This week’s updates brought big strides in polish and clarity for Stellar Throne. Ground combat now displays strength bars above their respective forces, making planetary invasions easier to read. Ownership now correctly updates after successful invasions, and the final phase of an invasion plays out as intended.

On the combat side, the battlefield grid now renders fully, fleets start in centered positions, and you can left-click + drag to move the map. Support ships have distinct plus-shaped icons, colony ships use circles, and troop ships have been fully renamed for clarity. Fleets with no ships are automatically cleaned up after combat, reducing clutter.

Outside battle, draggable UI panels (shipyard, diplomacy, bombardment) were unified under a new DraggablePanel base class, making the interface smoother. Loading screens are more responsive, and territory borders now update dynamically after colonization. The border system itself has been revamped with shaders, opening the door for smoother, more striking visuals.

This update brings Stellar Throne one step closer to feeling like a finished 4X experience.

Today’s dev sprint focused on destructive power and high-quality visual polish.

💥 What Got Done

• ✅ SpriteSheetMaker Upgrade: Implemented the Mitchell filter for high-quality downscaling. This significantly improves crispness and sprite consistency when generating sheets from single images.

• ✅ Bombardment System: You can now rain destruction from orbit. Basic damage logic is in place, with hooks for visuals and colony impact.

• ✅ Ground Combat: First pass at a turn-based ground invasion system is working — includes attacker/defender phases and post-battle resolution.

• ✅ Visual Effects Foundation: Started work on a unified FX system to support combat visuals like explosions, hits, and transitions.

• ✅ Save/Load System: Added auto-save, quick save, and a new save/load UI panel for player access and session persistence.

• ✅ Research System: Implemented the framework for unlocking technologies — categories, cost progression, and placeholder techs.

🔍 What I Learned

The Mitchell filter made a noticeable visual upgrade for my sprite workflows — definitely worth the integration. It’s now clear that sprite quality from AI tools can be saved with the right post-processing. Also, committing to a unified effects system early means smoother integration later, especially for combat-heavy sequences.

🚧 Still in Progress

• The Research System is scaffolded but incomplete — needs UI improvements, better tech tree layout, and actual gameplay unlocks.