We just finished putting live a ton of new research items, which we’ve been spent the past week adding to the game.  This include a few dozen more “permanent effect” items which which do things such as increase the strength of particular military units/attacks or the production of planets.

Additionally we added a new class of “temporary effect” research items which should add a whole new level of strategy to the game.  The items have effects that last for a period of time, either in turns or in time and provide a much greater boost.

• They can be used strategically to help attack or defend your empire.
• Once researched they may show up again on your research list at a later date (and higher number of research credits)
• You can view how many more turns or how much time they are in effect under the “Research” tab, but will disappear when the temporary effect has ended.

Some of the new “temporary effect” items:

Adrenaline Boosters – Temporarily increase the offensive strength of your military forces.  Useful if you want to attack another empire stronger than your own.

Victory Broadcast – Doubles the defensive capabilities of your empire for a period of time.

Spy Satellite -  Substantially increases the chance of spying operations against another empire being a success.  Doesn’t effect other types of special operations.

Jam Communications – Jams an enemies communications so they can’t call on their allies for support in the event of an invasion.

EMP Blast – Send out an electro-magnetic pulse that disables many of an enemies defense stations.  Useful in setting up the big attack.

There are more besides these that appear later in the game.  Enjoy…