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v2.0 - Season 2 Economy Rebalance

v2.0 - Season 2 Economy Rebalance

Historical release record: This page describes its original version, including systems that later changed or were retired. For live 3.0 rules, start with the current release guide.

Season 2 is a full-system update, not just a numbers patch. Economy pacing, research progression, intelligence gameplay, moon development, fleet-slot planning, and galaxy interactions all changed in meaningful ways.

Use this page as the complete player-facing reference for v2.0.0 features.

Hotfixes

October 2026

  • The new-player tutorial now guides you through mines, energy, and Exchange buying, selling, and pickup. Highlights point to the real controls; pause to explore and resume where you left off. Practice is optional: the tutorial never builds or trades for you.

  • PC/tablet Shipyard ships now show the same lock icon as Buildings and selectable explanations for missing completed prerequisites and unaffordable orders. Queued upgrades no longer make ship details appear unlocked before the prerequisite finishes; ship prices and Defense presentation are unchanged.

  • Affordable Shipyard ship costs now match the ship name's color on desktop, tablet and mobile. Shortages remain red, and Defense cost colors are unchanged.

  • Terraformers now increase planet metal, crystal, and deuterium extraction by 5% per level, linearly (level 10: +50%), instead of adding fields. Existing buildings and stored resources remain intact. Energy, research, credits, and basic income are unchanged.

September 2026

  • The PC/tablet station Overview now shows Docked ships, Defense units and Energy balance instead of planetary size, temperature and structure stats. New first stations default to Station 0; existing names and legacy planet-mode stats are unchanged.

  • Affordable building costs now match the building name's color on desktop and mobile. Resource shortages still appear in red.

  • Station skins now have distinct hull designs: Glacial's orbital ring, Ember Dunes' armored foundry, and Oceanic's crescent harbor. Each has a transparent background rather than recoloring the standard hull. Existing copies stay owned and equipped, prices remain 250 G, and the standard hull and legacy planet skins are unchanged.

  • Occupied Galaxy slots on PC and tablet now show their owners' station images, including equipped station skins. Empty slots remain numbered boxes, and the phone layout is unchanged.

  • Ten Commerce upgrades improve individual resource production and storage, Small and Large Cargo holds, fuel-cell charging and reserves. Production and charging cap at +10%; storage and freight packing cap at +20%. All use the existing economy and research screens.

  • Options → Gameplay now offers an optional Filter chat profanity setting. It replaces recognized English profanity with *** in your chat views in the current universe, including older messages; other players, stored messages and Discord mirrors are unchanged.

  • Chat now checks messages before posting and offers Report and Block controls on desktop, tablet and mobile. Manage blocks and see report status in Community Safety; blocking covers chat in the selected universe, not combat.

  • External alliance and issue images are hidden, and new public image uploads are unavailable while media review is prepared.

  • Mobile Launch now opens available ships from Select ships beneath the Origin / Target / Mission row, using Shipyard-style tiles and quantity selection. Stasis and daily upkeep information is no longer shown in mobile Launch; those mechanics are unchanged.

  • Mobile Launch keeps selected ship images and quantities inside Select ships, in at most two compact rows. Tap the summary to adjust your selection. The enabled mission chooser now has a cyan accent; launch eligibility checks are unchanged.

  • Mobile Launch lets you choose a mission after setting the route, before selecting units. Unit selection still checks mission eligibility before launch. Origin and Destination labels clarify the route images while retaining their coordinate captions.

  • Mobile Launch now groups origin, destination, and mission pickers in one compact row. Choose a destination and units to see available missions; fresh launches no longer preselect your own planet as the destination.

  • Alliance Overview now includes member rankings below Alliance Information, with the same player details and score columns as Rankings, filtered to your alliance. Existing member-list permissions still apply.

  • Alliance Overview, Management, and Application tabs now have no background or visible border on desktop and tablet, with the selected underline 5 pixels farther below its title. Phone styling is unchanged.

  • The Launch Pad lists every ship type below Arrival, Duration, Return, and Fuel. Ships missing from the selected origin are dimmed and unavailable; click an available icon to choose a whole-number quantity. Saved quantities stay within current inventory, and stationary Solar Satellites cannot be launched. Space Docks remain visible for reference and must be deployed from Galaxy view.

  • Alliance windows now have transparent, borderless backgrounds on desktop and tablet, matching the other game windows. Phone layouts and alliance controls are unchanged.

  • Research no longer has prerequisites: every technology is available from level 0, without lab levels, other technologies, section thresholds, or connected-node unlocks. You can buy or automatically fund any research in constellation mode; RP costs, Gravity, level caps, and RP production are unchanged. Ship, building, and mission unlock requirements still apply.

  • Options now uses the same outer workspace width as Buildings and Shipyard.

  • You can request permanent account deletion from Extended Options or mobile account navigation. This removes your whole account across all galaxies, including remaining G and transaction history. A current password and explicit confirmation are required; the acceptance screen confirms the request rather than completed erasure.

Core Economy Changes

Season 3 Launch Hotfix

  • Season 3 is now open from the portal, with the Season 3 button taking players into the fresh seasonal universe.
  • The portal, permanent universe, Season 2, and Season 3 live stacks now move together during the normal release path so the public portal and new season stay in sync.
  • Season 1 closeout resources now arrive in the permanent universe as an Exchange-backed Veteran Cache instead of an automatic planet deposit. Eligible players can retrieve Metal, Crystal, and Deuterium from My Deliveries to the planet they choose.
  • The Exchange button now highlights until the one-time Season 1 merge explanation is acknowledged, while the cache remains available in My Deliveries until players retrieve it.

Facebook Ad Tracking Hotfix

  • The public homepage now supports a configurable Meta Pixel for PageView website-event tracking when META_PIXEL_ID is set, while sensitive auth pages remain excluded.
  • Facebook ad visits with fbclid or Facebook referrers are now captured in the first-party marketing attribution report as facebook, with click-id visits defaulting to paid_social when no UTM medium is supplied.

Portal Registration Verification Hotfix

  • New account completion now keeps email verification on the left while showing a JOIN A UNIVERSE panel with open universe cards, age, and expiration details.
  • Selecting a universe now immediately prompts for a commander username, checks for naming conflicts, and launches the selected universe after the name is accepted.
  • New portal registrations now automatically send a fresh email verification code after account creation, so the code on the account completion screen matches the verification step players are asked to finish.
  • The account completion page now reminds players to use the newest verification email if their inbox contains an older registration code.
  • Portal registration now shows the account password requirements when a chosen password is too weak, and the login/register form lists those requirements before submission.

Chat History Fallback

  • The desktop chat panel now still shows loaded global and private chat history if realtime chat setup is unavailable.

Deep-Space Focus Balance Tuning

  • Patrol hostile contacts now roll smaller generated fleets, reducing normal Patrol encounter severity while keeping Patrol riskier than Exploration combat.
  • Space Dock Research now increases Patrol debris rewards by +5% per level, giving Patrol a direct research reward bonus like the other deep-space mission families.
  • Patrol interception now scales from 5% + 2% per origin Space Dock level, capped at 60%, after the Patrol first finds an enemy deep-space hold in the system.
  • Moon Base Research now increases the Trade mission bonus margin by +5% per level, so Industry investment strengthens Trade without changing the base market exchange.
  • Recon Technology now grants the researching player +1 effective espionage per level instead of +5, shares +1 effective espionage for every 2 levels to alliance members from their strongest allied Recon specialist only, increases positive Recon reward amounts by +10% per level, and still adds +1 percentage point per level to active mission manifest reveal chance.

Statistics Page Layout Fix

  • The /statistics page now clamps its desktop layout to the available screen width instead of clipping content off the right edge on narrower PC resolutions.

Research Focus Identity

  • Military, Intelligence, Exploration, and Industry now each have distinct focus artwork.
  • Desktop Research shows your focus badge beside the current-focus label, and the quick navigation button now mirrors your selected focus.
  • Rankings now show a player's research focus badge beside their name so specialization is visible while comparing scores.

Season 2 NPC Decommissioning

  • NPC empire automation is currently decommissioned.
  • Existing NPC accounts may still appear in the universe, but they are not expected to launch new automated fleets, queue buildings, research, ships, or defenses, chat, scout, join alliances, fleetsave, or retaliate.

Launch Pad Layout Fix

  • The launch pad now collapses its desktop columns earlier on narrower PC resolutions so ship panels, mission controls, and action buttons do not overlap.
  • Ship tiles in the launch pad were slightly de-zoomed and given more spacing so fleet selection is easier to read at smaller desktop sizes.

Alliance Invitation Navigation Fix

  • Opening the alliance invitations screen from the no-alliance page no longer falls into a reload loop when you have pending invitations.

Mine Output and Growth Pace

Your base economy is significantly faster than prior seasons:

  • Metal Mine base production increased from 60 to 200.
  • Crystal Mine base production increased from 40 to 200.
  • Deuterium Synthesizer base production increased from 20 to 100.

Practical impact:

  • You reach early shipyard and research breakpoints sooner.
  • Colony setup time is shorter.
  • Mid-game fleet production ramps earlier.

Planet Position Matters More

Temperature/position economy differentiation is stronger in v2. Hotter and colder slots now create clearer specialization pressure, so colony placement is a bigger strategic decision instead of a minor optimization.

Plasma Technology Rework

  • Plasma Technology gives +10% resource production per level.
  • Bonus: each level also reduces building construction time by 10%.

This makes Plasma a strong long-term economy multiplier that also helps infrastructure scale faster.

Energy and Fuel Cell Economy

Energy Stack Changes

  • Energy Technology gives +5% output per level.
  • Fusion research gives +10% positive energy output per level.

Fusion Reactor Role Shift

Fusion Reactor behavior is now economy-focused:

  • It no longer functions as a normal live power-grid source.
  • Its output is converted into Fuel Cells (stored energy resource).

Fuel Cell System

Fuel Cells are now a first-class resource:

  • Generated from active fusion output (requires Fuel Cell Technology).
  • Stored with their own capacity.
  • Transferable like other resources.

Fuel Cell storage also scales with Fusion Reactor progression, so larger fusion investments now support both generation and storage.

Research Tree and Progression Overhaul

New and Expanded Strategic Research

Season 2 introduces or reworks these major tech lanes:

  • Defense Technology (formerly Armour Technology): now protects a share of daily production from raids, adds +5% defense attack/shield per level, and adds +15% defense hull per level. It no longer increases ship hull.
  • Resource Dens: legacy research entry retained for compatibility, with its former bonuses moved to Defense Technology.
  • Material Physics: reduces ship and defense build costs, starting at -20% and improving by another 1% per level.
  • Intel Relay: alliance intelligence sharing backbone.
  • Recon Technology: unlocks Recon mission gameplay, adds Recon mission slots, improves positive Recon rewards, and increases active mission manifest reveal chance.
  • Space Dock Research: unlocks Space Dock deployment gameplay, adds Patrol mission slots, increases Patrol debris rewards, and now grants additional Space Dock ships at research levels 10, 15, and 20.
  • Wayfinder Research: unlocks Wayfinder ship, adds Exploration mission slots, and now scales Wayfinder shield strength.
  • Combat Salvaging: military debris recovery research that lets surviving ships automatically recover a percentage of fresh combat debris based on research level and available cargo.
  • Frontier Logistics: Exploration/Industry frontier support research that reduces Expedition, Harvest, and Deploy fuel costs, improves Expedition rewards, and increases Wayfinder, Recycler, and Reaper cargo capacity.
  • Gravitational Navigation: explorer end-tier research for better expedition rewards and fewer dead ticks.
  • Moon Base Research: unlocks lunar progression, adds Trade mission slots, improves Trade bonus margin, and boosts moon economy scaling.

Drive and Mobility Progression

  • Combustion Drive now buffs all ships by research level.
  • Impulse Drive now buffs all ships by research level (with fuel tradeoff).
  • Hyperspace Drive now buffs all ships by research level (with fuel tradeoff).
  • Military focus players now use Advanced Hyperdrive instead of Hyperspace Drive: +20% all-ship speed and +10% all-ship fuel use per level, with extra speed for Battlecruiser, Reaper, Wayfinder, Destroyer, and Bomber.
  • Hyperspace Drive requirement flow was simplified to open that lane earlier.

Research Identity and Cleanup

  • Intergalactic Research Network is now Recon Technology (same visual lane, new purpose).
  • Fusion research no longer requires Energy Technology level 4.
  • Desktop and mobile research details now show missing requirements directly under the research name in red.
  • Alliance Depot research path is replaced by Intel Relay.
  • Multiple prerequisite chains were clarified to make progression intent more readable.

Research Labs

Research labs work together by default in v2 progression, reducing friction when scaling multi-colony research infrastructure.

Intelligence and Alliance Information Warfare

Recon Mission System

Recon is now a true mission loop, not a one-off action:

  • Requires Recon Technology and at least one Espionage Probe.
  • Performs repeated recon checks during hold phases.
  • Successful checks return full espionage-style report detail.
  • Recon avoids selecting your own empire and your alliance members as targets.

Intel Relay Alliance Features

Intel Relay adds two major alliance intelligence tools:

  • Passive sharing: you can view recent espionage reports from each alliance member based on your Intel Relay level.
  • Active sharing: players can manually share specific espionage reports to alliance members.

This creates a real alliance scouting network instead of isolated private intel.

Space Dock System (New Strategic Expansion Layer)

Space Dock is now implemented as research-driven map control gameplay:

  • Completing Space Dock Research grants access to one Space Dock deployment asset.
  • Space Dock is deployed from Galaxy view to valid empty slots (not built through normal shipyard flow).
  • Successful deployment creates a special outpost body that appears in Galaxy like a normal planet target and can launch/receive fleets.
  • Outposts use a restricted building set only: Deuterium Synthesizer, Solar Plant, Sensor Phalanx, and Jump Gate.
  • Outposts always keep an internal Moon Base level 1 baseline (hidden from player UI).
  • Outpost resource sliders are fixed at 100%.
  • You can relocate a Space Dock outpost directly from Facilities without a building prerequisite.
  • Relocation carries the Space Dock, all docked ships, and all stored resources, and keeps existing building levels.
  • Galaxy Dock actions from selected Space Dock outposts now redirect to the deploy screen with destination coordinates pre-filled.
  • Active Space Dock deployment/relocation locks the destination slot against colonization and other Space Dock deployments until arrival.
  • A player can only have one active Space Dock outpost at a time.
  • Space Dock outposts can be destroyed by Moon Destruction missions.
  • If destroyed, Space Dock progression must be re-established through the research path.

New-Player and Account Updates

  • Late-start catch-up bonuses now keep scaling resources by full weeks since season start while capping Robotics Factory at level 10, Astrophysics at level 10, and Colony Ships at 15.
  • New, reset, profile, and in-game password changes now require only 12 or more characters without uppercase, lowercase, number, or symbol composition rules.

Moon Gameplay Expansion

Moon progression is much deeper in v2:

  • Moon Base research is now central to lunar development.
  • Core moon resource extraction lanes were opened through Moon Base progression.
  • Moon resource production receives a per-level research bonus.
  • Moon Base level also improves Lunar Base field scaling, letting mature moons support larger specialized infrastructure footprints.

Fleet Slots and Mission Capacity Rebalance

Fleet-slot pressure is now a core strategic resource:

  • Base active fleet slots remain limited.
  • Computer Technology contributes additional slots at progression breakpoints.
  • Space Dock, Moon Base, Recon Technology, and Wayfinder Research each increase separate Patrol, Trade, Recon, and Exploration mission capacity, with each focus also gaining its own mission reward or control bonus.

Result: players who invest in a deep-space lane can run more simultaneous missions in that lane without inflating every other fleet operation.

Combat and Defense Balance Updates

Key combat-facing reworks in v2:

  • Laser Technology now boosts all ship/defense weapon output and improves recycler efficiency.
  • Ion Technology now improves defensive shield durability.
  • Shielding Technology was repositioned as Mobile Shield Technology (ship-focused shielding lane).
  • Defense progression friction was reduced so defensive scaling depends more on economy and timing choices.
  • Moon Destruction interactions were expanded to include Space Dock outpost targets.

Interface and QoL Updates

Major usability changes shipped in v2:

  • Galaxy desktop interactions now expose action controls directly through click-based panels.
  • Planet/moon selector now supports an optional bottom-row all-bodies mode in Options.
  • Espionage message flow now supports alliance-shared report visibility and sharing toggles.
  • Research/build/ship detail panes were standardized for clearer decision-making and less page-to-page friction.
  • Multiple tooltip and layout adjustments improved consistency across pages.

Strategic Migration Guide (Returning Players)

If you are returning from pre-v2 gameplay, adapt in this order:

  1. Rebuild your research priority around Defense Technology, Intel Relay/Recon, and moon progression.
  2. Treat fleet slots as a capped strategic resource, not a background limit.
  3. Use alliance intelligence sharing as part of normal raid planning.
  4. Shift moon planning from utility-only to economy-plus-staging.
  5. Build Space Dock strategy into expansion timing once your command lane is online.

Hotfixes

September 2026

  • Ten Commerce upgrades improve individual resource production and storage, Small and Large Cargo holds, fuel-cell charging and reserves. Production and charging cap at +10%; storage and freight packing cap at +20%. All use the existing economy and research screens.

  • The gold G balance now shows the full amount with two decimal places and a small matching store icon. Select either to open Get G on desktop or mobile/PWA.

  • The Credits balance and currency mark now use light blue to distinguish them from G. Wallet balances and earning rules are unchanged.

August 2026

  • v2.20.17 colony and outpost stability hotfix:
    • Colonization and Space Dock deployment now accept only planet slots 1 through 15, preventing deep-space destinations from creating inaccessible colonies or outposts.
    • Existing malformed planet coordinates no longer prevent affected players from loading the game.

June 2026

  • v2.20.14 season portal hotfix:
    • The profile hub no longer offers Season 1 as a joinable universe after its closeout.
    • Season 3 now appears beside Season 2 with a disabled countdown button until the July 1 noon EST launch.
  • v2.20.13 mobile stability hotfix:
    • Mobile Overview now avoids a Blade compilation edge case that could return a 500 error when exchange ship orders are shown.
    • Cached mobile views were refreshed on the live game and Season 2 stacks while the durable fix ships.
  • v2.20.12 username validation hotfix:
    • New global usernames now accept only letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, and underscores.
    • Emoji and other unsupported characters are rejected before the username is saved or shared to universes.

May 2026

  • v2.20.9 account onboarding hotfix:
    • The account completion page now focuses on three fast choices: optional email validation, the permanent universe, and active seasonal universes.
    • New players can choose a universe first, pick their global username, and start playing without validating email first.
    • Seasonal universe choices now explain that seasons merge into the permanent universe and show the season age in days.
  • v2.20.8 password policy hotfix:
    • Portal registration, password reset, profile password changes, and in-game password changes now accept any password with 12 or more characters.
    • Password requirement errors now state the exact unmet rule instead of implying uppercase, lowercase, number, or symbol requirements.
  • v2.20.3 missile attack validation hotfix:
    • Missile Attack target checks now show only missile-specific validation, so unrelated Trade requirements no longer block or confuse missile launches on desktop or mobile.
  • v2.20.2 stability update:
    • Server maintenance shipped with no gameplay rule changes.
  • v2.20.1 Space Dock phalanx hotfix:
    • Space Dock outposts with Sensor Phalanx can now scan nearby targets like moons.
  • v2.19.0 specialist cargo update:
    • Military-focus players can now use Reapers for Exchange resource transfers, Exchange pickup flights, and normal Transport missions.
    • Exploration-focus players can now use Wayfinders for Exchange resource transfers, Exchange pickup flights, and normal Transport missions.
  • v2.19.0 Wayfinder survivability update:
    • Wayfinder base structural integrity increased from 3,500 to 25,000. Weapon strength and shield strength are unchanged.
    • Shipyard defense lists now show Ion Cannon before Gauss Cannon.
  • v2.18.23 large-screen UI readability hotfix:
    • Game navigation buttons now scale up on larger desktop resolutions while keeping smaller screens unchanged.
    • The Overview center planet display now expands on large screens so the main planet, orbit ring, moon, and holographic stats use more available space.
    • Building artwork on the Buildings page is zoomed in to reduce visible image borders and make each structure easier to identify.
    • Ranking text is larger for easier scanning.
    • Issue reports and comments now have tighter moderation controls, safer image uploads, and safer formatting for report descriptions.
    • Issue board filters now keep searching beyond the first page of results so matching reports are not hidden behind older entries.
    • Shipyard and Defense queues now keep only the next pending unit-completion event active, reducing event load for large build orders while preserving normal completion timing.
  • v2.18.22 universe logout hotfix:
    • The in-game logout button now returns players to the MWarfare profile hub instead of sending them through a Cognito logout page.
    • From the profile hub, players can sign out fully or open a different universe from the same portal session.
  • Portal password reset hotfix:
    • Logged-in players can now change their MWarfare portal password directly from the profile hub.
    • The portal sign-in panel now includes a Forgot password? link that emails a reset link to the registered account email.
    • Reset requests use a generic confirmation message so unknown email addresses or usernames are not revealed.
  • v2.18.21 portal registration hotfix:
    • New portal registrations can now sign in immediately after account creation.
    • Portal sign-in now accepts either your email address or your global username.
    • Profile hub universe buttons now open linked universe accounts directly from your portal session instead of sending you through a second Cognito login.
    • Email verification remains part of account completion, so players still finish verification before entering a universe.
  • Campaign home page:
    • The public mwarfare.com home page now introduces MWarfare with campaign artwork, clearer game-mode messaging, and a prominent Login / Register path.
    • The home page now shows the visible universe directory up front, including the permanent game universe and seasonal lanes with their current status and timing.
  • Reddit campaign mockups:
    • The wiki now includes a Marketing page with Reddit ad mockups for the free browser RTS and quarterly prize campaign.
  • v2.18.20 research, building, resource, and mission artwork refresh:
    • Research and building icons now use clearer themed artwork that better matches each item's purpose.
    • Recycler Upgrades, Fuel Cell Technology, Phalanx Technology, Advanced Hyperdrive, Intel Relay, and Gravitational Navigation now have unique artwork instead of reused placeholders.
    • Deathstar artwork has been replaced with an original MWarfare capital-ship style.
    • Metal, Crystal, Deuterium, Fuel Cell, Energy, and Launch Pad mission indicators now use clearer themed status-style artwork.
    • Missile Attack now has its own dedicated Launch Pad icon instead of sharing the standard Attack image.
  • v2.18.19 ACS defender cleanup hotfix:
    • ACS Defend hold fleets that are destroyed in combat are now removed from the target's active defender list immediately.
    • Destroyed ACS Defend holds no longer leave a stale hold timer behind after the ships are gone.
    • Moon Shipyards and Research Labs now correctly require Moon Base Research and become buildable once that research is unlocked.
    • Reaper base stats are now 50,000 structural integrity, 50 shield, and 10 attack before Recycler Upgrades and combat research bonuses.
    • Military focus players now get +5% Cruiser weapon strength per Missile Technology level and an extra +5% Battlecruiser weapon strength per Laser Technology level.
    • Graviton Technology now reduces Deathstar self-destruction chance on Moon Destruction missions by 5 percentage points per level.
    • Space Dock Research now costs twice as much, gives Space Dock outposts virtual +2 Shipyard, +2 Research Lab, and +1 Nanite Factory construction/research equivalents per level, and boosts Space Dock deuterium production by 25% per level.
  • v2.18.18 unit artwork refresh:
    • Ships, defenses, and missiles now use clearer high-definition artwork that better matches each unit's name and battlefield role.
    • Reaper, Wayfinder, Space Dock, Large Cargo, Deathstar, and other units now have dedicated small and micro images instead of placeholder or reused art.
  • v2.18.17 body type label hotfix:
    • Combat reports, espionage reports, fleet activity, and fleet messages now show [P], [M], or [D] next to body coordinates so planets, moons, and Space Dock outposts are easier to tell apart.
  • v2.18.16 Space Dock coordinate hotfix:
    • Space Dock deployment and relocation now accept negative, positive, and zero galaxy/system coordinates.
  • v2.18.15 Space Dock icon and resource bar hotfix:
    • Space Dock outposts now use a dedicated Space Dock icon in Overview, planet selectors, mission event images, Empire snapshots, and galaxy views instead of reusing a natural planet image.
    • Resource bars no longer show a time-until-full countdown for resources with no positive production, including Space Dock outposts and zero-production moon resources.
  • v2.18.13 Space Dock relocation hotfix:
    • Space Dock outposts affected by a relocation state issue can now redeploy normally.
    • The redeploy check still blocks duplicate launches while an existing Space Dock relocation is already in flight.
  • v2.18.12 ranking layout hotfix:
    • The /ranking Alliance column is narrower and alliance tags are right-aligned for cleaner scanning.
  • v2.18.11 ranking alliance view:
    • The /ranking table now shows Alliance as its own column to the left of Player.
    • Player rankings default to the active score sort and show the stored rank for that score type.
    • The new Alliance view groups players by alliance, shows aggregate alliance scores, and expands each alliance to list members sorted by the active score.
  • v2.18.10 NPC automation decommission:
    • NPC automation has been decommissioned: existing NPC accounts no longer launch new automated actions, chat, scout, fleetsave, join alliances, or react to relationship changes.
    • Exchange pickup now relies on the server-side cargo check instead of blocking valid pickup launches from stale browser cargo data.
  • v2.18.9 Reaper combat salvage hotfix:
    • Surviving Reapers on attack and ACS attack missions now automatically collect debris from that combat before the fleet returns.
    • Reaper automatic combat harvest now requires Recycler Upgrades and is limited to fresh combat debris by the 2% per-level Recycler Upgrades cap.
  • v2.18.8 shipyard stats layout hotfix:
    • Ship and defense stats filters now sit at the top right of their stats panels.
    • Filtered stat columns now use a tapered highlight that narrows down the sorted list.
    • Shipyard queue stat buttons now use equal widths, and queued items scale to stay between the timers and stats buttons.
  • v2.18.7 statistics and ship stats hotfix:
    • The focus statistics score widgets are shorter, use larger score text, and no longer repeat the #1 label beside each top score.
    • Shipyard ship stats now include Reapers.
    • The ship stats page can now filter by speed, armor, shield, weapon, and cargo.
  • Live stability fix:
    • Game pages no longer hit intermittent server errors after deployments, so you should be able to sign in and keep playing normally after maintenance.
  • v2.18.6 Intelligence statistics update:
    • Intelligence statistics now focus on Recon mission performance, including active Recon holds, Recon ticks, manifest reveals, manifest entries, reward-boost Fuel Cells, and best manifest chance.
    • The page now shows Intelligence capability stats such as effective espionage, Recon espionage bonus, effective counter-intel, Intel Relay, Recon Technology, Recon mission slots, Recon reward bonus, and best manifest chance.
    • Generic espionage-report and target-coverage cards were removed from the Intelligence page; report coverage now counts Recon-sourced reports only.
    • Exchange auto-buy returns now preserve the full matched payout instead of trimming the returned resources to the cargo sent with the original listing.
    • Moon Base Research now adds +5 fields per Lunar Base level for each Moon Base Research level, up from +1.
  • v2.18.5 Discord global chat relay:
    • Global chat messages sent by players in each live universe now post to Discord in the format [Universe] [Alliance] Player | Message.
    • Alliance and private messages stay in game only.
    • NPCs assigned to Intelligence focus now keep that focus and use the Recon specialization loop instead of being reassigned to Industry.
  • v2.18.4 Space Dock and Trade launch update:
    • Space Dock outposts now have unlimited Metal, Crystal, Deuterium, and Fuel Cell storage.
    • Industry Trade missions can now launch with Small Cargo, Large Cargo, or Colony Ships.
    • Interplanetary Missile range now uses Astrophysics instead of Impulse Drive so every research focus can launch IPMs with the same range formula.
  • Software maintenance update:
    • Core server packages were updated to keep the live universe current with upstream fixes.
    • Security advisories reported by the dependency audit were cleared as part of this maintenance pass.
  • v2.18.3 Deathstar cargo update:
    • Deathstar cargo capacity increased from 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 per ship, making each Deathstar a much stronger late-game bulk transport option.
    • The in-game global chat announcement was resent after the first post was stored outside the visible global chat feed.
  • v2.18.2 Trade score-scaling correction:
    • Trade missions now keep the base market-ratio conversion untouched and apply universe score scaling only to the random trade bonus after any Fuel Cell multiplier.
    • This means high-score scaling can reduce the extra bonus, but it no longer reduces the regular exchange-ratio result.
    • Exploration resource finds now cap the loaded and reported resources to the fleet's free cargo space before updating mission statistics, so fleet hover cargo, messages, and statistics stay consistent.
    • Interplanetary Missiles now have 100 cargo each and can spend up to 100 Deuterium per IPM to reach their maximum missile range, restoring missile launches that were blocked by fuel-cargo checks.
  • v2.18.1 research credit cancellation hotfix:
    • Canceling active research now refunds both the research credit consumed when the research started and the time spent actively researching before cancellation.
    • This prevents research credits from disappearing when a credited research is started and canceled shortly afterward.
  • v2.18.0 research reset:
    • Desktop and mobile research screens now let you reset your entire research tree back to level 0.
    • Resetting does not refund any Metal, Crystal, or Deuterium and cancels active or queued research.
    • After a reset, your research focus unlocks so you can choose a new specialization.
    • Each reset grants research credit equal to 50% of the elapsed time since the current season started, so a season that has been live for 10 days grants 5 days of research credit.
  • Moon Base storage scaling:
    • Moons still start with 10x normal Metal, Crystal, and Deuterium storage.
    • Each Moon Base Research level now doubles that moon storage capacity again.
  • Research balance updates:
    • Material Physics now reduces current building and facility upgrade costs by 2% per level.
    • Moon Base Research now adds +1 defensive espionage per level.
  • Discord announcement cleanup:
    • Player update posts now have a duplicate-post guard so retries do not repeat the same live update in Discord.

April 2026

  • Patrol balance update:

    • Patrol keeps the same 1% quiet-tick catastrophic fleet-loss roll as comparable deep-space mission risk.
    • Generated Patrol hostile contacts now roll from 15% to 60% of the patrol fleet score instead of 25% to 110%.
    • Low-budget hostile contacts now downshift expensive capital-ship archetypes into smaller skirmish fleets instead of overshooting the intended score budget.

  • Deep-space reward scaling:

    • Exploration, Trade, Patrol, and positive Recon rewards now scale against the average overall score of the top player in each of the four research focuses, with empty or zero-score focus leaders counted as 0.
    • Players below that focus-leader average can earn boosted deep-space rewards, up to 2x at 0 score.
    • Players above that average now receive sharply reduced deep-space rewards so one high-score explorer, trader, or patrol fleet cannot run away from the rest of the universe.

  • v2.17.6 Moon economy fix:

    • Moon Base Research now allows Solar Plants and Fusion Reactors on moons, matching the rest of the moon economy unlock.
    • All moons now have 10x normal metal, crystal, and deuterium storage capacity.
    • Moons now keep catching up on resource production while you are active on other planets or moons, so mined moons no longer sit idle until you manually switch to each one.

  • v2.17.5 Exchange debris targeting fix:

    • Debris fields that form on the Exchange slot now appear in Galaxy view on desktop and mobile instead of being hidden behind the Exchange row.
    • Recyclers can now launch Harvest missions directly to visible debris on the Exchange coordinate without being blocked by the Exchange target guard.

  • v2.17.5 Exchange target-share ratio update:

    • Resource Exchange ratios now compare each resource's universe supply against its configured target share of the tradable economy.
    • Fuel Cells now use the same live target-share model instead of comparing total Fuel Cells to the current #1 overall player score.

  • v2.17.5 fresh shipyard queue timing fix:

    • Newly created Shipyard and Defense orders no longer inherit an old completed queue timestamp after a long idle gap, preventing short builds from appearing to finish instantly the moment they are queued.

  • v2.17.5 shipyard queue performance fix:

    • Large Shipyard and Defense queues now resolve their next pending unit event through a dedicated Events index so opening the queue stays responsive even when thousands of unit-completion events are pending.

  • v2.17.4 Fuel Cell speed-cap update:

    • Fuel Cell speed boosts on Transport, Deployment, Recycle, and ACS Defend no longer count against the shared 500 Fuel Cells per calendar day cap.
    • The daily cap now applies only to reward-style Fuel Cell boosts, Sensor Phalanx scans, and Jump Gate activations.

  • v2.17.4 moon Solar Satellite output increase:

    • Solar Satellites built on moons now get a +60% base energy increase before Energy Technology and Fusion bonuses are applied.

  • v2.17.4 Exchange ratio rebalance:

    • Metal, Crystal, and Deuterium Exchange ratios now normalize from Metal / 10, Crystal / 4, and raw Deuterium, with the lowest of those three becoming the 1.0 floor.
    • Fuel Cell Exchange ratio now tracks total Fuel Cells in the universe divided by the current #1 overall player score. This was superseded by the v2.17.5 target-share ratio update.

  • v2.17.4 Exchange reconcile queue fix:

    • Active Exchange resource listings now reconcile correctly after listing updates instead of failing in the background queue before auto-matching can run.

  • v2.17.4 shipyard queue gap recovery:

    • Shipyard and Defense queues now automatically close stale timing gaps when an unfinished order is left behind a future start time.
    • This fixes cases where the head of the queue could appear stuck even though no earlier unit order was still blocking it.

  • v2.17.4 construction queue timing sync:

    • Active Building, Research, Shipyard, and Defense queues now automatically recalculate when a completed Building or Research changes their construction speed.
    • This covers timing modifiers such as Robotics Factory, Nanite Factory, Research Lab, Plasma Technology, Material Physics, and Missile Silo so long queues stay aligned after the speed upgrade finishes.

  • v2.17.4 cancel refund reliability:

    • Canceling an active Building or Research queue item now refunds against the latest locked planet state so overlapping page requests cannot wipe out the returned resources.

  • v2.17.4 battle report debris clarity:

    • Exploration combat reports now show how much debris your surviving Wayfinders harvested immediately, and the recycler estimate now counts only the debris still left to collect.

  • v2.16.13 Exchange reliability and payout update:

    • Moon Base Research now grants Industry-only Exchange receipt bonuses by live ratio rank, and Industry statistics show a merged Exchange activity card plus a separate Moon Base bonus counter.
    • Exchange posting and Exchange pickup cargo checks now use the full eligible Small Cargo / Large Cargo / Colony Ship pool after travel fuel reserve is accounted for.
    • Resource listings can no longer be bought or auto-matched against your own account, and scheduled Exchange Fuel Cell deliveries now arrive correctly.

  • v2.16.13 Patrol exchange interception update:

    • Patrol ticks now have a 1% chance to catch eligible Exchange convoys whose route crosses the patrolled system while that mission is still in flight.
    • This includes both trips to the Exchange and return trips from it, but worlds inside the Exchange system itself are excluded because there is no interceptable transit path between them.

  • v2.16.13 Fuel Cell production increase:

    • Fusion Reactor charging now stores Fuel Cells at 1.25% of fusion output instead of 1%, increasing passive Fuel Cell creation by 25%.

  • v2.17.0 Sensor Phalanx refresh update:

    • Opening a Sensor Phalanx report still costs 2 Fuel Cells, but refreshing that same open report is now free for 5 minutes.
    • Closing the phalanx window ends the free refresh window, so reopening the report starts a new paid scan.

  • v2.17.0 civilian ship stat rebalance:

    • Recycler base speed increased to 10,000.
    • Wayfinder base stats updated to 18,000 speed, 25,000 cargo, 100 fuel, 225 weapon, 150 shield, and 3,500 armor.

  • v2.16.12 galaxy debris and statistics update:

    • Recyclers can now launch Harvest missions to any real debris field coordinate, even when there is no planet in that slot.
    • On desktop and mobile Galaxy view, selecting a debris field now opens a Harvest action directly, with debris-only slots showing the Harvest option by themselves and displaying how many recyclers are ready before you launch.
    • Debris fields remain Harvest targets even when the same slot contains a player in Isolation Mode.
    • Galaxy debris tooltips now include your Laser Technology harvest bonus, and the Harvest shortcut sends enough salvage ships for both the visible debris and your personal bonus when those ships are available.
    • Military statistics now combine destroyed and lost combat value into one encounter-style card and break Patrol results into missions, tickets, and outcome rate.

  • v2.16.12 laser recycler yield rebalance:

    • Laser Technology now boosts recycler harvests by +1% metal, +2% crystal, and +3% deuterium per level instead of using the same rate for every debris resource.
    • Harvest logs, research summaries, and statistics-backed laser bonus debris tracking now reflect the split resource bonus correctly.

  • v2.16.7 trade Fuel Cell bonus correction:

    • Trade mission Fuel Cell boosts now multiply only the mission's random +1% to +25% trade bonus on successful ticks instead of multiplying the full converted amount.
    • The Trade mission launch preview and wiki examples now describe that rule correctly so the expected payout matches the live behavior.
    • Patrol Fuel Cell boosts now cap at +100% debris instead of climbing to the full 6x reward ladder, and they still do not increase hostile Patrol encounter size.
    • Recon Fuel Cell boosts now improve positive Recon reward amounts and the per-tick active mission manifest chance, stacking with Recon Technology up to the same 25% cap, but no longer add extra recon target slots or modify espionage report-roll odds.
    • Exploration Fuel Cell boosts are now explicitly locked to reward outcomes only: found resources and found ship value still scale on the full reward ladder, encounter debris now caps the Fuel Cell portion at +100%, and hostile encounter fleet size still does not scale up.

  • v2.16.8 fleet launch fuel-reserve fix:

    • Desktop and mobile launch pads now reserve mission fuel inside cargo space consistently before launch.
    • Fleet launch now blocks with the correct failure reason when you do not have enough cargo for the real launch load or enough deuterium to cover the larger of carried deuterium and mission fuel.
    • If you load extra deuterium as cargo, only that extra deuterium remains on the fleet after launch fuel is consumed.

  • v2.16.9 fleet launch deuterium accounting fix:

    • Desktop and mobile launch pads now count loaded deuterium toward fuel first instead of requiring that same deuterium a second time on top of fuel.
    • If loaded deuterium is below the fuel cost, launch now auto-loads only the missing deuterium shortfall from the origin world.
    • If loaded deuterium is above the fuel cost, the fleet now keeps only the leftover deuterium after launch instead of restoring burned fuel later.

  • v2.16.10 mobile launch and planet abandon fix:

    • Mobile fleet launch now reads available origin resources from the active planet state correctly again, which fixes false LOW FUEL errors when the player already has enough deuterium loaded for launch.
    • Abandoning a planet now uses an explicit yes/no confirmation instead of a password prompt, which restores the flow for linked portal accounts that do not have a matching local universe password.

  • v2.16.9 research tree browsing update:

    • Desktop research now lets you browse all four specialization trees even after you have already selected a focus.
    • Trees outside your selected focus are view-only, so you can inspect their unlock paths without being able to start those researches.

  • v2.16.9 exploration research update:

    • Exploration focus now uses Gravitational Navigation instead of Graviton Technology in its late explorer lane.
    • Gravitational Navigation improves positive expedition rewards by 5% per level, reduces hostile encounter size by 5% per level, and shifts 1 percentage point of empty-tick chance per level into resource and ship finds.
    • Wayfinder Research still adds Exploration mission slots and reward scaling, and now also adds +15% of base Wayfinder shield strength per level.
    • Graviton Technology now serves as a Deathstar unlock only and no longer reduces moon-destruction self-destruction chance.

  • v2.16.6 exploration and missile control update:

    • Missile details in the Shipyard now include a DESTROY action that removes all stored missiles of the selected type from the current planet.
    • Exploration hostile encounters now use a 0.45 strength modifier against the normal 30% to 150% expedition-score range, for an effective hostile range of 13.5% to 67.5% of your fleet score.
    • Explorer Statistics now track total exploration ticks, outcome mix, lost-fleet value, hostile encounter loss/destroyed/debris totals, and a more accurate expedition swing.

  • v2.16.5 exploration encounter recovery hotfix:

    • Exploration hostile encounters now persist correctly again instead of failing during mission ship-state updates.
    • This fixes a live bug where expedition ambushes could silently collapse back into ordinary status ticks because the encounter resolver tried to write non-mission units such as Solar Satellites into fleet_missions.
    • Exploration encounter debris now lands in a random recyclable system slot from 1 to 15 instead of being stranded at deep-space position 16, and the encounter message now tells you where that debris landed.
    • Raider and Alien exploration encounters now scale 25% lighter than before, which reduces the size of those two hostile fleets without changing the Nomad branch.
    • Full combat-report views now use the real winner/defeat state instead of a hardcoded attacker-win layout, so exploration encounter reports show the correct outcome styling for the defending player.
    • The Shipyard queue now links directly to Defense Stats, ship stats now include Interplanetary Missiles, and defense stats explicitly include Anti-Ballistic Missiles.
    • The desktop resource bar now shows storage fill countdowns for Metal, Crystal, Deuterium, and active Fuel Cell production, and the Energy line now shows the Solar Satellite count needed to break even when that planet is in an energy deficit.
    • Options -> Gameplay now lets you reorder your planets, and that order carries through to the Buildings selector, Launch Pad colony list, and other planet-switching interfaces.
    • The desktop Launch Pad now renders slightly larger ship and missile art, and each tile keeps its available unit count anchored at the bottom of the icon for faster fleet selection.

  • v2.16.4 queue timing clarity hotfix:

    • Building, Research, Shipyard, and Defense queues now show both the current item timer and the full queue completion time.
    • Building and Research queue totals now correctly project queued follow-up entries even before those items have started.
    • Exploration missions now roll hostile contact on its own explicit 10% branch again, which restores expedition combat encounters and normalizes fleet-loss behavior around those missions.
    • Wayfinder Research now increases exploration rewards by 5% per level, including expedition resource finds, recovered ship value, and encounter debris rewards.
    • Material Physics now speeds ship and defense construction by 5% per level in addition to its existing cost reduction, and active shipyard queues recalculate when the research completes.

  • v2.16.3 deep-space debris stability hotfix:

    • Combat debris source tracking now handles negative galaxy and system coordinates correctly.
    • This fixes intermittent Season 2 page-load errors that could trigger while fleet mission updates processed combat debris records in deep-space lanes.
    • The /statistics page no longer crashes for Explorer-focused accounts when expedition recovery data loads; mission stat queries now ignore non-mission units such as Solar Satellites.

  • v2.16.2 version-tracking hotfix:

    • The in-game footer and other version displays now track the shipped Season 2 hotfix version correctly.
    • Live-lane hotfix branches now use explicit version names such as hotfix-2.16.2, and the shipped app version is synced to that same value so changelog links and footer labels stay accurate after deployment.
    • Fixed an NPC empire issue that could stop affected accounts from progressing normally while NPC automation was enabled.

  • v2.16.1 hostile scan stability hotfix:

    • Recon and espionage activity tracking now handles negative galaxy and system coordinates correctly.
    • This fixes intermittent page-load errors that could trigger while hostile scan events were being processed near deep-space lanes and edge-route coordinates.
    • Recon Technology now grants +1 effective espionage per level to the researching player, while alliance members receive +1 shared effective espionage for every 2 levels from their strongest allied Recon specialist only.

  • Rankings Hall Of Fame:

    • The Rankings page now includes a Hall Of Fame tab.
    • The left board tracks the top 10 1v1 combat reports by total damage destroyed.
    • The right board tracks the top 10 combat reports with more than 2 participants.
    • Entries show total damage, attackers, defenders, outcome, looted resources, debris, and alliance tags.
    • Winners are highlighted in green and losers in red.
    • Hall Of Fame snapshots refresh every hour on the hour and only include battle reports older than the previous hour.

  • Propulsion rebalance:

    • Combustion Drive now adds +12% ship speed per level.
    • Impulse Drive now adds +18% ship speed and +6% deuterium use per level.
    • Hyperspace Drive now adds +25% ship speed and +15% deuterium use per level.

  • Astrophysics late-game curve:

    • Levels 1-10 keep the old research costs.
    • Levels 11+ now ramp more steeply, reaching about 2x the previous price by level 20.

  • Astrophysics colony-cap correction:

    • Total planet cap is now explicitly enforced as 1 + Astrophysics level for both players and AI opponents.
    • Colony growth, colony-ship planning, and player guidance now align with that rule.

  • Empire View interface:

    • Added a new Empire View on desktop and mobile that shows the last synced snapshot of every owned planet and moon.
    • Each body card includes cached resources, storage, energy, structures, ships, defenses, and any active queues for that body.
    • Empire View uses client-side cache only, so switching to a planet or moon refreshes that body without force-updating the rest of the empire.

  • Statistics page focus switcher:

    • The desktop Statistics page now lets every player preview all four research-focus stat views without changing their saved specialization.
    • It still defaults to your currently selected research focus when you open the page.

  • Statistics detail expansion:

    • Exploration and Military statistics now let you toggle profit and mission-fuel panels between total values and per-mission averages for the last 24 hours, last 7 days, and the full current season.
    • Industrialist statistics now include a merged Exchange activity summary with separate M/C/D/F lines plus a dedicated Exchange bonus counter.
    • Explorer statistics now sort recovered ships by weighted ship value, and expedition swing/profit totals include ship finds, outright fleet losses, encounter losses, debris harvests, and mission fuel.
    • Expedition inbox rows now use shorter outcome-focused subjects with wider detail text so event results are easier to scan.
    • Hall Of Fame draw rows now highlight both attacker and defender names in yellow.

  • Fuel Cell balance update:

    • Fusion Reactor charging now stores Fuel Cells at 1% of fusion output instead of a 1:1 rate.
    • Existing stored Fuel Cells on planets and in-flight fleets were reduced to match the new economy scale.

  • Desktop Galaxy harvest action:

    • Debris field tooltips now include a direct Harvest button on desktop, and launching works with any number of available Recyclers as long as you have at least one on the selected world.

  • Combat report tech breakdown:

    • Combat report details now show the defender's Fleet and Defense weapon, shield, and armor bonuses on separate lines.
    • Older combat reports now backfill the missing bonus snapshot when possible so the report display matches the live combat formulas more closely.

  • Fuel Cell mission boost update:

    • Transport, Deployment, Recycle, and ACS Defend can spend Fuel Cells to double selected speed and reduce that launch's deuterium cost to 0.
    • Patrol, Trade, Recon, and Exploration now consume their Fuel Cell reward boost on launch instead of draining mission cargo later.
    • Result messages now show what the Fuel Cell boost added to the reward.

  • Moon utility Fuel Cell costs:

    • Sensor Phalanx scans now cost Fuel Cells from the scanning moon.
    • Jump Gate activations now cost Fuel Cells from the origin moon.

  • Fuel Cell daily spend cap:

    • Players can now consume at most 500 Fuel Cells per calendar day total across mission boosts, Sensor Phalanx scans, and Jump Gate activations.

  • Counter Intel balance update:

    • Counter Intel now grants +1 defensive espionage per level instead of +2.

  • Deathstar unlock correction:

    • Graviton Technology 1 is now required before you can build a Deathstar.

  • Intelligence research lane update:

    • Intelligence now uses Graviton Technology in its late support lane instead of Fuel Cell Technology.

  • Missile silo automation:

    • Completed silos can now auto-build either ABMs or IPMs in a dedicated missile lane.
    • ABM automation can automatically restock defensive interceptors after missile attacks when resources are available.

  • AI empire-behavior tuning:

    • AI opponents now plan longer building queues, establish a dynamic primary world, and move resources between colonies with cargo fleets.
    • They also rename planets with more human-like, persona-based naming styles instead of leaving every colony on generic defaults.

  • AI economy-loop hotfix:

    • Active AI empires are temporarily focusing less on routine probe launches and more on economy, logistics, and infrastructure recovery.
    • Their growth planner now keeps re-benchmarking stronger builder-style empires so stalled AI economies continue adapting instead of following one fixed build script forever.
    • Fixed a defense valuation issue that could break certain AI build plans and leave individual empires stuck.

March 2026

  • Research pacing update:
    • Base research durations are now 25% longer across all technologies.
    • Research Lab network bonuses and directional research penalties still apply after the longer base duration is calculated.
  • AI expansion planner hotfix:
    • AI opponents now respect the same colony-cap rules as players: total planet cap is 1 + Astrophysics level.
    • This restores AI colony expansion planning so they can make real use of their starter colony ships during season play.
  • Portal identity rollout validation:
    • Added non-production portal directory overrides so stage validation can target dev universe hosts without redirecting testers into live production universes.
  • Portal account hub and universe launcher:
    • Players now enter MWarfare through mwarfare.com, sign in once, and launch active universes from a central profile page.
    • The profile page sign-in now opens as an in-page username/password prompt instead of sending you through a visible Cognito sign-in page.
    • Linked universe cards now show your current rating and leaderboard position directly in the portal profile.
    • Email verification is now enforced before you can enter a universe.
    • Your username is now managed centrally so the same name follows you across linked universes.
    • Existing universe accounts are linked automatically when safe; unresolved account conflicts now require support review.
  • Desktop planet selector update:
    • Replaced the expanding radial picker with a scrollable selector panel so large empires can switch planets and moons without overlapping icons.
    • Combined planet and moon choices at the same coordinates into a single tile, with separate clickable planet and moon icons.
    • Strengthened the active-body highlight so it is easier to confirm which planet or moon you are currently viewing before switching.
  • Research specialization navigator update:
    • Desktop /research and the mobile research tab now start with a specialization choice: Military, Intelligence, Exploration, or Industry.
    • After you choose a focus, the research interface now switches to a dedicated grouped tree for that specialization instead of showing secondary support lanes underneath.
    • Players can change that focus until they start a research; the first research started from the specialization UI locks the chosen focus for that account.
    • Military, Intelligence, Exploration, and Industry now each have their own focused tree on both desktop and mobile.
    • Desktop now shows an Active Bonuses summary beside the focused tree, and mobile exposes the same researched-bonus summary through a bottom-sheet button.
    • Focus trees now use cumulative section gates: section 1 has no cross-tech prerequisite chain, section 2 needs 8 total levels from section 1, section 3 needs 4 total levels from section 2, and section 4 needs 2 total levels from section 3.

February 2026

  • Space Dock deployment/relocation expansion:
    • Added Deploy Space Dock flow from Facilities with destination prefill from Galaxy Dock actions.
    • Added relocation quote step showing fuel cost and cargo-capacity requirements before launch.
    • Relocation now supports moving all docked ships and stored resources.
    • Destination slots are now hard-locked during active Space Dock deployment/relocation travel.
    • Space Dock outpost sliders are enforced at 100% and hidden Moon Base level 1 baseline is always maintained.
  • Research system overhaul:
    • Added directional progression rules: players can freely research tiers 1-2 in any direction.
    • Added directional lock from tier 3 onward: only 3 final-direction researches can be chosen and they must be adjacent.
    • Added opposite-direction penalty: once the 3rd research is started in a direction, all tiers in the opposing direction take +100% research time.
    • Removed research teardown from /research.
    • Renamed the research action to Start Research.
    • Added a first-time tutorial popup on /research that explains these new limits.
  • Added new Phalanx Technology research:
    • Sensor Phalanx now requires Phalanx Technology before it can be built.
    • Each level of Phalanx Technology adds +1 system range per Sensor Phalanx level.
  • Research naming and UI updates:
    • NW3 renamed to Phalanx Technology.
    • Wayfinder and NW3 availability visuals now correctly gray out until unlocked.
  • Fleet and mission updates:
    • v2.17.4 NPC pause hotfix:
      • One affected NPC account now remains idle instead of continuing automated actions.
    • v2.17.2 deep-space tick hotfix:
      • Fixed a live S2 deep-space tick processing failure that blocked Exploration and Trade hold mission ticks from resolving.
      • Restored one-time recovery processing for affected missed deep-space ticks without applying any ship or cargo losses during the replay.
    • Rebalanced perk-research costs:
      • Recon Technology: 260,000 M / 380,000 C / 220,000 D
      • Intel Relay: 140,000 M / 210,000 C / 120,000 D
      • Space Dock Research: 120,000 M / 80,000 C / 60,000 D
      • Wayfinder Research: 90,000 M / 140,000 C / 100,000 D
      • Moon Base Research: 110,000 M / 130,000 C / 70,000 D
    • Added active fleet cap per player: base 5 fleets.
    • Computer Technology: every even level adds +2 active fleet slots.
    • Recon Technology: +1 active Recon mission slot, +10% positive Recon rewards, and +1 percentage point active mission manifest chance per level.
    • Wayfinder Research: +1 active Exploration mission slot per level.
    • Space Dock Research: +1 active Patrol mission slot and +5% Patrol debris rewards per level.
    • Moon Base Research: +1 active Trade mission slot and +5% Trade bonus margin per level.
    • Increased global ship fuel consumption by 10%.
    • Exploration outcome scaling now uses expedition fleet points; Wayfinders count at 250% value.
    • Exploration ambushes now trigger combat against a generated unknown fleet instead of flat percentage losses:
      • Enemy profiles: Nomads, Raiders, and Aliens.
      • Enemy fleet strength scales between 30% and 150% of the expedition fleet score.
      • Ambushes now generate a standard combat report (unknown attacker vs expedition defender).
      • Surviving Wayfinders automatically salvage encounter debris into available cargo capacity.
    • Mission unlock requirements added:
      • Exploration Hold requires Wayfinder Research level 1.
      • Trade Hold requires Moon Base Research level 1.
      • Recon Hold requires Recon Technology level 1.
      • Patrol Hold requires Space Dock Research level 1.
    • Deep-space hold mission messaging and cadence update:
      • Patrol Hold, Trade Hold, Recon Hold, and Exploration Hold all now process hold ticks every 30 minutes.
      • Players now receive a status message on every hold tick, including intervals where no event or no successful action occurs.
    • Launch Pad stability update:
      • Disabled fleet-notification auto-refresh while on Launch Pad so in-progress launch configuration is not reset when fleet return events occur.
    • Launch Pad interface refresh:
      • Ship cards now use larger icons, larger ship-count badges, and tighter card spacing for easier scanning.
      • The desktop Launch Pad now embeds the live Missions list underneath the fleet controls with its own scroll region.
      • The desktop sidebar now moves Messages to the right rail and adds a Statistics shortcut to Empire View on the left rail.