Sword of the Stars 1.1.1 Retail Patch
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!!WARNING!! - DO NOT APPLY THE BOXED RETAIL PATCH TO OTHER VERSIONS OF THE GAME, PARTICULARLY DIRECT DOWNLOAD VERSIONS.
The boxed retail version maintains the SecureROM protection system, requiring a game disc to play. Applying it to a DDL version will result in that build asking for a disc you don't have.



- General/Graphics/UI:
* Better support for older video cards, including a fix for player color bleeding in low level shaders.
* Direct3D mouse pointers are now used by default, but can be disabled by adding UseD3DCursor=False to the [Graphics] section of sots.ini.
* Fixed word-wrapping issues.
* Subdirectories can now be mounted in the Mars file system by modifying the [Modules] section of sots.ini.
* New sots.ini to hold engine and game settings.
* Decreased popup delay for tooltips and added a key binding to summon a tooltip immediately (`/TILDE key).

- AI:
* Combat auto-resolve, including the ability to auto-resolve random encounters. Don't say we don't listen. ;)
* Empire AI.
* Tactical, ship piloting and gunner AI.

- Networking:
* [1.1.1] Fixed a possible crash that could occur in exceptional circumstances (like when the network adapter is disabled).
* UDP packet sizes reduced & combat bandwidth optimized.
* Improved handling of disconnected clients.
* Fixed a couple minor issues with NAT negotation.
* Fixed all known causes of sync errors.
>>> Cannot fix sync errors caused by dual-core processors: Set your CPU affinity to a single core! <<<

- Game browser, chat and lobby:
* All internet game browser filters now work as intended.
* Internet chat participants list now updates dynamically.
* Added user name popup to staging lobby and star map player window, to show who is sitting in for players.
* Lobby chat history now indicates who is chatting in addition to which player slot they were in at the time the message was sent.
* Positioning the mouse over a player name will now reveal who is standing in for that player if applicable.
* Player profiles are now stored in ini files in the Profiles directory.
* Game download progress is now shown on top of players in the game lobby while they are receiving a saved game file.
* Each player in the game lobby now has a "ready" indicator.
* Sender of a private tell will now see the recipient's name in chat history. The recipient will see the sender's name.
* All windows with chat input now activate and stay in focus with RETURN/ENTER.
* New racial avatar bitmaps!

- Combat:
* [1.1.1] Fixed possible sync error when Hiver ships teleport into combat through their gate.
* [1.1.1] Minelayers will now deploy when no enemies are visible on sensors.
* [1.1.1] Alterations to behaviour of ***CONFIDENTIAL*** and ***CONFIDENTIAL***, stay frosty. ;)
* [1.1.1] Cruisers now have a little more freedom to bring their heavy beams to bear.
* [1.1.1] A selection of ships issued move orders while in the Normal stance will now hold stations.
* [1.1.1] Added time compression (CTRL + PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN).
* [1.1.1] Phasers in large turrets on Human ships now fire double-beams as intended.
* [1.1.1] Faster ships will now attempt to maneuver around slower ships.
* [1.1.1] Fixed possible crash caused by ***CONFIDENTIAL*** taking a deployed gate.
* Your ships and allied ships in the combat sensors screen will now reveal their health when the ship name overlay is toggled on.
* Issuing all stop orders to ships now reverts ships to normal stance.
* Ships in combat now always return to their waypoint when their stance is reverted to normal.
* Moved deployed defender CR Gate back 50-m in combat, to prevent it from colliding with Heavy Defence Platforms.
* Defender reinforcements now appear closer to the invader's vector.
* Systems now take damage when ships collide with the planet in combat.
* Players can now exit to the main menu from inside combat.
* Tactical AI now correctly takes over for players who bail out of combat.
* Planet in combat can no longer be picked from its interior. (This was responsible for unintentional focusing on the planet.)
* Ship pilot AI now selects correct ship standoff ranges for any weapon configurations.
* Move and targeting feedback is immediate.
* Fleet stance settings now behave correctly.
* Stance icons now flash when they change.
* Red target circle in sensors screen now pulses.
* Ships now fade correctly while the game is paused.
* Combat pausing (when available) is now immediate.
* UI gives immediate feedback when the game is paused.
* Target reticles flash when you mouse over a target.
* 3D arrow indicates exact target point under mouse.
* Mouse pointer changes shape when modifier keys for force attack (ALT), add/remove selection (CTRL) or rotate formation (SHIFT) is held.
* Mouse pointer changes shape depending on whether it is over the move plane (orange with dot) or not.
* Formation waypoints can plotted and rotated by SHIFT + Right Click + Drag on the move plane.
* Fleet hold fire setting is much more visible, so it won't be missed in first contact situations.
* Added tooltips to special weapon icons.
* Freed up missile turret azimuth constraints by quite a bit.
* Planet missiles now hold fire initially in a first contact encounter.
* Addressed minor issues with windowed mode resolution not being set correctly.
* Fixed potential crash when combat ended while fullscreen game was minimized.
* Slaver encounters now guarantee at least one invading ship.
* Fixed potential crash when ***CONFIDENTIAL*** is destroyed.
* Fixed potential crash caused by a damaged ***CONFIDENTIAL*** being loaded into combat.
* Fixed a couple issues with ships being turned by the ***CONFIDENTIAL***.
* Reduced damage of asteroids versus the planet in combat.
* Fixed extreme slowdown caused by destroying a deployed Hiver gate while reinforcements were still coming through it.
* Custom and scenario screens now remember most recent settings (saved in your profile ini).
* Fixed potential crash in sensors screen when ships die.
* Fixed very rare crash when ships die while the player is switching between sensors and battle views.
* Extreme mine damage bug fixed.
* Fixed case where Heavy Defence Platform missiles could not get firing solutions on nearby targets.
* Fixed potential phantom engine sounds left behind when ships retreat from combat.
* Fleet retreat will now yoink all reserves from battle when there are no ships left on the field.
* Planet and defence platform "ICBM" missiles may now reacquire new targets in-flight.
* Missile engine flares now originate from the correct part of the model. ;)
* Switching to sensors while bandboxing no longer locks out the mouse.
* It is no longer possible to pause combat if it is an encounter in a multiplayer game.
* 'E' and 'SHIFT+E' to cycle focus on enemies.
* 'O' toggles a new tacical overlay that reveals positions of your distant ships.
(Default can be set in your profile ini: DefaultShowTacticalOverlay=True/False).
* 'HOME' focuses on and selects new reinforcements in combat.
* 'CTRL+DEL' toggles fleet hold fire.
* 'F1'-'F5' sets selected ship stances.
* 'CTRL+F1' - 'CTRL+F5' sets fleet stance.

- Star map / strategy game:
* [1.1.1] Speech will no longer pile up.
* [1.1.1] Notes for a star system are now removed when the System Killer destroys it.
* [1.1.1] If a player disconnects while loading into a game, it no longer prevents other players from ending their turns.
* [1.1.1] Fixed cases where Universal Antigen did not work as intended.
* [1.1.1] Fixed an occassional plague bug that would reduce the infected system's infrastructure to zero immediately.
* Scuttling ships over colonies now yields a temporary output bonus.
* Fixed potential crash associated with researching multiple special projects at once.
* It is no longer possible to save a game during the combat staging phase of a turn.
* Fixed the bug where giving research to another player would cause you to lose all of your research points for a turn.
* Enemies on star map now flash on the turn that they are spotted.
* News event window now closes when a new turn starts so that outdated news items don't stay up on the screen.
* Improved star map pathfinding now considers liberal repair and refuelling changes en route.
* Move lines now show projected ETA.
* Added weapon details popup to design screen.
* Removed potential AI message box popup when turns are processed.
* Ship build queue is now displayed when the empire summary screen is open.
* Added tooltip to ship construction slider.
* Added alternate ship status icon to display when not all biomissiles or assault shuttles are present.
* Added tooltip to indicate number of biomissiles or assault shuttles remaining with ships.
* Auto-refuel now defaults on, but this can be changed in your profile ini file (look in the Profiles folder).
* Ship information now includes tactical stats.
* Added EndTurnDelay to the player profile ini.
* DefaultAutoRefuel=True has been added to the player profile ini.
* Added drag/drop ability to fleet list in star map.
* Corrected minor issues with the player status panel displaying the wrong information.
* Addition of optional host setting to place time limit on combat staging phase (see profile ini).
* Middle mouse button can now be used to focus on an object in the star map, as it does in combat.
* Right mouse button can now be used to spin ship designs.
* Holding or releasing SHIFT now updates the star map move line immediately.
* Hold SHIFT to enqueue 5x ships at a time.
* 'F6' to open save game window.
* 'CTRL+Q' to quit.
* 'CTRL+P' to set AI policy.
* 'TAB' and 'SHIFT+TAB' cycle through your colonies.
* 'DELETE' removes selected ship design.
* 'CTRL+T' ends turn.
* 'P' to toggle player list.
* 'O' toggles objectives.
* 'T' toggles trade window.
* 'Y' toggles alliance window.
* 'K' toggles rankings window.
* 'N' brings up notepad if a system is selected.
* '-' and '=' to toggle fleet lines and star visibility.