November 27 2013 - Beta v4.57 - Test branch

[Raf]

Hello everyone,

We are excited to bring you a first view of what we have been working on since the initial Beta version 2 months ago.

We always planned to have full race customization in Horizon but we are also going a little further by providing you the option to play as one of seven other unique races in the game for a total of 8 playable races.

Much of it is already functional but we won't be patching it live yet, as we continue to work on it and test it thoroughly.

Instead we have once more created a test branch for those who want to try out this version and/or provide feedback.
You can simply opt-in to try this more advanced version of Horizon and you can always opt-out to revert back to the live stable version with a few clicks.

Here are the steps to opt-in (opt-out is similar):
- From your Steam app. games library list
- Right-click on Horizon and select properties
- Select the Beta tab and choose 'Beta - Test Branch' from the drop down

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Test version Changelog:

New major Features:
* Ability to fully customize your race with race templates
* Don't want to play as Humans? Select one of seven additional races for a different experience (includes 84 new ship models and other assets)

Additional features:
* You can now design your starbase before building it

Fixes:
* Fixed colony list wheel scroll issue on certain screens
* Fixed AI issue where it would not clear previous targets and continue attacking even after an alliance treaty
* Fixed lag when loading video files
* Fixed troop pods not displaying the correct amount of troops in ship design
* Fixed an issue where ambient music kept playing during a video animation with it's own audio stream
* Fixed a bug where after an Invasion the losing race would not account for the loss of the colony resulting in unexpected AI behaviour

Other changes and improvements:
* Planetary building benefits are now affected by the structure condition
* Artifact worlds with ancient cities will now have proper starting resource levels
* Monetary Aid / Supplies Aid pacts duration changed from 5 to 10 turns (unlimited if alliance)
* Intelligence sharing has been added (available when friendly, automatic with alliance). Shares info about other races.
* Turn notification that all stars have been explored will only be displayed once per game session

* Mercury and Venus planetary resources changed from poor to abundant
* Planetary special bonuses changed for Gold/Gem Deposits, Vistas and Monuments, tooltips added to show bonuses
* Launch fighter button now checks if fighters are available and toggles to indicate if fighters have been launched
* Cargo Holds renamed to Supply Bays
* ETA of ships in movement now account for JumpDrives

* Supply range calculation improved on galaxy map
* Default display option changed from full-screen exclusive to Borderless Window mode
* Having reached civilian buildings cap will no longer display for orbitals/defense structures
* Planetary building benefits will now scale more appropriately. Also fixed an issue where farming without buildings did not function on terran planets
* Homeworld backgrounds updated, some videos updated

* Text alignment improved on certain screens and other updated visuals
* Added colony view buttons for survey info and colony List
* Added Stations to the design screen
* Adjusted shield effect when hit by weapons
* Eremai device no longer discoverable via research

* Each weapon now has a unique SFX
* Repulsive race diplomatic options have been limited until friendly relations are established
* Options has been added to the main menu, currently only Audio tab is accessible, mute and master volume controls have been added
* Galaxy map star name labels improved. Zoom scroll "steps" doubled for more control
* Terraforming base mechanic has been changed but not yet complete, more changes to come

[Avalanche]

Awesome changes there, look forward to experiencing the new stuff.

[Avalanche]

I like the new terraforming and the race customization...also, i beg you to keep the trait costs file accessable for fun, easy modding and times when you just want to be an uber race. :-)

[Raf]

Thanks!. The costs are not balanced yet so once we do it will limit the choices you can take for a normal race.

But we are going to add an "advanced race" option checkbox which will allow you more points to play with as it does now.

[Avalanche]

It is a cool feature to be able to pick the techs you start with and all that, i mean, i make sure to start with terraforming and its all good, the terraforming surely works well, but it seems like races that live on Terran worlds, can't terraform toxic worlds, i am guessing its the same with metallic worlds too?

While i get the metallic world being impossible to terraform into a terran world, but why is the toxic world impossible? maybe its a 'later on down the line as you perfect it' type of thing?

[Raf]

You should be able to Terraform metallic worlds. As for Toxic, you will need to clean the pollution first. :)

[Avalanche]

Originally posted by raf:

You should be able to Terraform metallic worlds. As for Toxic, you will need to clean the pollution first. :)

Oh, didn't think of that.....good realism there. :-)

Hey, i wonder if its possible to do assimulations, like the borg do it i mean, turn other races into borg, that would be quite awesome, especially if you could do it with the parasitic race, the Katic or whatever they are.

[Raf]

That's right, the ability is for making that type of race (borg, ga'ould, tokra, Trill).. Currently this ability bestows a big bonus for assimilations after an invasion and also gives a bonus on boarding and ground combat.

[Avalanche]

It would be cool if the parasitic trait gave us access to a unique bomb, in the case of the borg, it could be like a nanite bomb, where it unleashes a virus into the atmosphere and it slowly infects and changes the population into your race, imagine infecting a planet with a population of 20bil or something, that would be insane, maybe lose 50% of the infected, i mean they wouldn't just let it happen and all that.