1943

My only reservation about that would be the state of the AI. I don’t think they are going to fix it’s ship design in three weeks, but at least once they stop adding features, there will be more time to focus on it.

Also, there seems to be a fairly common crash in this latest update, so hopefully they get a fix out today.

1944

Only 7 months after release.

1945

Yeah I hope they don’t get ahead of themselves and announce the all clear too early. The game has come a long way, but there are still lots of little bugs floating around besides the AI still not knowing how to play the game.

1946

Six. But who’s counting right?

1947

It’s an interesting thought and one that I know Kerberos are concerned about. Even after the “all clear” there will continue to be updates and tweaks and fixes just like what happened with SotS one for many years.

1948

Yeah, I know those guys will still support the game, but I think the majority of people who are still open minded about the game are going to judge it when Kerberos say it’s ready, and when that time comes it better be polished and really ready.

1949

The game will (maybe) be feature complete, but yea the AI is gonna need a ton of work. It still doesn’t design ships well, sends colonizers to attack, etc. Hopefully they will continue ongoing patches to polish things up and get the AI in working order.

1950

Looks like the crash bug they introduced is now fixed.

1951

If your launcher shows Rev 20587c you’re on the latest.

1952

It was released Oct.28 and they are talking about an all clear mid-May. Maybe. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr 28.

Split the difference and call it 6.5

1953

Here’s today’s update. I believe they will have reached feature complete by the patch scheduled for this Thursday, if I’m not mistaken. The “all clear” is to occur this month.

r20916b

Critical Fixes:

  • Fixed a crash related to the star system tool tip on the star map.
  • Fixed multiplayer desync issues caused by clients dropping into a game in progress.
  • Fixed known crashes relating to battle riders.
  • Fixed a crash related to assimilating colonies.
  • Fixed a crash related to Suul’ka losing their home colonies.
  • Eliminated a fleet manager race condition that was leading to intermittent crashes.
  • Fixed known pre-combat UI crashes.
  • Fixed a rare crash related to admiral death and retirement.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause a crash when populating stations around asteroids.

Other Fixes:

  • Fixed known ship and weapon data issues.
  • Fixed various known localization issues.
  • Karnak Targeting Module effects now working.
  • Scotsman Module effects now working.
  • Psi- and Life-Drain effects now damage planets.
  • Close to Attack behaviour now reflects race preferences.
  • Fixed known issues where budget projection was not matching reality for the next turn.
  • Fixed Morrigi Relic starting locations.
  • Fixed known issues with AI relating to Morrigi Relic.
  • Fixed some inconsistencies in the way Human and Zuul players retreat from combat.
  • Zuul bore ships now correctly retreat back to their homeworld when boring a new node line.
  • Deployed gate ships are no longer being included in additional combat rounds.
  • Deployed gate ships no longer get doubled up in combat.
  • Enemy gate ships are now visible in combat at your own systems.
  • Fixed incentive calculation issues.
  • Fixed a regression where construction missions were not being cancelled when the construction ships were destroyed.
  • Fixed known issues with Jammer ships not working in combat.
  • Jamming radius is now displayed in combat sensor view.
  • Light Emitters can now be fitted to battle riders.
  • Fixed known issues related to repairing Suul’ka.
  • Locked down issues where the game was not appearing to respond to mouse clicks.
  • Diplomacy reaction histories now display events pertaining to the correct players.
  • Diplomacy reactions related to relative empire size no longer occur for undiscovered empires.
  • Suul’ka will now correctly maximize psionic potential.
  • Fixed an issue where fleets could not be relocated when a Suul’ka was present.
  • Fixed known multiple-GM spawning issues.
  • Damage to modules now carries over from combat to strategy turns.
  • Improved Node Fighter behavior.
  • Treaty accept and reject dialogs now display the correct empire names.
  • Defenses, gates and reserve fleets are now correctly cleaned up when an empire is defeated.
  • Fixed the loophole that was allowing players to bypass feasibility studies.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing climate hazard values to display positive values all the time.
  • The battle manager is now more forgiving about placing fleets near planets.
  • Invasion missions now correctly apply morale, government and diplomatic penalties.
  • Fixed known issues related to colony support.
  • Fixed an issue where not all mines would be displayed in the sensor view in combat.
  • The node line collapse news event now correctly displays both system names.
  • Fixed issues related to intercept missions.
  • Force-firing on ships in combat will now force a war declaration in the strategy turn when appropriate.
  • Slave population numbers no longer reduce civilian population numbers.
  • Fixed morale bonus for police and propaganda ships.
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing the game from removing ships from fleets that had exceeded their command point quota.
  • Fixed an issue where extra ships from retreating fleets were being transferred incorrectly.
  • It is no longer possible to request or demand items from independent factions.
  • Stations are now considered for combat rounds.
  • Addressed issues that were preventing the strategic AI from expanding its empire, especially after engaging in war with another empire.
  • Transient random encounters no longer hold on to control zones after combat ends.

Other Changes:

  • GOOP and Joker Module abilities are now available.
  • Missile attacks on your ship can now be initiated in the Weapons Test screen, using the new icon button.
  • Grappling cannon is now available.
  • AI now uses the node cannon and targeted missiles in combat.
  • Improved deep space encounter with system killer.
  • Defense Platform placement is no longer restricted to slots.
  • Tool tips in the design and build screens now display the design attributes.
  • It is no longer possible to launch riders while cloaked.
  • AI rebellions have been introduced.
  • Government shifts now occur in response to over-harvesting gem and forge worlds.
  • Introduced the surprise attack diplomatic action.
  • Empires now continue to be listed in the player list after defeat.
  • VRF Systems now increase appropriate weapon fire rates by 25%.
  • Food now occupies less space on colony support runs.
  • Reduced AI tendency to declare war.
  • It is now possible to reconfigure fleets on missions as long as the changes do not violate mission objectives.
  • Independent faction tech levels are now displayed.
  • Systems with a colony now receive 3 base defense points.
  • Retrofit designs are now available. (see known issues)
  • Introduced protectorate and incorporate treaties.

Known Issues:

  • Designs can be retrofitted with new weapons, and new ships built from them, but retrofitting old ships is not yet ready.
  • Deep space, multiplayer combat will desync.
  • Tab or Home key is required to focus on lead ship in combat.
1954

The update was released this morning. Hotfix on Thursday.

1955

There will be a few hotfixes over the next few weeks to wrap up the major development. Here’s the first:

r20995b

Critical Fixes:

  • Fixed a stance selection related crash in combat.
  • Fixed the combat multiplayer de-sync that was on the list of known
    issues in the last update.
  • Fixed a crash related to exiting multiplayer combat prematurely.
  • Fixed a rare animation-related crash in combat.
  • Fixed a rare system killer related crash.
  • Fixed a recent issue in combat that was preventing ships from being selected.
  • Fixed a crash caused by cancelling a mission for a node boring Zuul fleet.
  • Fixed a crash related to upgrading a station that had not been in combat.

Other Fixes:

  • Fixed known issues with movement on the government type graph.
  • Joker, GOOP and battle rider wing buttons now disappear from the HUD
    when the selected ships are too far from the viewer.
  • Fixed an issue where players were getting multiple salvage projects
    leading to the same tech.
  • Addressed issues where the AI player was bypassing fleet supply
    limitations when sending out missions.
  • Fixed the issue where missiles were not colliding with the ghost ship.
  • Fixed an issue where fleet missions would get hung up in systems
    with disabled relics or asteroid monitors.
  • Fixed the bug where effects from stations were active prior to
    completion of construction.
  • Fixed a bug that was allowing players to slot any weapon into a
    retrofitted design.
  • Fixed an issue where the system killer would not proceed on to the
    next star system.
  • Fixed an issue where Leviathans were taking armor damage on the
    wrong side in combat.
  • Fixed some flaws in the weapon ricochet calculations in combat.
  • It is no longer possible to see enemy ship tool tips.
  • Cleaned up some inconsistencies in the display of climate hazard ratings.
  • Fixed a bug that was allowing players to submit intercept missions
    when no fleets were available to do so.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing overlapping stations to appear in
    the system view and combat.

Additions:

  • It is now possible to set the number of initial planets for each faction.
  • Some general ship section and weapon tweaks.
  • Combat Algorithms technology now allows an additional two cruisers
    instead of just one.
  • Battle Riders can now be launched by clicking the individual
    squad/wing buttons associated with each ship.
  • Ships can now be retrofitted.
1956

Excellent, I was waiting for this to hit!

1957

So is the all clear this week or next?

1958

I would guess next.

1959

I’m thinking last week of May.

1960

Yeah, The game is completely playable but I don’t even know what “all clear” means anymore.

1961

All clear being the typical state of a game at release. So balance tweaks, AI improvements, some bugs still, I would imagine?

1962

It’s a judgement for Kerberos. I just expect they will make an announcement around the end of May. I’m sure they’ve done more than they had in mind already. On the other hand, the AI needs more than a few weeks of work.

The new missile defense mode on the weapon test screen is pretty fun, but I was saddened to learn that you can’t actually blow up your ship on the test screen.