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EMPEROR OF THE FADING SUNS - NOVA
Nova Version 1.2 - This file last updated November 29, 1997
1. What is Nova?
2. Who produced Nova?
3. How do I obtain Nova?
4. How do I install Nova?
5. How does Nova differ from EFS v1.3?
6. What's new in this version of Nova?
1. What is Nova?
Nova is a new, unofficial version of Segasoft/Holistic's computer game
"Emperor of the Fading Suns". We believe that EFS is potentially a great
game, which has been released without sufficient testing. As a result, it
still contains many flaws. Nova is our attempt to fix as many of these
flaws as we can, by creating new versions of the game's data files. Since
we do not have access to the game's source code, we cannot possibly fix ALL
of the flaws. Our main objective is to improve the balance of the game.
In Nova, many of your old strategies will no longer work as well as before.
We encourage you to try out units and options which you have previously
rejected as ineffective. With Nova, you can expect a much more challenging
game. Beginners beware!
2. Who produced Nova?
Nova was produced by 5 fans of EFS, who have no connection whatsoever with
Segasoft or Holistic:-
*Richard Wein (richard.wein@virgin.net)
*Jason Holbrook (corsair@ccia.com)
*Mike Nadeau (mikeandkaren@ainop.com)
*Dag Staalhandske (dag.staalhandske@swipnet.se)
*Klaus Borek (kborek@netbrno.cz)
3. How do I obtain Nova?
Nova is available free of charge to anyone who wants it. You can download
it from the Nova web site. At this web site, you can also obtain the latest
information on the progress of the Nova project. We consider this to be an
experimental project, so don't be surprised if you find some problems with
Nova. We would like to receive your comments on Nova, whether favorable or
unfavorable (but hopefully constructive).
4. How do I install Nova?
You download Nova in the form of a zip file called NOVA1_2.ZIP ("1_2"
corresponds to the version number, 1.2). Use an Unzip program to unzip the
contents to folder \EFS\DAT (assuming you originally installed EFS in
folder \EFS). The Nova data files will overwrite some of your existing EFS
data files, so you may want to make a backup copy of this folder before
unzipping, in case you want to go back to playing the standard EFS game
later. Of course, you can always reinstall EFS from scratch if necessary.
You can also download some revised files for Bishop Holst's archive, in
file ARCH1_0.ZIP. The contents of this file should be unzipped to
\EFS\MANOWITZ.
Nova is designed to be used with EFS version 1.3, the latest official
patch, but it will probably work with other versions.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Nova will not work with your existing saved game files, and
standard EFS won't work with games saved from Nova. You can try it, but, if
you run into serious problems, don't say we didn't warn you. We will try to
make future versions of Nova compatible with this version, but we don't
guarantee anything.
5. How does Nova differ from EFS v1.3?
5.1 Money
We believe that firebirds were too plentiful. Money has now been made a
scarcer commodity. In particular:-
*the maximum tithe skim has been reduced to 20% of its previous
value;
*the basic tax rate has been reduced to 20% of its previous
value (from 10% to 2%);
*the prices of gems, monopols and singularities have been
reduced, so less money can be made from selling these resources;
*the size of loans from the League has been reduced.
In setting the new value for the basic tax rate, we have assumed that
players will usually choose the two traits which give +10 to city and unit
loyalty (Noblesse Oblige and Rule of Law), since these traits are so
valuable. We have therefore made these traits the defaults for all houses
at the lower difficulty levels. If you want a REALLY challenging game, play
at the Ridiculous difficulty level and keep the default traits.
5.2 Resource Production
The resource throughputs for the processing cities have been changed,
primarily to make electronics and chemicals easier to produce, but monopols
and singularities more difficult:-
*Electronics: 20 energy + 10 trace = 20 electronics
*Chemicals: 20 energy + 10 trace = 20 chemicals
*Biochems: 10 energy + 5 chemicals + 10 exotica = 10 biochems
*Wetware: 10 energy + 5 electronics + 5 biochems = 10 wetware
*C-steel: 10 energy + 5 chemicals + 5 trace = 10 c-steel
*Fusorium: 20 energy + 10 electronics = 10 monopols
*Cyclotron: 10 energy + 10 monopols + 10 gems = 1 singularity
5.3 Resource Prices
The base prices for resources at Agoras have been changed, to bring them
into line with the actual costs of production:-
*Food/energy/metal: 10
*Trace/exotica: 20
*Chemicals/electronics: 30
*Biochems: 85
*Ceramsteel: 75
*Wetware: 135
*Monopols: 90
*Gems: 150
*Singularities: 3000
These are the prices at which you SELL to the Agora.
5.4 Disbanding Units
The rate at which the production costs of a disbanded unit are refunded has
been reduced from the previous very generous 75% to a more reasonable 50%.
5.5 Research Costs
We see "drug" units (like the Chem Shock Legion) as a relatively low-tech
alternative to "genetic" units. We have therefore reduced the research cost
of Pharmaceuticals, Psychopharmacology, Combat Drugs and Grimsons Legion
from 250 to 125, and made these technologies less likely to be proscribed,
while increasing the cost of Genetic Manipulation, Viral DNA and Gen
Warrior Legion from 250 to 400. We have also increased the cost of Fusion
Beams (300), Fusion Rifles (400) and Meson Cannon (400), as the most
powerful weapons should take longer to research.
5.6 Attack Damage Table
One of our most bitter complaints was about the way that weak units could
so easily defeat much stronger ones. For example, it was not uncommon for a
Cruiser to be destroyed by a Bulk Hauler. One reason for this was the poor
design of the Attack Damage Table (a kind of combat results table), which
favored weak units. For example, at 2-1 odds, the average damage inflicted
was only 8 points more than at 1-1. This has been corrected (at least
partially).
5.7 Terrain Effects
We felt that infantry units needed some more advantages. So we reduced the
speed of tread units in river hexes and reduced the speed of hover units in
forest and jungle.
We also edited the "unitspot.dat" file to make infantry units harder to
spot in certain terrains. But it's not clear if this has had any effect.
The cost to enter a swamp hex has been increased from 2 to 3 for all units.
5.8 Names
The names of many units and technologies have been changed, to create more
consistency between the long unit names, short unit names and applied
technology names.
5.9 New and Modified Units
We feel that many units were previously imbalanced and not worth building,
while others were too powerful. As a result, we have modified the costs and
attributes of many of the units in the game. Our aim has been to ensure
that all units are worth building in the right circumstances. Only the
major changes are listed here. For full details of all units, refer to the
revised Unit Chart, which should be available from the Nova web site.
5.10 Indirect attack
All units with an indirect fire attack have had the accuracy of that attack
reduced to 1, and the strength increased to compensate. This is so that it
is impossible for them to hit Assassin units (which now have an agilty of
11). Previously, an Assassin could be blown away by artillery on his way to
his victim's bed chamber!
Certain units, such as Special Forces, which specialize in covert
operations, have been given an indirect attack. This does not represent
artillery fire but a "first strike" capability. (Special Forces recon the
area, pinpoint weak spots, and prepare the site for an attack.)
5.11 Direct Attack
Since mechanized units (tread, wheel, hover, crawler) are immune to close
combat attack, those infantry units which had no direct attack were totally
helpless against them. All infantry units have now been given a direct (in
certain cases indirect) attack, even if it's only a weak one. We assume
that, in the 50th century, there will be a few portable anti-tank weapons
available, even to Militia.
5.12 AA Attack
Similarly, almost all ground units now have an AA attack. However, these AA
attacks have been weakened in most cases, to encourage the use of aircraft
and AA guns, which were rarely built before.
5.13 Close Combat
To reflect the poor performance of armor in close quarters, where infantry
have the advantage, we have reduced the close combat attack of most armored
units.
5.14 Air Unit Costs
Building air units required an unreasonable amount of metal. For example, a
Strategic Bomber used as much metal as a Destroyer. We have reduced the
amount of metal in the cost, and increased the electronics. Since we've
also made electronics easier to produce, we hope this will encourage
players to build more air units.
5.15 Guards and Nobles
Another major complaint has been the poor AI of the computer Houses, the
Church and the League, who all leave their scepters poorly defended and
vulnerable to capture. There's nothing we can do about the AI, but we have
been able to strengthen the defense of these scepters in two ways:-
*All Infantry Legions in the initial setup have been converted
to Guard Legions. These are very powerful units, which cannot be moved
from their starting positions and cannot be built. Regular Infantry
Legions can be built as usual. Note: when an unwanted Guard Legion is
disbanded, an Engineer unit is created to replace it.
*Nobles have been given a very powerful indirect fire
capability, equivalent to that of Pestulator Artillery. If you want a
rationalization for this, you can consider that it represents
"portable pestulators" which have been passed down through generations
of the noble's family, even after the technology to make them was
lost. To prevent unauthorized use, they are voice-activated and keyed
to the noble's voice, so can only be used in the presence of the
noble. As well as strengthening the defense of the House's scepters,
this gives players more incentive to risk their nobles in combat,
something which was not previously worthwhile.
A side-effect of these changes is that some rebel cities (especially
palaces) will be very hard to capture. We're not sure that this is a good
thing, but it's a worthwhile price to pay for better defended scepters.
5.16 Undercover Units
We use the name "undercover units" to refer to Spies, Saboteurs (new unit),
Assassins and Doppelgangers. These units have the following features in
common:-
*They can attack on Byzantium II before an Emperor has been
declared.
*When attacking a stack containing a noble, their close comabt
ability targets the noble, to the exclusion of other units, in effect
giving them an assassination capability.
*They have a very high agility, which makes them immune to
indirect fire. They can only be hit by close combat and psychic
attacks.
These units are likely to be of most use in a multiplayer game, as players
struggle to kill each other's nobles on Byzantium II.
*Spy
Move 6 Spot 12 Camo 8 Agility 11 Armor 20 PsyDef 50 Rank 9
Indirect 1/20 AA 3/10 Close 6/20
Resources: 80 Elec
Time: 2 turns/fort
Required unit: Officer
Required tech: none
Primary role: intelligence gathering. The spotting value of 12
gives it a spotting radius of 5 hexes.
*Saboteur (new unit)
Move 6 Spot 6 Camo 8 Agility 11 Armor 20 PsyDef 50 Rank 9
Indirect 1/80 AA 3/10 Close 6/20
Resources: 50 Elec 50 Chem
Time: 2 turns/fort
Required unit: Officer
Required tech: none
Primary role: attacking military units (especially on Byzantium
II before an Emperor has been declared).
*Assassin
Move 6 Spot 6 Camo 8 Agility 11 Armor 20 PsyDef 50 Rank 9
Indirect 1/20 AA 3/10 Close 8/80
Resources: 30 Elec 30 Chem 30 Biochem
Time: 2 turns/fort
Required unit: Officer
Required tech: Assassin (which now requires Pharmaceuticals
instead of Prana-Bindu)
Primary role: assassination of nobles.
*Doppelganger
Move 8 Spot 12 Camo 10 Agility 12 Armor 30 PsyDef 10 Rank 7
Indirect 3/80 AA 5/10 Close 10/80
Resources: 20 Elec 20 Chem 40 Biochem 30 Wetware
Time: 2 turns/hospital
Required unit: Officer
Required tech: Doppelganger (which now requires Neurocellular
Surgery in addition)
Fulfills the roles of all 3 other units, with superior
efficiency. In addition, it can act as a noble's double: any
undercover unit attacking a stack which contains a Noble AND a
Doppelganger will attack the Doppelganger in preference to the
Noble.
5.17 Emplaced Guns
Some garrison units were previously too powerful. Artillery, in particular,
was regularly used as the main component of an attack force, diminishing
the value of factory-built units. To remedy this, all wheeled guns
(Artillery, Anti-Tank Guns and AA Guns) have been made into "emplaced"
guns. In other words, they are unable to move, except as cargo. (For
technical reasons, they still have a movement allowance of 4, but this can
only be used for boarding a Naval Transport.) In addition, their armor
rating has been reduced to 10, and Artillery's indirect attack has been
reduced to 1/60.
5.18 Hover Units
There was previously little difference between hover units and tread units,
but the hover units were poorer value and rarely built. We have now enabled
hover units to move on sea as well as on land, making them much more
flexible, and permitting amphibious assaults on coastlines (previously
impossible). To offset this enormous advantage, we have made hover units
vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire. (This is stated to be the case in the
manual, but was not true.)
Scepters, Relics and Plague Bombs have been converted from hover units to
tread, so they can't move on sea. Cargo pods have been converted from hover
units to crawlers, and the movement costs for crawlers changed so they can
only move one hex per turn off-road. (This doesn't affect PTS units which
could only move one hex off-road anyway.) We did this to stop players using
1-point cargo pods for exploration and other non-cargo-like activities.
5.19 Stealth Units
There is a major bug in the camouflage/spotting system. As a result,
spotting only works correctly for space units. We haven't been able to work
out exactly what's going on, but there is usually no difficulty spotting a
ground, air, or naval unit, no matter how high its camouflage rating. This
makes the Ranger and Stealth Tank units redundant, since camouflage is
their only distinguishing feature. We have therefore removed these units
from the game. There is no problem with the Stealth Ship.
5.20 Marauders
As far as we can see, the Marauder unit's space combat ability has no
effect, making this unit redundant too. It has also been removed from the
game.
5.21 Genetic Units
We have grouped the following four units into this category to distinguish
them from other units. They rely primarily on biochems and Houses with a
good supply of biochems should specialize in these units.
*Genetic Warrior Legion
Uses the old Ranger icon
Agility 6 Armor 50 Air 3/10 Direct 5/20 Close 8/80
Resources: 35 Biochem 10 Food
Time: 2 turns/lab
Genetic Warriors represent the first crude step into genetics.
Warriors are grown in a labatory vat. They are basically mindless
giants who like to throw rocks and pound on things. High armor
makes them formidable opponents.
*Genetic Shock Legion (replaces old Shock Legion)
Uses the old Marauder icon
Move 4 Agility 4 Armor 80 Air 3/20 Direct 4/40 Close 5/60
Resources: 10 Metal 30 Biochem 5 Elec 10 C-steel
Time: 2 turns/fort
Required unit: Infantry Legion
Required tech: Genetic Shock Legion (which requires Combat Drugs,
Genetic Manipulation and Assault Legion)
The old Shock Legion was too similiar to the Assault Legion and
Heavy Infantry. This unit is designed to survive extreme
situations (reflected by its high armor). Select Infantry Legions
are "chosen" to undergo 2 turns of biochemical and genetic
manipulation at a fort. It can operate alone, but is hampered by
a slow movement rate.
*DNA Assault Legion (new unit)
Uses the old Shock Legion icon
Move 6 Spot 4 Camo 3 Agility 5 Armor 60 Indirect 5/50 Air 3/30
Direct 4/50 Close 5/80
Resources: 10 Metal 10 Chem 30 Biochem 10 Elec 5 C-steel
Time: 2 turns/fort
Required unit: Special Forces unit
Required tech: DNA Assault Legion (which requires Viral DNA and
Assault Legion)
The ultimate extension of genetic technology. The elite from the
Special Forces are chosen to undergo DNA rematrixing to create a
perfect biological weapon. Possessing strength and endurance far
beyond the human limits, DNA soldiers carry a full complement of
weaponry for any situation. They can stand toe-to-toe with the
highest level Cyber units, as well as the Symbiots and Vau.
*Xyll Warbeasts
This unit, which was previously rather ineffective, has now been
given an additional direct attack of 4/40, and its cost reduced
to just 50 biochems.
5.22 Drug/Chemical Units
*Patriots (new unit)
Uses "Peasant" icon (previously unused icon)
Move 4 Camo 1 Agility 2 Armor 30 Rank 1 Direct 1/5 Close 2/5
Resources: 10 Food 10 Chem
Time: 1 turn/any city
Required techs: Indoctrination and Pharmaceuticals
What the hell is this?!?! Well, we couldn't let the Peasant icon
go to waste. Basically, the fiery rhetoric of the Church combined
with an ample supply of crude mind-control drugs in the water
supply combines to make a segment of the population extremely
passionate about House ideals. Unfortunately, these people are
virtually all talk and no action, as evidenced by their low
values for agility and camo. Still, their high armor value
(safety in numbers) and their low rank can provide a "human
shield" for other, more important, units. Select Patriots may be
chosen to become...
*Chemical Martyrs (new unit)
Uses "Scientist" icon (previously unused icon)
Move 4 Camo 1 Agility 2 Armor 5 Rank 6 Direct 5/100 Close 5/100
Resources: 10 Metal 40 Chem
Time: 2 turns/any city
Required unit: Patriots
Required techs: Holy Warriors and Pharmaceuticals
Patriots that show exceptional spirit are recruited by the House
secret police to "validate" themselves in battle. Officially,
they are independent fanatics who strap explosives to themselves
and seek out the "enemy". The more enemy units they can take with
them to the afterlife, the greater the glory.
*Chem Shock Legion (Grimsons)
Move 6 Spot 3 Camo 2 Agility 5 Air 3/20 Direct 3/40 Close 7/50
Resources: 10 Metal 50 Chem 10 Elec
Time: 2 turns/hospital
Required unit: Infantry Legion
Grimsons are now more distinct from the old Shock Legion (now
Genetic Shock Legion). Slightly quicker but less armored than Gen
Shock. These are the most powerful infantry units then can be
built without the higher-end resources.
5.23 Religious Units
*Dervishes
Armor 20 Psychic 9/100
Resources: 5 Gems only
Time: 1 turn/church
Dervishes are powerful foot units that appear later in the game.
They require only one turn to be built. As part of a combined
operation, their psychic attack can finish off any leftover enemy
units, as well as being capable of working independently.
*Fanatics
Air 3/20 Direct 4/30 Close 5/70 Psychic 2/10
Resources: 5 Chem 5 Elec 1 Gem
Time: 3 turns/church
The Church sometimes trains certain members of its flock to serve
and protect Church ideals (much like Inquisitors). Of course, any
House leader can recognize the value of these Fanatic units for
his own purposes. Such is the legend of these Fanatics that any
who survive the weapons phase of combat can strike again at the
very hearts and minds of the enemy...
5.24 Light Spacecraft
All "light spacecraft" (Fighters and Torpedo Bombers) are now small enough
to be destroyed by a single hit. They rarely return home damaged.
*Space Fighter
Agility 10 Armor 5 Direct Space 6/20
Space Fighters are designed specifically for combating the menace
of Torpedo Bombers. They are less effective against capital
ships.
*Cyber Fighter
Agility 12 Armor 5 Direct Space 8/20
Resources: 10 Wetware
Time: 1 turn/hospital
Required unit: Space Fighter
Cyber pilots require 1 turn of surgery to implant wetware. Their
inhuman agility and accuracy make them devastating against enemy
Torpedo Bombers.
*Space Torpedo Bomber
Agility 8 Armor 5 Direct Space 1/100
Torpedo Bombers carry a single massive torpedo. They have the
power to destroy capital ships, but are vulnerable to ranged
space attack and Space Fighters.
*Martyr Torpedo Bomber
Agility 1 Armor 5 Direct Space 6/150
Resources: 5 gems
Time: 1 turn/church
Required unit: Space Torpedo Bomber
Martyr bombers are chosen to sacrifice their lives for the glory
of the Church (and the House, of course). Gems are required to
transport the pilots' souls to the afterlife.
5.25 Naval Units
*Submarine
Move 6 Agility 19 Armor 15 Underwater 6/90 AA 0/0
Resources: 30 Metal 20 Elec
Submarines used to be vulnerable to direct and indirect fire, as
well as underwater fire, making them little different from
surface ships (since their high camouflage rating is of little
use). Submarines are now vulnerable only to underwater fire. We
have achieved this by giving Submarines a VERY high agility, and
giving only underwater weapons a high enough accuracy to hit
them. Submarines can now only be hit by Destroyers,
Anti-Submarine Gunships (a revision of the old Gunship) and
Hunter-Killer Submarines (a new unit). (Submarines can no longer
be carried as cargo.)
*Hunter-Killer Submarine (new unit)
Move 8 Agility 19 Armor 15 Underwater 19/10 AA 0/0
Resources: 30 Metal 40 Elec
Required tech: Towed Array (costs 200 research points and
requires Energy Physics).
The main role of the Hunter-Killer Submarine is to attack enemy
subs. It is also reasonably effective against surface naval
units.
*Anti-Submarine (ASW) Gunship (replaces old Gunship unit)
Underwater 5/50 Air 3/20 Direct 3/20 Close 3/20
Resources: 10 Metal 25 Elec
Required tech: Energy Physics
This is now a specialist aircraft for anti-submarine warfare. It
is also reasonably effective against surface naval units.
*Naval Destroyer
Underwater 5/40 Indirect 3/30
The main role of Destroyers is as escorts for Naval Transports,
particularly when threatened by Submarines. However, they now
also have a modest shore bombardment capability.
5.26 Partisans
Most rebel units are, unfortunately, static. Since Partisan units are an
exception, we decided to increase their strength, giving them an indirect
attack of 1/40 (representing sabotage ability) and raising their armor to
20.
5.27 Crawlers
In our opinion, crawler (PTS) units are giant machines, too big to be
transported as cargo, so we have made them non-transportable.
5.28 Spy Plane (new unit)
Move 20 Spot 8 Camo 4 Ag 7 Armor 30 Air 3/20 Direct 5/20 Close 5/20
Resources: 100 Elec 20 Csteel 20 Monopol
Time: 3 turns
Maintenance: 250 Fb/turn
Required tech: Neumonic Camouflage (Neumonic Armor renamed)
Appearing near the end game, Spy Planes are very useful for scouting new
planets quickly. At this point in the game, the player probably has several
planets fully colonized and is engaged in military action. Spy Planes are
used to ease the tediousness of planetary exploration late in the game,
although the possibility exists for military application. The resource and
maintenance costs remain high enough so players will choose not to
needlessly risk Spy Planes in combat duty.
5.29 Infantry/Heavy Infantry
The standard Infantry Legion can now be built without any technology. The
Heavy Infantry Legion now requires Heavy Infantry Legion technology (which
didn't exist before). This technology requires Composite Armor and
Monofilament. Heavy Infantry now only takes one turn to build, and does not
require c-steel.
5.30 Cybercorp
Indirect 6/30 Air 6/10 Direct 6/10 Close 10/80
Resources: 20 Wetware
Time: 2 turns/hospital
Required unit: Special Forces
The best Special Forces are selected to undergo cyber-surgery to produce a
truly fearsome unit. Can be used virtually anywhere. Indirect values here
represent a devastating first-strike attack.
5.31 Required Units
Some units require another unit as part of their construction cost. For
example, a Special Forces unit is required as part of the cost of building
a Cybercorp, and must be located in the hospital where construction is to
take place. (This procedure existed for just a few units in standard EFS,
but has been greatly extended in Nova.) We're not yet sure whether this is
a good thing. On the one hand, it makes these units more distinctive. On
the other hand, it adds to the amount of "micromanagement" in the game,
but, as these units are not likely to be built in large numbers, we hope
this will not be too much of a problem.
There is one thing you need to watch out for. We say that the required unit
for Cybercorp is Special Forces. In fact, the program will take any unit
which has the same icon as Special Forces, including another Cybercorp. So,
after you've built a Cybercorp, you must move it out of the hospital before
building another one, or you may find yourself consuming one Cybercorp to
produce another one!
6. What's new in this version of Nova?
Nova Version 1.2
It looks like version 1.1 didn't completely fix the Symbiot crash problem.
This time I think we've really got it fixed. No need for details. It's a
bit technical. Suffice to say, it was a careless error on my (Richard Wein)
part. There are no other changes in 1.2.
Nova Version 1.1
Nova 1.1 differs very little from Nova 1.0. The main reason for this new
version is to correct a problem which was causing the game to slow down and
sometimes crash during the Symbiot move. It seems that giving static units
(Guards, Artillery, Anti-Tank Guns and AA Guns) a movement allowance of
zero was confusing the AI. To fix this, we have given all such units a
movement allowance of 4. The other changes are mostly minor adjustments,
some of which should have been in version 1.0 but were accidentally
omitted.
* Made Guards a "wheel" unit, and changed movement rating of all
"wheel" units from zero to 4. They still can't move, but they can now
be loaded onto Naval Transports. Note: since guards are no longer a
foot unit, they can now be hit by direct fire and ranged space fire.
* Increased the armor of Pestulator Artillery from 25 to 35.
* Returned the armor and agility of the Assault Gun to their
original values (60 and 3) and increased its indirect attack to 1/90.
* Reduced the armor of SP Artillery and SP Anti-Air from 25 to
20. Also reduced the indirect attack of SP Artillery from 1/90 to
1/80.
* Reduced the agility of the ASW Gunship from 9 to 6
* Gave the Xyll Warbeast, which previously had no direct fire, a
direct fire of 4/40 and reduced its cost to just 50 biochems. This
makes the unit a lot more attractive. (An attractive Xyll?!)
* Made Engineers a "required unit" for Guards. You still can't
build Guards, but, if you disband them, you gain an Engineer!
* Reduced the movement point costs for tread units in tree and
mountain hexes to their original values. There is a peculiar bug which
means that a mixed stack of foot and tread units is unable to enter
some hexes. Increasing the movement point costs meant that this bug
was being encountered more often. So we've undone that change.
* Converted Scepters, Relics and Plague Bombs from hover units
to tread, so they can't move on sea.
* Converted Cargo pods from hover units to crawlers, and changed
the movement costs for crawlers so they can only move one hex per turn
off-road. (This doesn't affect PTS units which could only move one hex
off-road anyway.) We did this to stop players using 1-point cargo pods
for exploration and other non-cargo-like activities.
Nova is not associated with or authorized by Segasoft Inc or Holistic
Design Inc. Emperor of the Fading Suns, Fading Suns, and the Fading Suns
Universe and its distinct characters, logos, and marks are trademarks of
Holistic Design, Inc. SegaSoft and the SegaSoft logo are trademarks of
SegaSoft Inc. (c) 1997 Holistic Design, Inc. All rights reserved.