It's Update #324! Not quite an orbital disaster but it sounds pretty cool. We've got some awesome improvements, tuning and fixes in this update as well as a reminder about the 5 year anniversary stream too. So – if you like the pace of updates, please tell a friend, post some feedback and be sure to leave a review!

5 Year Celebration Reminder!

Time flies like a starship, Captains. This month we're celebrating 5 years of Star Traders: Frontiers!

Mark your calendars for TONIGHT, August 10th, 9pm EDT. We'll be live on Twitch with the Trese Brothers (including a special appearance from youngest brother Martin!) for a community hang-out and celebration stream on Twitch: https://twitch.tv/TreseBrothers

What’s the latest on Cyber Knights?

Throughout the last year, we’ve been running Cyber Knights: Flashpoint’s private alpha test for Kickstarter backers, following the same tried-and-true process we used for Star Traders: Frontiers. Now, with a live demo up on the Steam page, we're cranking up to finishing pace and we’re marching toward the Q4 launch pad to release to Steam Early Access, so make sure you’ve wishlisted (and followed!), or join us for behind-the-scenes discussion and development snapshots in our Discord.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1021210/Cyber_Knights_Flashpoint/

Orbital Disaster

When different types of Salvage Rumors start on a system, the local Contacts can gain or lose Influence. Orbital Salvage Rumors that can cause Influence bonuses include those like Orbital Constructions, Abandoned Military Station and others. We have now pushed Orbital Disaster Salvage Rumor correctly into the camp that harm local Contact Influence - a good change to help keep the simulation fair and clear, especially as this is a Rumor that can be bought by aggressive Contacts on their action.

Early UCF Rumors Peace

We have added a rule change to the simulation to further improve the dynamics of the interstellar Rumors during the Early Coalition Era when Contacts attempt to create damaging Rumors. In the simulation in general – when taking their action, Contacts can attempt to purchase damaging Rumors against other Contacts they hate (example – Aetaan Char is in the simulation attempting to Civil Unrest the Faen homeworld due to her extreme hatred).

During the Early Coalition Era, there is now a voting mechanism where other Contacts may deny the Rumor action after it has already been paid for. This results in the Rumor not being created and the aggressive Contact losing the Influence they put on the table for the action in the first place. This helps create a relative but fragile time of peace during the Early Coalition Era.

Gear Buffs

Two sets of combat gear – the Paladin's Chain and Watchdog Whisper – both have gained buffs to their stats to help push them more into the forefront of their respective categories. In addition, we've added to the respective Attribute bonuses for the Wing gear GAATSO Interlink and Vrax Harness, as it always helps for your Wing pilots to have slightly sharper Attributes along with their Wing-focused traits, gear and Talents.

More Xeno Protections

We're on a bit of a rip making sure xeno don't slaughter early game captains unfairly. We've added another round of protections to prevent xeno rumors from being generated in certain ways that were letting them slip past the existing filter. Even less xeno Rumors should escape the lab in the early game but they are really hard to keep locked up – so you might still see some!

Other Fixes

We've adjusted the weighting in enemy captain ship designer to reduce the likelihood of Caliga Vindex and Shizari Huntress ships appearing as they were both a little overweight for fairness and pushing other ships into the margins.

Finally, thanks for reporting bugs, typos and all the rest!

v3.3.55 - 8/9/2023

- Orbital Disaster rumors now damage Contact Influence rather than increase it
- Contact AI purchasing Rumors during UCF Era revised to use simulated votes (hurts aggressive Contacts)
- Buffed Paladin's Chain and Watchdog Whisper (Crew combat gear)
- Buffed Attribute bonuses for GAATSO Interlink and Vrax Harness (Fighter Pilot gear)
- Reduced chances of Xeno Rumors occurring early in the game
- Reduced rate of enemy Caliga Vindex and Shizari Huntress spawning
- Minor performance support patches, fixed reported crash & text bugs