2026-02-23
- Pathfinding and formation movement stabilization pass: reduced stop-start stutter, improved waypoint handling, and tightened large-fleet flow under heavy traffic.
- Fixed opposite-direction move behavior by improving formation follower guidance and adding anti-reverse checks during formation path following.
- Restored strict Range Rows behavior: ships with the same effective weapon range now stay on the same horizontal row, with longer-range rows behind shorter-range rows.
- Added hold-position yield behavior: ships on hold now temporarily move aside when blocked, then return toward hold positions to prevent fleet deadlocks.
- Refined friendly ship spacing and unstick logic for crowded formations to reduce pileups and persistent blocking in large battles.
- AI macro-tech progression overhaul: enemy AI now force-prioritizes full tech-chain completion through Starbase Command and Flagship Program, then actively produces Uber-class fleets once unlocked.
- AI build/economy behavior now prioritizes critical tech structures before over-investing in turret rings, and builder assignment can preempt low-priority construction to avoid late-tech stalls.
- AI siege behavior improved: attack waves now flank perimeter defenses on normal/hard, and long-range ships prioritize turret-wall and base-break targets during structure assaults.
- Formation cohesion fix: corrected follower offset math to be leader-relative, selected formation leaders from central slots, and added follower catch-up speed during movement so mixed-speed fleets hold shape better in transit.
- Expanded pathfinding validation tooling with authenticated in-match stress scenarios (all ship types, all formation types) plus strict range-row invariants.
- Added a visual-proof scenario command that captures multi-frame formation and hold-yield sequences with metrics and screenshots for regression verification.