Emperor of the Fading Suns...alive and kicking?

Started by Jarhead0331, December 18, 2018, 07:19:53 PM

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Tanaka


Update 1.51 (February 20th, 2023)�

Thanks for enjoying Emperor of the Fading Suns! We appreciate all the feedback and are glad you found it both a lot of fun and very stable. That said, this patch addresses the bugs you did find, provides more balance to the AI, and improves the modding tools. This document addresses some significant gameplay changes for which players asked.
How Do I Get Started?�

    If you are a new player, we strongly recommend you start play with the historical map, and with all Houses (yours and the AI) set to "Beginner." Yes, we grognards know we can beat any strategy game on its highest difficulty level the first time out, but trust us on this one - historical and beginner.
    If you are a returning EFS Enhanced player, we have listened to your feedback and modified some of the gameplay significantly. If you do not have any saved games you want to continue, just jump right back into play. We hope you like the fixes and changes.
    If you want to continue an existing EFS Enhanced game, please copy any saved games you want to continue playing into a new folder before you download the new version. After downloading this patched version, copy those .sav files into the SAV folder in the MOD/LEGACY path. To continue using old unit stats and game settings, enable the Legacy mod by editing the mod.ini file in the root EFS folder. You do this by changing the mod setting from "0" to "1" and removing the semicolon in front of "mods_folder=Legacy". When you are ready to play with the new settings, return the mod setting to 0 and put the semicolon back in front of mods_folder=Legacy

What are the Main Changes?�

    We have reduced how aggressively the AI builds new structures and units on its worlds.
    Units have been rebalanced for cost and effectiveness. This means that units requiring higher levels of technologies are more dangerous, and some starting units take longer to build. This also increases the value of combined-arms tactics.
    Most technologies take longer to research and require you to build (and protect) more labs.
    We have doubled the number of relics you can find in ruins.
    The combat screen now displays more of the combat modifiers in each encounter.

Why Do You Call It EFS 1.51?�

    Emperor of the Fading Suns was version 1.5 of the game, making this patch 1.51. That said, you can just call it the EFSe patch and have fun

Important Notes�

    Emperor of the Fading Suns Enhanced (1.5) saves are compatible with this patch (1.51).
    1.5 had an issue where save files eventually become corrupted. These save files can be loaded in 1.51 and the game can be continued as if nothing was wrong in the first place.
    Due to gameplay changes, we recommended that older 1.5 saves should be placed in the MOD/LEGACY/SAV folder. You cand enable the Legacy mod by editing the mod.ini file in the root EFS folder.
    For an improved experience, you should play new games without using the Legacy mod.
    Random galaxies are much harder than the Historical galaxy, even if choosing the same difficulty levels.
    Difficulty level affects Ruins and Random galaxy generation based on the average difficulty of all players, so setting your difficulty low and all other houses high gives a harder random galaxy.

Important bug fixes including (but not limited to)�

    Fixed a bug where Engineers are expended but failed to build cities.
    Reduced frequency of crashes related to alt tabbing
    Reduced frequency of crashes during AI turns
    Fixed a crash that happened when merging a sentried cargo pod
    Fixes League and Church voting in Elections
    Fixes Relics becoming nonfunctional after being captured from another owner
    Fixes Accuracy relic not working correctly
    Fixes Firebirds correctly being consumed when building and canceling units
    Fixes inability to overwrite save files with "save as" button
    Fixes church inquisition burning labs that research proscribed techs
    Plague bombs no longer appear on easier difficulty random maps

New features�

    Unit stats have been rebalanced so that higher tech units are much tougher than earlier units, and cost more in maintenance. Techs take longer to research, proportional to the value of the technology. Direct and Close attacks can now both target the same ground units.
    Added 10 new relics
    Hidden units that weren't spotted or hit in combat remain hidden during and after combat
    Autosave files are now placed in the SAV/AUTOSAVE folder, instead of the main SAV folder.
    Starbases now act as a repair station, and add health regen to space units in the same stack
    Naval Destroyers now act as carriers for Helicopter type units (Gunships)
    Vau Fighter and Symbiot Spitter no longer require refueling
    Pestulator Artillery now causes tactical plague (unit targeted by Pest Art can become infected with plague)
    Plague Bombs now automatically die at the end of combat (presented as Psych damage at end of combat)
    Due to their performance enhancing drugs, Chem Shock Legions now have a chance to suffer some health loss, experience loss, loyalty loss, and Psych damage at the end of combat.
    Environmental tech agility bonuses now show up in the Bonuses/Minuses list in combat screens
    The church now has a chance to unproscribe certain techs based on game difficulty and patriarch sect
    Players can now ask the church to unproscribe techs for money
    The historical galaxy is now more balanced for each Sect, increasing the possibility a Patriarch from outside of the orthodoxy may claim the role

Full List of Changes:�
Bug Fixes:�

    Game crashes in the Load Dialog if the player clicks something in the Folder Pane (Right Pane) and then OK
    The Tyranny Trait now works similar to the positive loyalty traits and is permanent throughout the game in the -10% Loyalty Reduction to Cities and Units
    Corrupted Save Games can now be reloaded and continued
    Engineers, Symbiot Nesters, and Vau Workers are no longer disbanded at the start of the game by the AI
    Only the current player's production is seen when right clicking on a city (other player's production could be seen before regardless of treaty)
    Jump and Space Units that are cargo can now be unloaded in a city
    Right clicking on an empty city controlled by another player no longer jumps back to the current / next unit
    All orbiting stacks of other players can now be selected (this dealt with the League, Church, Symbiot, Vau, and Ministries)
    Firebird purchase message when trying to build a unit with insufficient credits no longer appears
    May fix errors with EnumDisplayMode - Failed on some portable systems including OneXPlayer
    Ruin Gift rewards due to shared data structures are now given correctly
    When deducting credits for building a unit, the correct player's treasury is now used (was only Li Halan's before)
    Environmental Techs now correctly show their bonus during the Combat Screen
    The Empty Lab Tech button could interfere with the city's text - the button has been moved so this no longer happens
    Overwriting Save Game files are now written to the correct folder (and actually overwrite the existing Save Game file)
    Fixes unit list issues that could cause corrupted games / save games
    Prevents crash if a unit's spotting in UNIT.DAT is set too high by a MODder (max value allowed is 80)
    Issues with city building and not showing "Missing Required Tech" (the Cathedral was one city where this didn't work correctly)
    Game no longer crashes if units that cannot move onto a specific terrain type are automatically unloaded if a Jump or Space transport is attacked
    The Church failed to send Inquisitors to Labs researching proscribed tech
    The Historical Galaxy is now MOD-aware and will be loaded if the player selects Historical when playing a MOD
    Randomly-generated Galaxies now use a MOD's Historical Galaxy (GALAXY.GAL in the MOD\YourMod\GAL folder) when creating new Galaxies
    The House AutoSave files now use the correct month / date
    When giving the player with the lowest score Technologies, their score is updated immediately so that they may not necessarily be the player with the lowest score
    Any space move-type unit can now be unloaded in space if aboard a transport
    Alt-TABbing away from the game should now crash less frequently if at all
    The game's in-game videos are enabled by default
    The game used the incorrect treasury when trying to build cities with Engineers, causing the Engineer to be consumed, but the city to not be built
    Incorrect Weapon Bonuses were shown in the Unit Dialog
    The Church & League now give votes based on how much they like a player and properly cast promised votes
    Space Units (Gate, Jump, Lander, Mech, & Space) now obey TARGET.DAT rules
    Relics now properly transfer ownership when captured
    Relics (accuracy bonus and others) now work correctly
    When razing a city a sound is now played
    Symbiot Butchers are now longer immune to Direct & Close Space Weaponry
    For Random Galaxies, Shields on Vau-Controlled planets are now properly controlled by the Vau
    When changing a contract, money is properly returned to the player
    Structure damage is now correctly shown during combat when no units are targeted
    Ground units should no longer appear in space without a transpor
    Difficulty Level modifiers are now calculated more accurately (no more truncated values)
    Control of a structure's ability to build units is now via STRBUILD.DAT so that Rebels will no longer build units from resource markers (unless explicitly specified)
    Turns til the next patriarch is now properly reset even if no patriarch has been found
    Game should no longer crash if bombarding an empty city
    Tech Research & Unit Build specific owner requirements should now work correctly

Enhancements:�

    Added 10 new Relics
    The Advisor now has updated / corrected information when the Tutorial is ON
    Game Folder Structure Re-Organization: The SCENARIO folder has been moved to be under the GAL Folder
    All Terrain and Scenarios for the Historical (GALAXY.GAL), Dark Ages, and Lost Worlds Galaxies are now in the GAL\SCENARIO\GalName folder for that Galaxy File
    Improves game robustness, reducing the number of crashes, and allowing games with issues to potentially be reloaded from the latest save and continue
    Adds new option (disabled by default) that allows the unit's movement rate value when being reset to be affected by the unit's current health (this allows units to suffer reduced movement penalties if they have been badly damaged - note that there is a floor based on percentage that can be set so that units cannot have less than 25% of the original movement, for example)
    Combat has been changed when unspotted units are involved - units only reveal themselves if they were actually targeted during combat although Ranged Space attackers always reveal themselves
    A new column in UNIT.DAT has been used to assign a Unit's Functionality for MODders - this removes the unit's function defined by its unit slot. For legacy purposes, the unit slot / kind are still used for Nobles, Officers, etc. and the Cargo Pod unit slot is still specific for Cargo Pods
    The DAT files have been updated to improve overall gameplay - the previous V1.4 DAT files have now become the Legacy MOD and are in the MOD\Legacy folder. Players can still play the original V1.4 game files by enabling MODs in MOD.INI and setting the Mod Folder to the Legacy Folder. Note that it is recommended to do this if continuing a save game from V1.5.
    All "hard-coded" techs have had their numbers moved to EFS.INI to allow MODders to change those values for expanded Tech Trees in their MODs
    A new owner delineation has been added so that House Humans can be distinguished from House AI to allow MODders to allow only the AI or Human House players to build certain units
    New functionality: Air Units that don't die when running out of fuel
    Clergy now have the following functionality:
    When a unit or city is considering changing to a new Sect, their chance to change is affected by the following:
    Their chance is lowered by 10% (specified via EFS.INI) if the Cathedral on the planet is their Sect
    Their chance is increased by 10% (specified via EFS.INI) if the Cathedral on the planet is the Sect they are changing to
    Their chance is lowered by 1% (specified via EFS.INI) for each Clergy of their Sect on the planet
    Their chance is increased by 1% (specified via EFS.INI) for each Clergy of the Sect they are changing to on the planet
    For Religious Rebellions - the chance to rebel is reduced by the square of the number of Clergy on their planet that is their Sect (1% for 1, 2% for 4, 3% for 9, etc.)
    For the Tithe Skim - the skim is increased by 1% (specified via EFS.INI) per Clergy on the planet
    The generation of units for Random Galaxies has been updated to reduce the frequency of Plague Bombs
    PTS units defending against attacking Ranged Space or landing units are now added to the Player's Combat Report if it is turned ON
    The Church can now Unproscribe Tech if they don't find a Tech to Proscribe
    Players can now request for the Church to Unproscribe a Tech
    The Historical Galaxy (GALAXY.GAL) has been updated to balance the House Sects, remove Alien Ruins appearing in water, and fixing Vau structures on Vau planets to be properly controlled by the Vau (instead of Neutral)
    Updates the Galaxy File INI override system to be more robust and fault tolerant for MODders
    The following agility bonuses are now MODable (in EFS.INI)
    Bonus if unit is hidden
    All 3 individual Tech Bonuses
    The random camouflage modifiers are now MODable (in EFS.INI)
    When Space & Jump units land outside of cities, the amount of damage is MODable (in EFS.INI)
    Complete MODding of the Combat Mechanics for the To Hit System (via EFS.INI)

Other Changes:�

    Update Credits for those who playtested the close beta - thanks!

Map Editor:�

    Units that can be placed on water no longer have to be in a city or within 1 hex of a city - as long as the hex contains water the unit can be placed there.
    Air units can be placed on any hex - just be sure to place a structure or naval carrier of the same owner nearby so they don't die after the first turn (no need to worry if they are set not to run out of fuel).
    Random Galaxy generation now works correctly
    Structures that cost money can now be placed
    Random Galaxies no longer delete Reserved Cities / Units
    Can now add units up to the maximum tLvl of 12 if they exist in UNIT.DAT
    Able to correctly load .GAL, .SEN, & *.TER files from different folders


solops

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Tanaka