March 31, 1997

Stars! 2.7b contains fixes for every significant bug that has been reported
in Stars! 2.7. It also adds a couple of minor features. Due to the nature
of some of the fixes in this release it is necessary for all players in a
game to upgrade at the same time.

Players currently using Stars! verison 2.7 or 2.7a need to upgrade to verison 2.7b.
Players currently using Stars! version 2.6b or 2.6c need to upgrade to version 2.6d.
Version 2.7b is 100% play compatible with version 2.6d. You can not mix
version 2.7b or 2.6d with version 2.7 or 2.6b.

Read PATCH.TXT for detailed instructions on upgrading to Stars! version 2.7b.

	Jeff McBride


Changes from 2.7a to 2.7b:

Fixed crash when viewing battles in old game files and the tutorial.


Changes from 2.7 to 2.7a:

Added a Most Recently Used File list.
Fleets intercepting other fleets which split up now pick new targets.
Detonating mine fields are shown in purple.
Added a [Fonts] section to Stars.ini so that players can override the default
   names of the standard fonts. This is important for non-English versions of
   Windows. This fixes the frequently reported overlapping race names in the
   Score dialog bug. If this section or any specific font does not appear in
   the ini file we'll use the default names.

[Fonts]
Arial=Arial
ArialBold=Arial Bold
ArialItalic=Arial Italic
ArialBoldItalic=Arial Bold Italic

Newly started mine fields may be swept the first year they are laid if the
   sweeping vessel is in the field.
Fixed bug when using Claim Adjuster Change of Hearts to remote terraform
   other player's planets.  The terraforming limits are now the extent of
   of the ship's owner, not the planet's owner.
Ships given to other players will not create a new hull design if an
   identical design already exists.
Claim adjusters now properly show terraforming abilities for friends.
Ships are kept from leaving the universe.
Fixed bug with huge mineral packets that could magically produce colonists
   upon impact.
Scrapping your own ships at your own starbases can now give you tech if
   you received the ship from another player with higher tech.
Scrapped fleets now can give a tech level based upon the tech level of the
   hull scrapped in addition to the parts on the ship.
Space Demolition mine layers will automatically lay mines as they travel, if
   their next waypoint task is to lay mines.
Fixed resource production bug on negative worlds with huge populations.
Fixed a bug which caused ships with distant waypoints to hit minefields they
   weren't in.
Fixed a bug where SD players would have a detonate checkbox when a ship
   waypoint was selected.
Fixed message inadvertantly saying fleet destroyed in your detonating
   minefield was yours when it wasn't.
Fixed problem with Slow Tech combined with Generalized Research.
Improved growth curve smoothness.
Fixed bug where exceeding stargate limits could create empty fleets.
Attacks that damage more than 127 tokens no longer crash.
Unloading cargo in deep space doesn't give bogus messages any more.
Fleets merging with mine layers or remote miners don't get a free year of work.
You can now learn tech by invading other player's planets.
Accelerated BBS Play now better reflects true growth rates.