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 3.188:(Cumulative release notes since 3.120 are here
http://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=AI_War_-_Current_Beta)
-------------------
* Fixed omission preventing Siege Starship from being able to hit: warheads, Avengers, Superfortresses, astro trains, enclave starships.
* Improved auto-gather logic to avoid science ships bouncing around.
* The following modules now use a new shot-movement mechanic to fire their multiple-shot bursts in a brief sequence rather than all at once, to give more of the desired visual effect (gameplay impact should be minimal) :
o Riot machine gun modules now fire 12 shots per salvo with a reload time of 4 seconds, instead of 3-shot salvos with a 1-second reload.
o Riot laser modules now fire 8 shots per salvo per 8 seconds instead of 4 shots per salvo per 4 seconds.
o Hybrid machine gun modules (I-IV) changed from firing 2/3/4/5 shots per 1-second reload to 10/15/20/25 shots per 5-second reload.
o Hybrid laser cannon modules (I-IV) changed from firing 1/2/2/3 shots per 4-second reload to 2/3/4/5 shots per 8-second reload.
* Fixed bug where roaming enclaves and preservation wardens would sometimes be given orders by generic minor faction logic.
* Roaming Enclaves, Preservation Wardens, Neinzul Clusters, Neinzul Privacy Clusters, and Neinzul Nests will now generate mixed waves of their respective youngling types, rather than each squadron being homogenous.
* Fixed bug where enclave starships (the normal ones, preservation wardens, and roaming enclaves) were not being considered starships in many cases.
* Roaming Enclaves:
o Speed from 16 to 24.
o Range from 3500 to 5000. Also applies to preservation wardens.
o Health from 4,000,000 to 8,000,000.
o Ship production rate doubled.
o Total ship capacity doubled.
o Will no longer launch squadrons while on a planet adjacent to a target planet, but will instead personally go to the target before releasing.
o Will now build up more ships before making aggressive moves.
o Will now start retreating at 75% health instead of 50%.
* Neinzul Clusters and Privacy Clusters from firing 50k/100k/150k/200k/250k shots every 2 seconds to firing 25k/50k/75k/100k/125k shots every 5 seconds. For reference, a mass driver fires a 900k shot every 10 seconds (but can't hit fleet ships, etc).
* Neinzul Bomber Clusters changed the same way as normal clusters except new damage is 30k/60k/90k/120k/150k.
* Neinzul Viral Clusters changed from 8k/16k/24k/32k/40k every 2 seconds to 4k/8k/12k/16k/20k every 5 seconds.
* Neinzul Viral Cluster range from 83000 to 25000.
* The Neinzul Viral Enthusiast AI Type previously seeded viral clusters on every single womrhole at every one of its planets. It still does that if it is a difficulty 10 AI, but only seeds a certain percent of wormholes on lower difficulties (Diff 1 = 55% of wormholes, 2 = 60%, 5 = 75%, etc). Note that it will always round down, but seeds a minimum of 1 wormhole per planet.
* Fixed bug where the main AI would scrap hybrids if there were too many starships on a planet.
* Fixed bug where hybrid drones would buzz around excessively while the hybrid was sitting still.
* Siege Starships now have a bonus against tractor beam turrets (30x) and neinzul habitats (10x, this includes nests and clusters).
* Bonuses against heavy defense now give a bonus against Avengers too.
* Warp Counterattack posts are no-longer auto-targeted, since their destruction launches a wave and the player should have to make a conscious decision (either in destroying the post or the command station) for that to happen.
* Updated Special Forces Captain description.
* Fixed bug where mk III harvesters were not "redding out" like mkI and mkII when no spots were available.
* Fixed bug that hid the pause button when both normal military ships and a Riot or Enclave starship were selected (since those have buy queues).
