The Packet Update

This update rolls out the packet technologies. First, packets have been rebalanced to have 1 movement speed at first. Then, there are 3 technologies that allow players to accelerate their packets to warp 3, warp 6, and warp 9. A packet traveling at warp 6 moves 6 tiles per turn, for example. Packets traveling at warp 9 will destroy stars, removing them from the board for the rest of the game. Packets can still be jumped between stars and stations as well, allowing the players more angles to throw packets from. Functionally, this makes packets a useful defensive and offensive unit, that is very cheap to produce. Creating a packet still only costs 1 resource, even if the packet is set to travel at warp 9. In addition to the packet technologies, a counter technology has been added: Ship Shields. Researching ship shields will protect that players ships from packets. Packets will be destroyed upon collision with the ship, but the ship will survive and take no damage. Also, the computer opponent will now choose the furthest star away at the start of the game, fixing the cheap starts that would often happen when the opponent chose a nearby star leading to a short, early-focused game. other notable additions to this update include: + board events for packet collisions + ship shield packet deflection events + kbirk.ai features tech progression, up to packet warp 9