Hey guys and gals,
We will be releasing today version 1.5.0 of the game: Pact of the Seas! This update brings a lot of quality of life improvements, among which some that have been requested since, well, since pretty much the beginning. We're happy to finally be able to bring them to you, free of charge!
Pact of the Seas
Shared victory
Ever had a multiplayer game where the last dozen turns are rife with suspicion and mistrust, as you and your allies all separately angle for the victory, knowing full well that only one of you would win, hoping there was a way you could share credit for your hard-won victory? Hope no more! We added an option at game creation that enables shared victories: basically, if you win, you win for whatever victory you earned, and your allies get the shared victory.
Here's the option at game creation:
Here's what a shared victory looks like:
Make sure you tick the option at game creation, because it can't be changed later on. Take comfort in the knowledge that if the option is activated, you are safe(r) from last-minute betrayal! 
Unique random factions
This one is for the role-players and lore fans out there. Want to enjoy a game of Endless Legend with as many different factions as possible, avoiding the dreaded multiple Necrophage neighbors? This is now possible! Another option present at game creation, simply select "Unique" instead of "True Random" to enable it. It will also take you into account, meaning that it's not just the AI being unique vis-a-vis one another, but all the factions of the world.
Here is the "Unique" option at game creation:
Diplomacy additions
AI diplomacy has been enriched, and AI-controlled empires will now react in the following situations:
- An enemy, an ally or a friend of the AI has been eliminated by the player.
- An empire known by the AI has been eliminated by the player.
- Third party cities are being taken, especially those of allies.
- The player is at war with an AI's ally.
- The AI has witnessed an act of betrayal from the player against a player's ally or friend.
- The player is near to achieving any one of the active victory conditions.
- The player is allied with an AI’s enemy.
- The player and AI have been at peace or in an alliance for a protracted period of time.
Naval combat by embarked units
The attributes of all land units are set to a fixed value whenever they are embarked, and their capacities no longer apply. They are effectively replaced with a weak “transport ship” unit when travelling by sea.
This is what unit stats look like before:
And after embarking:
The unit’s level influences the amount of life the transport ship has. Players still need to pay special attention to protecting their veterans though, as they are only marginally less vulnerable when at sea than their rookies.
The transport ship replaces embarked units during sea battles: it has have a weak ranged attack so that it can at least defend itself against opportunists. Embarked land units gain experience from sea battles as usual.
Embarked General-assigned heroes have considerably stronger flagship transports and their skills, notably army attributes boosts, continue to apply on the sea.
Mac OSX 64-bit version
This one is pretty much self-explanatory. This version should allow better stability for Mac OSC players with powerful/more recent machines.
... and much more!
For the full list of additions, fixes, balance changes for the base game and the expansions, click here for the release notes!
Pact of the Seas releases tonight, around 7pm CEST. Get ready!
