Sword of the Stars

Platform(s): PC
Genre: Strategy
Publisher: Lighthouse
Developer: Kerberos

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'Sword of the Stars' - v1.1.1 Patch Available NOW

by Rainier on Aug. 29, 2006 @ 3:04 p.m. PDT

Sword of the Stars is a breakthrough Space Strategy game that seeks to reinvigorate the sub-genre. Players will explore planets, manage their empire and research new technology. Sword of the Stars provides quick, intuitive play, state-of-the-art graphics and tactical combat that make the game instantly involving and rewardingly fun.

Get the Sword of the Stars v1.1.1 Patch off WP (9mb)

Sword of the Stars 1.1.1 Retail Patch

!!WARNING!! - DO NOT APPLY THE BOXED RETAIL PATCH TO OTHER VERSIONS OF THE GAME, PARTICULARLY DIRECT DOWNLOAD VERSIONS. The boxed retail version maintains the SecureROM protection system, requiring a game disc to play. Applying it to a DDL version will result in that build asking for a disc you don't have.

- General/Graphics/UI:

* Better support for older video cards, including a fix for player color bleeding in low level shaders.
* Direct3D mouse pointers are now used by default, but can be disabled by adding UseD3DCursor=False to the [Graphics] section of sots.ini.
* Fixed word-wrapping issues.
* Subdirectories can now be mounted in the Mars file system by modifying the [Modules] section of sots.ini.
* New sots.ini to hold engine and game settings.
* Decreased popup delay for tooltips and added a key binding to summon a tooltip immediately (`/TILDE key).

- AI:

* Combat auto-resolve, including the ability to auto-resolve random encounters. Don't say we don't listen. ;)
* Empire AI.
* Tactical, ship piloting and gunner AI.

- Networking:

* [1.1.1] Fixed a possible crash that could occur in exceptional circumstances (like when the network adapter is disabled).
* UDP packet sizes reduced & combat bandwidth optimized.
* Improved handling of disconnected clients.
* Fixed a couple minor issues with NAT negotation.
* Fixed all known causes of sync errors.
>>> Cannot fix sync errors caused by dual-core processors: Set your CPU affinity to a single core! <<<</font>

- Game browser, chat and lobby:

* All internet game browser filters now work as intended.
* Internet chat participants list now updates dynamically.
* Added user name popup to staging lobby and star map player window, to show who is sitting in for players.
* Lobby chat history now indicates who is chatting in addition to which player slot they were in at the time the message was sent.
* Positioning the mouse over a player name will now reveal who is standing in for that player if applicable.
* Player profiles are now stored in ini files in the Profiles directory.
* Game download progress is now shown on top of players in the game lobby while they are receiving a saved game file.
* Each player in the game lobby now has a "ready" indicator.
* Sender of a private tell will now see the recipient's name in chat history. The recipient will see the sender's name.
* All windows with chat input now activate and stay in focus with RETURN/ENTER.
* New racial avatar bitmaps!

- Combat:

* [1.1.1] Fixed possible sync error when Hiver ships teleport into combat through their gate.
* [1.1.1] Minelayers will now deploy when no enemies are visible on sensors.
* [1.1.1] Alterations to behaviour of ***CONFIDENTIAL*** and ***CONFIDENTIAL***, stay frosty. ;)
* [1.1.1] Cruisers now have a little more freedom to bring their heavy beams to bear.
* [1.1.1] A selection of ships issued move orders while in the Normal stance will now hold stations.
* [1.1.1] Added time compression (CTRL + PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN).
* [1.1.1] Phasers in large turrets on Human ships now fire double-beams as intended.
* [1.1.1] Faster ships will now attempt to maneuver around slower ships.
* [1.1.1] Fixed possible crash caused by ***CONFIDENTIAL*** taking a deployed gate.
* Your ships and allied ships in the combat sensors screen will now reveal their health when the ship name overlay is toggled on.
* Issuing all stop orders to ships now reverts ships to normal stance.
* Ships in combat now always return to their waypoint when their stance is reverted to normal.
* Moved deployed defender CR Gate back 50-m in combat, to prevent it from colliding with Heavy Defence Platforms.
* Defender reinforcements now appear closer to the invader's vector.
* Systems now take damage when ships collide with the planet in combat.
* Players can now exit to the main menu from inside combat.
* Tactical AI now correctly takes over for players who bail out of combat.
* Planet in combat can no longer be picked from its interior. (This was responsible for unintentional focusing on the planet.)
* Ship pilot AI now selects correct ship standoff ranges for any weapon configurations.
* Move and targeting feedback is immediate.
* Fleet stance settings now behave correctly.
* Stance icons now flash when they change.
* Red target circle in sensors screen now pulses.
* Ships now fade correctly while the game is paused.
* Combat pausing (when available) is now immediate.
* UI gives immediate feedback when the game is paused.
* Target reticles flash when you mouse over a target.
* 3D arrow indicates exact target point under mouse.
* Mouse pointer changes shape when modifier keys for force attack (ALT), add/remove selection (CTRL) or rotate formation (SHIFT) is held.
* Mouse pointer changes shape depending on whether it is over the move plane (orange with dot) or not.
* Formation waypoints can plotted and rotated by SHIFT + Right Click + Drag on the move plane.
* Fleet hold fire setting is much more visible, so it won't be missed in first contact situations.
* Added tooltips to special weapon icons.
* Freed up missile turret azimuth constraints by quite a bit.
* Planet missiles now hold fire initially in a first contact encounter.
* Addressed minor issues with windowed mode resolution not being set correctly.
* Fixed potential crash when combat ended while fullscreen game was minimized.
* Slaver encounters now guarantee at least one invading ship.
* Fixed potential crash when ***CONFIDENTIAL*** is destroyed.
* Fixed potential crash caused by a damaged ***CONFIDENTIAL*** being loaded into combat.
* Fixed a couple issues with ships being turned by the ***CONFIDENTIAL***.
* Reduced damage of asteroids versus the planet in combat.
* Fixed extreme slowdown caused by destroying a deployed Hiver gate while reinforcements were still coming through it.
* Custom and scenario screens now remember most recent settings (saved in your profile ini).
* Fixed potential crash in sensors screen when ships die.
* Fixed very rare crash when ships die while the player is switching between sensors and battle views.
* Extreme mine damage bug fixed.
* Fixed case where Heavy Defence Platform missiles could not get firing solutions on nearby targets.
* Fixed potential phantom engine sounds left behind when ships retreat from combat.
* Fleet retreat will now yoink all reserves from battle when there are no ships left on the field.
* Planet and defence platform "ICBM" missiles may now reacquire new targets in-flight.
* Missile engine flares now originate from the correct part of the model. ;)
* Switching to sensors while bandboxing no longer locks out the mouse.
* It is no longer possible to pause combat if it is an encounter in a multiplayer game.
* 'E' and 'SHIFT+E' to cycle focus on enemies.
* 'O' toggles a new tacical overlay that reveals positions of your distant ships.
(Default can be set in your profile ini: DefaultShowTacticalOverlay=True/False).
* 'HOME' focuses on and selects new reinforcements in combat.
* 'CTRL+DEL' toggles fleet hold fire.
* 'F1'-'F5' sets selected ship stances.
* 'CTRL+F1' - 'CTRL+F5' sets fleet stance.

- Star map / strategy game:

* [1.1.1] Speech will no longer pile up.
* [1.1.1] Notes for a star system are now removed when the System Killer destroys it.
* [1.1.1] If a player disconnects while loading into a game, it no longer prevents other players from ending their turns.
* [1.1.1] Fixed cases where Universal Antigen did not work as intended.
* [1.1.1] Fixed an occassional plague bug that would reduce the infected system's infrastructure to zero immediately.
* Scuttling ships over colonies now yields a temporary output bonus.
* Fixed potential crash associated with researching multiple special projects at once.
* It is no longer possible to save a game during the combat staging phase of a turn.
* Fixed the bug where giving research to another player would cause you to lose all of your research points for a turn.
* Enemies on star map now flash on the turn that they are spotted.
* News event window now closes when a new turn starts so that outdated news items don't stay up on the screen.
* Improved star map pathfinding now considers liberal repair and refuelling changes en route.
* Move lines now show projected ETA.
* Added weapon details popup to design screen.
* Removed potential AI message box popup when turns are processed.
* Ship build queue is now displayed when the empire summary screen is open.
* Added tooltip to ship construction slider.
* Added alternate ship status icon to display when not all biomissiles or assault shuttles are present.
* Added tooltip to indicate number of biomissiles or assault shuttles remaining with ships.
* Auto-refuel now defaults on, but this can be changed in your profile ini file (look in the Profiles folder).
* Ship information now includes tactical stats.
* Added EndTurnDelay to the player profile ini.
* DefaultAutoRefuel=True has been added to the player profile ini.
* Added drag/drop ability to fleet list in star map.
* Corrected minor issues with the player status panel displaying the wrong information.
* Addition of optional host setting to place time limit on combat staging phase (see profile ini).
* Middle mouse button can now be used to focus on an object in the star map, as it does in combat.
* Right mouse button can now be used to spin ship designs.
* Holding or releasing SHIFT now updates the star map move line immediately.
* Hold SHIFT to enqueue 5x ships at a time.
* 'F6' to open save game window.
* 'CTRL+Q' to quit.
* 'CTRL+P' to set AI policy.
* 'TAB' and 'SHIFT+TAB' cycle through your colonies.
* 'DELETE' removes selected ship design.
* 'CTRL+T' ends turn.
* 'P' to toggle player list.
* 'O' toggles objectives.
* 'T' toggles trade window.
* 'Y' toggles alliance window.
* 'K' toggles rankings window.
* 'N' brings up notepad if a system is selected.
* '-' and '=' to toggle fleet lines and star visibility.


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