Expanding Fronts 1.5.3 Now Available! news

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Computer Classic AI!

The new Expanding Fronts Computer AI has seen some drastic improvements, with the AI now properly utilizing the game’s entire roster of units, technologies, and superior build orders. Many have found it much more challenging. So, we’ve added the classic version of Computer AI back as a selectable option and made it compatible with all Expanding Fronts content. Now, you can play against the old AI again or even pit the new AI against the old and compare them.

More Campaign Fixes!

A longstanding issue dating back to Clone Campaigns whereby the AI of many missions in the base GB campaigns did not work at all, leading to straightforward and boring missions, has been rectified. Additionally, quality-of-life improvements to make the missions less tedious have been implemented.

New Technology!

Trooper units have always been an integral and iconic part of Star Wars, but in Galactic Battlegrounds they were often overshadowed by the higher health of Mechs or obliterated by the huge bonus damage from Air. Some civs have huge +HP techs that make their troops valuable but civs without this really struggle with the durability of their units. This Tech Level 3 tech allows these troop civs to get the durability they need while still allowing the unique traits of civs new and old to shine. In the case of Rebel Alliance and Wookiees, their troopers still end up at the same final HP, but they can use Stimpacks to already improve their troopers in Tech Level 3.

New Features

• Added kills count to the object panel when you select a unit. This lets you know the individual amount of kills that a unit has made.

Performance & Stability

• Fixed a crash that could occur while moving some uninitialized trigger effects.

Gameplay Fixes & Improvements

• Fixed a bug that prevented Cargo Freighters from being damaged by Assault Mechs anti-air attack and Air Cruisers.
• Cargo Freighters no longer receive shielding from Shield Generators.

Graphics

> VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS

• Added tropical water varieties to Carbon Gas Vents and Underwater Crag Rocks.
• Remade object graphics for: Tree (Vweliu), Tree (Kenalpa), Farrberry Fruit Bush, and Sunberry Fruit Bush.
• Remade unit graphics for (RP) Attacker.
• Remade graphics for multiple editor units: (RP) Infantry Support Platform, (RP) Delta-7B variants, (RP) Azure Angel (Anakin Skywalker), (RP) Gregor, (RP) Crosshair, (RP) Hunter, (RP) Tech, (RP) Wrecker, (RP) Clone Pilot [Phase II], (RP) Wullf Yularen, (RP) Clone Officer, (CF) Assajj Ventress, (CF) Durge, (GE) Infantry Officer, (GE) Grand Admiral Zaarin, (RA) Rebel Pilot, (RA) Antoc Merrik, (NR) Corran Horn Pilot, (WK) Tarfful, and Mandalorian infantry units.
  
• Changed projectile on (RN) Fast Fighter, (RN) Adv Fighter, (RN) Attacker, as well as all editor N-1s to double green lasers.

> FIXES

• Fixed layering issue that caused Sensor Buoys and Aquaharvesters to sometimes appear beneath other buildings.

Interface

> TECH TREE

• Cannons will no longer show as not-highlighted in the Tech Tree during a match when the conditions are met.

> USER INTERFACE

• War Center: Moved (RP) Kaminoan Cloners, (RA) Tougher Armor, (GO) Potent Plasma, (CF) Battlefield Scanners, (ZC) Black Market Components, and (RS) Sensor Cloak UTs from button slot 5 to 7.
• Strengthened Assembly: Moved to slot 5
• Fixed multiple cases of actual unit damage/armor not matching their displayed stats.
• Adjusted positions of misaligned unit ability indicator icons
• Changed stealth indicator to be significantly brighter when enabled.

> TEXT & LANGUAGE

• (FO) Adv Bomber: Changed help text name from “TIE/ab Space Superiority Bomber” to “TIE/se Surface Eradication Bomber”.
• (FO) Adv Fighter: Changed help text name from “TIE/ws Whisper Starfighter” to “TIE/wi Whisper Starfighter”.
• (WK) People of the Trees: Description now properly refers to Carbon Proc Center instead of Research Center.
• Plant (Bamboo): Renamed to Tree (Bamboo)
• Fixed multiple cases of actual unit damage/armor not matching their displayed stats.
• Streamlined the extended descriptions of numerous Units and Technologies to fix typos, correct inaccuracies, add missing stat changes, and remove superfluous wording.
  
  

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AI Fixes & Quality of Life improvements

Many people have noticed the AI in the campaigns is extremely weak, often failing to do anything. It turns out that this is an unintended bug that has nothing to do with EF but has existed since the original Clone Campaigns.

Due to an oversight, when the Clone Campaigns development team added new technologies, the Disabled Techs section in the scenario got garbled, which the game then interprets as all techs are disabled: including behind-the-scenes techs that e.g. make units available. This leaves the AI with no way to train units, research technologies, or build buildings - in essence, it couldn’t do anything - by no fault of the AI scripts!

This affects many missions where people noted the AI being useless, such as Empire 4 (An Empire’s Fury), but it affects so many more, including missions you probably didn’t even realise had AI that were supposed to work, such as Tutorial 5 (Exploration and Transport). The full list of broken scenarios is TUT5, TUT6, TUT7, TF2, TF3, GN3, GN5, GN6, GN7, GE2, GE3, GE4, GE6, RA1, RA3, RA7, RA8, WK3, WK6, and WK8. For the sake of conciseness, these are not listed in the detailed changes below.

This wasn’t the only change made with Clone Campaigns - Jedi heroes received significant stat boosts, trivializing scenarios based around the GB balance. Using data triggers, these have been restored to their GB values. A few other fixes were made: several of the AI could be commanded with taunts 36 and 31 to attack even when no attacking was possible, and a handful of typos have been fixed.

Due to this being an issue with base GB scenarios, none of the Clone Campaigns campaigns are affected. Also note that none of the AI scripts themselves were edited to accomplish this.

Lastly, because of the internal structure of the campaigns, making one singular fix is about as irritating as making fifteen, so some quality of life improvements were also made, listed below. (“Population limit increased” refers to the player’s population limit).

Note: You can still play the bugged versions just as they were in Clone Campaigns by setting the Configurator to Clone Campaigns and playing the campaigns from there.

Unless otherwise specified, “Population limit increased” in the list below refers to the player’s population limit.

Trade Federation: OOM-9

• [2] Behind the Lines: Deactivated Camp starts with additional techs researched.
• [3] Spinnaker’s Spoils: Population limit increased 100->125. Ally population limit increased 25->50
• [4] Capturing the Crown: The Monument required for victory now builds significantly quicker (4000 -> 60)
• [5] The Search For An Underwater Kingdom: Mechanics and Force Stamina start researched
• [6] The Siege of Otoh Gunga: Galactic Banking is no longer disabled.
• [7] Grassy Plains (BONUS MISSION): All Gungan armies no longer research Potent Plasma and Explosive Yields Increased (both EF additions), however for an added challenge this is researched on Hard difficulty.

Gungans: Boss Nass

• [1-2] Otoh Sancture & The Gungan Who Would Be Boss: Bursa Hut HP has been reduced to 200, meaning you spend less time sitting around waiting for your units to bash the huts in.
• [2] The Gungan Who Would Be Boss: Rogoe's Spaceport HP reduced 2000 -> 600 as above
• [3] Raid on Spearhead: Air Cruisers are no longer available. Population limit 100->150. After you have talked to Bongokomen, Shipyards are now available to be built. Bongokomen's list of available buildings has been reduced.
• [5] The Chains are Broken: Population limit 100->125. Lors researched Automated Processing & Efficient Buildings to speed up the airbase you get. Monument builds 5x quicker.
• [6] Liberation of Harte Secur: Pop limit 100->150. When the scenario progresses, the required Command Center is revealed on the map. (Note: As part of the AI fixes, Camp 6’s disabled buildings list has been restored to what it was in GB, fixing issues where they would be able to meet the building rule to advance to the next Tech Level and defend their base with powerful units)

Galactic Empire: Darth Vader

• [1-3] Incursion on Yavin IV, Breaking Bread, Fire, Dearth, Water and Air: Vader has been reduced to his GB stats of 1/3 armor.
• [1] Incursion on Yavin IV: Fixed an issue where the allied Bombers would scout the map instead of obeying triggers.
• [2] Breaking Bread: Redid difficulty triggers to behave correctly.
• [3] Fire, Earth, Water and Air: Population limit 100->150. Changed AquaHarvester diplomacy to not get destroyed. Rebel Navy can no longer build additional Shipyards.
• [4] An Empire’s Fury: Population limit 75->125.
• [6] Cloud City Attack (BONUS MISSION 1): Air Cruisers are no longer disabled. Fixed some issues with Storehouse triggers. Monument required for victory builds 10x faster.
• [7] The Battle of Endor (BONUS MISSION 2): Population limit 100->125.

Rebel Alliance: Princess Leia

• [1-3] A Force From the Past, Chasing Ghosts, Vor’Na’Tu: Echuu has been reduced to his GB stats of 300 HP and 1/3 armor, making him almost a quarter as tanky against Stormtroopers.
• [4] Echoes of the Force: In order to make the scenario take less long as you watch Luke runaround, multiple speed techs are researched: Jedi Agility (x2), Advanced Engines (x3), Upgraded Generator, Advanced Generator. Additionally, Galactic Banking is now automatically researched as it was moved to TL4 in EF.
• [5] Loose Ends: Population limit 75->100.
• [6] Hoth (BONUS MISSION): Anti-Air Retrofit is disabled for the Empire, as this tech did not exist in GB. Additionally, in GB Walker Research only reduced the minimum range; this has been enabled, but the CC functionality of allowing Assaults to target air has been disabled.
• [8] Silken Asteroid Field (CHALLENGE MISSION): Population limit 75->100. Galactic Trade Comm and Altered Bargains start autoresearched.

Wookiees: Chewbacca

• [1,2,5] Homecoming, Laying Down Roots, The Challenge of Mattichek: Trandoshan Building (large) to 150 HP, and Trandoshan Building (small) to 100 HP. This makes WK1 take significantly less long and incentivizes them as objectives in later scenarios.
• [2] Laying Down Roots: Triggers for getting Mechs from the Trandoshan buildings will now work correctly if the jailor ungarrisons in a different location (eg: because the standard ungarrison location was being blocked by mounties torching the building)
• [3] Reunion Amongst The Trees: Population limit 120->125.
• [4] Chewie’s Hope: Imperial Depot researches multiple techs to make the Walkers more interesting as an objective. Enlarged trigger area that starts the Imperial Depot conversation. Removed a patch of ice. Population limit 100->150
• [5] The Challenge of Mattichek: Air Cruisers disabled at mission start. Wookiee prisoners from Trandoshan buildings will benefit from your techs. Upon capturing over the Imperial Airbase, building Airbases and training Air Cruisers become available. The Imperial Airbase also now comes pre-equipped with Automated Processes & Efficient Buildings to keep pace with your buildings.
• [7] The Liberation of Kessel (BONUS MISSION): Population limit 100->150. Luke Skywalker is now a Master (Force Concentration autoresearched) with 150 extra HP (600 total), to incentivise using him as a hero as opposed to giving all four heroes a garrison order in the nearest building. Kessel Prisoners mine ore 1000x slower, meaning you no longer have to take out the people you're trying to save to get ore for your defenses.
  
  

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General

> UNITS

• [Hvy] Anti-Air Trooper: Reload Time reduced from 5s > 4s (Hvy remains 4s).
• [Hvy] Anti-Air Trooper: Hit Points increased from 30 > 40 [35 > 45].
• [Hvy] Anti-Air Trooper: Firing delay is now the same for all civilizations (0.4s); previously this varied between 0.35 to 0.5s between civilizations
• Fighter: T3 Fighters of all civilizations now have 25 Hit Points, regardless of their access to Shield Modifications.
• Bomber: T3 Bombers of all civilizations now have 25 Hit Points, regardless of their access to Shield Modifications.
• Anti-Air Destroyer: Moved to Tech Level 2 (Hvy remains in Tech Level 4).
• [Hvy] Assault Mech: Reduced firing delay resulting from animation of several civs
• Cloud Car: (Trainable from Bespin Govt Center (Capturable)) Moved to Tech Level 2 and can no longer attack ground units.

> BUILDINGS

• Mine: Corrected issue that caused mines to temporarily gain Line of Sight mid-upgrade.
• Light Wall: DuraArmor lowered 6 -> 5.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Added new generic Tech: Stimpacks
• Upgraded Med Droids: Technology is no longer unique to the Republic - available to all civs except GE, TF, CF. Moved to Tech Level 3.
  
• Explosive Yields Increased: Fixed missing damage vs Submarine armor class.
• Primary Focusing Coils, Cooling Sleeves, Adv Power Pack: Technologies now affect Anti-Air Troopers.
• Efficient Buildings: No longer affects resource production of some capturable buildings.
• Ion-Accu Accelerator: Research order with Elevation Tracking line no longer matters.

> OTHER

• Stockpile - Food: Changed Blast Defense Level to match Fruit Bushes, so they can no longer be destroyed by tree-cutting attacks.
• Increased speed of Sando Aqua Monster to 1.1. The controllable cheat version has 1.4 speed.

Galactic Empire

> UNITS

• Dark Trooper Phase 2: HP reduced by 15 to account for Stimpacks.

Gungans

> BUILDINGS

• Underwater Prefab Shelter: Corrected issue that caused buildable, walkable terrain to be generated when structure was built on new EF water terrains.
• Fixed issue where self-regenerating civ bonus was not functioning.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Potent Plasma: Anti-Siege bonus now correctly affects Cannons.

Rebel Alliance

> CIVILIZATION

• No longer has a civ bonus of discounting ore cost of Command Centers (previously did not work in TL3).

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Tougher Armor: Effect reduced by 15 HP to account for Stimpacks.

Trade Federation

> UNITS

• Destroyer Droid: Now has self-shielding. HP reduced from 85 -> 60. To avoid upsetting old scenario balance, this is functionally a new unit; the non-shielded unit is now called “Droideka” and is available in the editor.

Wookiees

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Self-Regeneration: Effects reduced by 15 HP to account for Stimpacks.

Republic

> CIVILIZATION

• Civilization bonus now has a 30% Nova discount to Assault Mech.

> UNITS

• Adv Jedi Starfighter: Reload time decreased 7s [6s] -> 5s.

Confederacy

> UNITS

• Elite Magna Guard: Trooper armor reduced 15 -> 13.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Gains access to Hvy Destroyer.

Geonosians

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Geonosian Diligence: Now applies its stated 10% to Farmers correctly.

First Order

> UNITS

• Adv Flametrooper: Fixed bonus damage vs buildings.
• Jet Trooper: Fixed bug that caused extra projectiles to not get + damage from war center techs (wrong armor class).
• Jet Trooper: Increased secondary projectile damage to 8 (10).
• Jet Trooper: Increased speed to 1.8.
• Hvy Jet Trooper: Increased range to 4.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Dexterity: Fixed issue that caused tech to be available for too cheap due to the price adjustment being based on a previous cost of 450F, 150C.

Resistance

> UNITS

• Hvy Ski Speeder: Fixed issue where the order of Technicians and Adv Redesign could result in 1 more HP.
• Hvy Mech Destroyer: Fixed issue where the order of Technicians and Adv Redesign could result in 1 more HP.

Imperial Remnant

> UNITS

• AT-AT Swimmer: Fixed bonus damage vs submarine armor class.
• Hvy Mech Destroyer: Fixed issue where the order of Technicians and Adv Redesign could result in 1 more HP.

New Republic

> UNITS

• Hvy Mech Destroyer: Fixed issue where the order of Technicians and Adv Redesign could result in 1 more HP.

Black Sun

> UNITS

• Hvy Mech Destroyer: Fixed issue where the order of Technicians and Adv Redesign could result in 1 more HP.

> TECHNOLOGIES

• Huntress Mastery: Now gives an additional +1 range (+2 total).
  
  

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New Maps!

An enclosed map engulfed by dense forests. Each player resides within a clearing with only a single path connecting to other players. Terrain variants: Naboo, Yavin IV, Felucia, Bimmisarri, Endor Forest Moon, Kashyyyk, Sarka, Starkiller Base, Dromund Kaas, Raxus Prime, and Vjun. This map is the Galactic Battlegrounds equivalent of Black Forest from Age of Empires II.

A narrow landmass bordered by water on both sides and with scattered forests or Carbon rocks at either end, leaving the center of the map open. Carbon Gas Vents can be found in the deepest waters on either side. Terrain variants: Alderaan, Alzoc III, Felucia, Generis, Naboo, Nubia, Palanhi, Pillio. This map has only one Holocron per player. It is similar to Tundra, or Scandinavia from Age of Empires II, but is actually more closely related to Anatolia from Age of Mythology.

General

• Updated EF Blind Random maps with new map additions and some adjustments to odds.

Vanilla Map Changes

• Krant: Reduced rock generation.

EF Map Changes

• Updated several maps to include the additional tropical water versions of Carbon Gas Vent and Underwater Crag Rocks.
• Archipelago: Adjusted fish generation.
• Arena: All food animals now spawn within player’s walls. Predators spawn further away from player areas.
• Dantooine: Replaced Tuskcats with Kinrath.
• Desert: Made adjustments to Carbon generation. Reduced predators with Tatooine and Korriban climates.
• Endor Moon: Renamed to “Endor Forest Moon.”
• Endor Moon: Corrected issue in which Blurrgs were incorrectly generated using the ‘Huntable’ animal spawn logic. Blurrgs are now generated as Lurables, with Orbaks occupying the Huntable slot.
• Endor Moon: Changed forest generation to a mix of Redwood and Binka trees.
• Felucia: Added Felucian Ripper and Felucian Bird to animal generation.
• Great Sea: Adjusted fish generation.
• Kashyyyk Forest: Changed forest generation to a mix of Redwood and Spruce trees.
• Kothlis: Reverted back to its pre-v1.5.2 terrain generation, but maintains food resource changes.
• Palanhi: Adjusted terrain generation for deeper waters.
• Plateau: Adjusted Carbon generation.
• Raxus Prime: Significantly reduced the amount of debris props when loaded from [EF] Random Standard.
• Sulon: Fixed a bug in object generation that could result in desyncs.
• Team Islands: Adjusted fish generation.
• Ukio: Reduced starting Food sources to encourage farm use earlier. Made farmland borders slightly more open.
• Wistril: Adjusted food animal placements.
  
  

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New: Computer Classic AI

A classic foe returns to Expanding Fronts with the addition of Computer Classic! This AI merges the original AI released with Star Wars Galactic Battlegrounds, a relic from a galaxy far, far away (well, the early 2000s), with the new civilizations, units, technologies, and more in Expanding Fronts. It has been meticulously structured following the same logic, style, and format of Galactic Battleground’s original AI. Attention has been given to ensure nothing broke in transit, so the AI is more competent than you remember; however, endearing flaws like slaughtering all its starting nerfs and walling off the edges of the map are still present. Computer Classic has been upgraded to perform competently in all population limit settings and supports all EF maps. However, it still has the same issues as the regular Computer with naval and air-only maps. Expect future updates to keep it compatible with any future Expanding Front additions! For now, enjoy facing off against an opponent who has been waiting decades to prove its worth!

> GENERAL

• Original AI from Clone Campaigns was extracted and used as the base.
• All new EF factions have their own population constants. Population, farm constants, and town size set for every population limit setting i.e 25-1000.
• Water detection was added so that Computer Classic could identify new maps.
• Added new unit rules so all factions can train Attackers, Interceptors, Monitors, Cargo Freighters, and Transport Mechs when appropriate.
• Added new unit rules to accommodate faction-unique units like Zann Beastmaster, Remnant AT-AT Swimmer, and Black Sun Hunter.
• Improved Deathmatch rules to accommodate the factions added by EF.
• New rules were added to Deathmatch to cover new content added by EF.
• Improved Defend the Wonder rules to accommodate the content added by EF.
• New rules were added to AI to research the unique techs added by EF.
• Successfully split the Geonosians and Confederacy in the eyes of the AI.
• Added rules to the arm, supp, water, and water-supp system to incorporate EF factions.

> FIXES

• Fixed AI infinitely saving up resources without spending them.
• Significantly reduced turret-bashing tendencies.
• Restored Self-Regeneration to the Wookiees for the sake of game balance (previously assigned incorrectly to Gungans).
• Restored Kamino Refit tech for the sake of fairness. (previously assigned incorrectly to Confederacy).
• Faith in the Force is only unique to the Rebels when on Moderate difficulty. Hard and Hardest can research it as any civ.
• Temple civ checks were removed so other civs besides Republic and Naboo can use them.
• Removed Holocron escorts as they cause the unit holding the Holocron to freeze up.
• Fixed issue whereby Computer would frequently fail to build a carbon processor in its opening.
• Fixed major issue where research that should have occurred on Hard and Hardest was incorrectly locked to moderate and lower.
• Fixed a related issue where Hard and Hardest were missing rules for important research.
• Removed the hour-long embargo before AI could research certain techs like Adv Redesign.
• Added rules for the AI to research AA Retrofit and Grenadier Training on Hard and Hardest. It previously lacked them.
• Removed the requirement of needing an ally for spaceport techs (including GE and TF unique techs) that improve the resource exchange rate.
• The AI will now attempt to maintain 8 gates instead of 4, to reduce the chance of them being stuck in their base.
• War Center technology can now be researched before tech level 4 on Hard and Hardest.

Computer AI

> MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS

• Lag reduction! Once certain population thresholds are met, the AI switches to a different form of attack that is significantly less laggy.
• Lag reduction x2! Fixed an issue where the economy script was perma-setting strategic numbers, which for some reason causes lag even if they’re being set to the same value.
• Resign chattiness! No longer will you get a boring “You are victorious,” a wide variety of lines have been implemented, including some that can reference what has happened in the match itself or the AI’s own shortcomings.
• Diverse T3 army compositions! Previously any variation in forces on a per-civ basis only came into play in Tech Level 4. This system has been expanded to Tech Level 3.
• Faux-Garrison! The AI can now make use of Repeater Trooper + Adv Turret or (RP) Gunship Armaments, making this building and this unit significantly more potent in the Computer’s hands.
• Config! This can be accessed in a match with Taunt 85, I am altering the deal - pray I don’t alter it any further. This has a few options including a treaty timer, Extreme Difficulty (think original GB Hardest), and options to adjust the AI’s teching up - if you want a treaty timer of 30 minutes and the AI to never tech up past you, this can now be done via the in-game config!
• Random map trainables! AI now trains all the trainables available on the EF random maps, from Cloud Cars to Bursas to Tusken Bantha Troopers and everything in between. Note that due to spending so many resources on usually subpar units instead of anything actually important, the AI performance is overall subpar if these are available.

> MINOR IMPROVEMENTS

• Made many adjustments to research logic, order, and prioritization, notably allowing Hvy Mounted Troopers and the TL3 +1 damage tech earlier.
• Made several improvements and fixes to building logic, increasing the reliability of the AI having a powered troop center in Tech Level 2, and affording buildings in Tech Level 2.
• Improved Power Core logic in Tech Level 2.
• Rewrote the resource detection script again, greatly reducing the tendency of the AI to spew out ore and nova processors, and improving early game dropoffs.
• Made many small improvements to AI army composition.
• Throttled production of “garbage units” such as Probots, Vornskrs, and Reeks to a timer so the AI uses its resources on something more valuable instead.
• Increased prioritization of AA Troopers and allowed the AI to check for RMS air units.
• Allowed AI to construct a second Troop Center in TL2 under some conditions.
• AI will purchase Food with excess Nova to afford TL3.
• Easiest difficulty now trains significantly fewer units, ignores certain more powerful unit types entirely, waits longer to attack, and will ignore most technologies besides direct unit upgrades.
• Easy and Easiest build significantly fewer Command Centers, indirectly nerfing their economy.
• Reduced the AI’s aggression in Tech Level 2 on Moderate and Hard.
• Small improvements to economic efficiency, including allowing AI to delete Utility Trawlers upon reaching max population (unless Carbon Gas Vents are present on the map).
• Multiple resource cheat adjustments; they should scale a little better and be a bit more fair. Notable adjustments include cheating less in Tech Level 2 and a partial refund for Power Cores.

> FIXES

• Removed a debug message appearing in the Defend the Monument mode.
• Geonosians will now train Nexus and Reeks on lower population caps.
• Corrected issue that prevented allied AI from resigning if they had turrets left.
• Corrected typo in Monument Race logic.

> KNOWN ISSUES (In addition to the list from the previous patch notes)

• Sporadically, when going on the assault the AI will bring all its workers to bash a turret in.
• AI does not build Anti-Air Batteries.
• AI takes forever to build a Command Center on maps where you do not start with one (ex: Raiders)

Computer Expanded AI

> GENERAL

• Added support for new techs.
• Improved timing to reach Tech Level 2.

> FIXES

• Fixed nova dropoff placements on Tiny maps.
• Miscellaneous fixes and improvements.

Note: Computer Expanded only cheats resources if it detects a Computer in the match. This can result in different performance depending on which opponent it has.

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Units & Objects

> NEW

• CF Heroes: Alto Stratus, Assajj Ventress [Bounty Hunter], Assajj Ventress Bounty Hunter Single Blade, Cydon Prax, Lok Durd, Kendu Ultho
• CF Units: A-series Assassin Droid, EG-5 Jedi Hunter Droid, Nimbus Commando, Separatist Militia, Hvy Droideka
• TF Units: Droideka, Hvy Droideka
• FO Heroes: Elrik Vonreg
• FO Units: TIE Pilot
• GE Heroes: Ninth Sister, Armand Isard
• GE Units: CompForce Officer, CompForce Trooper Recruit, CompForce Trooper, Imperial Officer (Trenchcoat), Infantry Officer (Poncho), Infantry Officer (Trenchcoat), ISB Officer (Poncho), ISB Officer (Trenchcoat), Scout Officer, Scout Trooper [Stun Baton], Tank Trooper
• GN Heroes: Boss Lyonie, Senator Jar Jar Binks, Tobler Ceel, Captain Tarpals [Dismounted]
• GN Units: Gungan Pikeman, Gungan Hvy Pikeman, Gungan Militia [Pistol], Gungan Militia [Rifle]
• RA Heroes: Evaan Verlaine, Han Solo [Hoth], Jun Sato, Luke Skywalker [Pilot]
• RA Units: Rebel Female, Rebel Pilot Female, Commando Female, A-Wing Pilot, C-73 Tracker, R-41 Starchaser
  
• RN Heroes: Senator Padme Amidala (TCW), Senator Padme Amidala (Snow), Queen Apailana, Queen Amidala (Red), Sate Pestage
• RP Heroes: Fang Zar, Gate Master Jurrok, Rig Nema, Tiplee, Tiplar, Volviff Mon, Commander Fox [Phase I], Commander Thire [Phase I], Commander Salvo [Phase I], Echo, Echo (Bad Batch), Commander Thire [Phase II], Commander Doom, Jesse
• RP Units: Clone Hvy Gunner [Phase II], Clone Commander [Phase I], Clone Trooper Doom's Unit [Phase II], LAAT, LAAT (Coruscant Guard)
• RS Heroes: Babu Frik, Ben Solo [Jedi], Lor San Tekka
• WK Units: Wookiee Warrior [Carabine]
• IR Heroes: Zsinji, Rax Joris, Moff Gideon [Darksaber], Niles Ferrier
• IR Units: Imperial Officer (Brown Uniform), Raptor Trooper, Juggernaut Trooper
• NR Heroes: Carson Teva, Morgan Katarn, Winter
• Mandalorian Heroes: Satine Kryze, Prime Minister Almec, Axe Woves, The Armorer, Tristan Wren
• Mandalorian Units: Imperial Super Commando
• Added new recolored graphics for (CF) Droideka to a gray metal.
• Added Tree (Wroshyr). (Not a terrain)

> FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS

• Corrected projectile origin points for various units.
• Fixed some issues with hero HP not matching hero w/ holocron HP.
• Fixed anchors to various units and objects: (GE) 2-M Sabertank, (GE) Evo Trooper, (GE) Shadow Evo Trooper, (RP) Clone Commando [Anti-Armor], (RP) Clone Commando [Pistol], (CF) Chameleon Droid, (RP) BARC Speeder Scout, (RP) Commander Neyo (BARC), Mark I Droid Walker, Ysalamiri Tree shadows, Plant (Grass).
• Fixed incorrect Geonosian Spire shadow.
• Fixed pink pixels on planets: Alderaan, Cato Neimoidia, Corellia, Forest Moon of Endor, and Tatooine.
• Removed metal floor corners from Death Star Pit 1 and 2.
• Fixed (GE) IT-0 Interrogation Droid graphics.
• Fixed (GE) Agent Kallus attack graphic being too fast.
• Fixed (RA) Bothan Scout walking and attack graphics being too fast.
• Fixed (BS) Vigo Morn attack graphic.
• Fixed (RA) T-65 X-wing using the wrong icon.
• Made the rotation speed consistent with other aircraft for: (GE) Lambda Transport Ship, (GE) TIE Experimental M1, (GE) TIE Experimental M2, (GE) TIE Experimental M4, (GE) TIE Oppressor, (GE) Assault Gunboat, (GE) Missile Boat, (RA) Hvy B-Wing, (RP) Nu-Class Attack Shuttle, (RP) BTL-B Y-Wing Bomber, (RP) NTB-630 Bomber
• (GE) TX-130 loses Detection trait and gains Shielding trait.
• (RP) TX-130S gains Mechanical trait.
• (RP) Meena Tills now has civilian stats.
• (RP) LAAT varieties are now just generic (Attacker), Muunilinst 10, and Coruscant Guard. Other varieties are hidden for now.
• TIE Baron [Elrik Vonreg] is no longer Interceptor-type.
• Fixed (ZC) Droideka Mk 2 shield display on idle animation.
• Fixed (RA) Landed Y-wing shadow.
• Fixed Hutt Guard Droid train sound.
• Fixed (IR) Mark I Security Droid Walker projectile.
• Fixed Slugthrower from mounted trooper to trooper.
• Fixed (TF) Neimoidian Aide incorrectly being a hero.
• Fixed (NR) Ben Skywalker having more HP than its variant with holocron.
• Fixed (BS) Boss Darnada and (RN) Vana Sage attack vs shown attack discrepancy.
• Fixed (FO) Captain Phasma from Bounty Hunter to Trooper class.
• Fixed (TF) AAT (OOM-24) missing combat task.
• Fixed frame delay issue with (RP) Azure Angel (Anakin Skywalker), (RP) Sharp Spiral (Saesee Tiin), and all (RP) Delta-7s.
• Removed detector status from multiple units: Satine Kryze, (BS) Xizor's Gladiator Droid (3rd stage), (CF) Kul Teska, (CF) Riff Tamson, Quarren, (FO) Captain Phasma, (GE) Captain Eclipse, (NR) Del Meeko, (RN) Padmé Amidala [Pregnant], (RN) Vana Sage, (RS) Zorii Bliss, (RA) Bail Organa, (RA) Baze Malbus, (RA) Commander Rex, (RA) Garazeb Orrelios, (RA) General Davits Draven, (RP) Beehive, (RP) Clone Paratrooper, (RP) Captain Fordo [Phase I], (RP) Captain Fordo [Phase II], (RP) Captain Rex [Phase I], (RP) Captain Rex [Phase II], (RP) Captain Vaughn, (RP) Commander Appo [Phase II], (RP) Commander Bacara, (RP) Commander Bly, (RP) Commander Cody, (RP) Commander Colt [Phase II], (RP) Commander Fox [Phase II], (RP) Commander Gree [Phase I] (RP) Commander Gree [Phase II], (RP) Commander Jet [Phase I], (RP) Commander Neyo [Phase II], (RP) Commander Ponds [Phase I], (RP) Commander Salvo [Phase I], (RP) Commander Wolffe [Phase I], (RP) Commander Wolffe [Phase II], (RP) Gregor, (RP) Hunter, (RP) Senator Onaconda Farr, (RP) Senator Riyo Chuchi, (RP) Tech, (RP) Wrecker.
• Added shielding to: (CF) Novasword (Durge), (CF) Slave I (Jango Fett), (GE) Slave I (Boba Fett), (CF) Soulless One, (FO) TIE Baron (Elrik Vonreg), (FO) Upsilon-Class Shuttle (Kylo Ren), (FO) Upsilon-Class Shuttle, (ZC) IG-2000, (RN) Havoc, (RS) T-70 X-wing (Poe Dameron), (RP) Azure Angel (Anakin Skywalker).
• Added stealth to: (TF) Sith Infiltrator (Darth Maul), (RP) Commander Rex, (RA) Luthen Rael, (RP) Commander Colt [Phase II], (RP) Commander Neyo [Phase II], (RP) Crosshair, (RP) Gregor, (RP) Hunter, (RP) RC-1138 Boss, (RP) RC-1140 Fixer, (RP) RC-1207 Sev, (RP) RC-1262 Scorch, (RP) Tech, (RP) Wrecker.
• Changed projectiles of (RA) Bren Derlin, (RA) Brenn Tantor, (RA) Carlist Rieekan, (RA) Tyr Taskeen, (RA) Wedge Antilles, (RA) Cassian Andor, and (RA) Commander Rex.
• Changed (RP) Commander Appo [Phase II] from Bounty Hunter to Trooper class.
• Corrected (RP) Senator Riyo Chuchi attack graphics set to incorrect frame amount.
• Fixed (GN) Vilmarh Grahrk not getting bonus anti-siege attack from potent plasma.
• Changed (RN) Flash Speeder to Hvy Mech Destroyer stats.
• Fixed (IR) Mark I Security Droid Walker projectile.
• Fixed (GE) AT-AT Pilot and (GE) Grand Moff Tarkin attack graphics being too fast.
• Fixed V-35 Courier using the wrong icon.
• Fixed player colors for Landed TZ086 Transport.

> TEXT & LANGUAGE

• Renamed “(RP) Airborne Trooper” to “(RP) Clone Paratrooper”.
• Renamed all instances of "Sand Trooper" to “Sandtrooper”.
• Renamed Death Watch Recruit to Mandalorian, Death Watch Trooper to Mandalorian Trooper, Death Watch Sniper to Mandalorian Sniper, Death Watch Flametrooper to Mandalorian Flametrooper, Death Watch Recruit (Maul) to Mandalorian Female, Death Watch Trooper (Maul) to Mandalorian Nite Owl.
• Changed Century Tank (Laser Cannons), Century Tank (Turbolaser), Clone Commando (Anti-Armor), Clone Commando (Pistol), Clone Hvy Trooper (Quad Blaster), RX-200 (Close Range), and RX-200 (Distance) to all use square brackets. Fixed double space in Jedi Knight (Nautolan) & w/ holo variant.
• Renamed “B1-A Air Battledroid” to “B1-A Air Battle Droid”.
• Fixed incorrect spellings of “Neimodian” to “Neimoidian”.
• Queen Amidala with the black dress is now named “Queen Amidala (Black Dress)”.

Triggers

> GENERAL

• Added "Kills" variable to Object Variable conditions and Change Object Variable effect.
• Fixed minimap not updating after executing Explore Area and Change Terrain trigger effects.
• Adjusted resource names for Accumulate Attribute and Send Tribute trigger effects.
  
  

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• Due to limitations with random map functions, some maps may have unintended issues, such as players generating too close to the center of the map.
• Playing on Arena or Fortress type maps may have a chance at crashing the game if a gate generates over the edge of the map. Playing on a larger size map help to reduce this.
• AI players cannot build structures on shallows (as in Swamps of Naboo) or in open water (Aquaharvesters, Sensor Buoy).
• AI Issues: Many issues exist with the AI due to limitations with AI functionality for this game. Improvements made for later versions of Age of Empires 2 do not exist in Galactic Battlegrounds.
• A match with 8 Computer players and zero human players will give an AI error with the message “String table full.” Playing with fewer Computer players (i.e. 7) will alleviate this.
• Some Scenario Editor units have missing or incorrect sounds.
• Undeployed Cannons cannot be moved once placed in the Editor. (original game bug)
• The original non-fixed campaigns will show up within the Custom Campaign menu under the names XCAM* and 1CAM*. If you have no intention of playing these in Clone Campaigns mode (battlegrounds_x1.exe), then you can delete them.
• Building art for the Imperial Remnant, New Republic, and Black Sun are placeholders; recolored assets of other civilization’s buildings until final art can be made. (These are still being worked on.)
  
  

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If you encounter a problem with the mod, please be sure to check the EFREADME.pdf file that came with the download for our Troubleshooting FAQ section. Please be advised that we infrequently check the comments section and we're unlikely to provide you with assistance here on ModDB. We also do not respond to direct messages. We are most active on our Discord server where you can also view a more detailed FAQ section with answers to common problems or questions. Please CAREFULLY read the welcome messages sent to you from our Discord Bot and FOLLOW THE PROCEDURE to get assistance before asking for help. Most people's problems are already covered in our #troubleshooting-faq channel, so please explore it thoroughly, as you will be required to do so to unlock the #installation-help channel.

If you are interested in playing Expanding Fronts online, you can play with others using Voobly. The mod for Voobly is split into three parts: "EF EXE Patch", "Expanding Fronts Data", and "EF Assets".
Make sure you have all 3 of them installed:

EF EXE Patch
Expanding Fronts Data
EF Assets

You can follow this tutorial to set up Galactic Battlegrounds and the Expanding Fronts mod for Voobly:

And be sure to check out Lucky Llama's channel for more videos of Expanding Fronts multiplayer. He regularly casts videos of recorded games between players. Join the fun on Voobly and get featured on youtube yourself! You don't need to be good to play online.

Again, thanks to everyone who has supported and contributed to the mod over the past years. This last year or so, we’ve been doing updates fairly more regularly than we have in the past since we have a small, but dedicated multiplayer community now. Our balancing team has been active to ensure the game plays better than ever. While many of our artists have taken a bit of a break since v1.5.0, work has continued with the mod for the future. We’re still not quite in full development on any new civs yet, but one thing we’re ready to share with you is the addition of a new building for all civilizations; the Harbor (for those in our Discord: Not an April Fools’ joke after all!)

The Harbor is intended to be like a Food Processing Center on water, with the additional benefit of being able to garrison your ships inside. Ideally, we’d also like for it to have farm-like queuing to replenish your Aquaharvesters. This building requires some technical modifications before it can be implemented, so it wasn’t ready for this release, but we thought it’s a good time to announce its existence.

As work continues on the mod, we’ll have more to share about some other things in the works in the future. So stay tuned for that and we hope you continue to play and enjoy the mod!