Horizon: Humans in space gets new patch

[Anguille]

We are very happy to announce that our 2nd post-launch update is now available. We hope you will enjoy the new features! – Horizon Team

The update introduces a new combat management system, allowing players to better manage each and every battle. Battle engagements are now individually presented on the galaxy map for players to make quick and informed decisions to engage, retreat or auto-resolve. An after battle report summary is also displayed with the results. The system also enhances the participation of allies which can join the battle on either side

Horizon receives new major add-on/update v1.0.1.100
Thursday June 19, 2014

Combat Management System / Instanced Combat
* A new instancing mode, allows the player to control every combat synchronously one at a time. If the player is involved in a battle - a prompt is shown with choices to engage/flee/auto-resolve or do nothing
* Engage sector can now be set to multiple sectors, it is necessary for attacking non-hostiles and quest/missions related monsters/ships. In all other cases the prompt will appear automatically at the end of movement if sector has not been engaged at the start of Turn.
* Allied ships can participate in instanced combat on either side
* When the battle begins ships in combat are already in close range of each other to allow for quicker engagements with less ship movements to manage
* The Galaxy map pinpoints every battle location before combat. While an after report summary is displayed after combat has ended. Orders such as Invade are now available immediately before combat ends to facilitate things.
* AI Ships have gained a new instinct mode that is used to assess when to retreat from battles. A new ship retreat and a group mass-retreat button has been added for the player's benefit as well
* Retreating ships are given a move order to their nearest base/colony if the battle is lost
* The number of combat rounds has been increased to 50 and ships are automatically resupplied after combat

Boarding Combat
* AI boarding now uses the new instinct system making boarding more common when ships are vulnerable
* We have added to and improved boarding combat messages to provide better progress info
* Ship scans will now reveal on-board marines (their own, as well as from allies and hostiles)

Other Combat Related:
* Stealth, cloaked and weapon de-buff effect icons are now shown with tooltip info in tactical view
* Ship status panel info will now persist during attacks if player or an ally is involved during tactical combat showing their status during attacks
* Life-forms (such as monster) attacks now have appropriate names. Their attack types have also been improved and are much more powerful
* A Fast-resolve mode has been added for invasions, clicking on the screen during the combat phase will speed things up for quick results
* Relations are now shown for non-player ships and task forces when scanned or on the galaxy task force panel to identify more easily friend from foe
* Cloaked ship thrusters will now correctly fade along with the ship
* Fixed an issue where combat animation speed would not match the speed button setting due to accumulated frames buffering
* Fighters will no longer launch from carriers during attacks vs. planets


Ship Design and Technology
* Ship design limits for weapon refills and emplacements have been increased to allow for more configuration options
* Auto-repair bots technology has been buffed up - repairing ships to full after combat and to a lesser extent during combat
* Advanced refit will now set the colonizer role for ships that gain colonizer pods, fixing an issue where they could not execute colonize orders

Diplomacy related
* Race Report on Diplomacy now clears extinct races from each race's ally/enemy lists
* The "reckless expansion" controversy threshold is now dependent on the game difficulty setting
* Reduced the Diplomacy AI advisor's chance to offer systems to other races
* An armistice treaty will now work better with other checks like blockades etc. being suspended while the treaty remains active
* Cancel armistice will now work correctly by immediately cancelling the treaty effect
* Galactic council (classic mode) will now convene with a minimum of 3 races. The first council vote will also happen immediately once the player has discovered all races and at least 100 turns has been played

UI and Journal
* The colony "civilian buildings" cap is now shown on planet view details before colonization
* The tutorial journal entries have been improved to make it easier to follow
* Several quest journal entries, clues and hints have been improved to provide better info

Fixes and other changes
* Fixed the scroll-bar not showing correctly sometimes with multi-line text on Last Turn Summary
* Fixed dig completion messages sometimes being repeated in the same turn
* Fixed an issue with Unload troops order that could cause a crash if the colony didn't have barracks or any soldiers
* Fixed an issue where decimals were sometimes showing for whole units

* Split task forces will no longer get stuck waiting if any ships are stranded in hyperspace during Stargate travel
* Improved ETA precision for hyperspace / Stargate travel
* ISN news will no longer cull normal priority messages even when there are higher priority messages. Low priority messages will still be culled. This is further adjustable through Game Options
* Added ISN news graphics for relation changes and toxic planet reports

http://forum.l3o.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1220&p=5368#p5368

[Jarhead0331]

How do you feel about this one Anguille?  Is it worth a second a look?

[Anguille]

How do you feel about this one Anguille?  Is it worth a second a look?

I'd say yes. The game had two major updates (this one included) since release and i think that the game is much better now. What is it that you didn't like when you played it?

[Jarhead0331]

How do you feel about this one Anguille?  Is it worth a second a look?

I'd say yes. The game had two major updates (this one included) since release and i think that the game is much better now. What is it that you didn't like when you played it?

It just struck me as a little bland and soulless...nothing really unique or innovative. While I know it won't change, I also didn't really care for most of the alien races. They just look corny...

[Ian C]

Just picked this up on STEAM. Looking forward to giving it a go later.

[bbmike]

It's half off on Steam right now. If it pops up cheaper on a flash sale I might pick it up.

[mikeck]

The thing that struck me was absolute cheesiness. A fat alien in a suit that talks like a used car salesman? Diplomacy was like leisure suit Larry in space. Additionally, there wasn't much to do:
Fly to star
Colonize planet
Build

Same as every other but with very limited ship chassis and bad tactical combat.

I played the original alpha though and have never bothered to give it another look

[Anguille]

It's the closest thing to a MOO2 sequel that i've seen so far. The races are indeed cheesy but i don't mind, it's almost a one man project...and the support is great because it's the game they wanted to create and play. I don't know yet how much i am going to play it either but it was at least great fun for a month for me (about 35 hours of gameplay) so it's worth it for me.

[bbmike]

It's the closest thing to a MOO2 sequel that i've seen so far. The races are indeed cheesy but i don't mind, it's almost a one man project...and the support is great because it's the game they wanted to create and play. I don't know yet how much i am going to play it either but it was at least great fun for a month for me (about 35 hours of gameplay) so it's worth it for me.

:o Them's mighty powerful words! Maybe $14.99 isn't too much?!?

[bbmike]

Horizon just had a small update today but here's the important part:

[1.0.1.105] - Latest Notes
Monday July 14, 2014
v1.0.1.105

Today's minor update is preparation for Modding support and a couple of fixes. Also game font now supports Russian characters.

Modding support! That could be huge for this game depending on what they open up to the public for editing.

[Jarhead0331]

Horizon just had a small update today but here's the important part:

[1.0.1.105] - Latest Notes
Monday July 14, 2014
v1.0.1.105

Today's minor update is preparation for Modding support and a couple of fixes. Also game font now supports Russian characters.

Modding support! That could be huge for this game depending on what they open up to the public for editing.

The only problem is that there is nobody playing it, so I'm not sure how active a modding community there will be.

[Anguille]

Horizon just had a small update today but here's the important part:

[1.0.1.105] - Latest Notes
Monday July 14, 2014
v1.0.1.105

Today's minor update is preparation for Modding support and a couple of fixes. Also game font now supports Russian characters.

Modding support! That could be huge for this game depending on what they open up to the public for editing.

The only problem is that there is nobody playing it, so I'm not sure how active a modding community there will be.

Well, i wouldn't say nobody but you're right in the sense that i don't think there's going to be lots of mods....

[Jarhead0331]

Horizon just had a small update today but here's the important part:

[1.0.1.105] - Latest Notes
Monday July 14, 2014
v1.0.1.105

Today's minor update is preparation for Modding support and a couple of fixes. Also game font now supports Russian characters.

Modding support! That could be huge for this game depending on what they open up to the public for editing.

The only problem is that there is nobody playing it, so I'm not sure how active a modding community there will be.

Well, i wouldn't say nobody but you're right in the sense that i don't think there's going to be lots of mods....

You're right...there is you. I stand corrected.  O:-)

[Anguille]

Horizon just had a small update today but here's the important part:

[1.0.1.105] - Latest Notes
Monday July 14, 2014
v1.0.1.105

Today's minor update is preparation for Modding support and a couple of fixes. Also game font now supports Russian characters.

Modding support! That could be huge for this game depending on what they open up to the public for editing.

The only problem is that there is nobody playing it, so I'm not sure how active a modding community there will be.

Well, i wouldn't say nobody but you're right in the sense that i don't think there's going to be lots of mods....

You're right...there is you. I stand corrected.  O:-)

;)

Actually, there are some hardcore players in the forum who are looking at all the details of the game (not me: no time and too many games). I fully understand that you don't like the artwork and the races, they are really not as good as many games on the market right now. Still, i think the core of the game is really solid and there are some really nice ideas. I must admit that i haven't played much in a month and i am really uncertain how often i am going to play it but i'll start a new game at some point.

Cheers

[bbmike]

Started my first game last night. It has a very strong MOO2 vibe. In fact it feels exactly like (interface-wise only so far) MOO2 with updated graphics. What I don't like so far is the way techs and ship upgrades work. You just keep upping levels? It seems like they forgot to bring those parts of the game out of Alpha stage. I would think that would be an easy update for the them though.

And again, like Gerry Rafferty said about other space 4x games post MOO2 -  its got so many features but its got no soul. Ok, maybe Gerry didn't say features. Or sing about space 4x games.  ::)