Star Trek Armada II: Fleet Operations 3.1.3 released news

Some of you may heard it already: one focus we've developed Fleet Operations on is multiplayer. When Armada 2 was released in 2001, its online playing capabilities were nothing too extraordinary for its time. However, it is remarkable that even now after nearly 10 years its online channels over at GameSpy still weren't just turned off like it happend quite a lot with much newer game titles.

Still, the age of this service creates a few problems, usually resulting in various connection problems where players can't join or host games, despite all firewall and router settings were set up correctly. This deteres a lot of people from playing Fleet Operations online.
Our online community began looking for alternative ways of playing with others over the internet and found not too long ago Tunngle. Tunngle is a quite new peer to peer VPN client, that allows people to meet in a lobby based chat and start games over the internet. Through some dedicated people from our online gaming community, Fleet Operations got its very own lobby in their network.
We have been working with the Tunngle developers for 3.1.3 to bring you a one-click solution to play Fleet Operations online through Tunngle. All you need is their client installed and a account set up. You can get it at Tunngle.net . After that you just have to go to the Fleet Operations multiplayer screen and click the Tunngle button there.

Of course that is not everything that 3.1.3 features. We've got some interesting new special weapons, an enhanced AI, a lot of improvements to overall balancing and included many new community created maps. I'd recommend you read the changelog below.
Special thanks to Beat2k10, Boggz, funnystuffpictures, Njm1983, Phoenix and Stardust for their well made maps! Thanks to everyone for input regarding the balancing and bug reports through the forum and email. Have fun with 3.1.3 everyone!

Patch 3.1.3 is only compatible with a previous 3.1.x installation. Patching an earlier version (3.0.7 and below) will result in a corrupt installation.

Changelog:

Features

• Tunngle peer-to-peer VPN client auto login support (www.tunngle.net)
• Vutpa' Class vessels may now be equipped with the Concussion Missile Launchers special ability
• Troopship Vutpa' Class refits may now be equipped with the Mass Seeking Missiles special ability to reveal cloaked ships
• A new special weapon for the B'rel Class Bird of Prey has been added: Weapon Fatigue
• Starfleet reinforced Warp-In with new vessels
• AI now uses cloak more offensively if appropriate
• AI ship and special weapon handling improved
• The Shrike Class may now be equipped with Unstable Plasma Torpedoes
• More weapon and special ability effects have been added
• Weapon range circles are now also shown when hovering a weapon system of a vessel
• New maps
  • Solar Outposts by Beat2k10
  • Champagne Supernova by Boggz
  • Early Bird by Boggz
  • Star Traffic by Boggz
  • Andromeda v2 by funnystuffpictures
  • Booby Trap by Njm1983
  • Passages by Njm1983
  • Solar Storm by Phoenix
  • Tau Ceti by Phoenix
  • Battlefield by Stardust
  • Nebula Stream by Stardust
  • (Phoenix's Map Making Extension is now integrated)

Changes

• Game Shell locked at window mode
• Multiplayer: The button for the connection dialog of the antiquated IPX/SPX network protocol has been removed. IPX/SPX is still accessible by right clicking the 'Local Area Network' connect button.
• Multiplayer: The button for Internet connections over GameSpy has been removed. GameSpy is still accessible by right clicking the 'Tunngle' connect button.
• Multi-monitor action window mode has been removed
• Cloaking hotkeys have been disabled due to technical problems. They will return soon
• System Value has now a greater effect on weapon disabling weaponry. Starships with high System Values are more resistant to losing their weapon control
• Borg
  • Stacking Interception Modules on the Dodecahedron will no longer affect stations and will be less effective against vessels designed to counter the Dodecahedron
  • Adjusted the damage coefficients of Adapted Photon Torpedoes
  • Increased the rate at which Assimilation Incubation Centers board attackers
  • Nanites damage and area of effect reduced. It is now much more effective in affecting hostile engines to slow fleets down. Cloaked vessels will also suffer from nanites. It is now on a 12 second cooldown
• Dominion
  • Mixed-Tech C-11 Interception Destroyers (Romulan) are now capped like Generix Class Support Refits
  • Phaser Sentry attributes increased to 34 Offensive Value, 38 Defensive Value and 20 System Value (bf.: 25 / 29 / 15). Costs increased
  • Puretech now reduces the construction costs of all Construction Yard prototypes by 50 percent (bf.: reduced the construction time of most construction yard vessels by 25 percent)
  • Reduced the construction costs of Breen Battleships significantly
  • Breen Energy Torpedoes on Breen Cruisers now have a limited attack arc. The construction costs were adjusted to reflect this change. Slightly adjusted the damage coefficients of all Energy Torpedoes
  • The Hyperspace Artillery is now time-based on a fast cooldown (bf.: energy-based)
  • Tetryon Singularity is now considered a torpedo weapon
  • The T-15 Heavy Cruiser Implosion Field Device is now capped at a maximum effect
• Federation
  • Increased the damage per second of Admiral Mayson's Torpedo Platform
  • Ablative Armor has been moved from the Phaser Platform to the Pulse Platform
  • Increased the construction time and costs for Akira Class vessels
  • Hyper Impulse Drive offensive value reduction reduced to -2 (bf.: -3)
  • Admiral Risner now increases the Offensive Value of Saber Class vessels by 1 and by an additional point for every two ranks
  • Damage bonuses granted from Admiral Mayson's altered armaments have been converted into Offensive Value increases for better comparability. Gameplay characteristics remain unchanged
• Klingon
  • Some minor cost adjustments on most Klingon units
  • Polaron Field disables less systems per second
  • The cloak detection of Manual Targeting now lasts 7 seconds (bf.: 6)
  • Heavy Disruptor and Torpedo Drone are now on a 1 minute cooldown
  • The Vutpa' Class and the Heavy Weapons Platform are now armed with a new Photon Rack weapon
  • The Vutpa' Class gains higher Defensive Values on rankup
  • The veteran ability Battle-tried Energy Circuits now also adds Manual Targeting to the Vor'cha, LuSpet and Cho'naQ Classes
  • Increased TaQ'roja's B'rel Class disruptor damage
  • The Kahless Stations may now build the Qaw'Duj Class instead of K'beajQ warships for an increased construction time
  • Manual Targeting now also reduces the drawbacks of offensive or defensive passive abilities by about 50 percent
  • Adjusted the amount of supplies granted on unit rank-up. You should see an overall increase. Also reduced the costs to buy more supplies in early game stages
  • Field Yard extensions are now specialized in producing certain vessel subsets. Costs and technology requirements adjusted. The Field Yard is built with an installed own-vessels-only repair dock and one of the extensions offers a normal repair dock with allied repair capabilities
  • SuS'a' Class damage reduced while Last Ditch Assault is active (the damage per second is still higher compared to normal operation mode). Increased the 'drawback phase' of Last Ditch Assault to 20 seconds (bf.: 10)
  • Reduced the construction time of most early game units
  • TaQ'roja's B'rels yield additional supplies during combat
  • Reduced the number of subsystems disabled by the Scrambling Probe
  • K'Vort officer and veteran ranks no longer deal direct hull damage because of Verteron Particle Loader
• Romulan
  • Slightly increased the relative damage per second of Defense Batteries while in alternate fire mode
  • Prefine Defense Components renamed to Prefab Defense Components
  • The Generix Support Refit gains higher Defensive Values on rankup
  • Defense Battery attributes increased to 28 Offensive Value, 36 Defensive Value and 25 System Value (bf.: 21 / 27 / 19). Costs increased
  • Sleeper Agent energy costs and supply costs reduced
  • Saboteur Agent supply costs reduced and energy costs increased, but no longer yields experience and has a reduced duration, use Sleeper Agent to gain higher levels. The Saboteur no longer destroys large units like Borg Cubes, but may now also damage stations
  • Multi Targeting Disruptor hits one target less and deals slightly less damage
  • Slightly reduced the Generix Class Spectre Refit torpedo damage reduction
  • Quadcobalt Torpedoes are now considered torpedo weapons
  • Shield Recharge is now short ranged (bf.: medium)
  • Generix Class Support Refit costs increased
  • Increased the supply costs for the Rhienn Disruptor Refit
  • Defense Batteries may stay online for a longer period of time if disconnected of a Singularity Transmitter
  • Rhienn Class Phase Plates now also add a resistance against Adapted Photon Torpedoes
  • Radiation Device no longer hits cloaked targets

Fixes

• Fixed a crash with research stations having more than 14 buildable upgrades (Admiral Mayson's Starfleet Science)
• Fixed an old Armada bug that caused shipyards to loop their repair sound despite being idle
• Added alternate fullscreen mode when using the Map Editor to prevent dialog boxes from being invisible
• The Romulan Singularity Implosion special ability shows the correct area of effect if hovered over
• Fixed some tooltip typos
• Map Editor: Maps can now be correctly sorted by their size
• Game mechanic
  • Derelict vessels could end up with activated cloak under certain conditions
  • Federation warp-in vessels aren't transferred to an already eliminated player anymore
  • Fixed a problem with "growing" repair facility queue entry points
  • Romulan defense batteries won't decloak themselves anymore when their operation mode is changed
  • Officer rank Novas can no longer be promoted to Veteran if the veteran cap is full
  • The Serkas Class' Silent Resolve special ability will no longer cause it to decloak in certain situations
  • Nova Class vessels are no longer double-click-selected with Saber Class vessels
  • Support Generix refits are now capped correctly
  • Ships built at the McKinley yard now correctly count towards the veteran limit
  • AI derelicts shouldn't switch their operation mode anymore as if still commanded
  • The Borg EM-Field may no longer be exploited by firing on allied vessels
  • Fixed some slightly incorrect supply costs for "direct build" Romulan Generix Class refits
  • The Dominion Perimeter has artillery range weapons as intended
  • Solved some issues with Klingon SuS'a' Class Veterans using their special abilities
  • The cooldowns of time-based special ships (like the Descent Class) could be shortened by exploiting energy-restoring weaponry
  • General Helev's supply cost reduction is now correctly taken into account for Rhienn Class refits directly built at the Staryard
  • Fixed several bugs triggering a hidden cooldown on veteran promotion
  • The SuS'a' may now be promoted into the ranks of a veteran if Last Ditch Assault is active
  • Fixed a bug related to the Hyperspace Artillery dealing too little damage on some rare occasions