Phew, here it finally is, almost a year after the previous version!

0.5.2 itself has been ready for a while, but I went through quite a hassle during the release process; hopefully everything works fine. This is really a mess of a release, and hard to summarize. There are tons of new things, but no particular theme. Also, many of the features are preliminary changes that will be further improved in the next versions. Most of the essentials should be covered below.

Major features

Graphical overhaul

Arena environment, menu backgrounds, shipyard etc. are completely redone. So more dust, rust, smoke and overall grittiness.

Clearer in-game feedback effects for paralyzation (left) and cockpit destruction (right). Explosions, smoke and many other game effects are also improved.

Audience

No more empty space in the stands; they are now filled with spectators. An announcer and a hockey organist brighten up the mood.

Tournament statistics

Tournament results contain many pages of miscellaneous secondary stuff about battles, weapon usage, playing style and mishaps. It's not only about winning, after all.

UI improvements

Gamepad browsing is now properly supported in menus, and controls/shortcuts are more consistent. Also instructions on the tutorial page and for ship/fleet handling are more throughout. Look and feel is still in progress, but much better than it used to be. 

AI improvements

NPCs have learned lots of new tricks: creative defensive use of beams and cutters, improved efficiency with plasma orbs as well as slightly better tactical awareness. Base code is heavily refactored for more personalized and varying AI combatants in the future.

Improved camera handling

Lots of small fixes and tweaks, as well as complete code cleanup. Shakes and predictions work better, and camera tweening is now more consistent.

Organ music!

Because.

Fixes and smaller improvements

Improvements:

• Simplified crosshair is clearer, and it should no longer interfere with the game.
• Weapons are better balanced: cutters are weaker, cannon shooting interval is increased, homing missiles cause no collateral damage, missiles accelerate faster, shields are more durable and less energy-consuming, plasma orbs are faster, ...
• Text improvements: notification on last tournament ship, clarified control texts and replaced erroneous messages. Added notifications about mishaps during the battles.

Fixes:

• Proper handling of oversized fleets (i.e. not crashing anymore).
• Stalemate timeout is reset at the start of the battle.
• Energy overflow warning sound is played in test flights.
• Tutorial guidance texts stay on screen properly.
• Lots and lots and lots of other fixes.

Issues

• Gamepad is not supported in the shipyard.
• Occasional GUI issues such as focus losses (in gamepad browsing), and glitches in animations/transitions.
• Still numerous problems with AI behavior. These just keep coming and coming.
• There are issues with colors and contrasts in several places. I have to educate myself more about color grading and post processing.

Coming up in the next versions

• Maneuverability improvements. Perhaps some special modules to create a completely new class of ships that excel with their movement.
• Better obstacle placement for more interesting arena layouts.
• More personalized AI combatants with special skills and playing styles.
• Better color/contrast balancing as it is hard to make screenshots look right.
• Improved tutorial.
• Possibly a team play to replace current co-op mode.
• GUI overhaul including shipyard improvements and gamepad support.
• More tournament statistics (suggestions are welcome) and other secondary stuff.