The entire text written for this announcement can't fit in the text box, so I'll keep it short. The change list is below. The announced price change is left to Steam to apply at their own convenience, but we felt it would be unfair to keep you ladies and gents waiting on the update any longer than necessary. [b]LIST OF CHANGES[/b] [list] [*]FIXED: Several bugs on the Fleet->Equipment panel. Proper quantity is now shown. [*]FIXED: Energy shield indicator on the Context menu. [*]FIXED: A big where player couldn't initiate Power to Engines after demolishing a grappled ship [*]FIXED: Several scripting errors that could cause adverse effects [*]FIXED: Heavy weapons ammo indicator is now properly refreshed on the Drydock->Systems panel [*]FIXED: Troopers are now properly transferred to the new ship when transferring command to a ship from the Garage [*]FIXED: Brightness setting can now be properly adjusted [*]FIXED: Several bugs in the current trading mechanics [*]ADDED: Reputation panel so players can have an overview of their standing with the 50+ game factions [*]ADDED: Perks panel so you can spend your hard earned Perk points on the available passive bonuses. A Perk point is gained every time you gain in Rank. Retroactive perk points are awarded to those of you who have already gained Ranks. [*]ADDED: You can now hire up to 3 officers (Navigation, Tactical, Engineering) that provide passive bonuses for as long as they are on your ship. Officers are available on the Station->Hiring panel. [*]ADDED: You can now loot captured ships in space. [*]ADDED: A couple of new ambients. [*]ADDED: Quick target info - when you first target an object, a small representation of the object appears so players can almost instantly see what the target is exactly and its status (community requested) [*]ADDED: On-screen notifications like Level-up, Experience gained, Credits gained, Reputation changed (community request) [*]ADDED: Fleet->Systems panel. It was locked until now. [*]ADDED: Fleet->Officers panel so players can see their hired officers, their bonuses and salaries [*]ADDED: Bounty board to the Starchart where players can look over the different "heroes" they will be able to hunt down for a reward [*]ADDED: Pre-rendered intro movie for the Campaign scenario. Storyline missions are NOT yet activated. [*]ADDED: Loot dropped from ships and derelicts can now be targeted and you can open the Loot panel to select specifically what items you wish to take on-board. [*]ADDED: New bridge officer voice lines [*]ADDED: Place-holder T-Gate jump movie. The whole jump mechanics will be further refined and optimized. [*]ADDED: Starchart Mission markers can now be toggled via the Starchart panel. [*]ADDED: Loot drop can now contain equipment as well as commodities. [*]ADDED: Scanning randomly appearing anomalies now rewards Experience. [*]ADDED: Soundtrack expanded. [*]ADDED: Myrmidon now has visible engine trails. [*]UPDATED: You can now purchase new ships and store them directly into the Garage. (community request) [*]UPDATED: Changed loading screen background to show an upcoming station model [*]UPDATED: Expanded in-game options [list] [*]Toggle on-screen notifications (community request) [*]Unlocked several video options [*]Toggle bridge officer chatter (community request) [*]MSAA can now be set [/list] [*]UPDATED: Wedge asteroid field has a new asteroid explosion effect [*]UPDATED: Several changes to the game text files [*]UPDATED: Wedge asteroid field has been reworked with new models, textures, ambient and accompanying particle area effect [*]UPDATED: Radial context menu updated with new additions (some options unlocked and added) [*]UPDATED: Captured ship mini-panel: captured ships can now be grappled by clicking on the new button on the mini-panel itself. [*]UPDATED: Boarding mechanics tweaked. Ships are now harder to capture to prevent exploits. [/list]