they do have some new abilities that are/will be added to them.

I have been checking the coding

hmm. ill have to use the advent capture ability to take another look at thier abilities. I played a couple games now where I fed them till they got to extreem and I didnt notice them being much harder. Maby more of them but not by much. Was kinda hoping to see a pirate cap ship leading the charge with some insane abilities tailor made to piss me off... 

That be Lord Ryats pirates from the Distant Stars Mod ye be asking for.

well we were able to borrow a model or two (will be released in the 0.95 update) but the current mod team has no modelers so we are unable to do anything (mine and Carbon's attempts have been poor ) if you can suggest anything or maybe do some yourself for us (we will give you credit of course) that would be very helpful

unfortunatly just like all the other bums around here I dont have any modding skills and am too busy and poor to develop any. You guys do a phenomonal job on DS. As I understand from other mods modelers and texturers are hard jobs to fill. I remember 7 deadly sins have some unique pirate cap ships for thier playable pirate race, and a couple wernt bad. Maby you could ask him to use a couple of those. Or maby starclad will take this sugestion and run with it. Either way keep up the good work with DS. Love the reserch and planet ability expansions you guys made.