This is the second release for 4.90. This release features the Sigma War between the Rheinland and Kusari/the GMG. The update also features the Omega rework, the first rework that attempts to create chokepoints by reducing the number of system connections, removing systems and replacing them with new ones.
Future
This update was originally going to be called 4.90 Middle, with the next one being 4.90 Final. However, the changes planned for 4.90 Final have become so significant that it justified becoming a full update of its own, 4.91. 4.91 will deal with the conclusion of the Gallic War, most importantly without resorting the use of a reset button, deus ex machina treaty or simply returning to the pre-war status quo. We really want to shake things up in the next update and move the story forward in a way that will be exciting and apocalyptic.
There will also be more redesigns to increase the number of choke points, speed up travel and to remove certain redundant systems and replace them with new ones, as well as the planned Mining Update.
Storyline
With the GMG having rejected Rheinland's ultimatum to leave Saigon orbit and dismantle Ibusuki Construction Site, the Battleship Bayern moved to destroy the installation in a thorough attack that obliterated the station - and anyone unfortunate enough to be in the combat zone. The collateral destruction of the Survey Vessel Unzen and the deaths of Kishiro employees - particularly that of Akemi Yamashita, a high profile Kishiro executive with connections to the Kusari government - at the hands of Rheinland was regarded by Kusari as a casus belli that demanded an immediate military response. Within days of the incident, Rheinland forces in Sigma-21 were attacked by strike wings from the KNF's Hyono battlegroup. Following the loss of Planet Nuremberg and the need for a new homeland to support millions of displaced refugees, Rheinland has no intention of leaving Sigma-21 and abandoning their claim to Saigon without a fight. The Rubicon has been crossed - Rheinland and Kusari are now in a state of war.
In mid 825 AS, the last shipment of diamonds left Solarius and left the Omega-11 system behind forever, as the gate was sealed by Ageira technicians on-site in Stuttgart. The destruction of the system was a neural net spectacle viewed by millions across the sector, with cameras on the jump gate and the abandoned Solarius Station broadcasting the system's final moments. Now a searing hot planetary nebula that not even the most powerful shielding known to man can withstand, the Omega-11 nova had a disruptive effect on the jump hole network in the Omega cluster that revealed the Omega-2 system. A protostar with a resource-rich debris disc deep within the Border Worlds, Daumann, the IMG and BMM have made inroads to this system, intent on claiming the system's resources for themselves - and no one else.
In the midst of these events, there has been a revelation in Rheinland itself; Thuringia, a system previously unknown to the general public, a relic of the 80-Years War and a black site for the Imperial Navy's secret projects and failures. Images of colossal abandoned shipyards and vessels of unknown configuration have emerged, alongside rumors of a system riddled with the graveyards of decayed fleets - and unknown threats only barely contained from the rest of Rheinland.
The return of the Emperor to Kusari and the rise of the Reformed Empire following the Civil War brought hope for a new era of prosperity, but also lead to a deterioration in relations with Gallia. While trade continues to flow between the two colonies, the establishment of fortifications along the border and the arrival of the Battleship Venissieux in the Tau-53 system underline the mutual distrust the Emperor and the King have for one another. Kusari's claim to the entirety of Tau-53 as Rishiri, a claim which is only partially recognized by the Crown, has only served to further the souring of relations. Though the Battleship Matsumoto has been effective at deterring the Blood Dragon insurgency in Nagano, the fear of an attack from Gallia while the Naval Forces are engaged in the Sigmas could see the battleship recalled to Hokkaido in the near future, leaving the defense of the system in the hands of Samura's private security arm.
Meanwhile in the Edinburgh system, a Bretonian recon flight discovered an unusual new Gallic installation: Issoudun Drydock, a mobile repair station with an accompanying factory ship that dwarfs most battleships. The brainchild of Gallia's industrial complex and military engineers, the drydock has made it possible to service warships and manufacture spare parts on site using local resources. Its location deep behind enemy lines has proven to be a major strategic headache for Bretonia and her allies, as it has partially mitigated Gallia's reliance on vulnerable supply lines in the Taus. Military analysts suspect that Gallia's recent innovations represent a move away from an attrition-centric strategy; and they are not wrong. Under pressure from a Crown growing increasingly dissatisfied with the stalemate of the war in Bretonia, the Gallic Royal Navy has set in motion plans for a final, decisive confrontation with Bretonia in the New London system. The Royal Navy is well aware that it is no longer the invincible behemoth it was five years ago, and that a continued reliance on attrition warfare could force Gallia to the negotiations table in a matter of months - an event that would represent a catastrophic loss of face for the monarchy in the eyes of the Gallic public.
Ageira and Deep Space Engineering continue work on the Super Gate in Poole in spite of setbacks caused by the Royal Navy's incursion into the Independent Worlds. Ageira Technologies estimates that construction will only occur somewhat off schedule, but just in time for Liberty battlegroups to reinforce Bretonian forces in the New London system. A recent crew rotation for the Battleship Concord in Alberta has lead to rumors that the dreadnought will be among the first ships to reinforce Bretonia using the new connection.
Corsair leaders in Omicron Xi were relieved when the Rheinland Battleship Schwerin was recalled to Munich following the outbreak of war in the Sigmas. This however came at a great cost - not only would Syros Shipyard need months of repairs to return to normal operations, an MND strike in Frankfurt had destroyed Saalburg Depot. With these setbacks, the Corsairs would not be posing a threat to Rheinland for the forseeable future.
However, two major discoveries in Omicron Xi could very well offset those losses. A survey of the system conducted by a third party - alleged to be Cryer Pharmaceuticals - on the behalf of the Corsairs discovered two previously unknown alien ruins of archaeological significance. The confirmation of ruins beneath the surface of Amorgos lead to the Council of Elders sanctioning the colonization of the moon almost immediately, and the moon has seen rapid development as the Corsairs continue to establish and expand new underground colonies dedicated to the artifact trade.
The second site to be discovered was located in the depths of a recently discovered gas giant concealed in the North Aegean Nebula. Dubbed Planet Knossos by the Corsairs, it harbors the ruins of a massive Daam K'Vosh atmospheric installation, shattered long ago by an ancient storm of unparalleled magnitude, leaving an exposed shell and a cloud of debris. With these discoveries, Omicron Xi has seen an "Artifact Rush" as Corsair prospectors and xenoarchaeologists migrate to the system seeking their fortune and risking their lives, an event that has not gone unnoticed by the Core.
The Corsair incursion into Dresden has fared better than its counterpart in Frankfurt, with the Battleship Athos and her armada evading the Hessians in the Walker Nebula. Ironically, the Athos' actions in Dresden are inadvertently helping Rheinland by drawing the Hessians away from the core systems and buying the Military the time and resources to focus on the Sigma theatre.
In the neighbouring Omega-55 system, the Wild struck at the Core's Dagger Outpost in force. It was the Order's Battleship Canaan that was the first to respond to the station's distress call, and in a rare moment of cooperation assisted in the defense of the station. Damage to the outpost's communications array prevented the command staff from sending out a stand down order to the arriving Battleship Mars, which assumed the Canaan had been responsible for the attack. Pursuing the Osiris into the Omega-58 system, it was the Canaan's own damage that allowed the Mars to catch up and destroy it.
Systems
The layout of the Omega jump links was carefully planned to minimize links as much as possible without destroying the lore of factions in the region. Cayman and Omicron Omega were both removed, as they created an alternate path through the Omegas that allowed players to avoid interaction. Omicron Omega was an ex-guard system with almost exclusively Corsair bases, most of which were moved into Omicron Gamma or recycled. We also didn't want Cayman's starsphere to go to waste, so Omega-2 was designed as Cayman's spiritual successor. It's also the new location for mining Uncut Diamonds, split between Daumann, BMM, IMG, the Hessians and Corsairs and has no bases, nor is it intended to have permanent NPC bases in the future.
Cassini has been removed. With the exception of Gonzales Station, which was also removed, all of its bases have been moved into Kepler and Galileo.
Some players will recognize that the new Omega-55 is actually an improved version of Omega-15, a system that was removed in 4.87. Omega-58 has been redesigned as a dangerous alternate path to Theta.
Rishiri has been revamped as Tau-53, partly because "Rishiri is a Tau" seemed to be causing confusion and the fact that the Taus didn't have a Barrier equivalent to Sigma-13 and Omega-7. One of the main reasons for keeping this system was so we could fix the Kusari jump hole network, which is frankly terrible for unlawfuls because of huge distances but is hard to fix because of Gallic trade routes. By bottlenecking Tau and Gallic jump holes into Tau-53, it becomes much easier to move and reconnect the other jump holes in Kusari into more sane locations.
Bremen has been replaced by Thuringia, which is based on designs and infocards by @SkyNet. It also features a lot of brand new planets.
We have tried to improve systems from a gameplay point of view. For example in vanilla, if a jump hole is in the north of a system then it would link to a system to the north, which is something that previous system designs did not take into account and we have attempted to fix this wherever possible. Vanilla systems are also reverse-engineered to understand how they were designed with reasonable travel times, trade lanes of adequate length for piracy, object placement etc. We also want to avoid 60k+ travel times and placing bases and jump holes on the edge of the map where nobody will use them.
Frankfurt and Nagano have also been reverted to their old layouts. In Frankfurt's last redesign, the trade lanes had been distorted in a zig-zag shape to make them longer for piracy. This completely failed to achieve its goal and just created sharp turns that were annoying for transports and capital ships, so that's been reverted. Nagano's redesign was artificial, with nav buoys in a perfect east-west line to Tomioka along the south edge of the system that bypassed everything else, so we reverted that to the previous version that takes you past Planet Kodo and through a dust field.
Also thanks to a recent exe, patch vertical trade lanes work almost perfectly, except for some camera issues. The trade lane to Virginia has been activated as a vertical lane that takes you above the plane to the gate over Planet Houston. Ontario has also been made subtly 3D as an experiment to make the system more than a generic Liberty system, including trade lanes that go uphill to Alberta and downhill to California. Vertical lanes are a feature we hope to make more use of in future updates.
While you're waiting for @Error's NavMap to be updated, have a Companion map in the meantime to see the latest changes to the universe.
BALANCE
Capital Ships
Bretonia Carrier
- Hull 2.3 million -> 1.9 million
- shield batteries 1900 -> 1800
- Heavy Drone bay slot added
- Heavy turrets removed
- Powercore changed to Carrier Powercore
Coalition Carrier
- Heavy Drone bay slot added
- Heavy turrets removed
- Powercore changed to Carrier Powercore
- Crayter Carrier
- Light Drone bay slot added
- Heavy turrets removed
- Primary weapon amount 5 -> 4
- Secondary weapon amount 7 -> 8
- Powercore changed to Carrier Powercore
- Hull 1.65 million -> 1.55 million
Liberty Carrier
- Hull 1.9 million -> 1.8 million
Rheinland Carrier
- Light Drone bay slot added
- Heavy turrets removed
- Powercore changed to Carrier Powercore
- Hull 1.65 million -> 1.6 million
Zoner Carrier
- Light Drone bay slot added
- Heavy turrets removed
- Powercore changed to Carrier Powercore
- Hull 1.8 million -> 1.7 million
Dronebays added to
- Southampton Shipyard, New London
- Fort Winchester, Manchester
- Sabah Shipyard, Coronado
- Mykolaiv Research Station, Omega-52
- Oder Shipyard, New Berlin
- Alster Shipyard, Hamburg
- Schatten Research Facility, Frankfurt
- Battleship Kolleda, Thuringia
- Livadia Shipyard, Omicron Kappa
- Pueblo Bonito, Baffin
- Carrier Drone torpedo seeker range increased: 1500 -> 2250
NPCs
- Weak NPCs can no longer damage trade lane shields (trade lane disruptions will still spawn normally.)
FEATURES
- Restored Help System.
- Avenger and Guardian now have animated wings as seen in the E3 trailer.
- Added Rheinland Government Cargo Pod, Biohazard Cargo Pod.
- Added Crayter Freighter Engine.
- NPCs can now refer to (Omicron) Delta, Kappa, Iota and Epsilon in speech
- NPCs will refer to other systems as Omicron, Omega or Sigma. (eg Our trade convoy reports out of Omega)
- NPCs refer to Nomads as Alien Organisms when engaging them.
- Changed Mini Razor model.
SYSTEMS
- Added battleship missions to Battleship Hyono and Battleship Bayern in Sigma-21.
- Nerfed Omicron Iota platforms and NPCs, buffed defences around Altair and Dur-Shurrikun instead.
FIXES
- Removed NPC cargo scans.
- Fixed Ish'tar NPCs not dropping remains.
- Fixed Camera Ship thruster.
- Fixed equipment dealers selling the shipdealer package version of Crayter Engines.
Serve your Empire! Crush the Rheinlandic invaders, avenge Ibusuki!
Brought to you by the Reformed Kusari Empire. Go kill some Rheinlanders.
No one can out boop me, not even an Admin! Boop. ~Spuddo GRAVE REPERCUSSIONS ~Ramke Get booped on, nerd. ~Durandal I wanted to be a part of the party, hi Tails. ~Inferno Pokes are superior boops. ~Naz
(07-15-2018, 09:33 AM)Xalrok Wrote: the planned Mining Update.
There's some really cool and exciting stuff mentioned there, I was wondering if I could get more imformation on the mining update? ETA etc,
It's been mostly ironed out internally, we'll probably set up a chat to run it by mining faction leaders before we commit to it fully. We also need to alter some ore routes for Rheinland ore trading with Gallia.
Also, the patch should be downloadable now. Server will be back shortly.
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