It's here!

Enjoy the second act of the campaign, explore new sector quirks and events, strive to establish imperial hubworlds and find new fun ways to play with a rebalanced perk and tech set including a couple new technologies!

In a few minutes, a 15% sale for Slipways and its soundtrack should also start - so if you have anybody in your life who would enjoy a gift of Slipways, now's the time!

Your game should update automatically to the new version. If it doesn't, restarting Steam usually makes it notice the changes. Existing runs started in the old version remain playable, but they'll keep using v1.1 content and rules. This includes all ranked weeks up to the current one - they'll use the old rules to keep them consistent with v1.1 runs. Newly started games and ranked games starting from next week will feature all the new additions.

I had lots of fun working on this update and I believe this is the best version of Slipways yet. I can't wait to see you all play and hear what you think. I appreciate any and all feedback and I'm always happy to listen - at least once I wake up from a deep sleep that my body insists on for some reason :)

Happy holidays, a happy new year, and... yes, see you around the galaxy!

PS. I included a list of all perk/tech changes below for reference.

List of balance changes

Not all the changes are obvious, so I figured some of you might appreciate this being summarized in a single place.

Most of the list is things getting stronger to make them more viable. The few changes going in the other direction are mostly to techs which dominated a bit too much. I hope they'll remain strong options, but will now leave more breathing room for alternatives.

New technology:

• Megastructures: a new tier 3 Ba'qar tech, a project generating happiness and money on populated planets based on [ore] delivered

• Interstellar Networks: replaces Ubiquitous Network (which mostly doubled what Sleep Replacement does, just in a different way) with a more interesting tech based on exchanging a new resource

Perks:

• Joint Factories: its option is now a strict upgrade over the [ore]->[tech] option, and it no longer disables the standard [ore]->[bots] factory option

• Experimental Tech: three free relays instead of two

• Efficient: Also increase income on forgeworlds

• Luxury: Increases income for each [goods] received instead of once

• Researchers now allows ignoring tech tiers three times

• Reciprocity, Miners, Prospectors: higher numbers

Technologies weakened:

• Culture Dissemination: no longer enables prosperous planets to generate multiple happiness from culture

• Quantum Computing: it is now a project that you explicitly build on labs, which increases their upkeep. The second level is now +3 science instead of +4.

• Hyperdrive: now takes 2 months to build each connection, to put it more in line with other techs allowing crossing connections and stop it from working better with relays than Infraspace Mastery. Its science costs are also higher.

• Orbital Labs: increased science cost

• Gene Adjustment: cannot reduce upkeep below -1$

• Skill Download: no longer affects special resources like culture or energy

• Sleep Replacement: slightly lower bonus

Technologies buffed:

• Self-Sustaining Ecosystems, Asteroid Dwellings: both types of habitats now generate happiness like planets and can reach 'prosperous'

• Infraspace Mastery: cheaper to invent and cheaper to build (same cost as standard relay)

• Asteroid Mining: allows a [bots]->[ore] option, both options are upgradable to two [ore] production now

• Precise anchoring (upgrade): moved down a tier

• Slip Amplifiers: cheaper to build, reduce cost for slipways built from/to the planet as well

• Xenostudies: allows [people]->[science] on the first level, available on primordials, swamps, jungles

• Biohybrids: cheaper, less upkeep, available on primordials, swamps, jungles

• Trade League: can reach +4% happiness now (with all 7 resources delivered), pays for resources like any other destination now instead of directly generating $ as production

• Monoliths: cheaper, get +2% happiness when activated now

• Void Synthesis: cheaper, can support up to 3 destinations now

• Nanofabrication: added to Ba'qar tech list, enables Terraforming Drones now

• Geothermals: lower upkeep, additionally available on iceball planets

• Drillbots: moved one tier lower, better output

• Ascension gates: accept any number of people, +1% happiness for the first three, +2% happiness for anything beyond that

• Universal Miniaturization, Plasma Containment, Limited Teleportation: costs lowered