Some very interesting changes, cannot wait to try them out.

But i have to agree with others, although the buff to unity mass is nice, i still don't think the AL are on par with the other factions.
They still lack that certain "Wow-i'd-hit-that" mechanic all the other factions have... at the same time it more and more looks like the dev's are very reluctant to change something in that area.
Do you really think that they are ok or even too strong to buff them?
If yes, some sort of explanation would be nice, because i really don't see the reasons behind it.

Oh yes and the deliverance engine.
To be honest, i guess it will stay a running gag forever, that certain superweapon, that always was and will be the pitiful retarded cousin that the Advent hide at family reunions .


But overall i'm eagerly looking forward to Tuesday.

Very much in agreement.  This patch looks like it will be really good and looks like it will balance a lot of things out without changing the flavor of the game or nerfing "cool" features into oblivion.

This is intentional as Repossession isn't a 'colonize' effect, it is literally mind controlling the existing population permanently.

Feels like Orkulus Rex got off a little too easy - the Empire Tree requirements just mean VR will be using econ techs to better churn out maintenance-free battlestations, and a modest 25% damage debuff for 60 seconds just means it'll hesitate to jump into a large enemy fleet with no support - hitting mid-size fleets and lightly defended planets seems just as viable as before.  Not that the basic idea is bad - a 50% damage debuff for 120 seconds would mean you'd actually have to think about when to jump your SB in.

Eh, guess we'll see when the MP community decides whether to keep VR banned. 

On the upside, I am liking these other changes - am I reading it right that Corvettes are no longer affected by Titan AoEs?

We will update the game so it will no longer load outdated map versions.

Well, it is nice to hear this from the devs, but Assimilated Populace should still apply when you use Repossession. When you mind control the people, aren't you Assimilating the Populace to the way of the Unity? It would also be a good synergy between this less useful tech and the Coronata's more situational abilities.

Otherwise, when you get the Coronata you have a choice: either use Repossession to capture the planet quickly, or bomb it and then capture it to get Assimilated Populace. Repossession would be much easier, and so Assimilated Populace is very rarely used. If you made the tech and the ability work together (in typical Advent synergy fashion), then both would be used more and it would make the Advent Loyalists a slightly stronger and more different faction.

An easy string update and a little bit of work in the code, and this missing synergy could be amended.

I actually think that this would still not be enough, and that the VR would still be banned from multiplayer. However, the 120 seconds is a great idea. I propose that for the first 40 seconds after a VR starbase jumps into a gravity well, it does 75% less damage and is dealt 75% more by any attackers. For 40 seconds after that, it does 50% less damage and is dealt 50% more by attackers. For the last 40 seconds, it is 25% less damage and takes 25% more. After the 120 seconds are up, it takes regular damage and dishes out 100% of its own.

A 500 credit, 750 metal, and 1000 crystal charge for each starbase jump would also help quite a bit. If the VR player did not have the funds, the starbase could not jump. This might be more complicated to do, though.

I also think that this patch looks great. It is obvious that the devs put a lot of work into many areas of Sins for this patch, and fixed, added, and improved a ton of things. Job well done, StarClad.

ahh k, well that is a tad unfortunate.  I Appreciate the reply and information in any case- always great to get such a quick and enlightening reply from the boys upstairs.

 Well I suppose that shifts me from hoping for a bug fix to hoping the dev team considers enabling  the Repo+Assimilated Populace hypothetical potential combo

Regardless, going to be great on Tuesday when this patch hits.

Great set of updates for 1.04. If I put myself in the ICO chair and ask, "What race would I wanted to play?," three things come to mind based on this update:

1. I might not actually want to be VL. STTC is not really a viable strategy any longer, except for scorched earth policy (which has its place). There are still a lot of good things for VL, so I still might want to be them. It means I'd rotate among VL, TR, TL, and AR. That's a good thing.

2. Notice that I didn't write AL. I don't see any reason in 1.04 why I would ever want to be AL. Am I missing something? AL really need a mega-culture ability that just completely wipes out all contenders. Too easy to defend against that. Perhaps make the 2 sb culture upgrades as "built-in" to every AL starbase. That'd be serious, i.e., AL starbase on any planet would more or less eventually take it completely over if left unchecked, i.e., something like the unchecked Orkulus.

3. VR will have to be field tested. It's an interesting point that you can "take them down" by going to find the civ labs. Still, I don't think this is enough to get VR allowed back in multiplayer. VR player just sits a mean starbase on a desert planet full of labs, and he's safe. Ideas out there for V1.05: (a) make jumping an ability upgrade, (b ) make mobile sb's count against fleet supply, and/or (c) make 60 s debuff of weapons into something much longer.

By the way, the +10%/level for destroyed titan seems very good. That value can perhaps be adjusted upwards a bit based on feedback from ICO play.

VR in a 5v5 eco spot will now have an even easier time in lobbing out SB after SB, but aside from that it will be more prohibitive in most starting positions. Be interesting to see on ICO on Tuesday. For AL, the Fury of the Unity change is nice but for that high tier a tech it still is underwhelming considering it needs culture, which sadly wasn't addressed at all. I was hoping there would something, anything, to buff AL's ability to spread culture. The Coronata got a huge buff, giving it real Titan killing potential along with the Ragnorak, although I'm not sure the impact of changing damage type from  Physical to Energy is.

As far as the maps go, what size are the ones besides the Random? Are they balanced for resources/starting positions? 

This is just a pet peeve... lol... but can someone please address the Players "InGameName" option in galaxy forge... please???  I know it's a little thing compaired to balancing out the game, but I love making custom maps of different combat situations, and I would love to be able to actually use it and have the ability to name an opposing faction in a single player game, like it's supposed to.

Thanks! 

Neat ****:

• Corvettes with own weapon damage type
• Superweapon to planet ratio of 1 to 4 -EXCELLENT!
• 10% boost to build cost and time after Titan dies
• Snipe AiUseTime! to nail Titans and Starbases
• Shipboard Labs has been split into two research subjects:
• Shipboard Labs (Tier 7) will grant 1 military lab per capital ship.
• Empire Integration (Tier 7) will grant 1 civilian lab per capital ship.
• Starbase mobilization research balancing and penalty to starbase on entry

• [ Interface ] Added new UI option: Empire Tree - Show Ships in Phase Space, which toggles whether ships phase jumping to other gravity wells are displayed in nods in the Empire Tree. (Helps prevent the Empire Tree from 'jumping' around.)

• All the stuff in Modding

• Increased formation distances between frigates and capital ships to prevent ships from clustering too closely during group phase jumps (which slowed things down while they waited for formation).

Expected Meh:

• Eradica Buffing
• No Corvette Armor Type
• No Titan Level drop or did I miss something?
• L10 Titan dies, but is rebuilt titan still L10 or L9 or L8 -any levels lost at death?
• GalaxyForge still largely ignored
• Starbase still phase jumps... but at least it takes more to do it.

For Repossession to take the planet at with all of its population and planet upgrades would be ideal, and this would eliminate the devs having to make Assimilated Populace work with Repossession because you would already have the population. And I agree that with the tiny buffs presented by Assimilated Populace, it is not ever worth it to bomb a planet and capture it instead once you have a Coronata with Repossession.

Well, I did suggest a resource cost every starbase jump, and though I suggested lower numbers before, I now think that a 1500 credit, 2000 metal, and 2500 crystal charge per jump would be sufficient for proper balance, combined with my other suggested debuffs after a jump. Just my opinion, though, and I am by no means the most experienced of Sins balance aficionados.

I think that Wail is fine as is, though it could give some kind of warning (I don't really have an idea for that). For Chastic Burst, I would suggest a cap on affected targets.

Anyway, thank you GoaFan77 and Pbhead for assisting with the new maps. I'm sure they will be awesome.