This update brings several important additions to your empire:

- Jumpgate: once you've researched Spatial Folding, build a Jumpgate on two of your planets to instantly teleport a fleet between them, for a flat cost and a short recharge.

- Planetary Defense Factory: build a Defense Factory to produce static turrets - Missile Turret, Flak Cannon, and Plasma Battery - which directly reinforce the garrison defending your planet against attacks.

- Troops: recruit Infantry and Heavy Troopers from your Academy. Both now also cost biomass in addition to mineral and crystal, so keep an eye on what your Farm produces.

- Shop & Nova currency: earn Nova by leveling up and spend it on boosters, cosmetics, titles, and tokens (empire reconfiguration, renaming).

- Empire customization lock: your empire's species and authority are now locked once your empire is created - a reconfiguration token bought in the shop lets you change them if needed. A dedicated rename token also lets you change your empire's name.

- Early-game rebalance: the Science Module is now available as soon as your Shipyard reaches level 1, and starting resources have been increased.

- Exploration: how long it takes to explore a planet now scales with how many research points there are to gather.

- Redesigned in-game guide: fully rewritten to match the current features, with a Guide button always available at the top of the screen, and visual highlights pointing at what to click.

- Progression: level-up and new achievement notifications now show up directly on the galaxy map.

- Misc: fixed the display of pirate fleets and your own ships on the map, and the "Portal" tab was renamed "Jumpgate" to avoid confusion with the Stargate.

See you among the stars, Commanders!