Hello everyone !
This new patch includes some more bug fixes and balancing but also significant improvements in the ship design and research areas.

We are also working on a patch to further improve stability for those who still have issues and looking at possible fixes for those who also have issues with dual monitors setups. We'll be keeping you guys on the loop.

For now here's the changelog:

-Added more slots to the capital ship
-Added Escape key shortcut to end Intro videos
-Added specific icons for each ship part type in Ship Design
-Fixed ship design scroll bug
-Fixed wrong Armor ship parts stats
-Fixed tooltips for shield and armor slots in the ship design menu
-Added warning when trying to put a ship part in design that has too much weight
-Added unknown research mechanic
-Balanced weapons, shields and armor weight

Have fun !

Hi everyone !

Time for another update, this time introducing less but more significant bug and crash fixes.

We're also going to announce the plans for the upcoming major new build very soon, with this new build being released early next week.

Here's the changelog:

-Fixed trade route menu crash
-Fixed Attack button during combat shortcut
-Added warning when you try to add another trade route but reached the maximum trade routes you can have
-Balanced rebel factions to be less likely to appear
-Fixed special events occuring on first turn
-Fixed crash on end game with story events
-Fixed stuck story events

We also want to let everyone know that we know some people are still going through stability issues; we're working on that and testing several experimental patches. The last update brought a definite improvement in that area, and the upcoming patches will bring further improvements until we fix it for everyone.
We also want to thank everyone who took the time to email us with save files and bug reports, all of this has been a huge help for us.

Cheers !

Today we are back with another patch, fixing some important bugs and we put some more work on balancing the weapons in the game.

More updates are coming soon !

Here's the changelog:

- Fixed wrong stats for beam weapon ship parts when researched

- Balanced weapons technologies and starting weapons

- Improved techology of the Story Event races

- Fixed wrong Improved Plasma technology icon

- Fixed Improved Plasma technology effect (added a shield part instead of improving plasma)

- Fixed AI bug when offering a planet

- Fixed instant victory or defeat at the start bug after starting or loading a new game if player won or lost the previous game

- Fixed crash on starting a new multiplayer game

- Fixed frozen game and floating planet when double clicking on a planet or pressing f6 (if planet is selected) if the camera is after a certain distance

- Fixed artifacts behind initial loading screen if the intro video was skipped

Hello everyone !

We just released a small update, that hopefully will fix the stability issues many of you have been getting as well fix a couple of bugs.

If this build still causes issues for you let us know !

The changelog is as follows:

- Tentatively fixed stability issues
- Fixed corrupted options file issue, that caused the game to not boot up at all without renaming or deleting the options file if corrupted.
- Fixed missing tooltips in options menu

Today is a joyful day for the Arkavi development team, as we conclude the Early access stage on Steam and move on to the game’s release.

On the other hand we are looking forward to the future, as Lords of the Black Sun may have reached “version 1.0” without that meaning that we think our work on the game, our first game, is done.

Indeed, despite the transition from Early Access to release, we are still very much committed to improve Lords of the Black Sun as much as possible.
As such, we are looking forward to any bug reports and suggestions you may have so we can keep on balancing the game and fix whatever issues may arise. We have not slept a lot lately but are standing by this weekend !

We also wanted to take this opportunity to thank Early Access players for the confidence shown in our team and the game’s development, and for all feedback given. We hope you are pleased with the improvements made during the past 9 months.

One of our short term goals in development is integrating German and Russian languages in the game. We will keep you updated on any other stuff too, but meanwhile have fun!

Hello everyone !

Sorry for the delay, but finally, here's the latest beta.

Beta 3.0 introduces a plethora of bug fixes and stability improvements, as well as several renewed art elements and re-balanced tech tree and various improvements in several areas.

We are nearing release, and while this new build doesn't introduce new features we have some exciting stuff to show you soon.

Our main focus for now is to get the game stable and as bug free as possible, so as always, and specially now, any crashes or bugs you may find we really appreciate if you report them.

As for this build, some of the biggest bug fixes include the annoying End Turn freeze, the trade and other seemingly random crashes, and several combat bugs, all of which a lot of people reported.

There's still some work to do, and I would like to thank everyone who bought the game and took their time to report bugs, post suggestions and give constructive criticism.
If it wasn't for the community, Lords of the Black Sun wouldn't certainly be a as good, and for that we are very grateful.

Hope you have fun !

Hello everyone !

As the title implies, we have a brand new build for you guys and this one is a major build.
It includes several and important bug and crash fixes, new content such as technologies and ship parts but above all, the first version of the multiplayer.

Being the first build of the multiplayer being released to the masses, we expect people to stumble upon some bugs and crashes. As always we'd really appreciate any feedback you can give us on whatever you find.
Also it is only LAN and Internet/IP for the time being, but more on this later.

As for what else you can find, here's the changelog:

- Intelligence screen largerly improved. The window is significantly larger, showing more information and bigger and less cluttered text.

- First playable version of the Multiplayer. Expect bugs and possibly crashes. Anything you can report on that side would be greatly appreciated. At this moment it is Lan and Internet/IP only but we plan on implementing Steam Lobbies to make matchmaking much easier.

- New Technologies and ship parts, as well as rebalanced military tech tree.

- Improved combat mode and fixed several bugs related to it introduced in the last build, some of which made the combat almost unusable since the last build.

- UI changes/improvements: Now selecting a planet will indicate how much you can profit from trading with it, as well as how much others can profit from trading with your planets.

- Added a new option for Auto Save frequency.

- Tentatively fixed several crashes related to beta 1.2.

- Some general bug fixing and overall balancing and polishing in several areas of the game.

Have fun !

EDIT:
We have just released a minor revision that fixes the game breaking issues with combat people had since the last two builds as well as some small but important additions.

Full changelog:

- Fixed Can't attack during combat after 1st turn bug
- Fixed Keyboard input issues
- Rebalanced Tech tree, updated some ship parts and changed some things around (Improved ship range is in the science branch for example)
- Fixed Autosave not working issue
- Fixed some fonts in the main menu
- Fixed Selection panel vertical size issue
- Added Icon during combat indicated a ship hasn't attacked or defended yet
- Added Inverted Mouse Buttons option for people with left handed/inverted mouses

Hello everyone !

We're back with a brand new build, this one introducing several major improvements in several areas. Research, ship design and combat are three of the areas we focused the most, so as usual we're eager to know what you think about the brand new stuff !

-If you don't have enough research production, certain technologies and branches will be invisible to you.

-The tree has been rebalanced and new technologies have been added. This is the first half of what we plan to do, the next update will include a new batch of technologies and ship parts, as well as some more balancing to do.

-Added Shield component. Armor now adds to the hitpoints of the ship, while Shield eats up damage until it's completely depleted. You now have two Defence slots where you pile up armor or shield parts, or use combinations of armor+shield, just shield or just armor.

-Added a new weapon type, Plasma. Plasma inflicts damage directly regardless of whether or not the target has shield. Plasma weapons have the same range as beam weapons but are significantly heavier.

-You can now use different weapons in the same ship design, allowing for interesting combinations and tactics.

-UI has been improved in several areas.
Visually, we tweaked several details so as to feel less washed out and more pleased to eye, the negotiation screen now shows the landscape of the respective race you're talking with, along with it's portrait and the Research menu is now full screen.
To know more information about each fleet or stationed unit you just have to hover the mouse over it's respective icon instead of using the right mouse button.
The Unit panel now shows a icon of the respective weapon type(s) it possesses.

-The overall presentation has been improved, with a brand new menu screen and new menu song.

-Each galaxy is now significantly bigger, and we added a new galaxy size named "Massive" which is more than twice as big as the "Huge" galaxy size in previous builds.

-Each player stats with the Defence Tower building available, but with less building slots. More slots can be researched.

-Revamped the Draakians's Heavy and Capital ship models.

-The usual batch of bug and crash fixes. We tentatively fixed one particular crash that occurred frequently by mid game, please let us know if the game still crashes for you.

Hope you enjoy this new update, have fun !

Hello everyone !

In this new build we introduce some major AI improvements, as well as add some significant depth to the trade system and some UI improvements.
Some other aspects have rebalanced such as the economy, the number of building slots and the chances of finding worthwhile space debris, as well the usual batch of bug fixes.

Here's a list of what you can expect:

-AI now creates trade routes based on the relations with the owner of the target planet, resources and existing trade benefits such as trade agreement and trade consulate.
If they think they can find a more profitable deal elsewhere and/or the relations between both empires become lower they may abandon their current trade route and create a new one elsewhere.

-Trade Centers now have a much bigger impact on gameplay, making the local trade bonus apply to every empire involved in trade with the planet it's built in, making it a good way to attract potential traders.

- Added new Trade Subsidies proposal: Make it possible to negotiate how trade profit is split.

-AI's handling of economy has been greatly improved. Along with choosing trade routes very carefully, they will fire ministers and generals and build their military according to their economic situation for instance.

-Huge improvements on how the AI handles diplomacy, taking common enemies with a specific empire into account, imposing and lifting embargos strategically, interacting with the player in new ways, bullying empires they see as weaker than them or helping other empires if financially stable and with a common enemy for instance. It's also harder to upgrade relations.

-AI manages it's ships and fleets correctly now, sending unused ships to the orbit of nearby planets.

-Icons on the Diplomacy screen now show diplomatic state with other empires and existing trade routes, embassies, trade consulates and signed agreements with the player.

-The Negotiation menu has been tweaked to show all the possible proposals at a glance

-When trading, trade ships now show a Trading icon instead of the Unit icon(Triangle)

-Economy grows faster and is generally less frustrating to manage

-More chances of space debris having something valuable

-Planets now have less building slots, specially large and average sized planets, making each decision more important.

-Important bug fixes such as the game freezing on End Turn, the AI building massive numbers of freighters and Center on Trading Ship centering on invisible ships.

Have fun !