(LIVE) v28.16 Quality of Life+ Update Changelog

[RammaStardock]

Hello all,

Our September update features Qualify of Life improvements that players have suggested to us since our major August release. We’ve added a plethora of new game settings so you can fine-tune your Sins II experience with items like max. frame rate, dynamic lighting quality and VO toggles, just to name a few.

You’ll also find better support for key binding options, including on the numpad and for non-English keyboard layouts. Of course, you can also expect a bunch of gameplay/balance improvements, bug fixes and more.

This update won't work with old save games and replays but you can still play them by using the previous version:

Previous Version Instructions
If you wish to finish up your game on the previous version, do the following:

1. Select ‘Sins of a Solar Empire II’ in your Steam Library.
   
2. Click the gear icon in the upper right.
   
3. Select Properties → Betas
   
4. Select 'previous_edition' from the Beta Participation dropdown.
   
5. Steam will update you to the latest files.
   
6. To switch to latest repeat step 4 and select ‘None’

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Sept 24th, 2024 Notes

• fixed attack commands stopping incoming reinforcing units
  
• fixed sync error due to dark skybox setting
  
• fixed weapons not firing on almost dead units due to incoming damage
  
• updated colliding empires scenario image

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Settings

• Added max frame rate setting.
  
• Added dynamic light quality setting.
  
• Added wide move scalar, toggle paused VO, right-click move tolerance settings.
  
• Added "pause/unpause" game voice-over setting.
  
• Added right-click move tolerance settings.
  
• Added mute on alt-tab setting.
  
• Added reset all settings buttons.
  
• Added show intro movie setting.
  
• Added snap_to_unit_zoom_target_distance_to_cursor setting. Controls the distance to cursor at which the camera zooms into a nearby unit. Set to 0 to fully disable this feature.
  
• Improved settings window drop box style.
  
• Renamed resolution setting to display mode.
  
• Added language setting.
  
• Added dark skybox only setting.
  
• Applied setting changes upon closing the settings window. Normally, all text entry changes need to hit enter, but users were confused why settings weren't applied. Now, enter will automatically be sent to all changed text boxes when the window is closed.
  
• Fixed settings not notifying UI of changes on load.

Keyboard and Keybindings

• Added support for numpad key binding.
  
• Added support for some missing key bindings (e.g., add, multiply).
  
• Added distinction between left and right Shift, CTRL, and ALT modifier keys. Left modifier keys are still not bindable themselves, as they are used as modifiers for other inputs. However, right modifier keys are now separated and explicitly bindable.
  
• Added localized keyboard keys for non-English keyboards.
  
• Added support for ALT+GR on German keyboards. is_ctrl_down() now returns false if RIGHT-ALT is also down because Windows considers both keys pressed when ALT+GR is pressed.
  
• Fixed having to hold down key to create new input mapping bindings.
  
• Fixed assigning control group to enemy ships to get vision of them through fog of war.

Gameplay and Balance

• Fixed some units not correctly holding position.
  
• Fixed abilities that spawn units not checking global/gravity well unit limits before use. This prevented loss of Deploy Starbase items if a starbase already existed in the gravity well.
  
• Stopped non-attack capable ships from preserving old orders when mixed with attack-capable ships. Previously, they would keep their old order, which felt incorrect when issuing a new command to the entire selection.
  
• Fixed phase jump in formation being permanently stalled by negative abilities (e.g., Domina suppression). Debuffed ships will no longer stall large fleets from phase jumping.
  
• Fixed only a single artifact being dropped when ships were killed.
  
• Fixed units attacking using the wrong engagement range (e.g., Ragnarov, Marza).
  
• Fixed wormholes not working consistently.
  
• Prevented auto-cast during phase jump charging, which soft-locked Guardians from phase jumping away while healing each other.
  
• Improved capital ship capture loot/wreckage vs. attack logic.
  
• Changed Unity Ability levels to require enough max Focus to cast the ability at the new level.
  
• Changed Unyielding Will to allow weapons to be used while crippled.
  
• Changed Unyielding Will to no longer destroy the Titan when invulnerability ends. Instead, passive bonuses and the capability to become invulnerable go offline for a passive cooldown period.
  
• Fixed Unyielding Will's Ability Cooldown modifier being calculated incorrectly.
  
• Offset ship charge times by formation rank, causing later ranked ships to arrive after smaller (front) ranks.
  
• Fixed Radiation Bomb damage stacking and adjusted several buffs' stacking behavior to prevent unnecessary buff restarts.
  
• Fixed reductions in max crippled hull points causing incorrect repair of regular hull points.
  
• Prevented colonization abilities from targeting planets already being colonized.
  
• Changed Recall to exclude your home planet as a valid target, solving the exploit of recalling just for the restorative effects.
  
• Added persistent weapon target tracking. Improves weapon tracking performance and solves light frigates winning against corvettes by always having at least one corvette to damage. Now, corvettes will win as intended.
  
• Rebalanced point defense corvettes and strike craft:
  
  • Point defense is now less effective against missiles but more effective against strike craft and corvettes.
    
  • Corvette HP and strike craft HP reduced; build times increased.
    
  • Bomber reload times slowed and attack patterns made riskier.
• Rebalanced structure durability oversight.

AI

• Numerous AI improvements, including better player AI usage of NPC raids.
  
• Fixed AI fleet retreat logic.

User Interface

• Added Shift modifier for control group creation: Ctrl+1 creates a new control group, Ctrl+Shift+1 appends the selection to an existing control group.
  
• Improved wormhole and star selection UI:
  
  • Render phase lanes when star or wormhole is selected.
    
  • Render wormhole spatial space when selected or under the cursor.
• Added starbase build limits as pips on build menu buttons.
  
• Fixed Escape key not closing drop boxes in the settings window. Previously, it closed the entire settings window instead.
  
• Fixed extra mouse buttons not working when research or other windows are open.
  
• Fixed post-game categories not being collapsible.
  
• Added new exotic_income rendering type to display exotic production from items.
  
• Updated various research and unity icons.
  
• Added hide completed research buttons setting.

Multiplayer

• Added game server filter to show only unstarted games.
  
• Added game server list sorting.
  
• Fixed lobby team buttons not showing for drop-in scenarios.
  
• Blocked surrendering for players who rejoined games in progress to prevent griefing by instantly surrendering.

Art

• Models
  
  • Added destroyed asteroid planet.
    
  • Updated crystal resource asteroid texture.
    
  • Updated destroyed planet.
    
  • Updated TEC anti-armor frigate.
    
  • Updated TEC Cobalt light frigate.
    
  • Updated Advent constructor ship.
    
  • Updated Advent Temple of Renewal structure.
• Visual Effects
  
  • Updated Novalith orbital cannon charge-up.
    
  • Updated Novalith orbital cannon muzzle effect.
    
  • Added Armor Patch Kit effects.
    
  • Added destroyed planet effect.
    
  • Added planet explosion effect.
    
  • Added stripped asteroid effect.
    
  • Added TEC Sova capital mobile factory effect.
    
  • Updated destroyed planet effect.
    
  • Updated nuke effects to fix sizing bug.
    
  • Removed old destroyed planet particle effect.
    
  • Fixed destroyed planet particle effect not respawning when zooming in.
    
  • Added is_visible_constraint to Subspace Rupture for Gravity Warhead modifications.
    
  • Added child mesh rendering for ships under construction.

Tooltips

• Improved Unyielding Will's buff tooltips.
  
• Changed Gas Crystallizer tooltip to exotic_income.
  
• Fixed typo in Gemini map description.
  
• Fixed incorrect names of stars and planets in scenario descriptions.
  
• Fixed item tooltips showing "waiting for exotics" when only waiting for research. Previously, it was misleading if the player had enough exotics but research wasn't completed.
  
• Fixed loot collector tooltip icons, ensuring consistent sizing.
  
• Hid dummy weapons from tooltips when building ships (fix for Revelation Battlecruiser).
  
• Updated various HUD and tooltip unit icons.
  
• Added arbitrary research line to research tooltips for greater clarity.
  
• Improved tooltips with arbitrary tooltip line.
  
• Added Focus cost changes in upgrade tooltips.
  
• Added new strings for Advent Res/Dom Deliverance research tooltips.
  
• Added planet types buildable line to unit item section of research tooltips.
  
• Added tooltip icons to planet uniforms.
  
• Added a section above ability unlocks in research tooltips.
  
• Expanded research tooltips for clearer descriptions.
  
• Added value constraints to wide_move_spacing_scalar.
  
• Fixed missing lobby option tooltips.

Modding

• Removed deprecated action_group from ability_passive_action_definition (use persistent_buff instead).
  
• Fixed peon package mod not forming filenames properly.
  
• Fixed Mod.io API being disabled for some users.
  
• Fixed Mod.io login failures caused by certain non-ASCII usernames.
  
• Added passive cooldown option for abilities.
  
• Added are_player_slots_randomized to scenarios, allowing fixed starting positions instead of randomized ones.
  
• Added bake button in preview scenario view, along with validation for skybox and extended skybox settings after bake.
  
• Added does_not_have_unit_item flair effect constraint.
  
• Added validation to map saving, ensuring maps with duplicate save IDs or missing player_home_planet node filling aren't allowed.
  
• Fixed generated galaxy charts not supporting solar systems with zero home planets.
  
• Fixed music not resetting when mod changes are applied.
  
• Removed the hard cap of 7 for unmet_research_prerequisite_vector; now supports infinite research prerequisites (memory permitting).
  
• Removed the hard limit of 10 on exotic types.
  
• Split subscribed and enabled mods, allowing users to subscribe to mods (download files) and toggle them on and off without redownloading.

Tutorials

• Updated tutorial_manager with the ability to check for scenarios when a user can drop below and then rise above a condition threshold within a stage.
  
• Added separate stage_start_state to keep the current state and stage start state discrete.

Localization

• Updated all translations - special thanks to the users helping us do these!
  
• Updated fonts to include missing glyphs.
  
• Localized the "toggle paused" input name.

Crashes, Asserts, and Sync Bugs

• Fixed camera free rotation occasionally causing float3 normalization crashes.
  
• Fixed sync error in recorded games.
  
• Fixed duplicate phase lanes assertion.

Misc

• Fixed unit orders being preserved through player ownership changes.
  
• Fixed UI rendering for Ankylon's Disruption Matrix not displaying improved range in friendly gravity wells.
  
• Fixed auto cast for caster-based area of effect abilities.
  
• Renamed Military Grade Specs to Military Grade Rounds.

[Hurricane]

No garda buff? basically useless as is... even making it cost more to be of use would be nice as is it doesnt kill strikecraft fast enough or missiles and it zergs ahead and dies

[Vandom]

Originally posted by Hurricane:

No garda buff? basically useless as is... even making it cost more to be of use would be nice as is it doesnt kill strikecraft fast enough or missiles and it zergs ahead and dies

They doubled its dps...

[Sakhari]

A lot of good stuff in there. Just out of curiosity though, what, specifically, does this one mean?

"Rebalanced structure durability oversight."

[[OG] Brandoid]

Originally posted by Hurricane:

No garda buff? basically useless as is... even making it cost more to be of use would be nice as is it doesnt kill strikecraft fast enough or missiles and it zergs ahead and dies

pd is changed and corvettes are changed. defensor has 0 durability now making garda pd way more effective vs them

[RichardV]

Fixed AI fleet retreat logic.

Can anyone confirm the AI now fights more battles?

[Vuelie]

Nice

[Wuorg]

Originally posted by Sakhari:

A lot of good stuff in there. Just out of curiosity though, what, specifically, does this one mean?

"Rebalanced structure durability oversight."

Until a dev responds, if I had to guess this is in reference to a small handful of structures having non-standard or even incorrectly listed durability values. There was a post about it somewhere around here a couple weeks ago, but I can't seem to find it.

[DaRagingLunatic]

Rebalanced point defense corvettes and strike craft:
Point defense is now less effective against missiles but more effective against strike craft and corvettes.
Corvette HP and strike craft HP reduced; build times increased.
Bomber reload times slowed and attack patterns made riskier.

Awesome!!

There’s a lot of good updates in there.

[Tsunamisan]

Can we please get a option not to auto save game to steam cloud! Also it should not save multiple versions of the same game and just ask the player if they want to save the game to cloud when it is over as to not waste space in cloud.

[Gullmoose]

Bug with Eradica Titan level 6 ability? I lost the game, lost control of all my units as expected. My Eradica Titan was still alive so I hit continue playing so I can watch how many units it can take down before dying. What happened was that the AI is unable to kill my level 6+ Eradica Titan after invulnerablity ended. It just sat there with 0 crippled hull while AI continued to shot it for x amount of minutes. I watched the cooldown of the passive reset twice and it was still alive, with 0 cripple hull, getting pounded by 7000 supply fleet.

*Works as intended when you are still a player and have not become a spectator.

Reference
Changed Unyielding Will to no longer destroy the Titan when invulnerability ends. Instead, passive bonuses and the capability to become invulnerable go offline for a passive cooldown period.

[lupegjr]

You guys are doing a great job! Love the game and I can't wait to try out these changes to see how they effect the strategies I have been using so far.

[Heretic]

Split subscribed and enabled mods, allowing users to subscribe to mods (download files) and toggle them on and off without redownloading.

Much needed thanks. Everything else looks good too. I hope when patch officially drops you will show us some nice screens of the visual changes you made, and looking forward to your continued development of the game.

[Vandom]

The changes to the research UI are so nice. Can't wait for more of these small QOL improvements.

[Brave Sir Robin]

I normally don't bother with beta testing but I might take a look at this early to see if Hard and above AI actually fights now.

Edit: Tried a quick 4 player FFA with unfair AIs (1 above Hard) and locked teams. The AI isn't that much more aggressive but they no longer flee the instant your fleet arrives. They stayed to fight until it was bad enough any Human with sense would have also bailed, which is fine.

Also...something seems to have changed with Starbase durability. The AI has real problems breaking through them now.

[Kallix]

I love to see how the combat is evolving. Excited to test it out!