FF-3 has been a much larger update than I originally expected, but then I am not sure what I expected when I saw the feedback from Friends & Family testing. What I was told by one tester is very, very accurate: engineers make terrible instruction writers! (or something like that). I didn't realize how many things I was taking for granted in navigating the game.
I found some balance problems, especially with the economy. I have also used the rebuild to finish several systems that were already in motion.
The biggest change for me is I am having fun when playing!
~Sean
“Brehon” / “Amadagu”
This Week's Actual Work
Friday Dev Notes — October 9, 2026
Economy & Balance
- Rebalanced the economy after testing showed population demand could consume 12 or more Improvement slots just to keep people supplied
- Factory output, Goods demand, Munitions demand, and starting stockpiles were all adjusted
Land Combat & Units
- Finished the first full implementation of Land Combat
- Rebalanced the five ground-unit tiers
New Starting Scenario
- Each playable faction now begins with one Sector on one of five randomly assigned Space Stations
- Earth and Luna now begin entirely under Independent control
Research Tree
- Added the first full Research Tree: 75 projects across Economic, Military, and Strategic Research, divided into five tiers
- Connected Research into Improvements, units, ships, production, population, combat, fleets, sensors, intelligence, and other systems
Fleet & Logistics
- Added ship Energy maintenance, proportional upkeep shortages, and unpaid-maintenance damage
- Added surviving transport-capacity checks for troop movement
AI Cleanup
- Continued AI cleanup, including proper Fog of War restrictions and troop visibility
- Pending-order privacy and Research handling corrected
- AI now continues planning after a rejected order instead of stalling
UI & Summary Screens
- Added the new Turn Summary and several summary screens for Sectors, Bodies, Troops, Ships, and Improvements
- Continued the UI rebuild: Player Action Panel, Sector cards, Improvement slots, Ground Combat, Fleet Combat, Research, scaling, menus, and ownership identification
- Moved the remaining active UI flow and binding logic out of temporary Blueprint wiring and into C++, while beginning cleanup of the old testing Blueprints
Systems & Validation
- Added or corrected save validation, startup checks, and faction elimination accounting
- Added or corrected population-demand accounting, status-band boundaries, and Body demand
- Added or corrected Abandon Sector and troop transport behavior
Still In Progress
- FF-3 is still in progress — Research linking and balance, UI scaling, and menu cleanup are ongoing
- Friends & Family testing continues
- The full FF-3 changelog, including individual balance values and fixes, is posted on the Commander's Gambit Discord
In-engine screenshot — Sector build menu, Directorate, Turn 1
Per the notice above: what you see is what you get.