New one:
http://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=Stars_Beyond_Reach_Beta_Phase_2_Release_Notes#Version_0.896I'm going to be traveling, so there won't be much in the way of new releases until Tuesday next week, but Keith will still be here plowing through bugs so there should be a meaty release of that sort when I get back. Then it's on to diplomacy stuff on my end!
Now, about this actual release:
1. Rogues that attack you won't be any less in numbers, but they will be less frequent (and in groups, therefore).
2. Holy guacamole, if you hit end turn and there's stuff your attackers can attack, and you didn't already do it, then your attackers do it for you. I didn't think I'd like this, but I really, really do. It makes dealing with the border skirmishes and rogues in particular much much better. More of an empire-building thing and less of a fiddle-with-anything design.
3. A vast bulk of the AI's broken placement logic has been fixed as of this release. A lot of that got messed up with the switch to territories, but that's at least 90% back to working. The possible exceptions are seaports/coast-guards and resource harvesters in neutral territory. The Thoraxians are freaking terrifying now.
4. A variety of other combat-related bugs have been fixed up, and the AI for combat is smarter (both for your new auto-combat and for the AI players).
5. Oh, and military barracks are no longer pointless in half the situations they crop up in. There were some big bugs there that have been there since probably the start of beta.
6. The way that power is handled has been fully shifted to the new model I have in mind. Aka: it's used to power buildings, that's it, and actions cost no power. That way there's not all that confusing "working power" stuff, and the power display on the top bar can actually be fully informative and responsive. The reason for having extra power is now partly because military buildings cost so much power just to have on, and then the rest of what used to be a temporary power cost for actions is largely a per-use crowns cost.
All in all I'm definitely pleased with this one. Hopefully there aren't any major gamebreakers in it.