Hey guys,

As you know, we are going to release the Beta version of Endless Space, later today. We thought you might be interested in the release notes so here you go:

Steph'nie wrote:
This list is work in progress, as we are still working on the beta release.

0.42.0

CHANGES AND ADDITIONS
  • Added the multiplayer.
  • Added the French language.


GALAXY VIEW
  • Fixed several bugs concerning the galaxy generation.
  • When more than one other faction is stationed in a system (regardless of the fleets quantity), the player is now able to select which one he wants to attack.
  • Modified the star systems labels in the galaxy view. You can now see the current production, the hangar capacity and the link between resources and planets.
  • The user can now access a system hangar from the galaxy screen if there is no fleet in orbit.
  • Added a chat console. "Return" key is now used for chat in multiplayer. Numpad-Enter does still end turn though.
  • The player can open the Pause Menu by using ESC.


SYSTEM VIEW
  • When the user selects any action on a system in the empire management the system is highlighted.
  • Added some population feedback on planets in the system/planet view.


DIPLOMACY
  • Diplomacy should be smoother due to a fix on the trends now being capped.
  • The attitude value has a greater impact on the terms negotiation.
  • The player is able to offer resources along with peace.
  • Modified the cease fire term.
  • Cooperation agreement now takes 30 turns to become a full bonus.
    - Turn 0: malus (-50% to trade routes)
    - After 15 turns: no malus/bonus
    - After 30 turns: bonus (+25% to trade routes)


PATHFINDING
  • Fixed several bugs concerning the pathfinding.
  • Fixed an issue where the moving fleet always tries to use up all the movement points.
  • The user can select a specific route for a fleet to take when moving:
    - You can now queue movement orders by pressing and holding down SHIFT
    - You can now force a fleet to move through empty space by holding down CTRL.
    - If you wish to queue movement and travel through empty space press and hold CTRL+SHIFT.


VICTORY CONDITIONS
  • Modified the economic victory formula:
    Economic victory points needed = 500000 + 5000 * (number of systems) - 40000 * (number of players)


FACTIONS
  • Added the Amoeba, Sower and Pilgrims factions.
  • Cloning trait has been boosted and now Horatios will have +1 food on all planets.
  • Deadly Weapons decreased for Hissho, increased for Cravers. Hissho still have the best bonus.
  • Changed Amoeba diplomacy bonus so they can't have war bonuses.
  • Modified the Cravers diplomacy tech tree.
  • Removed Cravers' Diplomacy2 and changed their Diplomacy1 (only ceasefire exchange choices)
  • Tuned down the science rate from the Sophons.


INVASION
  • Changed all invasion mods' values (increased) and some effects.
  • Now Ground defense is displayed as: "+X Defense per [pop] on System".
  • Ground defense is now defined by the system's position compared to player and opponent frontiers.
    - Inside player or ally frontiers: 20 Def
    - Neutral (isolated Outpost): 15 Def
    - Outpost inside enemy frontiers: 12 Def
  • Greatly improved Defense bonuses on improvements (5 to 20 => 12 to 100).
  • Updated Ground Defense bonuses from Melee attribute (+2 => +5, +5%).


HEROES
  • The hero hiring cost now changes according to number of heroes already in service.
  • Changed the value of HeroAbilityAdministrator04 & 05 (Minister of Propaganda 1 & 2). We don't want players to be able to nullify overpopulation maluses too soon; on a Hero it could become available after 30/40 turns.


AI
  • AI personalities have been reinforced to better fit their faction.
  • The AI is aware of the neutral zones.
  • Less weapon and defense mod bonuses for the AI on Normal to Impossible difficulties.
  • Improved the military AI: colony ship protection behavior.
  • Changed negotiations method for the AI for treaties and exchanges.
  • The AI will now give a much greater attention to colonization techs if no system can be colonized by his colony ships.
  • The AI will more likely start by making planetary improvements first on a new system (and that building will be Food or Industry).


RESEARCH
  • Removed the bonus on all planets on System Improvement Food 1.
  • Switched Food 2 with Food 5.
  • Lowered dust bonus on Dust 5 improvement.
  • Merged the Diplomacy Bonuses 3 and 4.
  • Corrected the MP values of the second-to-last weapon mod of each type; corrected MP values of defense mods.
  • Added 4 technological unlocks into the exploration & expansion tech tree.


TRADE ROUTES
  • Trade route brings in more Science and less Dust.
  • Corporate Trade routes bonuses (% and Wit multiplier) decreased.


MISC. (GAMEPLAY)
  • Increased disapproval due to overcolonization.
  • Increased Dust malus for systems outside frontiers (depending on territory : player/ally/neutral/enemy).
  • Slight increase of overpopulation disapproval.
  • Added "overcolonization disapproval reduction" on Star System Approval buildings.
  • There were no maluses to Food and Science during blockade. Just added them: -25% food; no Science (x0).
  • Monopoly bonuses for the strategic resources have been temporarily removed.
  • Reverted to bonuses without overcolonization malus decrease; those effects have been moved to new tech unlocks.
  • No Overcolonization disapproval on Outposts. It will be added only when changing to colony.


MISC. (GUI)
  • Removed the achievement score on the end game screen.
  • Added ship level feedback on ship icons.
  • Improved the scroll bar system.
  • Modified the tutorial system.
  • Removed some useless scrollbars.
  • Modified the fleet/system selection panel when assigning a hero.

FIXES

IMPORTANT FIXES
  • Fixed an issue where upon reaching level 11, ships lose all their XP
  • Fixed an issue where the "Emergency Shelter" battle action causes a crash.
  • Fixed an issue where an assert message appears when the user attempts to transfer ships from the hangar.
  • Fixed an issue where a fleet can be invisible.
  • Fixed an issue where a null reference exception appears after an invasion.
  • Fixed several issues where sending gifts to the AI has no effect.
  • Fixed an issue where the user receives an assert message if they Right Click during the loading screen.
  • Fixed an issue where the empire management AI has an infinite loop of terraforming.
  • Fixed an issue where changing the quality level will cause an assert.
  • Fixed an issue where the game will not continue after ending the turn.
  • Fixed an issue where starting a manual ship battle will cause an assert.
  • Fixed an issue where conquering an empire home system causes an assert.
  • Fixed an issue where the user can increase science and dust income indefinitely.


OTHERS FIXES
  • Fixed an issue with the scrollbar of the selected modules panel in the ship design screen.
  • Fixed an issue where the player cannot scroll through the reject reasons in the diplomatic negotiations screen.
  • Fixed an issue where the user can close the resolution timer using the right click.
  • Fixed an issue where left-clicking on the slider button causes it to disappear
  • Fixed an issue where the treaty options can be displayed twice
  • Fixed an issue where the planetary improvements are not scrapped when there is not enough dust
  • Fixed an issue where the fleet icon remains after the budget scrap is performed
  • Fixed an issue where not enough empire slots are created by the galaxy generator (too many players/galaxy size).
  • Fixed an issue where the number of ships stationed in a hangar is not properly displayed on the system info tooltip
  • Fixed an issue where the galaxy scale slider overlaps with the fleet selection panel
  • Fixed an issue where AI trends per turn have no limits making the AIs seem very volatile.
  • Fixed an issue where ships remain stuck if the player/AI moves them in the same time when another player/AI attacks them
  • Fixed an issue where a 4-digits value overlaps the FIDS icon in the system view screen.
  • Fixed an issue where the end game screen text is incorrect after the player's elimination.
  • Fixed several issues where a cooperation agreement doesn't work as intended.
  • Fixed an issue where Dust donations lead to incorrect gains of attitude.
  • Fixed an issue where the empire management filters will reset after the player exits the empire management view.
  • Fixed an issue where the user can have diplomatic deals with other empires without being at peace.
  • Fixed an issue where the invasion button is not available.
  • Fixed several inconsistencies between battle card texts and hero ability descriptions (beam surge, gravity well, armor weak point, dust barrier).
  • Fixed an issue where the heroes' Melee attribute has no effects.
  • Fixed an issue where the nano-repair systems battle card has twice its effect.
  • Fixed an issue where after an empire has been eliminated the user can still offer diplomatic terms to that empire.
  • Fixed an issue where "Invulnerable Empire" is prioritized for the empire management AI.
  • Fixed an issue where the planetary colonization is not canceled if the planet is colonized via the colonization ship.
  • Fixed an issue where the defenders ship are warping-in at the start of the battle.
  • Fixed an issue where a defeated empire retains some ships in its hangars.
  • Fixed an issue where the AI moves out of the systems guarded by player fleets when loading a saved game.
  • Fixed an issue where the modules do not grey out in the ship design view.
  • Fixed an issue where the user can retrofit ships with Seed ship modules to rush expansion or increase population.
  • Fixed an issue where the user can assign heroes to fleets engaged in battle from the academy view.
  • Fixed an issue where the "Psychological Insulation" star system improvement does not grant an additional 1 population.
  • Fixed an issue where sometimes clicking on ships in the galaxy view does not produce any results.
  • Fixed an issue where sometimes diplomatic offers are neither accepted nor rejected by the AI.
  • Fixed an issue where no tooltip is displayed for Call and Inspect buttons on diplomatic status screen.
  • Fixed an issue where the first digit of the galaxy generation seed cannot be erased.
  • Fixed an issue where the confirmation message received after disabling tutorials in-game has no cancel button.
  • Fixed an issue where the in-game droplist from the options menu has the same color as the background.
  • Fixed an issue where the system view menu becomes unresponsive.
  • Fixed an issue where on the lowest resolution setting the user is unable to select pilgrims and amoeba on the last player slot in the lobby.
  • Fixed several text issues.


Thanks to Lt_Miles for the release notes.