The war finally fights back. This update overhauls the rival AI from the ground up—it arrives earlier, reads the board, counterattacks when you push into its territory, digs in when you leave it alone, and takes real losses when you break its assaults. The galaxy around you is alive too: neutral worlds mobilize and take in refugees as you conquer, and a new FULL map opens all 24 sectors for the first time.
Beyond the war itself, this is the biggest fix patch the game has had. Achievements and endings now unlock the way they always should have. New Game+ is now a true escalating mode, with bigger maps and a stronger rival each loop. Saves are rock solid, including saving when you quit. Audio has been rebalanced and remastered. Message pacing now respects your time with a new MESSAGE HOLD option and a re-readable COMMS LOG. Moving your forces between sectors no longer requires routing everything through your home sector, and the interface received a proper retro-military instrument-panel pass—radar sweep and all.
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Thank you to everyone who left a review or reported an issue. Nearly everything in this update traces directly back to your feedback. More to come.
— CDickenson