NOVA v0.19.0

What's New

Autopilot

  • A commander who stops giving orders no longer leaves a dead spot in the galaxy: after three production cycles without an order, the autopilot makes a few basic moves for them each cycle — modest fleets at nearby stars, the odd spy probe, some spending — never a nova bomb.
  • You are warned first. Two cycles without an order brings a push notification that the autopilot will step in soon; the takeover itself is announced to you and logged in the Diplomacy Global channel for everyone.
  • Any order you give takes control straight back. Fleets the autopilot already launched keep flying.
  • The new Autopilot panel is yours to set: Switch off for me if you never want it steering you in this game, or Engage now to hand your empire to it before you go away — a cautious bot beats an empire that sits still.
  • You can see who is on autopilot: an AUTO tag next to their name in Standings, and every order it issued reads "Autopilot dispatched …" in that commander's Comms.
  • When creating a game, Absent commanders lets the creator choose Autopilot (the default) or Sit still for the whole theatre.
  • In Try NOVA, the practice opponent now plays — gently — so newcomers meet fleets, probes, and the autopilot notices before their first real game.

Help at your fingertips

  • The lobby links to the online player manual, and every in-game panel carries a small ? that opens the manual chapter covering it.
  • Each order composer — send fleet, spy probe, nova bomb, auto-deploy, build gate — links to the exact manual section for that order.
  • The manual has a new Autopilot chapter.

Fleets and Jump Gates

  • When a star is out of reach, the composer now tells you exactly what it would take — "needs Range 14.3 (you have 10)" — and, if you can afford it, offers a one-tap Buy Range button for precisely the missing range.
  • A jump gate can now be upgraded to any whole-number speed above its current one, not just the next step.

Lobby

  • Creating a game: the settings are bounded to sensible ranges (2–8 commanders, 1 hour to 14 days, and so on), and the form says which value is out of range instead of silently refusing.
  • On a generated galaxy, joining now takes the next open seat for you and names your home star after your commander; games built from a saved map still let you pick a home world.
  • A game you created and that hasn't started yet can be deleted from its card.
  • Finished Try NOVA practice games no longer clutter your Ended games list.

Account

  • Your sign-in is renewed quietly while you play, so a long session no longer drops you to the sign-in screen mid-game; if you are ever signed out, the sign-in screen now says why.

Diplomacy

  • The message sheet makes room for the keyboard while you type, and the keyboard goes away when you leave Diplomacy.