Expanding Fronts 1.5.2 Now Available! news

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Bringing Balance to the Force

Based on extensive feedback from our multiplayer community, we have conducted a significant balance pass on various aspects of both the new and old civilizations. These changes should greatly tone down some of the more oppressive plays, and encourage wider army compositions. Some of the major changes include:

Masters

Masters have been known to be incredibly strong. Their high health combined with good armor and stealth makes them very hard to deal with, and their offensive power by converting key targets such as Assault Mechs at range (which is essentially an instakill) is very disruptive. They have received significant nerfs with minor and major changes that make the differential between a civ with Masters, and a civ without, less oppressive to play against. In particular, converting opposing Force users will reset their faith so they cannot immediately convert another unit, and conversion takes longer overall. We are also experimenting with unit-specific conversion resistance: the Gungan unique unit, the Fambaa Shield Generator, now must be converted in melee. The counters to Masters have also been improved: Bounty Hunters are now more affordable and Frigates gain an attack bonus vs Temple units.

Water

We've also taken a look at making water gameplay more dynamic and give civilizations more reasons to go on water, while also making the strength of good water civs a little less overbearing. The introduction of Carbon Gas Vents in 1.5 was a good first step, and more can be done. Several improvements and bug fixes have been made to Utility Trawlers, such as properly displaying carried Carbon. Multiple stats have been adjusted, such as the gather rate of Utility Trawlers and the power of Monitors.

The counters to ships have also been improved: Grenade Troopers now deal deal slight anti-ship damage and the anti-ship bonus of regular Assault Mechs has been increased to match that of Hvy Assault, meaning civs without good ships, air, or Masters (such as Geonosians) are no longer stuck looking for water counters. Additionally, several civs now have access to Hvy Destroyer, allowing them to demolish out-of-position Cruisers and Monitors that stray too far from their Frigate escort.

Air

The addition of Attackers and Interceptors has been well-received as they allow diversity in the air force, but it was also clear that they needed some additional tweaks. Interceptors now can only attack air units: a nerf on paper, but a significant boost in practice as it means they will no longer get distracted trying to hit ground units for pathetic damage and will only focus on their air targets. Attackers have been slightly nerfed, particularly their capability to trade effectively into other air, although the unit remains strong and we will continue to keep an eye on it. The 5% increase to cost and train time air malus that Gungans, Confederacy, and Trade Federation received has been removed, as it felt an unnecessary nerf to an already weak air game.

A full list of changes can be found in the Balance and Unit Stats section below as well as in Update_Notes.txt inside the Extra folder.

New Content & Features

• Balance changes: Changes to Masters, water, air, and civs.
• New and updated maps: Re-standardized food generation across all maps to improve playability.
• AI improvements: Complete AI overhaul for Computer with several improvements and fixes also for Computer Expanded.
• Editor additions: Included numerous new editor units and heroes. (Not trainable in standard game matches). Added 3 new terrains.

Performance & Stability

• Corrected some issues with new terrain handling.
• Fixed a bug that caused players to sometimes have control over the wrong player slot upon starting or loading a singleplayer game.
• Fixed a bug that erroneously caused Command Centers to be unbuildable in TL1/2.
• Fixed a bug that could corrupt recordings when the game was not properly closed.

Gameplay Fixes & Improvements

• Corrected issue that caused certain forest terrains to be unbuildable when cleared of trees.
• Corrected issue that caused Gungan projectiles to sometimes collide with walls and other obstacles instead of their intended targets.
• Changed ‘gather group' of Kelp and Carbon Gas Vents; preventing Utility Trawlers from automatically switching to them instead of seeking more Food when nearby fish sources are exhausted.
• Interceptors now can only attack air units.
• Utility Trawlers will now select a Shipyard to drop resources at from the same zone.
• Utility Trawlers can manually drop off resources other than Food at Shipyard with right-click.
• Utility Trawlers will no longer autotask from fish onto Carbon Gas Vents.
• Jedi-type units now have their energy reduced to 0 after being converted.
• Fixed issue that caused Force Purge to negate the effects of Force Meditation.
• Corrected issue that allowed certain civilizations' Monitors to destroy trees and props with their attacks.
• Fixed some Carbon Rocks being impervious to units that should be able to destroy them.
• Changed hunted animal idle behavior. Animals will only run away from player non-building objects and will not return to their starting position until a few seconds have passed.
• Resources generated by capturable structures now count towards resources collected on the achievements screen.
• Resource generating buildings now take work rate into account.

Graphics

> VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS

• (IR) Mech Destroyer: Reduced size of Adv Particle Cannon projectile laser.
• (IR) Transport Mech: Darkened the metal hull color to fit with their other mechs better.
• (TF) Interceptor, Attacker: Remade graphics.
• Tree (Boffa): Graphics have been remade and increased to 18 tree varieties.
• Tree (Palm): Graphics have been restored to the original 11 tree varieties when painting the terrain or in random maps. The Tree (Palm) object in the editor still has all 23 varieties.
• Snow w/Grass 1: Terrain graphics updated to reduce visual contrast.
• Black Sand 1: Fixed the visible green line that appeared along the seams of the terrain texture.
• Heroes: Remade graphics for (RP) Captain Rex [Phase II], (RP) Commander Bacara, (RP) Commander Gree [Phase II], (RP) Commander Neyo, (RP) Commander Wolffe [Phase II].
• Editor Units: Remade graphics for (RN) Guardian Mantis, (GE) 2-M Sabertank, (GE) TX-130T, (RP) TX-130S, (GE) Stormtrooper Officer, (GE) Sergeant Helix, (RP) Clone Trooper [Phase II], (RP) 212th Clone Trooper, (RP) 327th Clone Trooper, (RP) 501st Clone Trooper, (RP) Airborne Trooper, (RP) ARC Trooper [Phase II], (RP) Clone Assassin, (RP) Coruscant Guard Clone Trooper.
• Wyyyschokk: Remade graphics. The old graphics are now used with a new “Rearing Spider” unit.
• (ZC) Droideka Mk2: Now displays a shield bubble.
• Adjusted mini-map color for Sludge terrain.

> FIXES

• (CF) Pummel, Hvy Pummel: Fixed anchor issue.
• (RS) Adv Cruiser, Utility Trawler: Fixed anchor issue.
• (ZC) Utility Trawler: Fixed anchor issue.
• Adjusted footprint/trail effects for various units.
• Kelp now properly disappears after being depleted.
• Corrected issue that caused certain herdable animals to be visible under fog of war.
• Fixed issues with blast FX for (CF), (FO), (RS), (IR), (NR), (BS), and (ZC) Air Cruiser attack animations so they don't get stuck on the last frame.

Audio

> NEW

• Included new audio lines for new editor units.
• (FO) Assault Mech: Siege Cannon projectile shot now plays its own sound.

> FIXES

• Replaced Gas object sound with a quieter one.

Interface

> DATABANK

• Corrected encoding issue in Palpatine's Databank entry that caused odd text characters to display.

> TECH TREE

• Pressing any Go-to-Building hotkey while in the Tech Tree menu will automatically scroll to the relevant entry.
• Corrected misc display issues in the tech tree screen.
• Opening the Tech Tree from the game setup screen will now display its in-game resolution.
• Added line breaks for some unit/tech names so they fit properly.

> VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Utility Trawlers can now properly display carried resources besides Food in their interface.
• Anti-Air units now display Light Aircraft class damage (instead of Air Cruiser class damage) as their displayed attack.
• Fixed distorted Zann Consortium resource icons in their UI bar.
• Adjusted recorded game and scenario map preview terrain colors.

> FIXES

• Fixed commodity prices not displaying in the economic score display when the player has a Spaceport.
• Fixed some display issues with extended unit stats.
• Imperial Remnant AI name "Canor Jax" corrected to "Carnor Jax".
• Corrected an issue whereby (RA) Adv Frigate research was using (GN) text.
• Changed Power Calibrator text to be significantly clearer.
• Updated various descriptions to reflect balance changes.
• Misc. spelling and typo fixes.

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Expansion Campaigns:

• Fixed an AI error on Republic Mission 4.
  
  

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General

> UNITS

• Air Transport: Restored vanilla cost of 35F 125C.
• Assault Mech: Increased bonus damage vs ships from 60>80.
• Attacker: Training time reduced from 60s > 45s.
• Attacker: Reduced armor from 5>4. (Unlike other aircraft, this is not boosted by Armored Platework)
• Attacker: Reduced attack vs Light Air from 20 > 10; Hvy Air from 25 > 20.
• Bounty Hunter: Cost reduced from 150F, 150C > 100F, 100C.
• Bounty Hunter: Training time reduced from 45s > 25s.
• Cargo Freighter: Increased Health Points from 80 -> 160.
• Cargo Freighter: Reduced Hvy Aircraft class armor from 10 > 0.
• (All) Frigates: Added +3 attack bonus vs Temple Units.
• Grenade Trooper: Added +8 attack bonus vs Ships.
• Interceptor: Unit is now only capable of targeting other air units.
• Interceptor: Removed attack bonuses vs all non-air armor classes.
• Interceptor: Attack bonus vs Hvy Air increased from 15 > 20.
• Interceptor: Attack bonus vs Air Cruisers reduced from 10 > 5.
• Master: Base conversion chance reduced from 100% > 50%.
• Master: Minimum conversion duration increased from 4s > 5s.
• Medic: Train time reduced: 15s > 5s.
• Hvy Monitor: Speed reduced to 0.9 (1).
• Hvy Monitor: Cost increased from 70C, 50N > 120C, 70N.
• Mounted Trooper: Train times standardized to 25s.
• Utility Trawler: Work Rate reduced from 0.43 > 0.30625.
• Utility Trawler: Work Rate modifier on deep fish and kelp reduced from 1.75 > 1.6.
• Utility Trawler: Work Rate modifier on AquaHarvesters increased from 1 > 1.25.

> BUILDINGS

• Adv AA Turret: Attack vs heavy air reduced 34 > 30.
• Fortress: Fixed AA annex having less coverage than it should: 0.1 > 2.
• Mine: Fixed gaining LOS from techs.
• Sensor Buoy: Added missing armor classes 11 and 21 so it takes anti-building damage like Sentry Posts.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Anti-Air Battery: Now is before unique technologies in the tech tree.
• Dexterity: Cost reduced 450F, 150C > 200F 100C.
• Explosive Yields Increased: Now provides Grenade Troopers +2 damage vs ships on top of its previous effects.
• Force Concentration: Increased cost from 350N > 500N.
• Force Concentration: Increased research time from 50s > 75s.
• Force Strong: Added conversion range reduced from +3 > +2.
• Force Strong: Increased cost from 250N > 350N.
• Force Strong: Increased research time from 80s > 120s.

> OTHER

• Carbon Gas Vents are now infinite and truly impossible to deplete.
• Ewok units from Ewok Huts are only trainable starting in T2 and use separate attack values from scenario Ewoks.
• Mine Crab: HP lowered to 35, LOS lowered to 4.
• Orbak: Food amount increased 140 > 170.
• Rhen Var Tomb: Fixed default armor, fixed being unaffected by Bombers, reduced HP 1000 > 500.
• Shaak: Selection and collision size adjusted to better match animal size; food count set at 200.
• Sketto: HP lowered to 25, attack lowered to 1, melee armor lowered to 0.
• Trees: Raised carbon amounts of several non-dense tree types to compensate for the carbon loss by the lack of density: Areca, Blba, Boffa, Juniper, Rekenew, Rutiger, Torrey, Holly, Stone Pine.
• Adjusted resource generation building income downwards significantly in T1-T3 (T4 values unchanged): food and large nova: 5 -> 10 -> 30, ore and small nova: 2.5 -> 5 -> 15.

Galactic Empire

> UNITS

• Hvy Monitor: Fixed being slower than the rest.
• (GE) Dark Trooper Phase 3 (Cheat Unit): Changed training time to 22.

Gungans

> CIVILIZATION

• No longer has a 5% cost/train time penalty for aircraft.
• Additional eco bonus: Foragers and Shore Fishers carry +5.

> UNITS

• Hvy Fambaa Shield Generator: Now requires melee conversion.
• Fighter, Fast Fighter, Adv Fighter: Increased attack animation speed by 25%.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Creature Armor: Mech HP boost increased from 10% > 20%.
• Creature Training: Fixed not providing +2 damage vs Heavy Aircraft (class 18).
• Receive access to Explosive Yields Increased.
• Potent Plasma: Anti-mech damage improved (1-3 > 2-4) and also increases anti-Heavy Weapons damage (1-2).

Rebel Alliance

> TECHNOLOGIES

• A-Wing Modifications: Cost increased from 150C 150N > 200C 300N, research time increased 45 > 60.
• Astromech Repairs: Is now correctly behind Shield Modifications in the tech tree.
• Evacuation Protocols: Fixed team bonus effect being lost when researched. Fixed effects on Power Cores, AA Batteries, and Laser Turrets.
• Loses access to Adv Frigate.
• Loses access to Hvy Monitor.

Royal Naboo

> CIVILIZATION

• No longer receives free farm upgrades.

Trade Federation

> CIVILIZATION

• No longer has a 5% cost/train time penalty for aircraft.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Deployment Racks: No longer is mistakenly disabled. Moved from T4 -> T3. Cost changed 250F 150N > 250F 250C. Research time 80 > 45.

Wookiees

> CIVILIZATION

• New economic bonus: Carbon Processing Center techs cost -50%.

> UNITS

• Strike Mech: Will no longer sometimes fire into the ground.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• People of the Trees: Moved from Research Center > Carbon Processing Center.

Republic

> CIVILIZATION

• Jedi movement speed bonus changed from team to civ bonus.

> UNITS

• Adv Jedi Starfighter: Fixed some animation data that may have caused some issues.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Kaminoan Cloners: Now also reduces train time of non-laser troopers by 25%.
• No longer has access to Hvy Monitor.

Confederacy

> CIVILIZATION

• No longer has a 5% cost/train time penalty for aircraft.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Battlefield Scanners: Cost 400C 350N > 250F 250C, availability T4 > T3, research time 120 > 90.
• Confederacy Alliance: Now affects stealthed and shielded trade units.

Zann Consortium

> UNITS

• Nightsister Beastmaster: Armor increased from 2/4 > 2/6.
• Veteran Defiler: Range reduced from 7 > 5.
• Veteran Defiler: Line of Sight reduced from 9 > 7.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Gain access to Hvy Destroyer.

Geonosians

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Gain access to Hvy Destroyer.
• No longer has access to Hvy Monitor.
• No longer has access to Efficient Manufacturing.

First Order

> UNITS

• Flametrooper: No longer takes ‘Mounted Trooper' class damage. (Still takes Trooper damage)
• Flametrooper: Ranged armor reduced from 4/3 > 4/2.
• Flametrooper: Train time reduced 25 > 21.
• Flametrooper: Speed increased from 0.66x Mounted Trooper speed > 0.8x Mounted Trooper speed. This allows them to catch Mech Destroyers.
• Flametrooper: Additional +1 anti-building damage.
• Hvy Jet Trooper: Increased speed from 1.3 > 1.6.
• Hvy Jet Trooper: Decreased cost from 80F 45N > 60F 25N.
• Hvy Jet Trooper: Increased melee armor 0 > 4.
• Hvy Jet Trooper: Increased HP from 40 (50) > 45 (55).

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Adv Torpedoes: No longer gives AA Batteries +1 range.
• Auxiliary Power Cells: Increased the damage of the secondary projectile provided: 10 > 15 base, 65 > 100 bonus vs buildings. Slightly reduces reload time to compensate for longer attack duration due to additional projectile.

Resistance

> UNITS

• Hvy Ski Speeder: Attack bonus vs Hvy Weapons increased from 18 (21) > 27 (30).

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Resilience: Cost 250C 200N > 250C.
• Sensor Cloak: Cost 350C 800N 200O > 350C 200N, research time 100 > 80.

Imperial Remnant

> CIVILIZATION

• Temple unit armor bonus changed from team to civ bonus.
• New Team bonus: +20% HP for Power Cores.

> UNITS

• AT-AT Swimmer: Attack bonus vs ships reduced from 35 > 15.
• AT-AT Swimmer: Now takes anti-Cruiser damage.
• Elite Shadowtrooper: Reduced HP from 200 (240) > 180 (200).

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Advanced Particle Cannon: Projectile size reduced from 0.5 to 0.1, resulting in a much narrower damage radius. Reduced graphical size accordingly.
• Elite Shadowtrooper: Upgrade cost increased 850F 550C > 850F 550C 400N.
• Lose access to Force Strong.

New Republic

> TECHNOLOGIES

• New Jedi Order: Changed effect: converted enemy Temple units now retain their conversion energy. Tech now requires Force Influence as a prerequisite instead of Concentration.
• Gains access to Hvy AA Trooper.
• Lose access to Hvy Weapons Engineers.
• Tech tree now correctly shows the lack of Adv Turret.

Black Sun

> UNITS

• Colossal Gladiator Droid: Base attack strength reduced from 12 (17) > 10 (12).
• Colossal Gladiator Droid: Attack bonus vs buildings reduced from 20 (25) > 10 (15).
• Colossal Gladiator Droid: Attack bonus vs pummels/cannons added at 3 (4).
• Colossal Gladiator Droid: Attack bonus vs siege units added at 1 (2)
• Colossal Gladiator Droid: Reduced ‘Decimator' class armor from 5 > 0.
• Colossal Gladiator Droid: Increased training time from 30s > 45s.
• Colossal Gladiator Droid: Phase 2 ‘Mounted Trooper' class armor reduced from 2 (2) > 0 (2).
• Colossal Gladiator Droid: No longer has the effects of Tracking & Targeting computers without the tech being researched.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Lose access to Hvy Weapons Engineers.
• Corrected (BS) Huntress Mastery missing armor changes to Nightsister Hunter w/ Holocron.

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New Maps!

This volcanic landscape appears desolate and devoid of life, but the teeming waters within the sunken crater tells a different story. The underwater crater contains Carbon Gas Vents in the deepest waters, spilling out into shallow rivers that contain scarce fish safe from predators.

A great plateau sits at the center of the map surrounded by trees or carbon. The plateau has plenty of open areas for space to build on and has an abundance of mineral deposits to control. Planets: Naboo, Yavin 4, Alderaan, Dantooine, Endor, Alaris, Ryloth, Tatooine, and Maldo Kreis.

Remade version of Desert (Arabia) for Expanding Fronts with new planetary themes. An arid open map with moderate amounts of carbon, some strategic scattered cliffs and elevation, sparse vegetation, and no water. Planets: Tatooine, Geonosis, Halm, Korriban, Ryloth, Rugosa, Maldo Kreis, and Arvala 7.

Remade version of WaterMass with new planetary themes. A group of large islands. Players may not be the only inhabitant of their island. Additional islands may contain more Nova and Ore deposits. Carbon gas vents can be found in the deepest waters. Planets: Ahch-To, Alderaan, Bestine IV, Jomark, Naboo, Palanhi, Pillio, and Scarif.

Remade version of Team Islands for Expanding Fronts with new planetary themes. Each team shares an island together. Carbon gas vents can be found in the deepest waters. Planets: Ahch-To, Alderaan, Bestine IV, Jomark, Naboo, Palanhi, Pillio, and Scarif.

Remade version of Sea (Mediterranean) for Expanding Fronts with new planetary themes. A large central body of water surrounded by land. Carbon gas vents can be found in the deepest waters. Planets: Alaris Prime, Alderaan, Alzoc III, Endor Moon, Generis, Naboo, Palanhi, and Pillio.

Remade version of Arena for Expanding Fronts with new planetary themes. A large open space in the center surrounded by trees or carbon. Each player is protected by walls surrounding their base. Planets: Dantooine, Alderaan, Endor, Generis, Naboo, Halm, Rugosa, and Alzoc III.

A large open map with scattered trees or carbon. Each player is protected by a water moat with walls and turrets surrounding their base adding to their defense. Planets: Dantooine, Alderaan, Endor, Generis, Naboo, Halm, Rugosa, and Alzoc III.

General

• New EF blind random map options: [EF] Random Terrain, [EF] Random Special, [EF] Random Closed.
• Existing EF blind random map options have been revised: In particular, [EF] Random Standard now selects maps that offer a standard gameplay match; specifically suitable for multiplayer games.
• EF Maps now utilize improved, standardized constants for more uniform syntax.
• Improved RMS syntax error reporting.
• Severely reduced excessive rock generation from vanilla Star Wars Locale maps.
• Straggler trees for Tree (Jungle) are separated into its own object with all the small bushes removed. This helps avoid confusion as to what are trees and what are eye-candy plants.
• Adjusted lure and herd generations on most maps to reduce the maximum amount of possible spawns.
• Weather effects are disabled in maps if selected in [EF] Random Standard.
• Most capturable buildings are disabled in maps if selected in [EF] Random Standard.
• Map descriptions now say in brackets next to the name whether the map is a [Locale], as in a planetary themed map setting, or a [Terrain], as in built around a terrain design.
• Some map descriptions include recommended settings, such as if the map is designed for 1 vs 1 or if it should be played on a larger size.
• Maps designed for 1 vs 1 matches are only selected on Tiny or Small map sizes with [EF] Random Standard.
• Nomad/Raiders starting resources adjusted to +275 carbon and +100 ore.

Vanilla Map Changes

• Ice Lake: Replaced random occurrence of Yellow Plains 1 terrain with Snow Grass 1.
• Fortress: Added border to player lands to help prevent walls from generating past the edge of the map.
• Kashyyyk: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Endor's Moon: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Yavin IV: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Hoth: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Krant: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Hanoon: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Kessel: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Tatooine: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Zaloris: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Naboo: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Mos Espa: Reduced excessive rock generation.
• Tatooine (Episode II): Reduced excessive rock generation.

EF Map Changes

• Aeten II: Added smoke plumes on volcanic terrains. Slightly reduced size of lava pools.
• Ahch-To: Reduced distances of starting food animals and forage bushes; players should always now start with at least one lure animal.
• Artus Prime: Fixed issue with connection generation.
• Baroonda: Added smoke plumes on volcanic terrains. Carbon Gas Vents have been more evenly spaced out.
• Bestine IV: Replaced Cliffside (Gray) terrain to new Cliffside (Moss) terrain.
• Bimmisaari: Map now generates predators. The density of the central forest has been increased.
• Bothawui: Slightly increased the river size to allow more room for navies.
• Bpfassh: Lowered elevation, added additional hills, reordered fish generation, and fixed oddities with carbon generation where some players could be cramped and some players had no nearby carbon at all.
• Cato Neimodia: Fixed several issues that occurred on larger map sizes. Overhauled tree generation to ensure players always have fair carbon on their starting island. Fixed starting resources from failing to generate.
• Corvus: Added a single Carbon Gas Vent to the center lake.
• Great Sea: Increased number of trees.
• Halm: When selected by [EF] Random Standard, only one capturable food generator is created for each player, closer and immediately controlled by the player.
• Hy Izlan: Holocrons now only generate on the central ice lake, decreasing holocron unfairness.
• Jedha: Decreased overall Holocron generation; slightly reduced the minimum distance that Holocrons generate from players.
• Jomark: Increased player land sizes slightly; reduced distances of starting food animals and forage bushes; players should now always start with at least one lure animal.
• Kashyyyk Forest: Fixed issue with connection generation.
• Korriban: Decreased Holocron generation.
• Kothlis: Central pond is larger and generates more fairly; Improved Carbon Gas Vent placement; Islands are larger and generate between 1 and 3 depending on map size; reworked fish generation.
• Lahmu: When selected by [EF] Random Standard, only one capturable food generator is created for each player, closer and immediately controlled by the player.
• Mudflow: Resources intended to generate on the middle swamp will no longer generate on the smaller swamps that surround the player's Command Center.
• Mustafar: Added smoke plumes on volcanic terrains.
• Nevarro: Added smoke plumes on volcanic terrains.
• Orchards: Reduced starting herd, hunt, and lure generation to encourage use of forage patches. Fixed issue with forage orchards not generating on some map sizes.
• Palanhi: Map now generates predators.
• Raxus Prime: Replaced Carbon Rock (Red) with new Carbon Scrap terrain.
• Rhen Var: Decreased overall Holocron generation; now has between 5 and 12 on the center map, depending on map size. Fixed issue with "sinkholes" sometimes generating in the center acropolis.
• Ruusan: Removed Holocron scaling by map size that was generating too many Holocrons.
• Ryloth: Increased the space between cliffs. Blurrgs are more spaced apart in the center cliffs.
• Sullust: Added smoke plumes on volcanic terrains.
• Swamps of Naboo: Reduced the amount of birds by half.
• Ukio: Reduced starting herd, hunt, and lure generation to encourage use of farmlands.
• Zeffo: Changed predators from Gundark to Jotaz.

Random Map Scripting

• Renamed internal names for all EF terrains to match RMS constants, with the exception of cases where names would be duplicates of vanilla terrain internal names; those begin with ‘EF-'. This should make it easier for random map scripters to look up terrains using Advanced Genie Editor to find the constant name to use for the terrain they want.
• Changed incorrect terrain constants for ROCK3 -> RED_DESERT1, ROCK4 -> VOLCANIC_ROCK1, and GRASS4 -> YELLOW_PLANS1. If your custom random map uses any of these constants, consider updating them to the updated constant names, or they will display the incorrect terrain.

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Fixes

These fixes are data-wise and affect all AI.

• Fixed idle_farm_count, building_type_count BLDG-GATE, building_type_count_total BLDG-GATE, players_unit_type_count UNIT-WORKER, cc_players_unit_type_count UNIT-WORKER from returning incorrect values
• Fixed the following facts erroneously returning true when conditions are not met: can_spy (when player has no Fortresses), can_spy_with_escrow (when player has no Fortresses), can_buy_commodity (when player has no Spaceports), and can_sell_commodity (when player has no Spaceports)
• Fixed the following actions being able to be executed when conditions are not met: spy (when player has no Fortresses), buy_commodity (when player has no Spaceports), sell_commodity (when player has no Spaceports), and tribute_to_player (when player has no Spaceports)
• Fixed delete_unit UNIT-WORKER from executing properly
• Fixed AT-AT Swimmer not having Ship attribute which was causing the AI to be useless with them
• Switched the Zann AI name 4-LOM (which gets parsed as a taunt) to Porel Vakra
• Fixed Resistance and First Order AI being unable to train Hvy AA Mobiles and Hvy Pummels
• AI can now correctly count enemy Air Cruisers and Grenade Troopers
• Fixed the AI from failing to count Masters of new civs correctly
• Fixed Zann Consortium from being unable to train Grenade Troopers
• Fixed the AI from being unable to build Shipyards on Shore Ice terrain, which could cause its build queue to get stuck

Known AI issues

These issues are part of the engine and as such affect all AI.

> Bugs

• If a building still in construction is deleted not automatically (eg: taken out by military units), the AI will be unable to build any building of that type ever again. This is particularly devastating for Farms.
• Jedi-class units, including those that don't even have conversion abilities (eg: IR Shadowtrooper), frequently freeze up and stutter around, failing to reliably attack or convert a target.
• After any AI builds a Monument, all other buildings will fail to be built. This is why Computer no longer builds a Monument except in the Monument Race gamemode.
• Trade units will sometimes wander aimlessly even if there is a Spaceport that they can trade with.
• AI's allocation of workers breaks down past the ~125 mark; Computer limits itself to 115 workers for this reason. Combined with space issues for the prefabs it needs and no good way to control massive amounts of units at once (attack-now will not grab all units beyond a certain threshold), the AI will frequently struggle on higher population maps: anything above 400 is pushing it.
• When building walls, the AI will not cancel these if the worker is killed (unlike other buildings) and will instead send another worker to continue where it left off, which can easily result in the entire worker population being destroyed. This is why Computer does not build walls on Hard or above.
• If turrets are built too close to the AI and it has no military, they will cancel their entire economy to bash it in with workers. This does not commonly happen on most maps, but frequently occurs on cramped maps such as [EF] Comet: it is recommended to give the AI ample space for it to spread out its buildings without running into an opponent.

> Weak behavior:

• Understanding of transporting units by air or land is very lacking. Computer does not build Transports almost at all, meaning it is unable to to move its units across to attack an enemy island. Computer Expanded will build a transport, but this has the caveat that it will transport its workers as well, which frequently results in them getting stuck as soon as they are reassigned to other tasks, essentially bricking its economy given enough time. Overall the AI struggles to play island maps where there is not a direct land route between multiple players, and the higher the emphasis is on non-land, the worse the AI plays.
• AI has no understanding that certain water bodies may not be connected, and will happily spam all its Frigates in a pond in the corner of the map (especially common on [EF] Cross).
• Understanding of other special aspects of maps: such as defending capturable buildings, or dealing with Spectral Guardians, is nonexistent.
• Understanding of sea is very lacking: the AI does not understand how to defend its trawlers with its military boats. If there is nothing to attack on the water, the AI's ships will frequently wander off to the corner of the map getting stuck.
• Understanding of where to place defensive buildings is nonexistent: the AI will build them wherever they fit, rather than e.g. try and build a fortress facing the enemy.
• AI does not really understand that eating its berries instead of herdables would be a good idea. Logic in Computer has attempted to address this, but it is still common to see workers chasing a nerf as it runs for its life towards a Nursery.
• The AI barely understands power, and frequently fails to power its Troop Center in T1, which can often lead to a guaranteed loss when rushed by a Computer AI that did correctly power its Troop Center. Its poor understanding of power works out most of the time, but is a known issue.
• Understanding of anti-air is very poor. The AI is able to attack air with anti-air, but it does not realise that it should not target ground with these AA units. It is a common sight to see Anti-Air mobiles hugging a Fortress to death while Interceptors hover above a Shipyard helplessly. The AI also does not understand Medics.
• AI will not power distant shipyards. It also likes to build Shipyards really far away.
• AI cannot build buildings with Utility Trawlers, such as Sensor Buoys or GN Underwater Prefab Shelters.
• Understanding of specific units such as Cruisers and Air Cruisers is especially weak: the AI has very little targeting knowledge and will not use these units in a sensible manner.
• Understanding of shields, stealth, and detection is essentially nonexistent.

Computer AI

Computer has been completely overhauled for 1.5.2. Significant changes to everything, from early-game economy to holocron collection to army composition, have been made. The AI still struggles if there is not a land bridge between players, and its understanding of water is weak, but it is now able to put up an impressive fight on a map like [GB] Desert or [EF] Ryloth throughout all stages of the game. Special attention must also go to the Defend the Monument gamemode, which has been completely overhauled into a frantic fight to either hold the fort or drive a breach.

> General

• Computer AI has been entirely rewritten.
• Military production has been entirely rewritten to make more sense for each civilizations and ensure the AI trains a threatening force of powerful units in the early to late game.
• Building prioritizations have also been adjusted to enable the new military might. The AI is careful to build the infrastructure it needs late-game in order to sustain its armies, without accidentally gimping its economy by building too many of them early-game. Civ-specific T3 build orders have also been introduced.
• Economy prioritization has been entirely rewritten. AI now uses the Spaceport sensibly (as opposed to selling all its ore till the price hit 50), prioritizes resources on an as-needed basis, and tries extra hard (but still does not always succeed) to garrison its nerfs in the opening stages of a game. It also has a higher emphasis on trading.
• The constants that tell the AI how many units of each type to make (per-civ and per-population limit) has been improved, which fixes cases like Zann training three Nightsister Beastmasters per Strike Mech.
• Defend the Monument AI has been updated. The AI starts with Deathmatch levels of resources and it will tribute the accompanying amounts to humans in the match as soon as it has a Spaceport. This results in a much more challenging gamemode. It is also now compatible with all EF civilizations.
• Attack rules have been rewritten to fire more reliably and at a time when the AI is likely to have more military units, fixing issues where the AI would attack with a force consisting of three AA Mobiles and two Medics.
• Added logic for a "late-game mode" that activates on Hard and above. This contains two components: military and economy. Military-wise, the AI will make better usage of its population with the units it excels at: such as Zann training strikes (and not Troopers) when Rebels will train Troopers (and not Strikes). Economy-wise, when the AI runs out of nova and ore to mine, it will switch its economy over to be more trade-based.
• Airbase creation rules now cycle through air units to ensure the AI creates a mixed air force, fixing issues where the AI's entire air force was Interceptors.
• Shipyard creation rules now alternate between training a military boat and a Utility Trawler. This along with other changes significantly improves the AI's fleet building on water maps.
• AI will now use the units and technologies available at Advanced Infantry Centre by detecting if any human players have any. If all humans then delete their Advanced Infantry Centres, the AI will no longer train the units, though it will still keep the buildings.
• Cheats reworked to scale with Tech Level along with a few other factors. This fixes issues where the AI would immediately outscale a human opponent in the early-game but peter off in the late-game. It's now able to keep pace with a good human player on Hard difficulty.
• AI now communicates with humans. It announces attacks to its allies, sparingly taunts its opponents, whines when it resigns, and more. Ingame taunts have been integrated into this system.
• Improved the AI's response to taunts. It will now reliably respond to requests for resources (3-6), a request to attack (31), disabling all attacks (36), send spare forces to the center (185), and retreat from center (172).
• Added a new tier to the upgrade prioritization system, which means the AI will prioritize the likes of Hvy Strike over the likes of Attack Programming. Ordering of researches has been further optimized.
• AI will only train a small amount of AA at all times, going up to a larger amount only if enemy air is sighted.
• Added specific rules to train siege units under certain circumstances, improving the AI's ability to siege fortified positions.
• AI now trains Padawans very infrequently. Republic and Naboo are the only civs who will train Padawns in T2 as they have a holocron collection bonus. Black Sun will also attempt to grab holocrons with Nightsister Hunters. Master civs will not train any Padawans or Knights in Tech Level 4 at all.
• AI builds more defensive buildings. It also builds more Temples if the map has excess Holocrons.
• AI deletes its Prefab Shelters after (RS) Resilience has been researched.
• Scenario interactions have been added. Use AI Script Goal 1 to turn on 'scenario mode.' This disables tributing, resigning, walling, and chatting. Use AI Script Goal 2 to turn off automatic attacking. To force an attack, send AI Script Goal 1n to send an attack for that player (eg: AI Script Goal 13 will send an attack for Player 3).
• Scenario mode is also automatically turned on if the AI has no resources on game start or has an Undefeatable Object. Additionally, if an AI starts with no workers, resigning is disabled.
• To avoid prefab clutter, AI stops needing prefabs past the 200 population mark.

> Fixes

• Fixed various issues with attack logic, including consistently sending strings of weak forces to the enemy.
• Fixed many issues with resign logic, such as not resigning if a single Cruiser was in play, or not deleting buildings correctly.
• Fixed many issues with unit and building production as part of the rewrite.
• Fixed multiple issues that occasionally caused the internal build queue to get stuck.
• Fixed holocron collectors getting stuck.
• Fixed the AI ignoring fish with Utility Trawlers.
• Fish-based water detection now applies to all maps, fixing issues whereby the AI would not consider any EF maps water maps.
• AI will no longer build walls if the map starts with them already in place. (Walling only occurs on Moderate difficulty)
• If the AI is unable to construct all of its buildings, it will expand its town-size and try again.
• Fixed resource detection fundamentally not working.
• AI no longer trains a Transport Ship on water maps, as it was ferrying its workers to islands which would frequently result in them getting stuck as soon as they were reassigned.
• Along similar lines, an Air Transport is only maintained if the game started with one.
• AI no longer automatically switches diplomacy with human players to Enemy on Hard difficulty and above.
• Reduced the frequency of the AI dancing with its cannons, artillery, and Assaults instead of shooting with them.
• Fixed many issues with Power Core logic.
• Lowered the AI's worker cap to 115 so its workers don't get stuck on higher populations.
  
  

Computer Expanded AI

> General

• Added some extra safeguards in combat-arm/combat-supp system so it shouldn't be left without choices for those two.
• Fixed issue with spamming attack related taunts.
• Reworked resource gathering.
• Reworked army compositions.
• Now includes civ specific strategies that optimize for their best units as opposed to throwing a little bit of everything.
• Changed the way the AI figures out the amount of space to allocate for a base.
• Optimized prefab building strategies.
• Reworked attack taunt system. People shouldn't get spammed with them when there are more than one Computer Expanded AI player in a match.
• Incorporated civ specific strategies.
• Moderate difficulty now cheats if there is a Computer in the match, but only getting resources for its workers.
• Scenario mode: Removed Triggers 2 to 14, which deal with directing AI unit building routines, making it impossible to direct unit building for Computer Expanded in scenarios. Until further notice, triggers to disable/enable units should be used.
• Misc. changes and improvements.

> Fixes

• Fixed unwillingness to transport units.
• Fixed unwillingness to build shipyards on map types where it is supposed to be building them.
  
  

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Terrains

> New

• Terrains: Carbon Scrap, Cliffside (Moss), and Cliffside (Red).

Editor Interface

• Added an ‘Unlock Objects' option to the Configurator that enables all hidden objects for placement within the editor. Useful if you need a hidden object for your scenario, but not recommended to leave on.
• Fixed Scenario Editor object panel displaying incorrect range value.

Units & Objects

> New

• Creatures: Rearing Spider, Gorg, Jotaz, Oggdo, Nydak, Nightsister Zombie, Chirodactyl.
• Aircraft: (RP) Azure Angel (Anakin Skywalker), (RA) Lady Luck, V-35 Courier, YT-1300.
• Vehicles: (TF) STAP-2, (RN) Flash Speeder, (RN) Gian Speeder, (RN) Gian Speeder (Civilian).
• Heroes: (CF) Passel Argente, (GE) Soontir Fel, (IR) Baylan Skoll, (IR) Darth Caedus, (IR) Morgan Elsbeth, (IR) Shin Hati, (NR) Del Meeko, (NR) Iden Versio, (NR) Jaden Korr, (NR) Leia Organa [Jedi], (NR) Sabine Wren [Lightsaber], (NR) Shriv Suurgav, (NR) Wedge Antilles, (NR) Zay Versio, (RA) Galen Marek, (RA) Luke Skywalker [Child], (RA) Luke Skywalker [Hoth], (RA) C1-10P (Chopper), (RP) Orn Free Taa, (RP) Meena Tills, (RP) Omega, (RP) Beehive, (RP) CT-5555 (Fives), (RP) Commander Neyo [BARC], (RP) Captain Vaughn, (RP) Captain Fordo [Phase II], (RP) Commander Salvo, (RP) Darth Vader, (RP) Bruck Chun, (RP) Bant Eerin, (RP) Padawan Bant Eerin, (RP) Eno Cordova, (RP) Oppo Rancisis, (RP) Roan Shryne, (RP) Roan Shryne Smuggler, (RP) Roan Shryne Smuggler[Saber], (RP) Siri Tachi, (RP) Padawan Siri Tachi, (RP) Tahl, (RP) Master Zao, (RP) Aubrie Wyn, (RP) Delta-7 (Roan Shryne), (RP) Delta-7 (Aubrie Wyn), Kino Loy, Komari Vosa, Taron Malicos.
• Units: (CF) Koorivar Aide, Koorivar Guard, LR-57 Combat Droid, (GE) Inferno Squad Sniper, (GE) KX Security Droid [Rifle], (GE) Narkina V Prison Guard, (GE) Sand Trooper, (GE) Sand Trooper [T-21], (IR) Swamp Trooper, (NR) New Republic Officer, (NR) ASP-19 Saber Training Droid, (RA) Honor Guard, (RA) Kalaanite, (RA) Kalaanite Rebel, (RA) Rebel Technician, (RP) BARC Speeder Scout, (RP) Clone Trooper DC-17 [Phase II], (RP) Clone Trooper DC-15S [Phase II], (RP) Clone Missile Trooper [Phase II], (RP) Clone Disguised as Jedi, (RP) 13th Battalion Clone Trooper, (RP) 41st Clone Trooper, (RP) 104th Clone Trooper, (RP) Clone Officer [Phase II], (RP) Jedi Knight (Mirialan), (RP) Jedi Knight Female (Mirialan), (RP) Jedi Knight (Twi'Lek), (RP) Jedi Knight (Zabrak), Assassin Droid, IG-86 Sentinel Droid, Mark II Security Droid, Sentry Droid, Mark I Security Droid Walker, Rodian Thug, Human Boy (3 units), Human Girl (2 units), Mon Calamari Child, Nautolan Child, Nikto Child, Quarren Child, Rodian Child, Trandoshan Child, Weequay Child, Twi'Lek Boy (3 units), Twi'lek Girl (2 units).
• Landed Aircraft: Landed T-70 X-Wing, Landed Fanblade Interceptor, Landed Z-95, Landed Lady Luck, Landed CR-90 Corvette, Landed Sheathipede Transport Shuttle, Landed TIE-X1 Advanced, Landed TIE Fighter, Landed TIE Defender, Landed TIE Bomber, Landed TIE Interceptor, Landed Black Sun Gozanti, Landed Virago, Landed Gozanti, Landed YT-1300 Freighter, Landed Razor Crest, Landed Raven's Claw.
• Objects: Healing Tank, Dooku's Speeder (Parked), Map Revealer 20.

> Improvements

• Map Revealers, Invisible Targets, Invisible Barriers, and Undefeatable Objects now display player coloring.
• Map Revealers now display a border indicating their coverage area; both ring and tile versions.
• Replaced Gas object sound with a quieter one.
• Renamed "Rocks w/ Carbon" to "Carbon Rocks (Red)".
• Renamed "Metal w/ Carbon" to "Carbon Rocks (Metal)".
• Renamed "Rocks" (IDs: 1170 and 1171) to "Big Rocks (Gray)" and "Big Rocks (Red)".
• Renamed "Rocks" (ID: 2208) to "Round Rocks".
• Renamed "Volcanic Rocks" (ID 614) to "Big Rocks (Volcanic)".
• Renamed "Water Rocks" (ID: 2204) to "Water Rocks (Big)".
• Renamed all carbon style rocks without carbon to "Crag Rocks" + (color).
• Renamed "Kessel Mining Building" to "Spice Mining Building".
• Renamed "Tatooine Vaporator" to "Moisture Vaporator".

> Fixes

• Fixed several editor unit stat issues; including melee units doing ranged damage, wrong displayed armors, etc.
• Corrected weird collision box sizes with Coruscant Buildings 12, 13, and 14. Rounded up to the nearest full tile size. (Also corrected OBLDG versions.)
• Corrected weird collision box size with Landed NovaSword. Size is now increased to 2x1.
• Corrected weird collision box size with Landed N1-Starfighter (Din Djarin). Size is now increased to 1x1.
• Corrected weird collision box size with Landed Ghost. Size is now increased to 2x2.
• Corrected weird collision box size with Colony Ship. Size is now reduced to 3x4.
• Corrected wrong class for BX Commando [Sword], which caused it to gain range upgrades.
• Changed Boba Fett on Rancor's death sound.
• Fixed Ithorian Medic heal graphics.
• Removed Desert Skiff's ability to garrison inside mechs (or other Desert Skiffs).
• Changed Lieutenant Korsai and General Romodi selection sounds to remove mention of Tal Ashen.
• Fixed all instances of unit names with "(Melee)" to "[Melee]" and "(Ranged)" to "[Ranged]" for consistency.
  
  

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• Due to limitations with random map functions, some maps may have unintended issues, such as players generating too close to the center of the map.
• Playing on Arena or Fortress type maps may have a chance at crashing the game if a gate generates over the edge of the map. Playing on a larger size map help to reduce this.
• Undeployed Cannons cannot be moved once placed in the Editor. (original game bug)
• AI players cannot build structures on shallows (as in Swamps of Naboo) or in open water (Aquaharvesters, Sensor Buoy).
• AI Issues: Many issues exist with the AI due to limitations with AI functionality for this game. Improvements made for later versions of Age of Empires 2 do not exist in Galactic Battlegrounds. See the AI category above for more on this.
• Some Scenario Editor units have missing or incorrect sounds.
• The original non-fixed campaigns will show up within the Custom Campaign menu under the names XCAM* and 1CAM*. If you have no intention of playing these, then you can delete them.
• Building art for the Imperial Remnant, New Republic, and Black Sun are placeholders; recolored assets of other civilization's buildings until final art can be made. (These are still being worked on.)
  
  

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If you encounter a problem with the mod, please be sure to check the EFREADME.pdf file that came with the download for our Troubleshooting FAQ section. Please be advised that we infrequently check the comments section and we're unlikely to provide you with assistance here on ModDB. We also do not respond to direct messages. We are most active on our Discord server where you can also view a more detailed FAQ section with answers to common problems or questions. Please read the welcome messages sent to you from our Discord Bot and FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE to get assistance before asking for help.

If you are interested in playing Expanding Fronts online, you can play with others using Voobly. The mod for Voobly is split into three parts: "EF EXE Patch", "Expanding Fronts Data", and "EF Assets".
Make sure you have all 3 of them installed:

EF EXE Patch
Expanding Fronts Data
EF Assets

You can follow this tutorial to set up Galactic Battlegrounds and the Expanding Fronts mod for Voobly:

And be sure to check out Lucky Llama's channel for more videos of Expanding Fronts multiplayer. He regularly casts videos of recorded games between players. Join the fun on Voobly and get featured on youtube yourself!

Again, thanks to everyone who has supported and contributed to the mod over the past years. While this update was mostly improvements to existing content, work is continuing with the mod for the future, and we’ll have some exciting new things to show off soon..

We’ve made a lot of balance changes, and this isn’t the end of the road: we will be continuing to monitor the performance of how the game plays. We’re aware that the Republic and First Order civilizations are generally considered to be rather weak. While 1.5.2 addresses some of these concerns, we have a much longer list of in-progress work that we didn’t have time to fully implement. We’ll be looking to add these, and other more substantial changes in the next update.