by Eladrin

Hi everyone!

The 3.12.3 “Andromeda” patch was released this week, with the following changes:

Feature​

• Added tradition agendas for Modularity, Nanotech and Virtuality
• Some megastructures (mostly kilostructures) can now be dismantled if you have the technology to build them and are not at war.
• Solar system tooltips now show the arc furnace and habitat potential of a system, if you meet the construction requirements for the megastructures

Improvement​

• Added heir titles to Mortal Empire and Bandit Kingdom governments
• Added missing heir titles for Imperial governments
• Added more character names to the Cyberpunk list
• Added tooltips to the Transformation situation to summarize the different ascension paths in the event that you make a choice of which path to select.
• Awakened fallen empires now can use the daedalus seal relic.
• Completing the Synthetic Fertility event chain will now grant additional robot modification trait points and picks and award a unique trait for your synths
• Cybernetic Creed pops can now be modified
• Democratic Crusaders no longer hate Worker Coops for being Oligarchies
• Non-Spiritualist pops in a Cybernetic Creed empire now only have the Cybernetic Creed traits removed instead of all Cyborg traits
• Redesigned top-menu resource tooltips for clarity
• Robots Pops are now called Machine or Mechanical Pops in most places
• Scavenger civics now have 10% of the base cost of buildings, districts and megastructures refunded upon dismantling them
• Selecting a Cybernetic Creed as your sole Spiritualist faction no longer forces a template onto your species
• The Commodities Consolidation situation will now show if you are on track to produce enough consumer goods or if you do not have enough storage space to the quota. Thanks to SirBlackAxe for the improvement suggestions!
• Your choice in the Virtual Salvation event now influences the Synthetic Society Shift in the Digital Refactoring event chain

Balance​

• Added Election Term Variance (Years): +5 to the Shadow Council civic. This means that each election will have a term length equal to that of the authority +/- a random number of years between -5 and +5.
• Added Election Term Length (Years): -50% to the Worker Cooperative civic, giving empires with this civic the same term length as the democratic authority.
• All Virtual empires (either Machines that take Virtuality traditions or Organic empires that adopt a Virtual government after completing Synthetic Ascension) now get access to the Virtual Economic Policy
• Buffed the Mutual Aid trade policy to also provide unity
• Cosmogenesis Battlecruiser and Titans now use reactors one class above theirs, and should now provide ample power for modules.
• Dark Matter Engine effects reduced from +60% to +40%
• Increased the effects of the modifier nerfing FE against Cetana.
• Machine World planet designation now increases the output of all jobs by 5% instead of only simple drones and increases the build speed of all resource districts by 25%
• Made Rogue Servitors slightly more likely to build organic sanctuaries and their upgrades
• Reduced the time needed to complete the special projects “The Queen’s Databank” and “Cetana: Race The Tempest”
• Selecting a Cybernetic Creed as your sole Spiritualist faction now awards a country modifier for that Creed – these modifiers are:
  • The Fellowship of the Hammer, Elevated Fellowship, +1 Biological Trait Points, +1 Biological Trait Picks, -10% Building and District Upkeep, -10% Megastructure Upkeep
  • The Templars of Steel, Elevated Templars, +1 Biological Trait Points, +1 Biological Trait Picks, +5% Naval Capacity
  • The Choir of the Mind, Elevated Choir, +1 Biological Trait Points, +1 Biological Trait Picks, +5% Research Speed, +5% Researcher Upkeep
  • The Commune of Toil, Elevated Commune, +1 Biological Trait Points, +1 Biological Trait Picks, +10% Cyborg Happiness
  • The United Creeds has their modifier changed to +2 Biological Trait Points, +1 Biological Trait Picks
• Selecting a Cybernetic Creed as your sole Spiritualist faction now gives +10% Faction Approval for the Creed
• Selecting the physical path for Synthetic Ascension now unlocks the advanced traits from Modularity
• Shielded Components points cost reduced from 4 to 3
• Synthetic Imperial authorities no longer have -10% pop assembly speed
• Synthetic Oligarchic authorities now have Enforcer provide +10% Resources from Ruler Jobs instead of +5%
• Synthetic Physical Corporate government now gives +5% Trade Value
• Synthetic Physical Imperial government now gives +2 leader starting level and +10% leader XP gain
• Synthetic Virtual Corporate government now gives +1 Codebreaking
• The additional trait picks and points awarded by Cybernetic Creed now only apply to biological species
• The Augmentations of the Commune now gives +20% Worker Output, but no longer gives +20% Worker Happiness
• The Bot Lord destiny trait is now available for all leader classes and now instead increases the production and decreases the upkeep of both robots and cyborgs. It is twice as likely to show up if you are an individual machine or have synthetic or cybernetic ascension.
• The Computation Core Focus policy for Synthetic MegaCorps no longer removes the +1% Trade Value modifier from Clerks and the Production Streamlining option now also increases Consumer Goods production in addition to alloys.
• The Nanotech World designation now also affects agri-drones if you build hydroponic farms on the planet
• The Shroud Preacher and Truth Seeker destiny traits are now blocked if you have undertaken another a non-psionic path. They are twice as likely to show up if you have psionic ascension. The traits no longer require spiritualist ethics
• Virtuality Adoptions grants a -15% metallurgist and artisan production
• Virtuality Policy now grants +80%/-50%, down from +100%/-40%

Bugfix​

• Added a homeworld or planet preference to multiple event species, mainly machines
• Added a plural version of the loc for synaptic lathe districts
• Added a warning to Synthetic Age that it will not grant a new tradition if you have no tradition slots left
• Added military academy to shattered ring and habitat
• Added more checks to prevent Worker Coops from using banned trade policies
• Assembly tooltip will now combine empire wide add modifiers into the same category.
• Becoming a machine removes the brain slug trait from leaders
• Blocked parades and deficits from targeting the synaptic lathe
• Cetana’s fleets now begin at 1st
• Changed resilience bonus for immortal leaders
• Changed Synthetic Dawn machine empire gender to indeterminable.
• Changed the cost of the Integrated Mega Construction edict so it wouldn’t break the UI
• Clarified the loc of the AI policy and machine Citizenships
• Colony ships for Synthetic Fertility now use energy instead of food or minerals
• Completely new fleet will be able to accept more than the default 20 ships by forcing an early modifier update.
• Corrected icons for Zero Waste Protocols and Diplomatic Protocols
• Corrected the highlighting on the Free at Last concept tooltip
• Corrected the names of some gestalt agendas
• create_species effect can no longer create species without habitability traits
• Cyberization can handle multiple species templates
• Defenders of the galaxy can not become a crisis anymore
• Destroyed orbital rings are no longer duplicated
• Dyson Swarm’s stage name 1 is now properly displayed in Russian
• election_term_variance values for government authorities now behave as expected and go negative.
• First contract breakthrough chance is now affected by encryption.
• Fixed a bug where players would occasionally not receive the “Mysterious Tempest” special project needed to declare war to Cetana
• Fixed a bunch of typos reported on the forums
• Fixed a couple of issues with coordinator districts and virtuality traditions
• Fixed a crash when switching between countries while in observer mode with the Leader View open.
• Fixed a number of capital buildings checking for the wrong synthetics tradition to add roboticist jobs
• Fixed an issue that allowed you to keep playing after Cetana won
• Fixed an issue with the Mother Knows Best achievement being incorrectly configured for some storefronts
• Fixed Archaeology and Astral Rift exploration failure probability sometimes showing nonsense values
• Fixed building type AI weight calculations again
• Fixed cloaking effect for Enigma Battlecruiser and Paradox Titan
• Fixed Clone Army and Natural Design not being mutually exclusive
• Fixed Cybernetic Creed pops sometimes not growing if there were robots present on the planet
• Fixed job weights for Resort Workers
• Fixed leaders undergoing synthetic ascension not changing age correctly
• Fixed Natural Design civics sometimes starting with more buildings than the capital could support
• Fixed some errors in the calculations for merc enclave dividend payout frequency
• Fixed some minor typos with traditions
• Fixed the “Mass Graves” blocker not having a description.
• Fixed the additional priest jobs from Virtuality traditions not actually checking for the tradition
• Fixed the extra clerk jobs from Virtuality traditions granting the wrong number of jobs
• Fixed the habitability for secondary species for Driven Assimilators and Rogue Servitors with some origins
• Fixed the Rulerchip being reset whenever you gain a new relic
• Fixed unlocalized string for the machine ring world habitability trait
• Fixes issues with modification of uplifted species
• Fruitful Partnership Origin: stopped critters from leaving seeds on artificial worlds and habitats
• Full citizenship for robots requires tech Artificial Administration
• Gave the machine fallen empire ring world preference
• High-Level Enhancements now provides +1 Unity from Bio-Trophies for Rogue Servitors
• Hiveminds can now purge hiveminds again
• Keep the Transformation deposits when terraforming into a Machine World
• Landing armies on the synaptic lathe is forbidden
• Leaders in empires with Feudal Society now correctly require upkeep
• Limited the first contact breakthrough and insight gain percentages to values between 0 and 100 percent.
• Loading a save should now unassign scientists from the pre-3.8 research areas.
• Machines with the Shattered Ring origin now require robomodding techs in order to modify their machine species
• Made AI realize it can not take FEs with 10k fleetpower
• Made explosion after cracking lathe/habitat/ringworld stick until it has played thru.
• Made the language used for trait points and trait picks modifiers consistent
• Make sure planet jobs are properly refreshed upon building/district build queue actions finishes.
• Ministry of Acquisition now correctly produces Consumer Goods if the overlord uses them
• Moved warning text for virtuality into tradition adoption effect instead of widely available trait
• Moving the capital destroys the old Cyberdome building
• Opinion modifiers of Interstellar Assemblies now stacks for each owned Assembly
• Other Crises should no longer be allowed to spawn while the Synth Queen is ongoing
• Pops on the lathe can not be assimilated
• Pops that are turned Virtual while on the Lathe, will have their Virtuality trait quietly removed
• Progenitor hives now receive the correct jobs from the Fallen Empire clinic buildings.
• Reduced the likelihood of designation switching for foundry and factory worlds
• Refugees won’t willingly resettle to the Synaptic Lathe anymore
• Removed mentions of stockpiles from the Delete Sector tooltip
• Removed the formless from the end-game crisis list, which might have caused some issues regarding crisis spawning
• Removed the reference to the Server Load Reduction decision, since it is no longer available
• Removed useless “go to” camera button in the “No Response” event
• Show disabled crisis button on Synaptic Lathe view in case another empire takes it over.
• Show large weapon slot and hangars as separate entries for sections in ship designer
• Special project names in tooltips are now highlighted in yellow
• Special projects to raid outposts should now get properly cleared after failing a raid and new projects should display the proper location instead of the empire name.
• Subsuming a planet into a nanite world now correctly removes planetary modifiers and features
• Synthetic Fertility gets access to edicts Subsidized Identity Backups and Optimized Identity Creation
• Synthetic Fertility should now always have access to the AI right policy
• Synthetic Fertility: Keep the organic species portrait in the Identity Repository and Robot Surrogates are now non-holographic
• Terraforming planets related to Keides event chain now removes their unique features
• The Artifact Exhibition planetary decision is now available for Haruspex jobs
• The brainmines now require a minimum sapience
• The Determined Exterminator civic no longer mentions that you start on a tomb world
• The FE robot assembly building should no longer be automatically destroyed after being built.
• The Grand Battlements of Steel and Aegis Complex now provide FTL inhibitors
• The limit on the number of built Dyson Swarm and Arc Furnaces now correctly includes structures under construction
• The modifiers from the Rulerchip are now listed in the same order as leader classes in the leader UI
• The Nanotech World designation now requires the Unbridled Consumption tradition
• The United Creeds now have their unique faction icon
• Unique planetary features added through the Transformation situation and Genesis Guides civics are now kept when restoring a shattered ringworld or turning a planet into an ecumenopolis
• Updated Archaeological Site Excavation failure probability to show accurate number on the tooltip.
• Updated Astral Rift Exploration failure probability to show accurate number on the tooltip.
• Virtual Pops are now properly blocked from resettling on the lathe
• Wrecked Fleet event only fires once afterwards, notifications are given
• You can now only trade one leader at a time
• Initial election for countries now takes into account modifiers to election term length

Stability​

• Adding check to start_astral_action_cooldown effect for validating that the country type can use astral actions (currently either playable or has the ai interior_minister_module) instead of potentially crashing.
• Fixed CTD when a non playable empire decides to lock wormholes etc
• Fixed OOS in hotjoin/resync due to clients cleaning up invalid ship components

UI/UX​

• Added “Build Megastructure” option to fleet order context menu in galaxy view.
• Fixed planet “Build Megastructure” command not correctly hiding unbuildable megastructures from the list.
• Fixed some incorrect leader assignment text.
• Fixed subscription’s title not being localized in the popup when buying it through the additional content browser.
• Fixed zoom animation not playing if you go to system view for the last system that you visited in system view.
• Implemented unique icons for galactic focuses concerning mid-game and end-game crises
• System megastructure selection view tooltips show detailed fail text for non-planet-specific checks.
• The Science Nexus build tooltip no longer shows “Exists” fail text in systems without a starbase.
• The government panel now shows your election frequency

Modding​

• Added election_term_variance_add and election_term_variance_mult modifiers
• Adding the ability to dismantle megastructures, see megastructure documentation
• Readding support for appending portrait sets and implementing it for portrait categories
• Removed obsolete is_researching_area and research_leader triggers.
• Renamed government_election_years_add and government_election_years_mult to election_term_years_add and election_term_years_mult

We’re currently working on 3.12.4 which will likely be the last patch in the 3.12 “Andromeda” cycle. Summer approaches, and with it, team vacations.

Winds in the fall will bring us the 3.13 “Vela” update, and with it, Cosmic Storms.

Vela is the constellation representing the sails of the Argo Navis, the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed to get the Golden Fleece. We thought it a fitting name for an expansion relating to galactic weather.

As a bit of a sneak peek, I’ll show you some screenshots from the game I’m currently playing.

Note: I cranked up the frequency and intensity of storms up to the absolute max for this run, so a normal galaxy should be a bit more chill.

The storm map mode will make it easier to see what systems are under the effects of storms.

In system view, you’ll see the glowies.

Prediction technologies can help you figure out where the storms may be going.

That’s probably the path it will take, if nothing interferes with it. I wonder if Teersonia will be hit?​

Next week is Sweden’s National Day, so our next dev diary will be June 13th, which I’m currently penciling in as a possible 3.12.4 release date.

See you in two weeks!