Galactic Armory 1.8 released!
After weeks of hard work, we are proud to release Galactic Armory 1.8 for Star Ruler 1.0.9.0 to the public! This release contains a great number of changes and new features, some of which will be explained in detail below.
More choices, more depth
One of the main aspects during the development of Galactic Armory 1.8 has always been the addition of more choices for the player. After all, a choice is only meaningful if there is something to choose from; or better yet, A LOT to choose from. Because of this, dozens of new traits have been added to the mod, bringing the overall count of traits available to over 70! This allows players more freedom during race customization as well as enabling them to tailor their race to suit their own playstyle.
Expanding the game with more content while adding more depth at the same time has been one of Galactic Armory's main goals from day one. Continuing on this path, 1.8 contains new planetary conditions, bringing the number to a total of more than 20. Some of these conditions are specific to unique or special systems, while others may appear more often. Explore the galaxy and discover these yourself!
Speaking of special systems: Galactic Armory 1.8 brings several new kinds of special system to the universe of Star Ruler, including but not limited to Neutron Stars and Remnant Jump Bridges. Neutron Stars (and the unique Remnant Research Outpost) provide a boost to research rate on their planets, while Remnant Jump Bridges add a new layer of tactical options especially during the early game. Jump Bridges are usually undefended, unarmed structures that can be captured and linked to other Jump Bridges owned by the same player. When linked to another Jump Bridge, ships can travel between these two at will without the need of an installed Jump Drive. As long as unique systems is checked at game start, an additional 10% of systems are generated as jump bridge systems and spread evenly throughout the galaxy. If, for example, a 120-system game is started, the actual number of systems will be 132 (120 + 12 jump bridge systems).
Sculpting the face of a planet
A long-awaited feature for many players, we are proud to present the addition of terraforming to Galactic Armory! Terraforming itself is a simple process: Once unlocked through research of biology, terraforming is build just like a planetary structure that adds slots to the overall count of planet slots available. It comes in three different stages, each adding more slots than the previous one. However, please note that only one terraforming project per stage and planet can be active at a given time; additionally, terraforming can only be performed if the planet isn't already above a certain amount of slots. After all, how could paradise become more perfect?
For those bent on leaving a trail of destruction throughout the galaxy, there's also the option of "destructive terraforming". Whenever a planet is damaged by a weapon that deals as much damage as 10% of the planet's hitpoints or more in one hit, the planet will lose between 1 to 5 slots permanently. If the amount of slots falls to less then 5, the planet will slowly regenerate the slots up to this number. So be careful with those mass drivers and planet busters if you plan on colonizing those planets later on!
Import/Export
While export docks have been available for a while now, importing resources directly from the galactic bank to a station or ship hasn't been implemented before for the simple reason of balancing. Finally, we have come up with a system that is both balanced and effective at the same time.
The import dock is a special type of subsystem that takes up 8 units of internal space. While the amount of cargo storage relies on its scale, its import capabilities do not increase along with its scale. Instead, its ability to import resources is directly linked to the amount and efficiency of spaceports present in the current system. The balancing mechanism behind this relies on the fact that once more objects with import docks are present in the same system, their import rate gets divided between all of them.
The most effective way of using an import dock to supply an orbital shipyard is converting a whole system of planets to orbital shipyard worlds. Additionally, it is recommended to turn of all of their export functions, so that resources may only be imported into the system. While this sacrifices the scientific and economic capabilities of the system, especially large-scale construction projects will benefit from this kind of setup in terms of build time.
External Mount Limitation
With the addition of external mounts to the base game in the last patch, players have been been experimenting with these a lot. Some of the new designs can only be described as ridiculous glass-cannons, being composed of nothing but a hull with all subsystems mounted externally at size 4. While we appreciate the addition of external mounts to the game, we consider this extreme approach to be both unrealistic and impractical. As a consequence, the amount of external mounts that can be instlled on a ship or station is dependent on the type of hull used. Mounting a subsystem of considerable size externally requires significant structural changes, so basic hull types such as the light or heavy hull can use less of these than the more specialized hauler or station hulls. However, if with this limitation in place, the significance of external mounts should not be misjugdged!
Changelog:
- Added: New traits
- Added: Azalrion's Helium-3 mod
- Added: Compatibility for mod installation in user files
- Added: New planet conditions
- Added: New special systems (Remnant Data Bank, Neutron Star System, Remnant Jump Bridge System)
- Added: Ore storage subsystem
- Added: 3 stages of terraforming
- Added: New main menu option: Population effect on resource production can now be changed
- Added: Import Dock Subsystem
- Added: Integrated Hull Construction modifier subsystem
- Added: New empire colors, flags and backgrounds
- Added: 2 Loading Screens
- Changed: Increased Remnant Imperial Seat planet slots from 50 to 60 for the imperial seat and from 30 to 40 for each of the outposts
- Changed: Unstable Star HP is now random (5 to 100 M hitpoints)
- Changed: Reverted Superweapons (Superlaser, DSM, Planet Buster, Heliocide) back to tool-type behavior
- Changed: Mass Driver can now be fired by issuing a "use tool..." order
- Changed: Halved Subsystem minimum size (from 0.25 to 0.125)
- Changed: Increased default research cost curve (RCC) from 1.8 to 1.85
- Changed: Decreased maximum tech level at game start from 40 to 30
- Changed: Most weapons can now be used with link modifiers
- Changed: Rebuild the file structure for subsystems
- Changed: Reduced default Remnant density from 0.5 to 0.3 and reduced default Remnant research factor from 1.0 to 0.8
- Changed: The tech level-dependant rate of fire increase is much more linear now
- Changed: Heliocide weapon now requires He3
- Changed: Stars and planets regenerate health over time
- Changed: External Mounts are now limited per hull type (similar to armor points and shield emitters)
- Changed: Added a 5% chance that a trade tick gets through a blockade
- Changed: The largest part of object information is only available if you have a ship in the same system
- Changed: Every hit that deals damage that is at least 10% of a planet's maximum HP has a chance of decreasing the amount of slots available by a random amount between 1 and 5
- Changed: Planets degraded to less than 5 slots slowly regenerate slots back to a maximum of 5
- Changed: Increased Star brightness
- Changed: Modified / added various particle effects
- Changed: Modified the way special systems are generated, so they may contain Remnants just like normal systems
- Balance: Reduced Ringworld metal and electronics cost by 20% each
- Balance: Halved population growth; growth is reduced by another 50% when under attack (same as in base game)
- Balance: Removed Repulsors from Remnant Gate Array since they were making a capture practically impossible
- Balance: Halved space used by Coolant System
- Balance: Increased Mass Mount control requirement by 100% and mass by 25%
- Balance: Increased Autocannon base damage from 15 to 16
- Balance: Changed Targetting Sensor and Precision Mod range formula to provide a much larger boost to range as well as an increase with tech level
- Balance: Changed the minimum subsystem size requirements for Planet Buster (1200), Superlaser (2400) and Directed Spatial Manipulator (3600)
- Balance: Maximum Oversize and Spinal Mount range bonus was increased from 2.0 to 3.0, delay factor was reduced from 3.0 to 2.0
- Balance: Added range modifier to rack mount, mass mount and fortress hull. Linked weapons have decreased range now.
- Balance: Increased the default amount of shield emitters for several hull types
