Stars in Shadow has completed its Early Access phase, during which we received tons of valuable feedback and suggestions, and is now formally released. We are continuing to work on improving the game after release; we have a long list of things we’d like to add, and an even longer list of player suggestions. Some larger features may require a formal expansion or DLC. While plans for that are being worked out, we will continue to post patches, with smaller features and gameplay and UI improvements.

Near-term Updates
We plan to keep up a schedule of semi-regular update patches. Keeping in mind that this list may be subject to change and so shouldn’t be viewed either as an exhaustive list or a contract written in blood, the following are some of the features and additions we have in mind:

• Victory Screens
• Research Screen Tree Display Mode
• Improved Load/Save UI with Steam Cloud integration
• Steam trading Cards
• Improved Diplomacy: More diplomatic options, better AI, resource trading, more diplomatic events
• New Encounters: more complex Pirate and Marauder behaviors and interactions, more minor factions and space monsters, and new interactions with existing minor races.
• Tactical Combat Enhancements: UI and graphical improvements, new damage types and targeting mechanics (such as area-of-effect weapons)
• New Technologies: new weapons (such as the Black Hole projector), repeating endgame technologies, research boosts
• Additional Faction Mechanics: Orthin shield capacitors, Yoral flak cannons, Phidi sales commandos, and more faction-specific behaviors and dialogue options
• Improved in-game player help and documentation
• Other UI Refinements: improved Loading screen animations, report sorting, button click animations, etc.

Longer-term Additions
Some of our planned features will take more development effort, and will probably require some kind of formal expansion or DLC. Exactly what form this will take remains to be determined. Larger features we’d like to add include:

• New playable factions and third-party threats
• Officers and Ship Promotions, Flagships and named fleets
• New Player Campaign Victory Conditions
• Espionage
• Space Habitats, Asteroid Bases
• More star and planet types
• Improved faction and hull customization options
• Multiplayer support
• Linux/Mac ports
• Language Localizations

Thanks for supporting the game! As always, your feedback and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks for releasing this update.

Everything from the Near-term updates sounds great (except for Steam trading Cards which I do not know what it is)

Hope you are prioritizing Diplomacy so we can see more action from the AI side.
Please consider adding a diplomacy penalty for factions that own planets within the same star-system (the more planets, the more penalty), so that there is enough conflict to go around in mid and late game.

Long-Term goals sound very ambitious. Espionage particularly is a strange beast, as it mostly does not translate well into game mechanics.
I can get behind new races though any time for this game as they are unique and help to populate large maps.
Flagships and ship promotion sounds awesome - if you can pull this off in a reasonable time, that will be huge

Keep up the great work, and hope to see more art when they are available for Victory screens, new units and such
I do no yet know what a Phidi sales commando will be, but I guess they blow up your bank account, instead of stations and factories?

Somehow I'm way more exited about the "Near-term Updates" than the "Longer-term Additions". Could be because the "near-term" has a huge "reserved" potential.

Both lists look great! Long live Stars in Shadow!

BTW, I might be able to help with Russian localization if you decide to do it.

Steam trading cards are a cancer, but I love everything else on those lists.

Hype!

I am very happy with what you're planning to add; my two cents is that I've loved the way minor factions and species exist as distinct entities in this game, and would be very enthusiastic to see more depth added to the minors, if that affects how work is prioritised. First, perhaps, I might want a proper victory screen, just because that adds the extra 'polish' to a game I already love.

Arioch wrote:[*]Multiplayer support

Really? REALLY???

I've been wondering for a while, now: what precisely are Phidi sales commandos? Given that I'm habitually a (very peaceful) Phidi player, this may be relevant to my interests- maybe it will be another tool in my box for when I finally prepare to liberate the enslaved masses under the Marauders in my games.

Speaking of Marauders: are there any plans to have the Gremak AI actually use them as slave suppliers anytime soon? I'd love to see that in my games, really helping cement the Gremak as the evil slaver empire.

nweismuller wrote:I've been wondering for a while, now: what precisely are Phidi sales commandos? Given that I'm habitually a (very peaceful) Phidi player, this may be relevant to my interests- maybe it will be another tool in my box for when I finally prepare to liberate the enslaved masses under the Marauders in my games.

My concept is that they're an active trading mechanism; you take them in cargo holds to foreign systems and conduct "sales raids." Something for your Trade Ships to do. Just need to figure out a way to make it fun and not tedious.

Arioch wrote:

nweismuller wrote:I've been wondering for a while, now: what precisely are Phidi sales commandos? Given that I'm habitually a (very peaceful) Phidi player, this may be relevant to my interests- maybe it will be another tool in my box for when I finally prepare to liberate the enslaved masses under the Marauders in my games.

My concept is that they're an active trading mechanism; you take them in cargo holds to foreign systems and conduct "sales raids." Something for your Trade Ships to do. Just need to figure out a way to make it fun and not tedious.

If they're going to be called 'sales raids' in-game, it's definitely going to come across as nigh-farcical, which is going to contrast pretty jarringly with the rest of the game's tone. Anyhow, good luck figuring that out- and maybe we could encourage the AI to build a market once in a while, it's sort of sad seeing that I am the only person who ever builds markets in my games. Easier to swallow, sure, when I'm the Phidi, but even so...

I love the idea of "Sales Commandos". Its like door to door salesmen, but with guns.

nweismuller wrote: maybe we could encourage the AI to build a market once in a while, it's sort of sad seeing that I am the only person who ever builds markets in my games..

Maybe this is an issue in AI research logic?
Could be that it never priorises the tech needed to build markets...

As a workaround, this tech might be given to them after reach a specific amount of research/turn

SmaugTheDragon wrote:I love the idea of "Sales Commandos". Its like door to door salesmen, but with guns.

Yeah, too bad they cannot wear boots on their fins, as this will make their job much harder

What's the status of the near-term updates?