The latest beta is available via the Updates window in version 3.060 or greater of the game. Just open the game and you can quickly download the prerelease through the updates tab. If you don't yet have 3.060 or greater, you can download 3.060
here. This prerelease version is compatible with any vendor's version of the game -- Steam, Impulse, whatever.
Note: If you have bug reports related to this release,
please log them in the
bug reports subforum with one bug per topic. It makes things infinitely easier for us. Thanks!
Looking for a Patch That Can Be Manually-Installed?Because of the time involved in creating multiple versions of each patch, we only create manually-installable patches for official versions of the game, not each beta prerelease. But you can easily create your own manually-installable beta patch! Please note that current betas can only be successfully applied to version
3.060 of the game or later (if you later wish to revert to the official version for any reason, you can download the full raw files from the above link to do so).
To create your own manual beta patch, simply download these two files:
1.
Current Beta Director Xml File.
2.
Current Beta Zip File.
If you try to open that zip file, it will say it's corrupt -- that's okay, it's not really a zip file. Finally, create a new zip file on your computer, and put both the director and the fake-zip-file inside it. Call your outer zip file something that starts with Beta and ends with an extension of .zip. Beta.zip will work just fine, or you can name it after the specific version number if you want to hang onto it. And that's it! Now you have your very own manually-installable package of the AI War beta version of your choice, which you can install by simply selecting via your Updates window in the game. Please note that "Beta" in the filename is case-sensitive.
What's new since 3.173:(Cumulative release notes since 3.120 are here
http://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=AI_War_-_Current_Beta)
-------------------
* Fixed a bug where Zenith SpaceTime Manipulators previously did not have a proper metal/crystal/energy cost set.
* Fixed a bug with 3.173, that was causing the new expansion to be installed into the wrong folder.
* Fixed a bug with 3.173 where the Hybrid Hive ship graphics were missing.
* Previously loading a game where the total AI Progress was over a tech threshold but combined with the negative modifier would be under the tech threshold would result in it acting like it was above the threshold. Fixed to properly factor the negative modifier.
* Previously, the addition of new expansions that a player did not have enabled in the lobby at a given time would still affect the seeding of the ship types placed on the possible starting planets in the lobby. This has been changed so that new expansions won't affect the random seeding in this fashion when they are turned off.
o This may change the seeded values for some prior maps that were incorrect if players had only the base game and not the first expansion, for example.
* Previously, not all cloaked ships were guaranteed to be turned off when cloaking was disabled, though most were. The code for this has been changed around a lot now to make it more automatic that all cloaking ship classes are definitely turned off when the lobby option for that is selected. Same goes for things such as tractor beams, etc.
* Neinzul Youngling ships are no longer used on AI planets as reinforcements. They are only used offensively in waves, and during attacks, etc, because of their short lifespan.
* A new Neinzul Regeneration Chamber has been added for players.
o Stationary structure with the capacity to contain 500 Neinzul Youngling ships inside itself. The player cannot manually load the regeneration chamber, but Neinzul Younglings will automatically seek shelter inside the Regeneration Chamber when their health drops below 30% if they have no other orders. While inside, Neinzul ships are regenerated at the inverse of their normal self-attrition rate, and then are automatically ejected when their health is fully restored.
Updates in 3.175: * Previously, both eyebots and commandos were being selected like scouts because they have the scout ability. Now they are instead selected like regular mobile military ships.
* A new Neinzul Youngling Vulture I-V has been added for the expansion:
o This low-powered ship does damage equal to (full damage * ( (101 - target health percentage) * 10 ) ). This makes it very effective at finishing off high-health targets when mixed into a regular fleet, but it's barely able to hurt enemy ships that aren't wounded.
* Because they are so short-lived and so inexpensive to build, all Neinzul Younglings are now worth 10x less in terms of build and kill score.
* All Neinzul Younglings now have health has been tweaked downward a bit, to make them easier to one-shot kill. They also now take more damage from all incoming shots.
o These changes put more emphasis on using them in a disposable, repeated-construction fashion (given their low cost and the new mobile space docks, this makes sense).
* A new Neinzul Youngling Weasel I-V has been added for the expansion:
o This inexpensive, low-powered ship attracts all incoming missiles to itself from the nearby area.
* Neinzul Regeneration Chambers now work 10x more quickly than before.
* When Neinzul Youngling ships are included in waves, 10x more of them are now included than normal.
* Ships that have a negative regen rate now show up as having a Self Attrition ability to make it clear what is happening. Before, nothing was being shown at all.
