Open Beta Patch v1.26o2 (12 may 2025)

[Thrake]

bump! Just posted subversion V.

I am working towards a new release patch in about 2 weeks time.

Feel free to discuss any remaining issues caused in all the recent changes.

Best wishes,
Vic

I couldn't test all the changes yet but I feel like it's overall much better now. Perhaps a bit late comment but blueprints have been a massive improvement and not just in terms of convenience. For aircrafts specifically it's been invaluable to assess how much better fighters are when their range isn't maxed out to maximize dogfight.

[Vic]

Completed a short campaign (AI hard, tech 3 city state militia only start) on subversion 1.21v. It's funny, I hadn't noticed the nomads, etc. being gone but it's great having them back

In my game, the AI used support weapons a bit more effectively. I saw arty, air support, buggy and motorcycle units, a light tank brigade, and a medium tank battalion. AI Infantry equipment was good, and upgraded appropriately.

I had a few observations. The AI was a bit more challenging, but pulled back from defensive positions too quickly and did not put up enough resistance at the gates of their capital city. The AI also sometimes exposed vulnerable units without support, such as a single artillery battalion against my stacked front line. AI tank designs were relatively good, but did not upgrade with side skirts by the end of the game. The AI built apparently tons of aircraft (maybe FoW but a battle report showed 270 enemy aircraft in a single airstrike) but they were relatively ineffective, and did not intercept any of my own air strikes.

I noted one small possible bug on a xeno diplomat stratagem roll. The reported roll was 216, but in looking at the Skill Roll(s) made it showed "Skill level = 11. Leader Stat bonus = 16. Leader relation modifier = 18. D100 ROLL = 81." I'm not sure how that added up to 216.

Thanks! Made some small nerfs already. Do you maybe got a savefile of the AI not defending its capital properly enough? if you do please send to vic@vrdesigns.net

[Vic]

I noted one small possible bug on a xeno diplomat stratagem roll. The reported roll was 216, but in looking at the Skill Roll(s) made it showed "Skill level = 11. Leader Stat bonus = 16. Leader relation modifier = 18. D100 ROLL = 81." I'm not sure how that added up to 216.

[/quote]

The roll includes addition of 30 * language level

[Xxzard]

Thanks! Made some small nerfs already. Do you maybe got a savefile of the AI not defending its capital properly enough? if you do please send to vic@vrdesigns.net

Yes. Will send.

The roll includes addition of 30 * language level

Ah, that would account for it. Thanks!

[Vic]

Bump!
Fixed a number of issues and bugs and worked on the strategic military ai.

[zgrssd]

Bump!
Fixed a number of issues and bugs and worked on the strategic military ai.

Small issue with a patchnote:
"-Power Plants now properly use Fuel Efficiency Tech to produce more Fuel Item Qty *"
Power Plants should either use less fuel or produce more energy/fuel. This kinda sounds like they produce fuel.

[Thrake]

Has skill usage been changed? My supreme commanders are using all 4 skills even on fresh recruits with 100% budget on PP generation.

[Vic]

Has skill usage been changed? My supreme commanders are using all 4 skills even on fresh recruits with 100% budget on PP generation.

Not the last month or two I think. But relatively recently there were some fixes made yes. The skill usage is not weighted, but is not a bad idea. In any case he'll want to try to train himself in all his possible tasks, even if not currently in demand.

[Vic]

Bump!
Fixed a number of issues and bugs and worked on the strategic military ai.

Small issue with a patchnote:
"-Power Plants now properly use Fuel Efficiency Tech to produce more Fuel Item Qty *"
Power Plants should either use less fuel or produce more energy/fuel. This kinda sounds like they produce fuel.

Right you are... Must have been tired when writing that one.

They should produce more energy (fixed)

[zgrssd]

Bump!
Fixed a number of issues and bugs and worked on the strategic military ai.

Small issue with a patchnote:
"-Power Plants now properly use Fuel Efficiency Tech to produce more Fuel Item Qty *"
Power Plants should either use less fuel or produce more energy/fuel. This kinda sounds like they produce fuel.

Right you are... Must have been tired when writing that one.

They should produce more energy (fixed)

"Remember kids, don't code if you have drunk, or are feeling tired."

[borislav]

With latest beta I don't get FP for conquering enemy (major) cities. Is this bug or intentional change?

[Soar_Slitherine]

This was in 1.21p:

Fate Stratagems:
-To receive Fate Pack from Zone Conquest its now only sure if new Zone has 20% of existing Populace in your empire or more, if conquered Zone has less than that 20% there is a linear chance you’ll still get the Fate Pack. (previous hard 10K populace limit has been dropped).

[borislav]

Thanks for clarifying this Soar_Slitherine.
I finished game with beta patch v and I was getting FPs every time so I was not sure what is wrong in new game.
But now I realized that due to already big population in my empire even cities with 100k are not crossing threshold of 20% so I'm not getting any FP. Though, I noticed at some point I got one FP without any info from where it was coming.
Maybe this is more balanced but I still like old way as conquering enemy city and getting 1 FP is sort of reward for hard work so to say .

[Nsf665]

Hi Vic, I have just minor observation regarding portraits.
First they are a bit too polished (like most AI gen. art) and thus feel a little bit odd, comparing with the overall post-apocalyptic, raw visuals of the game.
The other thing, army commanders portraits are still the old one. Will the commanders have their own portraits as well?

[Vic]

bump! New open beta. Made some fixes and delivered on some requests.

[youngmatt10]

bump! New open beta. Made some fixes and delivered on some requests.

Coolest game ever.
What if willingness of population to take on debt could be affected by an "increase/decrease interest rates" card? Government could raise funds by issuing debt to population/ other regimes. Getting a little too real world, I know. Will there be treasuries after the apocalypse?

[muzzlehead]

bump! New open beta. Made some fixes and delivered on some requests.

I tried to use Steam to d/l open beta... it says 'content locked'. It allows me to d/l the content but then halts before the install. The play button is replaced with resume button. Each time I select Resume it flips into a process for about 2 seconds and then returns to resume button.

I had to opt out of the open beta to actually run the game. I also tried manually installing the beta but it would not launch and the matrix launcher still read 1.25. If I opened the file location and ran the ShadowEmpire.exe it failed there too.

I had to verify file integrity via steam to return to current 1.25. Game runs fine, I just am unable to join open beta. I also have the dlc installed.

[zgrssd]

bump! New open beta. Made some fixes and delivered on some requests.

I tried to use Steam to d/l open beta... it says 'content locked'. It allows me to d/l the content but then halts before the install. The play button is replaced with resume button. Each time I select Resume it flips into a process for about 2 seconds and then returns to resume button.

I had to opt out of the open beta to actually run the game. I also tried manually installing the beta but it would not launch and the matrix launcher still read 1.25. If I opened the file location and ran the ShadowEmpire.exe it failed there too.

I had to verify file integrity via steam to return to current 1.25. Game runs fine, I just am unable to join open beta. I also have the dlc installed.

I fear that issues is in your Steam installation.

I can start them game set to open beta.
I changed it to release and back to open beta, still can start it.

[mattpilot]

-25mm AT and 25mm Artillery Guns now have Foot movement instead of artillery movement.

praise be, praise be

[Mechasaurian]

What SE could use, IMO, is better simulation of combined arms.

The mixed infantry-tank formations that you can research through the Staff Council? Consensus is "don't use them, they're useless." When attacking with a tank-infantry formation, the infantry charges straight at the enemy along with the tank, and typically take significant casaulties unless there's such a massive overmatch in force capability that you can bully your enemy with basic infantry anyway.

It is a much better idea for tank formations and infantry formations to be completely seperate. Infantry OHQs defend, tank OHQs attack. Tanks push forwards, they both take and dish out damage. Infantry marches along behind, having been spared the Readiness damage.

This incidentally means that a lot of the researchable OHQ formations are written off by the SE community as, bluntly, useless. That cool armoured-mechanized formation? Rubbish. You're much better off having the tanks and mech infantry in seperate OHQs. "Meta" is about using the Staff Council to make foot and motorized infantry formations that have MGs and RPGs.

Now, Shadow Empire is not a realistic game, nor does it try to be. Tiny formations holding vast front lines, etc. But I do think that SE does imitate some of the...flavour?...of IRL, and that we like it for that. Vic does make WW2 games that do hew much more closely to "realism." And the thing is, IRL if you send a bunch of tanks charging forwards by their lonesome, with zero infantry support, they get kicked around and destroyed. A lot of people might think of the current-day headlines coming out of Eastern Europe, bt this goes all the way back to the Russo-Finnish war of 1939.

I'm not sure how it should be done, but it would be nice if the mixed infantry-tank formations were more useful, thus better simulating the merits of combined arms formations.