- Development Update: 25 May 2026 - 25 May 2026
Belit Tseri glowered from the gantry of the Arkship Ganzir's engineering gallery at the melted housing of the lane amplifier. "Something was bound to fail during transition," said the engineer, eyeing her warily. "We still don't know how long we were in stasis. The stress of realspace entry...""Never mind that, Kari. Just tell me how long until we are moving again."The engineer was still contemplating an answer when Alukar appeared behind him. "Captain-General, we have established a rough estimate of our position, but it is imprecise given that we are also estimating the date. Reference stars have moved significantly enough that we can only be certain that much more time has passed than we anticipated.""How long?"His jaw clamped. "We can only establish a minimum... at least three thousand years."There was a long, silent moment. "Carry on, Alukar." She shot a look at the engineer. "Get b…
- Development Update: 13 May 2026 - 13 May 2026
The hull of the Arkship groaned as the vessel was ejected from the hyperspace anomaly into the structure of real space-time. Belit Tseri reeled at her station on the bridge, struggling to maintain her footing as the shift of realities threatened to overwhelm her senses. Realspace was ordered, regular, plodding... a palpably different feel from the chaotic, frenetic flow of hyperspace. Yet distantly familiar... how long had it been? Very long indeed. A glance at her bridge officers showed them seemingly unaffected. She straightened her tunic and tried to clear her head, and set to the task at hand: homeward bound again. But what state would the galaxy be in, after so long?Greetings, galactic despots! It has been a while... I'm told that time flows differently inside the hyperspace anomalies. Now that we are back in realspace, we have an updated build for you. It mostly includes under-the…
- Development Update: 10 August 2020 - 11 August 2020
Just a quick patch with a few bug fixes and resolution scaling changes. Patch Notes for 10 August 2020 (ver. r38774) Gameplay Additions and Changes Improvements to AI judgments about which planets should be offered/demanded when suing for peace. Added a "queue refit to recent design" option to the ship refit pane. Fixes Fix for a bug that was preventing Android colonists from suffering from overcrowding. Added a fix for some performance issues affecting older Intel HD Graphics drivers. Added a change to improve game stability on older hardware when memory utilization reaches 2GB. Starmap star names and ETA text should no longer get smaller when the game is played at low resolutions. The zoom level at which fleet icons transition from small ship art to rocket icons now happens at higher zoom-out stages when playing at 4K resolution. Happy communing!
- Development Update: 18 July 2020 - 18 July 2020
Hudson: Well that’s great… that’s just fuckin’ great, man. Now what the fuck are we supposed to do? We’re in some real pretty shit now, man! Hicks: Are you finished? Newt: I guess we’re not going to be leaving now, right? Ripley: I’m sorry, Newt. Newt: You don’t have to be sorry. It wasn’t your fault. Hudson: That’s it, man. Game over, man! Game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?! Burke: Maybe we could build a fire, sing a couple of songs, eh? Why don’t we try that? Newt: We better get back, ‘cause it’ll be dark soon, and they mostly come at night. Mostly. Patch Notes for 18 July 2020 (ver. r38753) Gameplay Additions and Changes A new "Faction Relations" pane can now be found in the Intelligence Briefing screen under Diplomacy. This is a visual display of which contacted factions are at war, have open ports treaties or alliances. Added +1 System Slot to the P…
- Development Update: 16 November 2019 - 16 November 2019
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only the bug fixes will remain. Patch Notes for 16 November 2019 (ver. r38646) Gameplay Additions and Changes It is now possible to pan the map during AI turns. If you find that this negatively impacts performance on slower graphics cards, this feature can be disabled by turning on the Simplified Graphics option. Added option "AI Turn Zooming" that additionally allows map zooming during AI turns. This optional feature may impact performance on some machines, so it is disabled by default. It is now possible to reverse engineer captured starships at any time, rather than only when you first capture them. Huma…
- Development Update: 16 October 2019 - 16 October 2019
Hudson: Is this going to be a stand-up fight, sir, or another bug hunt? Gorman: All we know is that there is still is no contact with the colony, and that a xenomorph may be involved. Frost: Excuse me sir, a what? Gorman: A xenomorph. Hicks: It's a bug hunt. Patch Notes for 16 October 2019 (ver. r38568) Fixes Fix for a rare bug that could cause multiple splinter colonies to spawn on the same planet. Fix for a bug that could occur when colonizing a planet with an existing outpost. Fix for a bug that could cause an uncompleted battle to be treated as a stalemate. Fix for a bug in the AI end turn logic. Fix for a naming error in planetary bombardment reports. Fix for a formatting error in the empire annexation report. Fix for a bug in the logic for tracking tinkers' Dzibix connection state. Attempted fix for a rare 'invalid bombardment request' bug. Fixes for bugs that could cause an 'erro…
- Development Update: 7 October 2019 - 7 October 2019
That transmission... Mother's deciphered part of it. It doesn't look like an S.O.S. It... it looks like a warning. Today's update contains some significant changes to economic balance and AI behavior, as well as a number of UI and gameplay improvements. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming! Economic and Difficulty Balance Changes We've felt for some time that it was a little bit too easy for factions to field impossibly (and sometimes game-breakingly) large fleets, and so we have substantially adjusted economic balance by increasing ship upkeep costs and curtailing the number and value of trade routes. Players must now invest more in economic support infrastructure as their fleets grow larger than a certain size. Because these smaller fleet sizes negatively impacted the capability of AI factions to present a challenge on the harder difficulty…
- Development Update: 14 February 2019 - 14 February 2019
Come with me if you want to live. Last month's patch was a big one, and so predictably there were bugs to hunt. Today's patch contains mostly bug fixes, and we also made some balance adjustments to the AI on "Easy" difficulty. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming! Patch Notes for 14 February 2019 (ver. 37980) Gameplay Changes and Additions AI-controlled factions now have an additional handicap when playing on the "Easy" difficulty level (ships cost additional Labor). The technology 'Cybernetic Organisms' is now available to all factions. This allows Harmonized population units to be De-Harmonized, and increases Battle Mech strength by +2. Unescorted transports carrying civilian colonists will now surrender to the enemy if attacked. Fixes Eliminating an empire by capturing its last outpost should no longer cause an error. Fix for a coin roundi…
- Development Update: 17 January 2019 - 17 January 2019
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F25142110%2F09c249ab09bd714ab8a2b3567dd79f2bf62007dd.jpg Greetings, interstellar tyrants! Today's patch has been a long time in the making: it includes extensive changes to the AI and diplomacy system, difficulty level balance, and adds an oft-requested Victory screen, complete with a stat graphs display. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming! Victory Screen and Graphs Upon achieving one of the victory conditions (Conquest, Diplomatic or Allied Victory), a Victory pane will become visible in the Diplomacy menu. This includes options to view a Graphs screen (with selectable displays to compare Population, Military Strength, Scientific Progress, Metal Production, Available Labor, Total Income, and Science Production), exit to main menu, or to continue playing. If the player chooses…
- Development Update: 19 March 2018 - 19 March 2018
I bid you a formal welcome, Captain. Today's patch contains a number of updates and tweaks to the base game, adds a new strategic territory overlay, and new functionality for the Orthin capacitors. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming! Orthin Busbars and Shield Capacitors As part of their mania for high energy physics, the deep-water dwelling Orthin have developed a unique high pressure metallurgy that allows for ultra high capacity energy transmission subsystems, enabling their vessels to mount unusually powerful beam weaponry. The elegant and elaborate cooling mechanism used by these high-pressure superconducting busbars takes up a significant amount of the ship's hull infrastructure, but also allows for the possibility of useful components being attached to this subsystem. Each Orthin military hull of cruiser size and larger now has a sing…
- Development Update: 19 March 2018 - 19 March 2018
I bid you a formal welcome, Captain. Today's patch contains a number of updates and tweaks to the base game, adds a new strategic territory overlay, and new functionality for the Orthin capacitors. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming! Orthin Busbars and Shield Capacitors As part of their mania for high energy physics, the deep-water dwelling Orthin have developed a unique high pressure metallurgy that allows for ultra high capacity energy transmission subsystems, enabling their vessels to mount unusually powerful beam weaponry. The elegant and elaborate cooling mechanism used by these high-pressure superconducting busbars takes up a significant amount of the ship's hull infrastructure, but also allows for the possibility of useful components being attached to this subsystem. Each Orthin military hull of cruiser size and larger now has a sing…
- Development Update: 21 February 2018 - 22 February 2018
Greetings, galactic despots! We hope you've had a triumphant holiday campaign season. Today's patch includes some expanded functionality for the Legacies features, including some new weapons and technologies. Next we will be working on improving some of the base game systems, including AI, diplomacy, tactical UI and victory conditions. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming! Herald Reputation and Codexes The Herald of the Arda Seed now tracks faction reputation with the player. Completing peaceful trades with the Herald will increase reputation over time, while destruction of Arda Seed units or intrusions into Hyperspace Anomalies will decrease reputation. The roster of items which the Herald will offer for sale is also now dependent on reputation; more advanced items will require higher reputation. In addition to existing technologies, the Her…
- Development Update: 21 February 2018 - 22 February 2018
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F25142110%2Fb86e9e595523d54cb82a533995b3d3c994a0d13c.jpg Greetings, galactic despots! We hope you've had a triumphant holiday campaign season. Today's patch includes some expanded functionality for the Legacies features, including some new weapons and technologies. Next we will be working on improving some of the base game systems, including AI, diplomacy, tactical UI and victory conditions. As always, your feedback and suggestions are important to us, so keep them coming! Herald Reputation and Codexes The Herald of the Arda Seed now tracks faction reputation with the player. Completing peaceful trades with the Herald will increase reputation over time, while destruction of Arda Seed units or intrusions into Hyperspace Anomalies will decrease reputation. The roster of items which the Herald will offer for sale is also now d…
- Development Update: 15 December 2017 - 15 December 2017
WE COME IN PEACE. WE BRING GREETINGS FROM A FRIENDLY SPECIES. DO NOT FEAR. WE SHALL NOT HARM YOU. THIS IS PROBE 2418-B, ON A PEACEFUL MISSION. WE ARE NON-HOSTILE AND SEEK TO ESTABLISH FRIENDLY RELATIONS. WE WISH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOU. PLEASE TRANSMIT DATA. THIS PROBE IS NON-HOSTILE. DO NOT ATTACK. WE COME IN PEACE. Patch Notes for 15 December 2017 (ver. 21692) Changes and Additions Added new units for the Arda Seed: the Steward, Engineer, and Harpy Nest. Arda Seed will now periodically reinforce, set up nests, and expand from systems they occupy. Added autopsy reports for the Proteans and all the new Arda Seed units. All Arda Seed units now have some inherent self-repair ability. Updated railgun animation. The Ashdar missile cruiser now has torpedo, rather than missile, hardpoints. It is now possible to embark ground units to a Station equipped with assault shuttle bays. Fixes Buildin…
- Development Update: 15 December 2017 - 15 December 2017
WE COME IN PEACE. WE BRING GREETINGS FROM A FRIENDLY SPECIES. DO NOT FEAR. WE SHALL NOT HARM YOU. THIS IS PROBE 2418-B, ON A PEACEFUL MISSION. WE ARE NON-HOSTILE AND SEEK TO ESTABLISH FRIENDLY RELATIONS. WE WISH TO LEARN MORE ABOUT YOU. PLEASE TRANSMIT DATA. THIS PROBE IS NON-HOSTILE. DO NOT ATTACK. WE COME IN PEACE. Patch Notes for 15 December 2017 (ver. 21692) Changes and Additions Added new units for the Arda Seed: the Steward, Engineer, and Harpy Nest. Arda Seed will now periodically reinforce, set up nests, and expand from systems they occupy. Added autopsy reports for the Proteans and all the new Arda Seed units. All Arda Seed units now have some inherent self-repair ability. Updated railgun animation. The Ashdar missile cruiser now has torpedo, rather than missile, hardpoints. It is now possible to embark ground units to a Station equipped with assault shuttle bays. Fixes Buildin…
- Development Update: 27 October 2017 - 27 October 2017
THIS IS A SYSTEM MESSAGE FROM THE SHIP'S COMPUTER TRANSLATION SUBSYSTEM: INCOMING MESSAGE EXTREMELY UNUSUAL IN COMPOSITION. TRANSLATION INCLUDES MANY LINGUAL ANOMALIES. OVERALL ACCURACY OF TRANSLATION IS: UNKNOWN. MESSAGE BEGINS: With new *expansion* comes new *bugs*, which makes us *frumple*. And so we offer *fixes* in this *patch*, and some new *juice*. If you are *campers* you will enjoy *the change*, but maybe not yet. We are *friends* now. Never be afraid to *open* enough and *spread the wax*. Let's *spitting* the fun words for several *pieces* and then surprising things!!! Patch Notes for 27 October 2017 (ver. 21606) Changes and Additions Added new tactical background art for battles at Hyperspace Anomalies. Added the "Herald" battlecruiser-class unit for the Arda Seed. The Herald will now use this instead of a Mediator. Changed the behavior of Star Harpy swarm events: swarms are…
- Development Update: 27 October 2017 - 27 October 2017
THIS IS A SYSTEM MESSAGE FROM THE SHIP'S COMPUTER TRANSLATION SUBSYSTEM: INCOMING MESSAGE EXTREMELY UNUSUAL IN COMPOSITION. TRANSLATION INCLUDES MANY LINGUAL ANOMALIES. OVERALL ACCURACY OF TRANSLATION IS: UNKNOWN. MESSAGE BEGINS: With new *expansion* comes new *bugs*, which makes us *frumple*. And so we offer *fixes* in this *patch*, and some new *juice*. If you are *campers* you will enjoy *the change*, but maybe not yet. We are *friends* now. Never be afraid to *open* enough and *spread the wax*. Let's *spitting* the fun words for several *pieces* and then surprising things!!! Patch Notes for 27 October 2017 (ver. 21606) Changes and Additions Added new tactical background art for battles at Hyperspace Anomalies. Added the "Herald" battlecruiser-class unit for the Arda Seed. The Herald will now use this instead of a Mediator. Changed the behavior of Star Harpy swarm events: swarms are…
- Stars in Shadow: Legacies is now available! - 19 October 2017
PLAY AS MEGA-MACHINE WORSHIPPING CYBORGS, IN STARS IN SHADOW: LEGACIES DLC, OUT TODAY Publisher Iceberg Interactive and developer Ashdar Games announce that Legacies, the first expansion for turn-based 4X strategy game Stars in Shadow, is available for purchase today through Steam, GOG and all major digital retailers at an SRP of $4.99. To celebrate the launch of Legacies, Stars in Shadow is currently on a weeklong 40% discount on Steam. Legacies adds one new minor faction and one new playable faction, the cyborg Tinkers who excel in production. They worship Dzibix, an ancient mega-machine that covers the whole surface of their arid home world of the same name. The Arda Seed are a minor faction who utilize hyperspace lanes, causing hyperspace anomaly locations to pop up in the galaxy. Legacies is the first DLC to explore the causes behind the collapse of the Golden Age and subsequent Gr…
- Stars in Shadow: Legacies is now available! - 19 October 2017
PLAY AS MEGA-MACHINE WORSHIPPING CYBORGS, IN STARS IN SHADOW: LEGACIES DLC, OUT TODAY Publisher Iceberg Interactive and developer Ashdar Games announce that Legacies, the first expansion for turn-based 4X strategy game Stars in Shadow, is available for purchase today through Steam, GOG and all major digital retailers at an SRP of $4.99. To celebrate the launch of Legacies, Stars in Shadow is currently on a weeklong 40% discount on Steam. Legacies adds one new minor faction and one new playable faction, the cyborg Tinkers who excel in production. They worship Dzibix, an ancient mega-machine that covers the whole surface of their arid home world of the same name. The Arda Seed are a minor faction who utilize hyperspace lanes, causing hyperspace anomaly locations to pop up in the galaxy. Legacies is the first DLC to explore the causes behind the collapse of the Golden Age and subsequent Gr…
- LEGACIES Update: 19 October 2017 - 19 October 2017
Do not be alarmed, leader of Humanity. This herald arrives on a mission without violence. Human vessels now delve deeper into hyperspace than ever before. The symmetry is disturbed. It is at this time that we who dwell in hyperspace must come to the surface and impart, and convey… and perhaps interact. The Stars in Shadow: LEGACIES DLC is available today, and accompanying it is a patch to the base game with a number of new features and changes. For more details about the LEGACIES DLC additions, see below the patch notes. We are always eager to listen to your feedback and suggestions, so don't hesitate to share your thoughts with us. Patch Notes for 19 October 2017 (ver. 21569) Changes & Additions The Tinkers faction has been added to the game, and is available as an opponent faction. The Legacies DLC is required to play as the Tinkers. Hyperspace Anomalies have been added to the map; th…
