire.

I have my game AI set at restless and I have both caught spies and had a few of
my spies (with 300~330 rating) detected and captured! The spy system works IMO.

[tornnight]

I have noticed a reduction as well. I usually have all but 1 agent out in the field via suggestions. This time I have only 2 out of 8 in the field.
 
There is an empire policy regarding this but I don't know if it changed.

[Haree78]

Yeah check your Empire policy on intelligence missions also I find that early game there isn't quite so many threats as later on when the suggestions come in thick and fast for me.

[cmdrnarrain]

What is the status on the public release of this update?