Version 1.17 released

This version fulfills one of my secret desires as the designer. It finally gets rid of diplomatic corps as a separate entity and integrates diplomats directly into the court. I know, I know, it’s not that important to you as a player but for me it’s super nice. I mean it’s very clean design wise, I no longer need to take into account loyalty of diplomats to rebel points generation (since now they are courtiers and standard rules apply), it also, indirectly, allowed me to improve tooltips of personnel (since now I can say “In addition to being a Courtier, those additional rules apply because the character is appointed as a Diplomat)”. Next, I was watching some YouTube videos and read through various forum posts and based on those I incorporated several small changes and improvements to the interface and the game balance. Overall, the game is now slightly more streamlined without losing any depth (actually a bit of depth was added), which is always a desired outcome. Only one fix, if we not count spelling corrections, which is kind of nice since it seems I start to run out of bugs to fix, even the most obscure ones.

– [feature] Removed Diplomatic Corps, now you appoint diplomats among courtiers (there is one diplomat position for All Minor Races and one for each major race). Note: You need to appoint Diplomats among courtiers if you have an old save (otherwise you will have no diplomats).
– [feature] Extra optional rule “Visible Technologies”. When selected will make all technologies visible regardless of level.

– [misc] Removed bonus to All Ministries Efficiency from the court (the Administrative points gain is more than enough to make you care for Competence of courtiers, so the effect was redundant and was not affecting any decisions anyway and was just adding to the interface and mental clutter).
– [misc] Banishing a Courtier from the Court requires stripping the Courtier of all positions first.
– [misc] Level of Ministry renamed to Efficiency of Ministry (more logical and consistent with other similar effects).
– [misc] Color of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Justice switched (for more intuitive Diplomats color, since they use a variant of the color of the Foreign Affairs Ministry).

– [balance] Technologies rebalance (effects slightly adjusted, tier of some technologies adjusted), one new technology added.
– [balance] Budget (Administration) grants Administrative points (+5 per tier).
– [balance] Budget (Administration) reduced Tax Efficiency bonus.
– [balance] Budget (Administration) increased All Ministries Efficiency bonus.
– [balance] Agricultural Standards Act and Mining Standard Act (laws) made significantly stronger.
– [balance] Will Of The People Act (law) increases reform speed by additional +25% instead of +10%.

– [interface] Summary/Empire list all dynastic perks.
– [interface] Bonuses tab on Summary/Empire which lists all bonuses (identical to stats on Technologies screen).
– [interface] House button tooltip shows wealth, FED shares and has proper colors for Authority and Monarchism.
– [interface] Authority and Monarchism on Houses summary screen.
– [interface] Tax changes are instantly updated (to see how it affects happiness without waiting for the next turn).
– [interface] Top bar tooltips improved.
– [interface] Court screen shows stability bonus from houses.
– [interface] Better tooltips for courtiers competence, loyalty and charisma (with extra notes depending on the role like minister or diplomat).
– [interface] Various small interface improvements (colors, tooltips, etc).

– [fix] Removed incorrect aliens aggressiveness report (this was leftover from first Stellar Monarch mechanic which was never used in the sequel).
– [fix] Minor spelling fixes.

And one more thing… it’s not official yet but there are quite high chances the next project would be an expansion to Stellar Monarch 2. Drop by Discord or Steam forums to discuss possible expansion.

Reminders
You can follow my Steam Developer Page if you wish to be notified each time a new game or expansions is being released.

Also, if you have a moment to leave a Steam review of the game it would be appreciated. It makes a big difference to an indie developer like me. Thanks!