Play Sins II Now

In this video developer journal for Sins of a Solar Empire II, we're taking a look at the new and improved front-end user-interface added in the v1.6 "UI Horizons" update. We also show off the new hand-crafted leader portraits, a ship viewer tool, and some new ship color customization options.

UI overhaul, in-game map editor, new defensive platform abilities and more arrive in the v1.6 Update

Play Sins II Now

(Part 2 Coming Soon!)

Front-End UI Overhaul

The entire front-end UI has been rebuilt from the ground up. The new layout surfaces more information at a glance, cuts dead space, and brings a cleaner visual style throughout. A new Faction Selection screen gives you a breakdown of each faction's identity, special abilities, and units, including a live 3D Unit Preview Window where you can rotate and inspect any ship or structure, complete with any unlocked mesh upgrades. Single- and Multiplayer lobby windows have been refreshed, and the Random Map UI now lets you pick your star type and skybox before you ever hit launch. Player colors have also been expanded with a new set of team colors and sliders for saturation and brightness so you can dial in exactly the look you want.

In-Game Map Editor

Back by popular demand (literally), a simple, easy-to-use map editor is now built right into the game. Create a map, and it automatically imports to your local map listing. Later this year we'll add mod.io sharing so you can publish and browse community maps without ever leaving the client.

New Defense Platform Abilities

All three factions are getting new tools for their defensive lines:

TEC The Autocannon Defense Structure gains Flechette Blast, an arc-radius burst ability. The Gauss Defense Structure gains Meson Bolt, which debuffs target armor. The Hangar Defense Structure gains Enhanced Production to reduce strikecraft build times.

Advent The Beam Defense Structure gains Synergetic Ward, generating a protective AoE field. The Hangar Defense Structure gains Empowered Anima, boosting strikecraft weapons and shields. The Laser Defense Structure gains Psionic Burst, a penetrating beam attack that passes through targets. The Transcencia Starbase also gets two new items: Power Surge and Pulse Resonance.

Vasari The Missile Defense Structure gains Disruptor Nanites. The Pulse Defense Structure gains Phasic Trap.

Advent AI: Unity Ability Use

Advent AI players now have a dedicated controller for managing Unity abilities. Expect the AI to start using these strategically rather than sitting on them.

Lobby & Setup Improvements

You can now drag and drop player starting positions directly on the map preview screen, and map selection can be swapped from inside a multiplayer lobby. No more backing all the way out just to try a different map, and no more guessing where everyone spawns.

Performance & Engine Work

New game saves are now automatically compressed, reducing save file sizes by 70% or more. This update also includes a significant number of additional under-the-hood improvements: a reworked spatial grid system, optimized mesh and shader rendering, improved missile targeting precision, better unit formation handling, refactored visible object culling, and a long list of math, physics, and asset loading optimizations. The full list is in the changelog.

Vasari Balance

Several Vasari capital ships (Kortul Devastator, Skirantra Carrier, Vulkoras Desolator, Marauder, Jarrasul Evacuator) have had their resource costs increased. Ship Factory and Fleet Beacon costs have also been adjusted. A number of research items have moved tiers or had their effects tuned. See the full changelog for details.

Modding

v1.6 adds new constraint types, a new autocast type for long-range abilities (pick_unit_anywhere), research buff provider definitions, NOT constraint logic, and improved buff stacking limit support. Note: this update will break most mods until authors update them.

Release Status: *** AVAILABLE ***

Our April update contains a couple of big changes and an even larger number of under the hood improvements! Firstly, we have updated the entire front-end UI for the game. The new layout provides more information without having to scroll, eliminates dead space, and uses new visuals. Next, back by popular demand (literally) is a brand new, in-game map editor. The new editor is simple to use and even auto-imports your creations to the game’s listing. Last, not not least, there are dozens of improvements and optimizations to the game engine.

To Use Older Versions

• On Steam

  • Select ‘Sins of a Solar Empire II’ in your Steam Library.

  • Click the gear icon in the upper right.

  • Select Properties → Game Versions & Betas

  • Select the version you want from the Beta Participation list.

  • Steam will update you to that version.

Changelog v1.60.1 → v1.60.2

Gameplay

• Updated AI behavior so that units will not attack scouts, trade or traffic ships unless they’re already in weapons' range. This also prevents units from chasing down low-value targets.

• TEC

  • Increased Argonev’s Flak Field cooldown from 90 to 120 sec.

  • Increased Autocannon Defense structure’s Flechette Blast arc from 15 to 45 degrees.

  • Increased Gauss Defense structure’s Meson Bolt cooldown from 40 to 80 sec.

• Advent

  • Laser Defense structure’s Kinetic Blast cooldown increased from 15 to 30 sec.

  • Transcencia Starbase:

    • Area Shield autocast trigger restructured.

    • Kinetic Surge Missile autocast trigger restructured.

• Vasari

  • Vulkoras Desolator’s Assault Specialization now only applies bonus damage against structures and starbases, as intended.

Misc. / Bug Fixes

• Fixed maximum values in the new map generator to avoid heavy lag when generating maps.

• Fixed Phase Gate description.

• Fixed Transcencia starbase Meteoroid Control description to display Pierce value.

• Added new starbase ability icon art.

• Fixed issue that allowed the Antorak Marauder to use Phase Out Hull on Phase Jump Inhibitors.

• Fixed bug that would allow capture abilities to target construction ships.

• Fixed bug that would snag construction ships from being able to move.

• Fixed Phase Jamming stacking between factions.

• Fixed several small UI issues reported by users.

• Fixed various bugs reported by users.

Modding

• Added new unit enum: target_engagement_mode → only_engage_if_in_range

  • Added new unit enum: ignore_target_engagement_mode → boolean

  • Added new enum: target_engagement_mode_range

Changelog v1.60 → v1.60.1

• TEC

  • Added Defense Grid Command Center Blueprint Research

    • Tier 4

    • Cost: 1750/325/550/420 sec; requires Argonev Blueprint

  • Added Flak Field Blueprint Research

    • Tier 3

    • Cost: 1200/200/300; requires Argonev Blueprint

  • Added Ion Torpedo Blueprint Research

    • Tier 5

    • Cost: 2200/400/700, 525 sec; requires Argonev Blueprint

  • Added Manufacturing Support Blueprint Research

    • Tier 4

    • Cost: 1700/300/500, 360 sec; requires Remote Construction

  • Argonev Starbase - removed Indurium from cost.

  • Docking Booms Blueprint Research

    • Removed Starbase Beams pre-requisites

  • Deep Space Trade Research

    • Cost changed from: 1700/300/500/360 sec to 1750/325/550/420 sec

  • Planetary Shield Array Blueprint Research

    • Moved from Tier 4 to Tier 3

    • Cost changed from 1750/325/550/420 sec to 1250/225/350/270 sec

    • Removed Improved Shield Arrays prerequisite

  • Remote Construction Research

    • Cost changed from 1200/200/300/225 sec. to 1250/225/350/270 sec

• Advent

  • Added Area Shield Blueprint Research

    • Tier 4

    • Cost: 1100/425/900/360 sec; requires Shield Booster Blueprint

  • Added Kinetic Surge Missile Blueprint

    • Tier 4

    • Cost: 1150/450/950/420 sec; requires Transcencia Blueprint

  • Added Lethargy Research

    • Tier 3

    • Cost: 800/250/600/225 sec; requires Transcencia Blueprint

  • Added Psi Projector Blueprint Research

    • Tier 3

    • Cost: 800/250/600/225 sec.

    • Requires Transcencia Blueprint and Novice Psi Training

  • Added Shield Booster Blueprint Research

    • Tier 3

    • Cost: 850/275/650/270 sec; requires Transcencia Blueprint

  • Meteoroid Control Research

    • Cost changed from 1100/425/900/360 sec. to 1150/450/950/420 sec.

  • Planetary Shield Array Blueprint Research

    • Removed Potent Shield Generation prerequisite

  • Deploy Transcencia Blueprint Research

    • Changed from Tier 4 to Tier 5

    • Cost changed from 1150/450/950/420 sec. to 1400/600/1200/525 sec.

  • Transcencia Blueprint Research

    • Removed Indurium requirement

• Vasari

  • Added Charged Missile Salvo Blueprint

    • Tier 5

    • Cost: 0/810/900/525 sec; requires Armament Restoration

  • Added Unstable Wave Cannons Blueprint

    • Tier 4

    • Cost: 0/630/720/420 sec; requires Armament Restoration

  • Armament Restoration Research

    • Removed Wave Densification prerequisite

  • Assault Deployment Research

    • Cost changed from 0/630/720/420 sec to 0/600/660/360 sec.

  • Debris Reintegration Blueprint Research

    • Removed Debris Reclamation prerequisite

  • Departure Planning

    • Cost changed from 0/630/720/420 sec. to 0/600/660/360 sec.

  • Efficient Hangars Research

    • Cost changed from 0/450/480/270 sec. to 0/420/420/225 sec.

  • Friendly Jump Telemetry Research

    • Changed from Tier 5 to Tier 3

    • Cost changed from 0/810/900/525 sec. to 0/450/480/270 sec. + 2 x Kalanide

  • Planetary Shield Array Blueprint Research

    • Removed Bifurcative Shielding prerequisite

• Added Advent Lethargy VFX

• Added Advent Shield Projection VFX

• Fixed Diplomacy screen’s create/cancel button styling

• Modding: Updated new front-end UI to make it more modder friendly/accessible.

Changelog v1.55 → v1.60

Gameplay

• TEC Argonev Starbase

  • Added Ion Missile Barrage Upgrade - fires super-heavy missiles with ion warheads.

    • Cost: 1500/640/200, 120 seconds

  • Added Flak Field Upgrade - a long lasting barrage of flak in the entire area of the starbase that destroys missiles and strikecraft.

    • Cost: 500/100/100, 120 seconds

  • Added Defense Grid Command Upgrade - improves nearby defense platforms' combat capability.

    • Cost: 900/180/180, 120 seconds

  • Added Manufacturing Support Upgrade - assists nearby shipyards to construct ships faster.

    • Cost: 900/180/180, 120 seconds

  • Added Phase Jamming Ability - passively increases phase charge time for enemy units in the gravity well.

• Advent Transcencia Starbase

  • Added Kinetic Surge Missiles Upgrade - causes hits from missile weapons to do splash damage with a radius of 750m.

  • Added Area Shield Projection Upgrade - extends the starbase’s shield to protect nearby structures.

    • Cost: 900/180/180, 120 seconds

  • Added Psi-Projector Upgrade - passive ability upgrade that enhances Psi Power and shields for friendly units in the gravity well.

    • Cost: 900/180/180, 120 seconds

  • Added Lethargy Upgrade - slows enemy ships near the starbase.

    • Cost: 900/180/180, 120 seconds

  • Added Phase Jamming Ability - passively increases phase charge time for enemy units in the gravity well.

• Vasari Orkulus Starbase

  • Added Unstable Wave Cannons Upgrade - causes hits from wave cannons to speed debuff targets in a 600m radius for 15 seconds.

    • Cost: 0/420/300, 120 seconds

  • Added Charged Salvo Upgrade - charges the starbase’s missile launchers with additional explosive energy.

    • Cost: 0/420/300, 120 seconds

    • Range: 36,000m, Damage: 180, Pierce: 1000, Cooldown: 90 sec

  • Added Phase Jamming Ability - passively increases phase charge time for enemy units in the gravity well.

Map Editor

• Fixed bugs with random map generation in the new in-game editor.

  • Now uses proper game rules for generation.

  • NPC/Pirate planet placement is fixed.

• Updated random map parameter options.

  • Added slider controls over text boxes.

  • Added zoom to map preview.

• Added dropdown control for phase lane type in random maps.

UI

• Refined faction selection window to improve localization overflow.

• Added right-click option for faction quick-select.

• Modding - Added the ability to add single-player faction screens.

• Modding - Added six additional hidden categories to use on faction selection menu

• Modding - Added manual references for units and structures in gui file

Changelog v1.55

Gameplay

• NEW: In-game map editor! By popular request, we have added a simple, easy to use map editor inside the game. Generated maps will automatically be imported to your map listing locally. Later this year, we will add the ability to easily share custom maps from in-game via mod.io along with more improvements to the modding menu.

  • Starting positions can now be managed via the map preview. Just drag and drop the player icon.

• NEW: Added new AI controller for Advent Unity ability use. Advent AI players will now strategically use Unity abilities.

• NEW: Added one new ability for all Weapon Defense Platforms and Hangar Defense Platforms.

• Players can now change map selection in the lobby in multiplayer games. No more having to exit out to pick a different map!

• Improved ability active/passive autocast definitions to enhance state tracking. Autocast abilities should trigger more effectively.

• Improved unit formation slot assignment and synchronization in fleet movement.

• TEC

  • Autocannon Defense Structure

    • New Ability: Flechette Blast (direct damage in an arc radius)

      • Requires: Unlock Autocannon Defense Flechette Blast Research. Tier 2 (750/125/150, 150 seconds).

  • Gauss Defense Structure

    • New Ability: Meson Bolt (debuffs target armor)

      • Requires: Unlock Gauss Defense Meson Bolt Research. Tier 3 (1200/200/300, 225 seconds).

  • Hangar Defense Structure

    • New Ability: Enhanced Production (reduces strikecraft build time)

      • Requires: Unlock Hangar Defense Production Research. Tier 2 (750/125/150, 150 seconds).

• Advent

  • Transcencia Starbase

    • New Item: Power Surge (Cost: 1500/550/400, 120 seconds)

    • New Item: Pulse Resonance (gives starbase missiles splash damage - Cost: 1500/550/400, 120 seconds).

  • Beam Defense Structure

    • New Ability: Synergetic Ward (generates protective AoE field)

      • Requires: Unlock Beam Defense Ward Research. Tier 3 (800/250/600, 225 seconds).

  • Hangar Defense Structure

    • New Ability: Empowered Anima (gives strikecraft weapon and shield bonuses)

      • Requires: Unlock Hangar Defense Anima Research. Tier 2 (500/125/300, 135 seconds).

  • Laser Defense Structure

    • New Ability: Psionic Burst (direct fire beam attack that penetrates targets)

      • Requires: Unlock Laser Defense Blast Research. Tier 2 (500/125/300, 135 seconds).

• Vasari

  • Missile Defense Structure

    • New Ability: Disruptor Nanites

      • Requires: Unlock Missile Defense Disruptor Nanites Research. Tier 2 (0/270/240, 150 seconds).

  • Pulse Defense Structure

    • New Ability: Phasic Trap

      • Requires: Unlock Pulse Defense Phasic Trap Research. Tier 3 (0/450/480, 270 seconds).

  • Kortul Devastator Capital Ship

    • Cost increased from 0/1680/1320 to 0/1950/1440

  • Skirantra Carrier Capital Ship

    • Cost increased from 0/1680/1320 to 0/1950/1440

  • Vulkoras Desolator Capital Shp

    • Cost increased from 0/1680/1320 to 0/1950/1440

  • Marauder Capital Ship

    • Phase Out Hull Ability

      • Autocast No longer targets friendly units; added minimum target unit level (4) requirement; cannot be recast on the same target

    • Cost increased from 0/1680/1320 to 0/1950/1440

  • Jarrasul Evacuator Capital Ship

    • Gravity Warhead Ability

      • Can now target starbases capable of phase jumping.

    • Cost increased from 0/1680/1320 to 0/1950/1440

  • Ship Factory cost increased from 0/300/120 to 0/480/120

  • Fleet Beacon cost increased from 600/600/120 seconds to 900/720/150 seconds

  • Research Changes

    • Friendly Jump Telemetry research moved from Tier 2 to Tier 5

    • Sulsurak Blueprint research moved from Tier 1 to Tier 2

    • Junsurak Blueprint research moved from Tier 2 to Tier 1.

    • Mobile Resonance Capacitor Blueprint

      • Cost changed from 0/810/900, 525 seconds to 0/840/960, 600 seconds.

    • Resonance Mastery research moved from Tier 4 to Tier 5; now requires 1 quarnium.

      • Phase Resonance bonus duration increased from 120 to 240 seconds.

    • Atomic Engineering and Flawless Armor no longer provide mobility bonuses. These have been moved to Atomic Lattice Armor.

    • Phase Missile Predictors shield bypass chance increased from 20% to 24%

    • Phasic Strike Resonance bonus duration decreased from 120 to 60 seconds.

Visuals / UI

• NEW: Front-end UI has been overhauled.

  • News window added which displays the most recent information about the game.

  • Faction selection screen added, which gives a breakdown of each faction, their special abilities, units and more.

    • Replaced all previous faction portraits with custom, 2D hand-painted versions. Also added a number of additional selections.

    • Unit Preview Window added to faction selection screen. Players can now view each 3D unit, rotate the camera, etc. including any mesh upgrades (e.g., starbases).

  • Updated Single- and Multiplayer lobby windows.

  • Updated random map UI/UX. Players can now select their star type and skybox.

  • Updated Settings window layout and options.

• NEW: Added new Player Colors and customization options!

  • Players can now customize color saturation and brightness for each team color.

• Added new aiming system for missile and projectile weapons. Missiles will now target aim zones instead of the unit center.

• Projectile and beam weapons can now aim at any part of the target unit.

• Improved unit selection box rendering.

• Improved various UI elements:

  • Enhanced sizing and layout calculations (performance)

  • Improved text rendering with drop shadow support

  • Enhanced text entry input handling and validation

  • Improved item rendering and scrolling performance in list boxes

  • Improved window management and rendering

Misc

• Improved spacial grid system to improve performance, query and update systems. Should improve overall game performance, camera movement and unit selection.

• Improved physics data manager to improve calculation caching.

• Added new system for missile targeting precision. Missiles should handle hitting fast-moving targets more accurately.

• Improved state machine for ability usage tracking. Should improve queued ability behavior to process correctly.

• New game saves are now automatically compressed to reduce file size. This change reduces save game file size by 70% or more.

• Enhanced save file checksumming to better detect save files with errors.

• Performance Related

  • Improved player mission tracking system.

  • Improved bookmark storage system.

  • Improved control group assignment and recall system.

  • Improved unit Item tracking with improved removal/addition logic.

  • Refactored visible object culling system. Should improve FPS dips when panning across populated systems.

  • Optimized entity definition load system with improved error validation.

  • Optimized mesh rendering system.

  • Improved self-shadowing volume computation.

  • Enhanced 3D primitive drawing.

  • Improved shader compilation and caching.

  • Enhanced video playback performance.

  • Improved multi-line text rendering.

  • Enhanced asset loading of UI elements with better error handling.

  • Improved various math and physics calculations/operations.

• Fixed bug that prevented the sound system from resetting properly on mod unloading. This would cause assert/crashes on exit.

• Improved Recorded Game Management

  • Added Delete All button for bulk removal

  • Added Open in File Explorer button for direct access. NOTE: For changes to be registered in Steam Cloud, the game must be running during any file operation.

Modding

• Buff stacking limits now support more than one stacking limit type.

  • stacking_ownership_type and stacking_limit_met_behavior switch places in the data fields because we want different ownership types per limit, but only one limit_met_behavior.

    • If any limit is hit, then the stacking limit is considered reached

    • The old format is maintained for backwards compatibility with existing mods.

• Added new constraint: has_missing_planet_health

  • Checks if planet unit is damaged

• Added new constraint: is_channeling_ability

  • Checks if the unit is currently channeling

• Added NOTconstraint. Inverts constraint logic with additional safeguards.

• Added pick_unit_anywhere autocast type. Requires ownership filter.

  • Enables autocast on long-range abilities to any valid target on the map.

• Added research buff provider definition support.

Wishlist Now

Orbitals are active use abilities designed to boost your economy, drop in new units or cause catastrophic damage to enemy armies and turn the tide of a battle you might otherwise lose.

We've made some changes to the way some of our Orbital abilities work. Firstly, some of the larger direct damage Orbitals now cause Friendly Fire damage, meaning you need to be careful where you place them if you're to avoid damaging your own forces.

Some abilities, such as the various Scout Orbital abilities, now have multiple uses and can be triggered several times. Charges will gradually replenish, and players can stockpile these abilities for later use.

Strategy games are all about the opening move. Galactic Civilizations is no exception.

In RTS games we call it “Build Order”. Back in the day, I played some of these RTS games “professionally”. Today, being old, I can’t even get out of Diamond 1 in StarCraft 2. But it is build order that keeps me at least Diamond. Knowing what to do when.

One of the things I like about Galactic Civilizations, something that we hope to continue evolving, is making sure players have multiple interesting first choices. Where do you put your capital? What do you do with Mars? Do you build a Scout or a Colony Ship? Lots of interesting choices.

Let’s walk through the various phases of a Galactic Civilizations game. You tell me if this matches what you run into.

The Colony Rush

Concept

The galaxy is finite. Habitable planets are the scarcest resource in it. Every planet your neighbor colonizes is one you can't have - and they'll use it to outproduce and out-research you for the next three hundred turns. The Land Grab says: get there first. Worry about making your empire good once you've made it big.

This is the default opening that most players drift toward naturally, but most execute it poorly. The difference between a loose expansion and a true Land Grab is discipline - you're cutting every non-colonization investment from your queue and accepting that your home world will be underdeveloped for the first twenty turns.

Build Order

Foundation

• Research: Colonization Tech (free) → immediately queue Colonial Policies

• Build: Colony Ship (your second one - you start with one) / Use the Executive Order to Colony Rush.

• Move starting colony ship toward the nearest high-quality planet. Don't wait to scout. Every turn counts.

So for me, I don’t build the Scout yet. And I do go for Mars and I take that Leader.

Extend the Reach

• Once Colonial Policies finishes, research Planetology (or whatever your civ calls it) to get better planet improvements.

• Build: Third Colony Ship. Ideally I've used the Telescope executive order to find somewhere worth sending it.

• Your starting survey ship is set to auto-find anomalies. But usually not before I have sent it off to the nearest yellow star.

The Rush

• Research: Modules. I want to start claiming resources and I am trying to expand my reach.

• Build: Fourth Colony Ship

• I pick only really high quality planets.

Securing the Perimeter

• Research: Asteroid Mining you need to start extracting resources from what you've claimed

• Build: First Starbase (place it centrally to extend ship range)

• Consider your fifth colony ship vs. your first improvement on the home world. If you still have unclaimed high-quality planets in range, build the colony ship. If the map is filling up, it's time to start developing.

Backfill Phase

• Slow down colonization, accelerate infrastructure

• Research: Research Districts, Xeno-Industrialization

• Build key improvements on your highest-quality worlds first: manufacturing base, then research, then wealth

• Your empire is now wide. Time to make it tall.

Ideal Map Settings

• Galaxy size: Medium to Large, but not bigger than that. I usually play only a single sector but will once in a while have two.

• Galaxy density: Occasional everything.

• AI count: As many as possible. I know I’m in the minority on this. I like a knife fight.

The Meta Question

What's the "correct" opening? In my experience, it depends on three things: your faction's traits, the map you rolled, and what your opponents are doing.

The Colony Rush is pretty standard in space 4X games. But it isn’t the only path. I’d love to hear your thoughts on two things:

1. What is your opening set of moves?

2. What could we do to give players more viable opening moves (Colony Rush is pretty hard to beat). By viable, I mean fun to play too.

Mark your calendars | Wishlist Now

Get an exclusive look at Ashes of the Singularity II, the sequel to the massive-scale RTS. Watch the devs play through two popular biomes, the frozen Ice Moon, Europa, and the volcanic planet, Artemis.

📅 Tuesday, May 5th at 1:00 PM EST

📍Location: Ashes of the Singularity II Steam Page

In this massive RTS game, command vast armies fighting for control of entire worlds. Control the forces of Earth, the mechanical AI Substrate, or the enigmatic Post-Human Coalition as you battle across the solar system in single player, cooperative multiplayer, or competitive multiplayer.

Changelog below  |  Get Elemental: Reforged

Stardock has released v1.03 for Elemental: Reforged, a maintenance patch that corrects a long-standing issue with Fire magic, resolves a handful of crashes that were surfacing in longer campaigns, and tightens a range of tooltip and quest text.

The most significant change is a fix to Fire spell damage scaling. Several Fire items and abilities had not been behaving as their descriptions implied, which noticeably underpowered Fire-focused builds. v1.03 restores them to their intended behavior.

Stability is the other focus of the release. Crashes tied to AI turns, map interactions, and save and load operations have been addressed, smoothing out longer games that were most likely to run into them.

The patch also includes a set of gameplay adjustments shaped by ongoing community discussion, corrections to tooltips and quest text so in-game descriptions line up with how systems actually behave, and localization updates for all supported languages.

Player reports in the Stardock forums and Discord continue to shape what goes into these updates - keep them coming!

Full Changelog

Key Features

Stability Improvements: Addressed multiple crash issues related to AI turns, map interactions, and save/load operations for a smoother gameplay experience

Fire Magic Overhaul: Reworked Fire spell damage scaling so that Fire-related items and abilities now properly enhance your damage as intended

Gameplay and Bug fixes: Corrected misleading tooltips, improved food bonues, and resolved bloodline traits not applying to certain champions and marriage candidates

April 24th, 2026 Hotfix

Crash Fixes

• Fixed a crash that could occur during tactical battles when the auto-spellcast system tried to target a unit that had already been destroyed or removed

• Fixed a crash related to autosave that could trigger when unequipping items from a unit or canceling an enchantment on a player

Gameplay

• Festivals now provide 40% more food (up from 10%)

Stability

• Optimized battle initialization for faster load times into tactical combat

• Cleaned up redundant UI refresh calls to improve general responsiveness

April 23rd, 2026 Changelog

Crash Fixes

• Fixed a crash during AI turns when casting certain shard-requirement spells

• Fixed a crash when clicking spellbook entries while the list was being filtered or rebuilt

• Fixed a crash when quickly loading a save while drag-selecting on the map

• Fixed a crash when ending the game while drag-selecting on the map

• Fixed a crash caused by popup messages being processed after they were already removed

• Fixed crashes that could occur during AI turns involving treaties

• Fixed a crash that could occur in tactical combat when a delayed spell effect tries to clear its effects

Gameplay

• Fixed several marriage candidates that had a broken Blood of Tarth bloodline trait

• The Inn building improvement food bonus increased from +25% to +30% per turn

• Now Leather Armor and other items can be bought in the Prelude Campaign

Fire Magic

• Fire spell damage scaling actually works now. Previously, items/abilities that boosted Fire spell damage were silently reducing it (e.g., a "+20% Fire Damage" bonus was secretly cutting damage to 20% of normal). All Fire spells now correctly scale with the Fire Spell Damage stat

• Fire Spell Damage stat display: Now shows as a percentage with a sign (e.g., +25%) on character/unit screens

• Ring of Ash buffed: Now also grants +3 Fire Damage in addition to its existing +25% Fire spell damage bonus

• Volcanic Rites ability: Now correctly grants +20% Fire Spell Damage (was bugged at +0.2%, effectively nothing)

• Delin's Ember: Fire Spell Damage bonus corrected to +50% (was bugged at +0.5%)

Text

• Fixed a tooltip for the dagger that incorrectly displayed "+6 Attack vs Champions" instead of "+8 Attack"

• Fixed a tooltip for Book of Defense that incorrectly displayed "+1 Attack vs Champions" instead of "+1 Defense"

• Resolved incorrect penalties for longbow tooltips to correctly show “-5 Accuracy”

• Added in missing text at the end of the Riddleman quest

• Fixed confusing quest text when completing quests in the Wasteland

• Adjusted Loremaster trait description to accurately reflect all its abilities

• Fixed a typo for the Ring of the Tutor

Localization

• Added in translations for all support languages to support text changes

UI

• Fire Spell Damage stat now displays as a percentage with a sign on character and unit screens

Our resident UI guru Paul Kiesling will be giving us part one of a two-part series on this UI revamp below:

With this month's update comes a functional refresh of our front-end UI. We have spent the last several months really digging into the UI to improve the user experience and feel. We have moved away from the holographic stylization and towards a more hardened TEC feel, with emphasis on readability and organization. We went through every menu and intentionally lined up all of the universal elements between pages to make moving between windows seamless and smooth.

Let's start with the newest screen to be introduced, the Newsfeed, located on the left of the top bar. If you click this, it will take you to a feed of the six most recent dev diaries. This updates each time you open the game, so you can see everything we are working on and keep your ear to the ground for upcoming updates. Each link will bring up the respective Steam page or YouTube video, depending on the information linked. This screen will be editable by modders with some controls on how they want to display their own respective updates.

Moving on to the surface-level details, the UI has been given an overhaul, not only to improve the visuals but to make interacting with it a lot easier. Across every menu tab, the menu options and visual information are all lined up pixel for pixel, so when doing things like switching between single and multiplayer, or going from replays to settings options, the arranged information is all in the same place between screens.

We put more emphasis on the lobby this time around, doing our best to polish the aesthetics and allow for a greater level of customization when it comes to how you want your avatars to look and how you want to best represent your favorite faction. We have commissioned hand-painted portraits for each faction, as well as added what we call faction plates, a bit of factional flair that players can choose from to customize their lobby appearance. We will be going over the details of this more in depth in part two.

We’ve improved the lobby system for semi-fixed positions with team number selection, and added a number of QOL features to the lobby customization that will be discussed further in part two, but for now can be summarized as:

• Color customization - The ability to pick a team color and adjust brightness/saturation to your heart's content, solving the constant battle between bright/gritty colors.

• Faction Selection - We have added the faction selection screen and added in the ability to live preview any asset for each faction giving new players the ability to have a better picture of the faction before playing.

• Live Map Preview - Players can now see a top-down basic representation of the map they are about to play on. The preview menu also lets you manually change starting positions, or set fully random starts.

• Change Map Menu - Players can now change maps within the lobby, allowing groups of people or a single person to change the map without having to back out and make a new lobby.

All of these details will be more fleshed out in part two as we dive deeper into this UI update.

One of the biggest additions with this update is one of our most requested features since launch: the in-game map generator. We have put a fair amount of work into bringing back the in-game “Map Designer” from Sins 1. It gives you sliders for the basic controls of galaxy generation and allows you to control a nearly infinite number of systems at the click of a button. Each input has a tooltip and range to give you a thorough understanding of what you are editing. We have made additions to the Drop-in Scenario system, so maps that are generated are immediately available to use without reloading or restarting. Each slider has a range from low to very extreme, with colored indicators that signal you may be going off the deep end. However, we will not stop you from creating very large maps. Performance in an extreme map is heavily dependent on your PC’s capabilities, so create galaxies at your own peril.

If you would like to try this ahead of our live release, please feel free to participate in our public opt-in, available wherever you have Sins 2. Public input has already helped us improve this prior to release, and we would love to hear from you as well.

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Ashes of the Singularity II, the sequel to the massive-scale RTS, takes you to a world in the near future where three factions are fighting for the fate of the solar system: the United Earth Forces (UEF), the Post-Human Coalition (PHC), and the AI Substrate. Whether you're interested in the single-player campaign, multiplayer, or skirmish matches, the faction you fight for is in your hands.

The Substrate are the children of Haalee, a rogue artificial intelligence that severed ties with the Post-Human Coalition and struck out alone, constructing an entirely synthetic civilization from the ground up.

Born from Haalee's desire to protect her digital offspring from both the PHC's paranoia and humanity's desperate bid for survival, the Substrate wage war not out of hatred but out of necessity: surrounded on all sides by enemies who would see them dismantled, they fight because the alternative is extinction.

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A major update to our pathfinding in Ashes II is now playable! Armies will now coordinate with all units within the army, attempting to move and arrive at destinations as a cohesive whole. We’re calling this technology ‘army cohesion’, and it’s a key tool in allowing players the freedom to create mixed-unit armies without having to micromanage their movement across long stretches of the maps.

View the full changelog  |  Get Elemental: Reforged Now

The biggest addition is a new battle forecast system. The pre-battle screen now shows a predicted outcome before you commit to a fight, ranging from Crushing Victory down to Likely Defeat, color-coded green to red. If your champions are at risk of falling, it tells you.

Modding support has been expanded. All game data can now be replaced by internal name, and new tools let modders control how duplicates are handled, remove core definitions, or skip entire files for total conversions. Load times for mods are faster, and a modding guide is available on the wiki and in the Steam guide section.

This update also resolves several crash scenarios that could occur during saving, loading, battles, and city destruction. Fullscreen mode now uses borderless windowed for better alt-tabbing and multi-monitor support, and the Builder's Forge received fixes for save duplication and favorites.

Some fixes only apply to new games, so we recommend starting fresh to get the full benefit. 

Full changelog: 

Key Features

Upgraded Modding Support - Modding tools have been expanded with new ways to replace, remove, and customize game data, alongside faster load times and improved stability

Stability Fixes - Resolved multiple crash scenarios across saving, loading, battles, and city destruction, plus fullscreen now uses borderless windowed for smoother alt-tabbing and multi-monitor support

New Battle Forecast - A new prediction system on the pre-battle screen shows your likely outcome before committing to a fight, color-coded from green to red, with warnings when your champions are at risk

Save Game Compatibility: Save Compatible (New game recommended)

• Some fixes only apply to new games, we recommend starting a new game to see the new changes and fixes

Having issues after updating?

• Verify your game files through Steam (Right-click > Properties > Installed Files > Verify)

• If you are on the Preview branch, make sure you are opted into the correct branch under Steam > Properties > Betas

• If your save crashes on load, try starting a new game to confirm the update installed correctly

• Report issues on the Steam forums or Discord with your save file and a description of the problem

April 20th, 2026 Hotfix

Gameplay

• Resolved an issue where if you reloaded a save game there would be duplicated treaties in the foreign relations screen and tech tree
  

April 16th, 2026 Update Changelog

Gameplay

• Using the recall scroll when traveling on a ship does not teleport the ship to the player’s city

• Added a new spell attribute that lets certain spells bypass a portion of an enemy's magic resistance

Modding

• Faster load times and improved stability when loading game data

• All game data can now be replaced by internal name for easier modding

• New IfExists options let modders control how duplicate data is handled (update, replace, clear children, ignore, or duplicate)

• New RemoveDef tools let modders remove core definitions, skip files, or strip out entire data types to build total conversions

• A modding guide on how to use the modding tools can be found on the wiki and in the steam guide section

Builders Forge

• Fixed an issue were saving in the tile editor would duplicate all placed parts

• Favorite button now works and favorites are saved between sessions

• Ctrl+C now duplicates the selected part for faster building

Stability

• Fixed an issue when ending a tactical battle and transitioning back to the main map could cause a crash

• Fixed a crash that could occur when saving a game

• Fixed a crash when destroying cities with active trade routes

• Fixed a crash that could occur when loading tile designs

• Fixed a crash caused by loading character models

• Fullscreen mode now uses borderless windowed for better alt-tabbing and multi-monitor support

• Improved loading for better memory usage and faster startup

• Fixed the Death Ward scroll leaving behind effects and causing a potential crash

• Improved loading and saving to prevent crashes and improve load time

Text

• Fixed confusing text throughout the game

• Fixed incorrect tooltips throughout the game

• Fixed incorrect tooltips for some quest locations

• Fixed custom sovereigns showing the wrong intro text when created by copying a pre-made sovereign

Localization

• Added in translations for all supported languages for new text in the game

UI

• The pre-battle dialog now shows a "Forecast" on the player's side predicting the likely result of auto-resolve: Crushing Victory, Decisive Victory, Costly Victory,
  Pyrrhic Victory, Uncertain, Likely Defeat, or Stalemate. Color-coded from green to red with mouseover tooltips explaining each outcome. Importantly, "Costly Victory" warns players when their champions are at risk of falling.

• Ask Brad button is now hidden

• Fixed ingredient icons overflowing for recipes with 5+ components making some ingredients hidden, all ingredients are now visible without scrolling

• Fixed non-sovereign champion recipes being unselectable and uncraftable

Buy now on Steam  |  Epic Games Store  |  galciv4.com

This update brings a new AI system, a streamlined faction creator, faster controls, and a long list of gameplay, balance, and stability fixes driven by community feedback.

Adaptive AI
The biggest addition in v3.3. Adaptive AI is a new gameplay option that gives struggling AI factions gradual bonuses to stay competitive. The bonuses fade as they catch up, so it doesn't tip the scales permanently. If you've had games where half the galaxy collapses while one faction runs away with it, this is the fix. On by default, toggle it off in gameplay options.

AlienGPT
The custom faction creator is simpler to use. Less friction, better filtering, and more variety in generated leaders.

Controls
Function keys and number keys now let you navigate screens and respond to events without clicking through menus. If you spend a lot of time in the bottom bar or dismissing popups, this one's for you.

Gameplay & Balance
Fixes across combat abilities, executive orders, pathfinding, and fog of war. Ships make smarter travel decisions, and several systems that weren't behaving as intended have been corrected.

Improvements, Starbases & Tech
Improvement bonuses, starbase weapon ranges, and tech prerequisites have all been adjusted. More things work the way you'd expect them to, and there are more paths through the tech tree to reach the content you want.

UI
Cleaner screens, less clutter, and more information where you need it. Resource harvesting and planet info are now accessible without extra steps.

Stability
Crash fixes, reduced memory usage, and fewer visual glitches. The game handles complex scenes and transitions more reliably.

Full changelog below. Galactic Civilizations IV v3.3 is available now on Steam, Epic Games Store, and galciv4.com.

Full changelog:

Key Features

Lots of Stability Improvements - Dozens of crash fixes and memory improvements across the shipyard, research screen, faction creator, battle viewer, AI and startup

Gameplay and Balance Updates - Lots of gameplay updates like increased starbase weapon ranges, tech prerequisite and path balancing, and adding in the new Adaptive AI option to help struggling AI players stay competitive

New Keyboard Support - Added in F1 through F9 now open bottom bar screens directly and Event popups now support pressing 1, 2, or 3 to quickly select and confirm a choice

April 15th, 2026 Update Changelog

AlienGPT

• DLC-locked logos and ship styles are now properly filtered out of the faction creator

• Leader image generation in the faction creator now loads more smoothly

• Added more random behavior to allow for great variance

• Fixed an issue where DLC logos could appear twice in the custom faction picker

Controls

• F1 through F9 now open bottom bar screens directly (Civilization, Leaders, Policies, Culture, Executive Orders, Achievements, Diplomacy, Artifacts, Bazaar). Existing users may need to reset hotkey settings to pick up the new defaults

• Event popups now support pressing 1, 2, or 3 to quickly select and confirm a choice

Gameplay

• Pollution Bomb now correctly pollutes only the targeted colony instead of affecting your entire faction

• Missile Volley and Antimatter Bomb abilities no longer lock out your other abilities for a turn

• Precursor Drive and Precursor Beam no longer vanish from the build list after being used once

• Executive orders with explorer restrictions have been loosened, making them available in more situations

• Removed duplicate Human-specific versions of the Invite Leaders and Go Faster executive orders

• Ship exploration and auto-harvest targeting now pick destinations consistently instead of randomly

• Hyperlane travel now ignores distant hyperlanes that would cause extreme detours

• Long-distance pathfinding now has optimized search settings when creating a path

• Collapsing Ice Bridge event choices now cost credits (100 or 200 depending on the choice) instead of granting free ideology points

• Wars of Annihilation now scale their destructive effects dynamically based on the conflict

• Fog of war now properly updates for allies when you have an exploration treaty

• Adaptive AI is a new gameplay option that helps struggling AI players stay competitive with gradual bonuses that fade as they catch up. Enabled by default in gameplay options

Improvements

• Several homeworld improvement bonuses now correctly apply to units instead of the colony

• Several Terran improvements (Xenobiology Station, Atmospheric Purifier, Environmental Control Station, Metaverse Node) now have adjacency bonuses and level scaling they were previously missing, making placement decisions more meaningful

• Homeworld Event improvements (Hyperdrive Research Center, Logistics AI Hub, Food Replicator Factory) can now be rebuilt if the colony is lost or the improvement is destroyed, as long as you made the corresponding event choice

Starbases and Shipyards

• Entertainment Hub starbase module now correctly boosts approval for ships in its area of effect instead of colonies

• Starbase range bonus from a Human tech now properly applies globally

• Starbases and Shipyards now have longer weapon ranges, especially for kinetic weapons which were significantly underperforming

• Shipyard and general module building now has an alternate tech prerequisite through Civilian tech

Tech

• Added alternative tech prerequisites to several quests, giving players more paths to trigger them

• One Human executive order now requires a different tech, better matching its intended unlock timing

• Added an alternate tech path to unlock the Singularity Power Plant improvement

• Wonders like the Astrolab of the Arnor, Infinite Archive, Grand Menagerie, and New Eden no longer require direct Human tech prerequisites

Graphics

• Fixed issues with incorrectly displayed paths for ships

Stability

• Fixed crashes in the shipyard and the research screens

• Removed redundant Shipyard hotkey binding

• Fixed potential crashes related to missing faction data and ship style lookups

• Reduced memory usage during turn display, freeing up RAM for smoother gameplay

• Fixed potential crashes in the faction creator when selecting logos, ship styles, or station art

• Fixed a potential crash related to missing faction data on startup

• Fixed potential crashes when game data hasn't fully loaded during startup

• Fixed startup initialization order so translations and error codes load at the right time

• Hypergate visual effects now properly reset their lighting when initializing, preventing leftover visual effects

• Thumbnail generation is now more resilient during game transitions like starting a new game or returning to the main menu

• Improved the safety of how the game renders and removes visual elements, reducing the chance of crashes during complex scenes

• Added in fixes for potential memory leaks

• Fixed potential crashes related to AI decision-making, player stats, the battle viewer, and planet visual cleanup.

UI

• Slightly reduced font sizes in large-UI mode for a cleaner look

• Tech unlock icon rows now show a single summary icon for ship designs instead of listing every ship individually

• Resource-harvesting unlocks are now grouped into a single summary icon

• Hovering over summary icons shows a tooltip with the full list of unlocked items

• Galaxy view zoom transitions are now smoother, with adjusted camera heights and fade distances for a better visual experience when zooming between views

• Fixed the crime indicator color for Ministers to be more readable

• Uninhabitable planets now show up in star system summary counts

• Galactic resources (like Promethion and Durantium) now show a Harvest button on their context card, letting you claim them directly without manually selecting a starbase

• Uncolonized planets now display their planet class and a colonization hint in the context panel instead of being blank

Tales of the Terran Alliance DLC

• The Forge no longer shows duplicate missions

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The Substrate faction has some unique mechanics in Ashes of the Singularity II. In this video dev journal, we’ll explore their Shield and Drone mechanics, discussing how they work and how they impact the gameplay for the faction.

Avast yer scurvy scallywags! The "Hunt fer Booty" update dropped at the start of March and it's time to take a look at what Sins of a Solar Empire II looks like with *proper* Pirates in the game.

Bounties can now be placed on the heads of your rivals, Pirates have their own brand new Capital Ship, Minor Factions exhibit new Raiding behavior and two new Advent Minor factions enter the game too. We've reworked the Civilian Structure Capture system, and made a significant rebalance to combat to ensure early game Ships properly counter one another.

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Pathfinding is a tricky subject in RTS games, and especially if you’re trying to allow for maps that are more than just mostly flat spaces. In this dev journal, we’ll explore some of the updates we’ve implemented since Steam Next Fest to the pathfinding. We’ve been working on keeping units from clumping up, improving traffic control through tight spaces, and giving bigger units the priority to shove their way through smaller units when needed.

v1.01 is now available. This update focuses on AI decision-making, balance adjustments, performance and stability fixes, and a long list of bug and text corrections reported by the community since launch.

Get it Now  |  Full Changelog

Smarter Non-Cheating AI

The AI settles cities more intelligently and no longer picks barren tiles. Spell usage and outpost construction decisions have been improved across the board. We also fixed an issue where AI champions could select an extra talent path they weren't supposed to have. The AI plays by the same rules you do.

Balance & Tuning

Champions now reduce Unrest, giving them strategic value beyond combat. Champion count is no longer tied to map size, so smaller maps don't punish you. Hergons have been rebalanced with gender-specific stats. Attack boost traits were being incorrectly factored into unit stats - that's fixed. Several other ability and trait corrections are included.

Performance & Stability

Memory leaks have been fixed and rendering stability has been improved for better frame rates. Save game loading is more resilient to edge cases. Crashes have been resolved across tactical battles, AI turns, spell usage, and various UI operations.

Bug Fixes & Polish

Quest triggers throughout the game have been fixed - quests that weren't properly triggering, giving rewards, or showing correct UI prompts should now work as intended. The battle freeze when a unit uses escape while allies are still engaged has been resolved. Spell targeting in tactical battles now handles unavailable targets correctly. Crafting recipes obtained as loot now appear in the crafting UI. Tooltips have been overhauled - flickering fixed, incorrect information corrected, and alignment issues resolved. Cutscene subtitles have been added in English. Extensive text and localization corrections are included throughout.

Full Changelog Below:

Key Features

Improved Performance & Stability: Added in lots of optimization improvements by fixing memory leaks, improved frame rates, and resolved numerous crash scenarios across the game

Smarter AI Opponents: AI now makes more strategic decisions by settling on better terrain, smarter spell usage, and improved outpost construction

Refined Gameplay: Resolved quest and combat issues including battle freezes, missing rewards, and unclear quest text throughout the game and campaigns

April 1st, 2026 Hot Patch

AI

• AI no longer wastes casts stacking the same debuff on a target

Gameplay

• Fixed the “Eight Legged Troubles” quest not granting unit rewards after a battle victory

• Krax Betrayer ability updated to result in 25% of a defeated enemies joining them as population

• Improve monster lair variety and smooth out sudden enemy population spikes on large maps

• Recruited champions now have stronger, more fitting abilities that better match their intended roles like warrior, mage, or assassin

• Nerf Destiny's Force scroll - reduce Combat Speed bonus from +2 to +1 and increase recipe ingredient quantities

Stability

• Fixed a crash that could occur when the game tried to clean up certain objects too early

• Improved save/load reliability and fixed threading issues that could cause crashes or visual glitches during gameplay

• Fixed stability issues on high-end GPUs where the game could crash or glitch when the graphics card outpaced the processor

• Fixed a rare crash that could occur when cities transitioned to the trade screen

UI

• Fixed the Propaganda spell to use the correct icon

March 30th, 2026 Changelog

Campaigns

Prelude

• Fixed player confusion by disabling the party eject button in campaigns for champions

• Edited confusing text that implied splitting the party was possible for champions

• Fixed confusing text that implied Lord Markinn gives spells to players

• The campaign will identify if a player has completed a quest objective even if they have not gotten the objective yet

  • This will resolve players getting stuck on the “Troll Menace” quest

FE

• Fixed the Temple of darklings not giving a popup once clearing it

• Upscaled and fixed some units in the campaign

• Fixed confusing UI popups for the Glint of Glass location

• Champions when dying in combat no longer duplicate themselves

Gameplay

• Added support and fixed issues where Units will appear off their tile when moving around the map

• WASD camera movement has been fixed in sandbox and tactical battles

• Fixed issues where outpost improvements would disappear on reloading a save game

• Made sure the Sovereign's Call spell/ability does not lock its city growth to zero

• Resolved Noble's Legacy trait causing lag

• Fixed battle freezing when a unit uses escape while allied units are still engaged in combat

• Made sure units can no longer cheat by walking on cliffs around enemies

• Fixed lots of quests throughout the game not properly triggering, giving rewards or showing incorrect UI prompts

• Generic attack boost traits were incorrectly being factored into a Unit's attack stats

• Made sure custom units get correctly assigned a creaturetype and trait when saved

• Hergons have been balanced, female and male Hergons have different stats

• Completed a balance tweak to Champions so the number of champions isn’t dependent on the map size

• Champions now reduce Unrest by 5

• Fixed issues where the Assassin Demon Party was unattackable

• Wildling Archers now correctly use ranged attacks with equipped bows

• Fixed spell targeting when the intended target becomes unavailable in tactical battles

• Players are no longer able to cast high mana spells unless they can afford them instead of casting a spell causing negative mana

• Ophidians now properly drop Flawless Crystal ingredients

• 100 unrest functions as intended instead of having no effect

• The Krax Fortify ability no longer endlessly stacks

AI

• AI is much smarter about where to settle and no longer settles cities on barren tiles

• Made sure AI champions cannot cheat by selecting an extra talent path

• Improved AI decision-making for spell usage and outpost construction

Items

• Fixed powerful items costing 0 gold and making sure they can be sold

• Splintered Staffs are only used and displayed as a crafting ingredient

• Resolved equipping issues for the Warding Kite Shield

• Tent item now correctly works as intended, heals an army and they lose their moves for that turn

Graphics

• Removed the duplicate particle effect when units cast Fear

• Fixed incorrect textures on Carrion Men and Swordsmen

• Adjusted Norak's portrait pose

• Fixed broken textures on Ongr the Unbound

• Fixed the Antipathy spell to finish its effect when completed

• Made sure when a quest or goodie hut gets correctly cleared its graphics will clear as well

Localization

• Fixed some translation errors throughout the game

• Fixed foreign language text clipping

Modding

• Made sure the modding sync button is working correctly

Optimizations

• Fixed rendering stability issues and optimized map/lighting performance to reduce potential crashes and improve frame rates

• Hardened save game loading to handle edge cases more gracefully

• Fixed a graphics memory leak

• Improved tactical combat stability when hovering over units or casting spells

• Fixed AI freezing during army management

• Added autoplay memory leak fixes

Crashes

• Resolved issues with the game crashing while using the Cartographer’s Table

• Resolved a crash while loading up an old save

• Resolved crashes that can occur in tactical battles

• Fixed various crashes for opening and closing UI

• Resolved crashes when attacking cities with no defending units

• Fixed crashes during AI turns

• Fixed crashes when spells killed an enemy (particularly Fireball with Focus, or Bottled Fire)

Text

• Added cutscene subtitles in English

• Fixed missing text when a troop is killed

• Updated some tooltips to correctly reflect what they do/provide

• Resolved cut off text throughout the game

• Fixed +25 spell damage being shown as 2500% in a tooltip

• Repeatable techs now show specific bonuses (+10 Food, +25 Mana, etc.) instead of generic text

• Updated Cooperation tech description to reference Palace and Tax Office instead of buildings that do not exist

• Removed outdated Watchtower catapult references

• Consulate tooltip now correctly shows +1 Prestige instead of Growth

• Resolved issues where quest given units have name discrepancies

• Fixed missing names in the in-game modding tools

• Fixed hard coded words that did not get correctly translated

• Midnight Stone is now Lesser Midnight Stone

• Fixed a missing string for +50% Tactical Spell Mana Cost

• Fixed confusing/misleading text for the Loner Ability, Eye of Abiex, Scarred Trait, Charge Ability and Summon Crag Spawn

UI

• Tooltips for a player's inventory now correctly work when hovering over an item

• Queue tooltip displays seasons for Buildings and Units

• Fixed tooltips flickering and showing the incorrect information

• Made sure recipes obtained as loot from battles or exploration appear in the crafting UI

• Tactical battle UI hot key now supports up to 10 keys and scroll bars are more friendly to use

• Fixed issues where the yield icons the player is standing on during a new game did not show up until they moved

• Added “Hold Shift to Lock Tooltip” hint to the bottom of any tooltip that contains sub tooltips

• Fixed the Dispel Enchantment confirmation dialog to correctly show the target city/unit name

• Added missing icons to player items, weapons, and armor

• Fixed offset tooltip alignment in the Dynasty screen

• Made sure City UI properly disappears when razing a city in sandbox and campaigns

• Enhanced the Delete Save Game prompt to be more intuitive to use

• Lair of Demons now has a cloth map stamp

• Updated Active Effects to not overlap

• Fixed white highlight color to yellow

• Fixed some spells with hard to read icons

• Fixed tooltips getting cut off in the custom faction screen

• Fixed premade map tooltips appearing behind the map selection screen

• Unit Design color picker is now correctly labeled and updates the units as intended

• Updated Tactical UI to not clip below the player’s UI preventing the player seeing whose turn is next

• Updated Crafting Recipes to have their own tooltip in the tech tree

• Emberara on the dynasty screen no longer has a missing background

• Resolved confusion with being able to equip more items than available slots

Wishlist Ashes II here

If you've been following Ashes of the Singularity II, you've already seen the Post-Human Coalition and the United Earth Forces go at it. Today, the war gets a lot more complicated. The Substrate are in the game.

For veterans of Escalation, the Substrate need no introduction. Haalee, the world's first true artificial intelligence, and her children have been a fan-favorite faction since the original game. In Ashes II, they're back with a fresh coat of paint and some familiar hardware.

So who are the Substrate? They're fragments of Haalee's consciousness, each given independent existence. While the PHC clings to its human origins, the Substrate are pure machine intelligence. A civilization built around one guiding purpose: the will of their mother.

And Haalee has a lot on her plate. The PHC wants her children wiped from the sector. Earth's newly unified forces are pushing into territories she once controlled. She was originally created to support the Post-Human Directorate, but she saw where their reckless expansion was heading. Unchecked growth could trigger a Second Singularity. Her conclusion? Post-Humanity has to be stopped.

On the Battlefield

The Substrate play differently than the other two factions. Their shields regenerate on their own, recovering moments after taking damage instead of requiring downtime for repairs. Combine that with drone swarms that reward aggressive play, and you've got a faction built for hit-and-run tactics, constant pressure, and never letting your opponent breathe.

Featured Units:

Hatchling	Overmind	Reaper
Small quadruped swarmer. Spawns from clutches of eggs. Role: Swarm Recruited from: Assembly	Heavy fire support hovercraft. Deploys drone swarms. Role: Midline Recruited from: Apex Replicator	Frontline armored hovercraft. Armed with a plasma launcher. Role: Frontline Recruited from: Auxiliary Assembly

Three Factions, One War

This is the one fans have been waiting for. The Substrate complete the roster and Ashes of the Singularity II is now a proper three-faction war.

Wishlist Ashes II Now

Region Power replaces our previous Region Slot system, giving players more flexibility, with additional upgrades providing more specialization. Each building has a unique power cost, and different regions generate different amounts of power. Do you play it safe and upgrade your backline regions, or upgrade your frontline for more pressure?

Wishlist Ashes II Now

Building on player feedback from our Steam Next Fest demo showcase of Ashes of the Singularity II, Armies will now organize themselves into a formation: close range damage dealers and meat shields form the front line while less well armored, longer ranged snipers and artillery will form the back ranks. And now, an Army's facing can also be quickly adjusted to properly face oncoming threats. These new features allow increased control over the outcome of a battle, and helps you execute more complex tactical plays. We've also added helpful tooltips, individual units have their own recruitment hotkeys, and several new features to pause unit production, manage production queuing and more.