United Aurora Federation 0.75c / 0.97 Entry (Patreon)

Hello everyone,

Welcome to the latest patch of the United Aurora Federation! As previously mentioned, we have already exceeded our completion goal for the 'Solvernia' Super Capital patch. We decided to go the extra mile and push in many planned features as possible! Fortunately, with a team of dedicated coders, writers and artists. We managed to meet the deadline on time with primary contents fully intact! 

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HOTFIX:

Version A

• Fixed Solvernia's recruitment limiter
• Fixed Iron Shell causing trouble to Persephone's ship offer
• SLV up from 100 to 150
• Persephone Natasya (YRN) up from 70 to 75

Version B

• Implemented Kaysaar's fix regarding the admin skill and restored ruins.

Version C

• Implemented Kaysaar's fix on the ruin restoration mechanic again.
• Added missing descriptions and dialogue fixes
• Sakura VLMS Catapult (L) added
• Fixed Reisen M's reversed collision and shield circle
• Added missing launch bays for Neuxoria
• Fixed Solvernia's DP Reduction Skill
  
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Special Credits goes to;

Mayu - The newest coder in the team for helping us develop most of the stuff on time. I don't think I'll be able to reach this far without him.

Kaysaar - The almighty developer of the Ashes of the Domain! He personally volunteered to join the developer team in order to help me reach my goal of finishing the mod in its purest form. Also responsible for randomly creating the Keycard Shop outta thin air.

Lukas04 - For helping with the initial struggles before he moved onto his own personal projects.

Haplogynae - The second musician and sound effect provider. She is the one who made the custom SFX and music for the keycard shop! 

Venri, LunarLancerAlia, Rhygan, Myotherabbit - The Federation approved proofreaders and writers. Especially Venri who painstakingly made sure that we get the narratives out in time despite my best attempt to distract the entire team by playing Beyond All Reasons every week.

UAF Discord and Twitch viewers - For basically sticking with me throughout my journey in 2023 up until now. We basically came up with random silly ideas and just laugh it out together despite all the troubles we had along the way.

Also, please keep in mind that story elements are still being left out for the time being as we're focused on the replayability side of the mod rather than the one-time-only story experience. We are commited to providing the best experience we could deliver for you guys, my fellow supporters and players. So we've made a lot of rebalancing and quality of life changes! I've always made this clear to everyone, the United Aurora Federation's auxillary goal in gameplay-wise is to be the player support faction. So we will provide as many amenities as we realistically can without empowering the player.

That being said, most of the new narratives added in this patch are added in order to make the mod less barren. It's to also help establish the purpose of each NPCs and worlds for futureproofing reasons, for when I finally give the greenlight to include the official UAF lore.

Campaign Elements

• Favonius's income will now be nerfed if its governed by the player in the form of taxes from the capital world. Canonically speaking, that world is actually what financed the faction and kept them floating since their currency are useless in an entirely different universe.
• Bakeries have been altered significantly, it will now deposit certain amount of pastries into the player inventory. Its market income multiplier and and planet upkeep reduction have been reduced by half as its proven to be overpowered for a long time. It just that we finally have time to address that issue now.
• You will now have to manually request access to AER-1A from Aeria Charlotte. This is to address a rare glitch where she'll be soft locked from the rest of the game if you do certain things that I'm not sure how to describe.

The Keycard Shop / Special Economic Zone

• The first iteration of the Keycard Shop is now available at Favonius! The shop were created specifically for me to have full control over distribution of items and amenities. The vanilla functionality proved to be too difficult to navigate over certain hard-coded stuff.
• The player will have immediate access to a character named NRU-M1 in Favonius' comm directory. Ask her for the access and be sure to bring at least a couple survey datas or even a keycard with you as Domain Credits are not acceptible in the new market. ( Excuse: Player can easily generate millions of credit which made it somewhat useless to use as purchase requirement )
• MOAB and Atmospheric Munition have been relocated from November Markets to the Keycard shop because people kept complaining about us selling world ending weapons like candies.

UAF is now located really, really close to the Abyss!

• Why, you may ask? Well, we're not native to the Persean Sector. The further we are, the better because we canonically arrive from *outside* the known regions of the Sector.

Sample portraits, featuring Rubi the Maisya Ace Captain and Triplication the Carrier Wing Commander.

• In order to diversify the Federation a bit more, I will continue to draw portraits for as long as I'm still developing the mod. So yes, more portraits for you guys to choose and see! Yay! Special thanks to people who commissioned and supported me regardless of tiers and amount of contributions.
• All contacts except Inari will now provide loyal reward options if you choose to increase your reputation with them. They're mostly special ship rewards starting from 55 ~ 100 reputation.
• All contacts will now receive their much needed chat interactions. They're mostly just flavor texts and most likely to be replaceble by the time we finally include the actual lore into the mod but hey - I hope you enjoy our writings!

Combat Elements

• Auroran Engineering and Auroran Advanced Engineering added. 3/6/9/12/20 HP regeneration per 1.5 seconds, a limiter have been placed across all UAF ships in order to prevent them from receiving free repairs during active combat. Only activable when zero-flux boost is in effect and only after several seconds of delay afterwards.
• UAF's advanced point defense weaponry have been nerfed ( but compensated elsewhere in the stats ) as well. They're kinda overperforming across the board and I know about it for about a year now. We finally addressed the issue now thanks to new coder assistance. I'm just an artist.. not a coder, so I apologize if we took too long to fix things.
• Meitou Chorus AAMX damage have been nerfed by half. It was simply too effective but still usable now.
• All Chorus air-defense missile variants have been altered. They will now fire in rapid bursts but takes much longer to re-arm themselves.
• All rapid firing missiles are given higher base ammo counts but lowered regeneration counts.
• Menascar, the high end torpedo bomber have been given ECCM and a different loadout so that it can be a more economical alternative to the legendary Taufan(NX).
• Cyrexa II and Kanshee perma-onhit bug fixed, it will now deal randomized damage ( weapon flux reduced by 200 for compensation )
• Medium and large support guns are too efficient, given slightly weapon flux for balancing.
• Swaras given DO_NOT_AIM hint, it should fire regardless if its in cone of fire or not.
• Semibreve and its Meitou upgrade reload timer increased slightly.
• Akatsuzuma class Light Cruiser rebuffed to its original version, the front hardpoint upgraded to large mount.
• Tona I, II, II have received weapon range increase at the cost of EMP reduction. Reverting it back to its sniper role a couple patches ago.
• New Large Missiles have been added; EXOSCAR (L), Rhythm (L), Selemene (L), Amazoch/H (L) due to popular demand by the mod's playerbase.
• Amazoch torpedoes have gained very poor guidance but you can still easily miss your targets.

• Minersky converted into AP Rocket Attacker. They are Fisoyuz's alternative but deal minor kinetic damage as they fire in rapid burst.

• Nekonyan have received EMG and ECN upgrade.
• All fighters have received new variant files which improved their characteristics and performance in battle, courtesy of Naggy.

Honestly there's a lot more minor changes but I wouldn't bother listing them all. It would be best for you guys to play the mod and try things out yourselves.

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Recruitable Special Characters are now in-game!

So, remember that one joke about UAF is actually a portrait pack rather than a faction mod? It's still true, we have up to 130+ portraits and we're still going strong. NOTHING will stop me from adding more because these are what make the faction memorable and fun to play with! 

Auroran Researcher, Mei Yu / Shinoria Expert

Guest Feature, AOTD Researcher, Sophia / Recruitable Special Administrator

Crown Jewel of the Update, ADM. Solvernia / Recruitable Super Capital Commander

ASOC, VADM. Persephone Natasya / Recruitable Strategic Battlecruiser Commander

Good news for Yimie and Mizuki fans!
I'd like to thank you all for your positive and somewhat constructive feedback regarding our starter unique officers! There are popular rumors that they're still gonna be removed due to what happened before but guess what? That's the past, its time to move on towards the better, brighter future. 

Yimie and Mizuki are staying for sure! We are likely going to finally work on their stories and mission chains in the next 'Novaeria' patch. Until then, enjoy your free level 7 officers.

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Auroran Federation Ships Section

Vaharagiri (SP) Support Destroyer

Automata's latest support vessel with dual universal medium mounts at the front and a very generous hybrid turret mount in the middle. Its ship system allows you to temporarily boost energy weapon performance and increases missile maneuverability and durability ala 'energy focus' style. Its also equipped with AEGIS Type-Concord hullmod which lessen the rate of fire for all weapons but increases accuracy and projectile velocity. She's a very fun ship according to my stream playtests!

Seiichi (M) Heavy Destroyer

A returning veteran from the olden days of the United Aurora Federation mod, she now serves as the faction's armored front line warship. She doesn't have any custom specialty to her just yet but rest assured, the Seiichi is both hard hitting and a tough nut to crack for a ship of its size.

Super Nakiha (MP) Prototype Destroyer Leader

Basically an upsized and upgunned variant of the reliable Nakiha series. She comes equipped with rapid firing forward facing HVAR rocket pods and two medium composite missile mounts to the side. She is currently pending and waiting for a unique ship system, so we gave her a royal maneuvering jets as compensation. This ship is a commemoration and recognition towards three loyal viewers whom repeatedly and fiercely competed against each other on who's the best frigate pilot during my streams.

Lillaru / Lillaru Type IIA (SP) Heavy Cruiser

The black automata variant receives major changes to her design and gameplay style. Up to 6 small mounts have been removed which kinda reduced its point defense capabilities but she was compensated with superior weapon arcs for all mounts ( same with standard version but not as radically altered ). Furthermore, she was also given either composite or synergy mounts which proved to be quite a deadly asset for her. Alas, I should probably mention that she lost her Phase Skimmer system and given Royal Maneuvering Jets instead as the UAF does not utilize hyper advanced sector technology... yet.

Seniraja / Seniraja Type II (M) Heavy Assault Cruiser

Commonly known as the unfortunate ship that was continuously ignored by both the developer and playerbase for being unremarkable ( although some people actually liked them ). The heavy cruiser have finally seen significant improvement visually and functionally. It received a new large hardpoint mount in the middle along with a couple missile mounts depending on the variant. It also boasts a new hullmod called 'Secondary Focus'! 

Procrastria class Heavy Assault Cruiser

An oddity in the naval line-up, this armored warship is equipped with twin high explosive shotguns located at the front. She is now equipped with a prototype timeflow generator ( activatable past 50% flux percentage ) and came with a proud Great Kassadarian Houses paint scheme. This is my collab-exclusive ship in the honor of Nia Tahl.

ft. Admiral Mary Sue Yi-Su of the 'REDFOR' Ceyaian Fleet.

Lillaru / Mary Yi-Su (YRN) class Aviation Cruiser

The third entry into the limited edition royal warships. This Lillaru was converted into a spacecraft-carrying cruiser under the preferences of the admiral whom commanded it. Unfortunately, both the ship and its commander are not fully developed yet. So, enjoy the 'early access' version in the Keycard Shop while you still can!

Ularaya(MP) class Missile Cruiser

Requested by the UAF Chinese Translation Team. This ship continues the legendary legacy of basically printing the hell outta Scholar in a million ways but one - this time, its UAF's turn! Sadly, our theme and aesthetics restricted us from making super fancy stuff.. so enjoy the missile spam ability instead!

Reisen class Battleship

The good ol' classic boat that was unfortunately ignored because the military version is just better in every way but no more! Now, with the help of Syncore Ballistic Focus ship system. You have to choose whether you'd like a sniper/artillery or an armored battleship!

Eyeseau (SE) class Command Ship

Behold, the eye in the sky! She have received four armored modules that surrounds the ship. Be sure to protect her if you want to keep her auxillary modules intact as you can actually strip her down and make her powerless without her active support ship systems.

• Targeting Pod are located along the sides of the ship, they can designate any target within vicinity and allow friendlies to deal extra damage against them.
• ECM pods on the other hand are to its front and back. They have been rebalanced in order to make it less overpowered. Instead of guaranteed 100% chance to disable, it'll only emit EMP damage wave.

Sekai / Wo / Tsutsumu class S/M/L Fuel Tanker

Destroyer / Cruiser / Capital

Obviously, we don't really wanna tell the enemy which one is our logistic ships don't we? Deception is a valid tactic in war after all. What do you think this is? Red explosive barrels? Hell naw, we don't do that here! Jokes aside, I have redesigned the fuel tanker series to follow its own unique aesthetics, logical evolution and doctrine rather than abiding to the sector standards. I mean... we're from our own universe no? So why not stick to our own ideas?

Neuxoria II class Supercarrier

The pinnacle of Auroran carrier engineering, she is under-equipped for a ship of her size but she possessed the most advanced void aviation technologies available to the Auroran Federation. Not only does she have vast hangar bays but also very mobile! Unfortunately, following the theme of the mod; she have lost her fighter skimmer system in return for a more.. immersive one instead. 

• Neuxoria II is now the designated attack carrier while Zeppy assumes position as the defense carrier. 
• Neuxy receives the Offensive Flare Command that increases fighter damage while negating incoming damage slightly for a limited time.
• Neuxy also receives 'Royal Arithmetic Control' hullmod, enabling the user to turn it into an assault carrier.
• Zeppy / Zepporia III class Supercarrier receives the Evasive Flare Command II instead which will boost all fighter's maneuverability and durability at the cost of lessening their damage potential temporarily. So, only use them for when you're recalling your fighters or enroute to the target.

Persephone Natasya (YRN) class Nuclear Battlecruiser / ft. herself.

So you guys think I'm joking about making guided Semibreves? I kid you not, behold the brighter of light! This ship along with the character are considered as bonus objective for the patch but low priority. However, the ship itself is playable and available via Alexandra Yamato contact. The character unfortunately, are still in stuck in development queue and begrudgingly staring at me from the dark corner of the room...

Anyway, the ship is a missile battlecruiser with similar performance to the venerable Rillaru. The only drawback ( or advantage, depending on how severe your Semibreve Syndrome is ) is her primary feature; the Meitou Semibreve launchers. They're lighter version of the unguided missile that sacrificed a portion of the payload in return for guidance capability. So.. yeah.. be very afraid.. with great firepower comes great irresponsibilities.

Solvernia (YRN) class Dreadnought / ft. Honorary Admiral Solvernia

The crown jewel of the upcoming update, the Solvernia have seen significant changes to both the ship and the warrior princess! You'll hardly recognize her compared to the previous iteration but this is the true ship that I've always wanted to do since the day I began developing the mod nearly 8 years ago.

• Instead of 11 modules, we managed to optimize the design down to only 5+2 ( armor modules ) which lessen the strain to the game engine.
• A ton of weapon mounts have been either removed or relocated, this time she'll follow exactly as what I want on the ship instead of forcing myself to compromise due to 2D game environment. In return, all modules including the core receives hullmods that boosts weapon range appropriately but not excessively. Only the main guns are capable of shooting beyond engagement range provided that you give her weapon range boost upgrades.
• Her Phenex Railgun Cannons have seen increased caliber size from 608 to 808mm! That means she'll pack a bigger punch. She will also spew out devastating nuclear rounds above 50% flux.
• Royal Melody Jets have been added to her. This altered the way her engine sounds and acts as a bigger version of the existing maneuvering jets.
• Super Capital grade Reflecta Armor Plates have been added to the side of her forward prong modules. This will surely increase her survivability rate but still vulnerable to high explosive missile strikes.

That's it folks, thank you for reading through all this and somehow survive the super long patch notes! It doesn't fully contain everything so be sure to check out the mod and have fun! 

Fun Fact;
This is officially the UAF's 2nd Year Anniversary, but this is also my 10th Year Anniversary since my intro into the modding scene.