With 2.6 released, which gameplay change and which QoL change are you most excited for? I've included a summarized version below attempting to distill the 6 page change log into a bulleted list.
For me:
QoL - Standing/conditional orders being checked every minute instead of every hour. Finally will be able to use "Rescue lifepods" command!
Gameplay - Multi-system NPCs. Close second is that advanced spinal particle lances are going to be scary, tied with NPC carriers/fighters. Can't wait.
⦁ Civilian lines can now be taxed to reduce growth
⦁ Civilian lines will only move colonists out of a colonist pool on each population, which grows according to migration pressure factors
⦁ Laser warheads can be set to explode at random ranges between two limits
⦁ You can set warnings for low fuel and maintenance at a population
⦁ You can search the galaxy map for a system, by name
⦁ Research screen can now use an empire-wide view (read only though) or the existing population-specific view
⦁ Swarm ships can no longer be boarded
⦁ Captured enemy missiles can now be "researched" and after doing so can be loaded/fired and (if you have the same tech) built
⦁ Galactic map can now be zoomed, has new options for screenshots and for assessing where NPC empires/ships have been seen, as well as a filter for seeing only ships in one of your specific admin commands (e.g. show me only survey admin ships)
⦁ Penalties for ships being under-crewed will now also impact non-combat ships
⦁ Ramming will now actually do damage (was accidentally zero before), and varies depending on target/self size and speed
⦁ POWs picked up from life pods must now be dropped off at an Imperial Population with > 1M population. They can only be interrogated if there is also a Naval HQ present. 5000 POWs can be processed for intelligence per year per level of Naval HQ. Normal crew give 0.1 IP each. Officers are different; they can be processed in parallel, with a % chance of yielding their info based on number of Naval HQ, their race's Determination and Xenophobia, and the officer's rank. They yield IP as 2 random draws between 1 and (Officer Rank +1)^3 summed together.
⦁ New "Scrap All" button will scrap anything obsolete or which cannot be disassembled for research points.
⦁ On a fleet's Transported Items tab you can now scrap items in the hold for minerals. Scrap all works as above.
⦁ NPCs (both from start and post-start) can now be multi-system when created. Set parameters at New Game creation menu to something other than zero to experience this.
⦁ NPCs can now deploy carriers, with the potential for both missile and beam fighters.
⦁ Enhanced Precursor option allows Precursor forces to emerge over time, rather than all at once at the start. Prescence of your/NPC forces will accelerate emergence timeline (larger forces = faster emergence), as will combat with previously emerged Precursors
⦁ Enhanced Star Swarm option reduces likelihood of first encounter from 3.3% to 2% in each suitable system (mineral-based), but after that you have a 30% chance of a new Swarm being generated per year (checked every 5-day increment). Each new Swarm generated has a 20% chance of being the last one for the rest of the game.
⦁ Troops designed to have special combat bonuses (desert warfare etc) are now given that capabiltiy at no cost if trainined in a location that has that environment (e.g. on a desert world). Includes high/low gravity, extreme temp/pressure, mountain/desert/jungle/rift valley
⦁ No more low grav infrastrucure, now you just need 2x normal infrastructure for low-grav colonies
⦁ New tech for crew quarters space efficiency (similiar to armor efficiency)
⦁ Ships can now mount (and benefit from) more than one refueling system, and total capacity is the sum. Refueling systems are 4x larger (2kton) and tech for refueling capacity starts lower and increases in larger steps. Refueling hubs have been removed from the game
⦁ Standing/conditional orders can be toggled active/inactive with a checkbox, rather than having to unassign them when you don't want them followed.
⦁ You can now set unlimited conditional orders (instead of just primary and secondary), checked in order of priority.
⦁ Standing/conditional orders will be checked for increments longer than one minute (was one hour previously), making "collect lifepods" finally useful! Sets of standing/conditional orders can now be saved/loaded as templates
⦁ Class design and components menus are now organized by component type (e.g. Sensors or Propulsion or Defense) vs alphabetical by name (e.g. Engines, Thermal Sensors)
⦁ Fleet Waypoints can now be created (only lone per fleet can exist at a time) and be used as part of standing/conditional orders
⦁ Flag bridges can now host a Naval Admin commmand with radius zero, meaning it only affects the local system. They cannot have subordinate commands. Note that multiple admin commands can be assigned to the same flag bridge
⦁ New optional organization of ship classes in ship design window organizes ship classes by hull type (military, commercial, station, fighter, or FAC)
⦁ Improved metrics for empire-wide mineral useage and availability on a new tab called "Mineral Data"
⦁ Races can now be pre-industrial, conventional (industrial age), conventional progressing toward TN (player only), minor TN, or major TN.
⦁ ECM pentalty to hit is now (0.75)^(delta in ECM level), where it was 1-0.2*(delta in ECM level) before. This makes ECM stronger at smaller deltas and weaker at large deltas, meaning it's not as impossible to hit much higher tech opponents.
⦁ Sensor jammers are also switched to the .75^(ECM advantage) forumla
⦁ Particle beams can now be mounted as spinal or advanced spinal weapons
⦁ Captured civilian mining complexes convert to "Ex-civilian mining complexes" which have the same output but are gov owned (and huge)
⦁ If you have 100 IP on an enemy sensor, it will now be drawn on the map when you turn on the "Display Active" option.
⦁ NPCs will now attempt to use squadron transits for JP assaults with military ships.
Topic: Which 2.6 changes are you most excited about (includes short change-log summary) (Read 19 times)
