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 3.176:(Cumulative release notes since 3.120 are here
http://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=AI_War_-_Current_Beta)
-------------------
* In the previous version the player handicap was defaulting to -10%, fixed to default to 0% again.
* There is now 3,000 knowledge that can be gathered per planet instead of 2,500.
* The dreadnought starship line, as well as flagships, zenith starships, and spire starships, have all been made more 1000 knowledge more expensive.
* Mark II fleet ships now only cost 2,500 knowledge to unlock instead of 3,000 knowledge.
* Mark III/IV fleet ships now cost 5,000 knowledge to unlock instead of 4,000 knowledge.
* Previously it was possible in rare cases for the CPA-like Waves option to result in the AI wave ships being spawned way, way, waaaaay out in the middle of nowhere. Added some preventative measures to wave positioning to ensure a certain minimal sanity of the initial position.
* Previously it was possible to add an item to a production queue that was not allowed by the technology of the constructor's owner (by multi-selecting that constructor with constructors owned by a player that did have the technology), fixed to check tech prereqs for each builder in the multi-select case.
* Further fixes to missing texture problem for Hybrids and Hybrid Facilities. Hopefully it will actually be fixed this time.
* Added Control Node: Engineers Do Not Auto-Assist Low Power Ships; it doesn't interfere with directly targeted repairs and can be useful in preventing your engineers from spending your entire economy on repairing a golem that's been damaged in battle.
* Previously it was possible to attempt to save a game with an invalid filename ("CON" is not a valid windows filename, it is a reserved device name), fixed to disallow this and to give the user a clear error message as to why.
* The ship cap on mark I force field generators has been increased from 5 to 9.
* Added a new "Home Human Settlement" unit that is only found on the starting human home planets.
o One of the last free civilian cities, filled with living humans. They aid your cause by producing a moderate amount of metal and crystal, but the AI Progress will go up by 5 if the city is destroyed.
* Added a new "Human Cryogenic Pod" unit that is only found on the starting human home planets.
o Due to overcrowding in the last human cities, a good portion of the remaining human population has to remain in cryogenic sleep. After the war is over they can be brought back to life, but for the meantime they contribute to the war effort through the excess solar energy produced as a byproduct of their freeze chambers.
o The AI Progress goes up by 1 if these are destroyed.
* The home planet for human players now includes thre major outposts, in order to keep the basic home outpost from getting too overwhelming and to make the home planet more interesting to defend.
o The first is the one that has been the classic setup for some time now: home command station, energy reactor mark II, mark I forcefield, two mark II engineers, one mark II scout, one science lab, and one space dock.
o The second is new, and consists of: a mark I force field, mark I energy reactor, ten each of metal and crystal manufactories, a starship constructor, a warhead silo, a mobile builder, and a mercenary space dock.
o The third is also new, and consists of: a mark I force field, mark III energy reactor, three home human settlements, and thirty human cryogenic pods.
* Previously, any ships of radius 256 or higher would not be translocatable. That only applied to things like golems and superfortresses, really. Now any ships of radius 120 or higher are not translocatable, so that applies to many starships, all the regular fortresses, etc.
