Hello Commanders! If you were thinking about getting the game, now is a great time to do so as we are part of the Steam Winter Sale through our publisher Freedom Games! From [b]December 21st until January 4th[/b], the game will be on sale for [b]20% off![/b] Make sure to check out [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38394018/sale/steamwintersale2023]Freedom Games' Winter Sale 2023[/url] page to pick up some great games to play over the holiday season. I’m excited to unveil the patch notes for Update #2, a milestone we have named The Fleet Management Update. Let’s explore the changes and enhancements that this update brings! [hr][/hr] [h3][b]NEW[/b][/h3] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37645061/dbd751ef3ab882f4ed347214cfe5b3101eb321b2.png[/img] [b]Fleet Management screen[/b]: View and manage details of all the ships in your fleets, with several new options to give you greater control. [list][*] [b]Promote[/b]: if you don't want to wait for ships to earn promotion in battle, you can now pay to train the crew up to the next rank. [*] [b]Refit[/b]: change already-built ships to a different loadout. [*] [b]Scrap[/b]: no longer need a ship? Scrap it to gain back a portion of it's value. [*] [b]Upgrade[/b]: one of your ships stuck on the old version of a loadout? "Upgrade" will get it back up-to-date. [*] [b]Reverse engineering[/b]: also available in fleet management, you can now dismantle a captured ship to learn about it. Once you've done this with enough ships, you'll be able to build it yourself.[/list] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/37645061/0dde9f748387f7070d086b7a12cf328213e09977.png[/img] [list][*] [b]Rally points[/b]: you can now set a rally point for each station. Any ships you build will be sent to the rally point and consolidated into one fleet.[/list] [b]Starmap side bar:[/b] [list][*] Fleet multi-select: You can now select more than one fleet in a location, to make giving move orders easier. [*] Remove station module: Station module slots can now be set back to empty. [*] Combine fleets: a new, easy way to combine ships into one fleet - just select the fleets you want to merge and press the "Combine Fleets" button. [*] Expand/collapse: click the name of any fleet to collapse it.[/list] [b]Starmap:[/b] [list][*] [b]Edge scroll[/b]: move the mouse to the edge of the screen to scroll the starmap [*] [b]Direction arrow[/b]: if you scroll away from your territory, and arrow will now guide you back.[/list] [b]Loadout editor:[/b] [list][*] An [b]"equip all"[/b] button to add a turret to every compatible slot. [*] [b]Improved UI[/b]: cleaner and clearer. [*] [b]Damage Stats[/b]: Weapon damage has now been added to turret stats. [*] [b]Enhanced ship stats panel[/b]: Ship stats popups have been expanded to show more loadout and stats details, along with any bonuses from ranks.[/list] [hr][/hr] [h3][b]CHANGES[/b][/h3] [list][*] Combat stations no longer come equipped with bombers by default. When you select a location with a combat station, there is now a hangar assignment button on the sidebar to add fighters. You must have researched the fighters in order to add them. (Does not apply to existing saved games). [*] Selecting research now shows a confirmation box. [*] Fleets can now be renamed in the Fleet Management screen instead of the side bar. [*] Pathfinding overhaul: ships are now a little better at navigating around each other and using space. [*] Ships now give a little more room to ships they're guarding. [*] To build a ship, you must now have unlocked all the tech in it's loadout, or create an alternative loadout with unlocked tech. As a result of this change, default loadouts have been altered for some ships. These default loadout changes do not apply to existing saved games.[/list] [b]Default loadout changes:[/b] [list][*] The Ocelot and Refinery no longer have repair beams in their default loadout. [*] The Copenhagen now has light plasma turrets in it's default loadout instead of medium. [*] The Rekjavik now starts with twin medium lasers instead of heavy. The medium laser still needs to be researched to build the default loadout, or you can change the default loadout. The Rekjaviks you get early in the campaign have kept their heavy lasers, however.[/list] [b]Balance changes and corrections[/b] [list][*] The Lance now builds quicker (8 turns -> 6 turns) [*] Rekjavik now builds slower (6 turns -> 8 turns) [*] Rekjavik now costs a little more (4550 -> 5250) [*] Plasma bolt range increased (900 -> 1100) [*] Abandoned proton bolt range increased (600 -> 800) [*] Ocelot has gained a support module slot. [*] Copenhagen has gained a support module slot. [*] Rekjavik has gain a combat module slot.[/list] [hr][/hr] [h3][b]FIXES[/b][/h3] [list][*] Resources don't reset when a mission is restarted more than once. [*] Build menu doesn't work properly during tactical pause. [*] Tactical pause ends when escape menu is toggled. [*] Tactical pause doesn't work after escape menu is used during tactical pause. [*] Can give tactical orders if tactical pause is enabled before opening escape menu. [*] Building a ship with an unpopulated turret slot causes the turn update to run endlessly. [*] Can capture Braddock's ship on last mission. [*] Tokaras unable to move after being captured on some missions. [*] Repair ships can keep a ship alive even if the hull reaches zero. [*] Ship loadout name persists in shipyard even after changed in loadout editor. [*] Ships continue being attacked after being captured. [*] Capturing a station that has fighters can cause errors on subsequent turns. [*] Some mission-provided ships show incorrect loadout information during battles. [*] Fighters sometimes cancel their orders when the lead fighter in a squadron is destroyed. [*] Braddock's fighters do not fire on Antilia in the final mission. [*] Camera position judder when following fast-moving ships such as fighters. [*] Flak-equipped ships close distance to the range of their flak guns when attacking capital ships, which is closer than necessary. [*] Some ships temporarily stop moving during a battle if an order is given with an exploding ship selected.[/list] [hr][/hr] As always, I am excited to see what suggestions come out of these updates, and will use them to continue to improve the plan and direction of Dust Fleet. Don't forget to join our community [url=https://discord.gg/feX53eFEKn]Discord[/url] and share your experiences! That’s all for now, Commander - see you in space! https://store.steampowered.com/app/406160/Dust_Fleet/