Greetings Admirals!
Last time when I made a commitment about when the next version of Evolution will be out, I said probably in 2023. And I was so, so painfully close to keeping that promise! I dedicated more than a week in December, only for finishing and releasing the next version. Well, that was the plan at least. Unfortunately during the obligatory bug-hunt I encountered a rather nasty one that took me 8 days to figure out and one more to fix it. Only to find yet another one. One that I just can't seem to figure out, so I gave up. It seems that the bug has something to do with the Romulan Aviari superstation, but I don't know what. The game runs fine, and then, after a while it just crashes. I couldn't find any pattern or reason to it, so with heavy heart I relegated the Aviari to a buildable station and the Romulans will start with the usual outpost instead. The AI won't build the Aviari either, but you can do that, at your own risk.
With that, I am also announcing a contest: Whoever figures out what causes the crash and explains it to me, will gain my eternal gratitude! And they may ask for one addition to the mod.
Anyway, even with about two weeks spent on these two bugs alone, the mod is close to completion. I have to write the AI behavior files and test them, but then, Imperial Morning will be finally released. Hopefully within a couple of months, as I find some.
And with that, let's talk a bit about what you can find in this expansion. It's no secret that you will be able to play through two additional Eras that cover the age of the original motion pictures. For those who are eager to play in these Eras, I have good news: You can start from the "TMP" Era, with everything researched up to that point.
As you must already know, balance in this game is constantly shifting, as the balance of power shifts in the Alpha Quadrant through the ages. Early, the Klingons were by far the easiest faction to play, thanks to their well established economy and military, and steady influx of new ships.However, in the next two Eras, they had to hand over the throne to the Romulans. Although they apparently did not do anything significant in these years, behind the veils of the Neutral Zone they stabilized their empire. revolutionized energy production, and on more than one occasion almost managed to provoke another big war between the Federation and the Klingons.In the game the Romulans have wide access to the cloaking device and their opponents have next to no way to counter it, meaning that Romulans can strike anytime and anywhere. Their R&D is also quite flexible once you learned their techtree, so you can quickly gain access to any ship class necessary for your goals. And in addition, Romulans became excellent campers, with powerful plasma turrets and special weapons, so a Romulan base will be a tough nut to crack.As the Romulan player, you should constantly harass and keep your opponent at edge, and only commit to an attack when you can win, slowly chipping away on their forces while your main forces can sit back in a corner of the map, cloaked.
Despite the Romulan improvement, the king of camping is the Federation. The players start with an incredibly powerful Starbase and under its protection they may build up their fleet in peace. And boy do they need it! While the Federation remains the great generalist faction, balancing between great offense and defense, and most of their ships are good at both, the wide and complex tree of technologies they have to research to gain access to every starship will slow down their development.Playing the Federation you are a late bloomer player, but time works for you. You are relatively safe behind your starbase and you will get access to some iconic ships like the Excelsior and Constellation Classes, and some huge heavy-hitters as well. With your well-developed fleet you can overwhelm any force and not even the Romulans can cloak their stations. By the time you have the superior firepower, you are in control of the game.
The Klingons fell very far from grace in this version. Historically, the General War had led to rampant corruption that all but cripples R&D, and one of the most important Klingon assets, the Imperial Reserve will also be empty. You can refill it, but that also requires resources. This dire situation turned untenable with the Praxis explosion that eventually led to the historical Kithomer Accords, and with the threat of the Federation eliminated, Chancellor Azetbur had a chance to slowly restore the Empire, and to her own surprise as well, to maintain a lasting peace and eventually alliance with the Federation.If you pick the Klingons, you pick an uphill fight in the last two Eras. R&D is inefficient, new ship classes will be relatively few and far to come by, and not even particularly good ones. With a few exceptions of course... If you play the Klingons, you have no other chance than - ATTACK! Keep your opponents on their toes, find them and try to pressure them as much as you can. If you wait for stronger ships to become available, you will lose the race. Fortunately you have the K't'inga Class and soon get access to the B'rel and K'vort Classes, and if you spam these ships with a few support classes, like there is no tomorrow - just as Klingons mostly did after the war - you can keep a pressure on your opponent and eventually box them in. And if you manage to get the biggest ships, not even the Federation Starbase will be unbeatable any more.
That's all for today. I hope I gave you some hope that I didn't forget about this mod yet.
Be ready! Next release is around the corner!
