The latest prerelease is available at
http://www.arcengames.com/share/AIWar1999F.zipThat version is an upgrade from version 1.301, so you have to already have 1.301 (or greater) installed. Just unzip it into your game folder (usually C:\Program Files\Arcen Games\AI War\ unless you specified something else). Please make sure that your unzip process keeps the folder structure from the zip file, rather than just unpacking all of the files into the base target directory.
What's new since 1999E:
(Cumulative release notes since 1.301 are attached at the bottom)
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-Shield Bearers have been renamed to Force Field Bearers, as this is more befitting to their revamped (as of 1.013 or so) abilities: mini force fields in place of their older superhigh shields. This also makes their short-name text now "FF Bearer" instead of "Shield," which is much less confusing for players who might think this refers to force fields, etc.
-The old Strong Vs and Weak Vs text was misinterpreted by the vast majority of players (who thought it was a bonus, when it is actually performance data). The notation and data shown for these categories has therefore been updated to be more clear. These are actually showing performance stats from after simulated encounters. It now shows the name of the ship, the % health remaining of the victor, and the time taken for the victorious ships to kill all of the losing ships in the simulation. This is NOT the time it takes a single ship of one type to kill a single ship of the other type, but it should be good enough as a rough guide to see which ship classes will kill the target class most quickly.
-When Complete Visibility is turned on, the "last scouted" time is always now 0 seconds ago, which gives complete intel summary info.
-All warheads have a new "blind" ability, which makes them unable to provide visibility into enemy systems. If non-blind local/allied ships are present, they will be able to function as normal, but this basically prevents armored missiles from being used as scouts on distant enemy planets without support.
-The cost of unlocking Mark III command stations has been dropped from 8,000 to 5,000 knowledge. Its metal and crystal production has been dropped from 48/sto 32/s. It's health has been increased from 99,999 to 599,999. The ship cap has been reduced from 8 to 6. They are also now immune to sniper shots.
-The metal and crystal output of Mark II command stations has been dropped from 32/s to 24/s. It's unlock cost has been dropped from 5,000 to 4,000 knowledge. It's health has been increased from 99,999 to 299,999. The ship cap has been reduced from 8 to 6.
-Mark II and III command stations are now mobile (but very, very slow), though they are of course unable to go through wormholes.
-Midsize ships and upwards that explode now throw off chunks of debris and embers. Before they explode, they also now start smoking when they are damaged down to 66% health, and smoking more heavily and shooting off embers when they are damaged down to 33% or more.
-There are now settings options under Graphics, Special Effects, for disabling explosion debris/embers, damaged ship smoke, and force field rotation.
-The game now has a local high scores list. Whenever a game is saved or closed, it updates itself. Only the highest Player Score Over Time is logged for an individual map seed (variants of that map seed, based on position, available ships, or other factors all count as the same). Each player profile has a separate high scores list, so changing the profile also changes the high scores list.
NEW ART - Philippe Chabot
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Updated Raider I
Updated Game Logo
Updated Game Icon
Explosion Embers
Explosion Damage Smoke
Explosion Debris
Flare
Update Electric Shuttle I, II
