I have almost completed the upcoming game expansion, which will start where the original game ended.

A beta / early access release is scheduled between 15th March and 15th April. It´s already feature complete and just requires more testing and bug fixing.

A selection of the most important new Features of the Expansion:

- A new, playable alien race (the Jalkath) with new skills and professions.
- Revised ship to ship combat. The skill bar at the bottom now randomly selects a “deck” of available skills, giving the game more diversity. The “deck” changes during combat.
- Six new alien star systems
- Exploration stories revised and new stories added to many systems.
- More than 10 new alien ships and squadrons, ranging from fighters to capital ships.
- Carriers added to the game with unique abilities – launch bombers, interceptors and escort vessels.
- Introducing new race-dependent news broadcasts and events.
- 20 new skills, including some that limit the skills available to your enemies. Existing skills have been revised to suit the new combat system and new ships.
- Conquering the enemy’s home system will immediately win the war.
- Artificial intelligence improvements
- The two main game screens now have a higher display resolution.

There is a teaser picture (one of the alien ships) attached to this post.

Want to see more from the Smugglers series? Vote for it on Steam Greenlight (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=100928089) and support development by purchasing the original Smugglers 5 – the prequel to this expansion.

We´re almost in the top 50 on Steam Greenlight, so there is a real chance we'll make it soon. We just need a couple of more votes!!

Wow, cool... Always wanted to ask about plans to expand this wonderful game, especially the system map that I always felt being rather smaller that it could be... And voila - the good news.

I am happy to announce that the release is scheduled for this Friday or Saturday (14th/15th March).

Oh, sweet! Can't wait to get my hands on this!

Will this expansion be paid DLC or will it be a patch for the game? One way or another, it looks really promising: Alien races joining to the war and finally being able to use Carriers... Gonna be a busy March.

An expand-alone, eh? Interesting. Hopefully we will see it in GOG.com after it comes out.

So it will be some kind of Smugglers 5,5?

Yes, if you want to. It has a different playing style though. I recommend playing both (Smugglers 5: Secession and Smugglers 5: Invasion).

Because Smugglers 5: Invasion is still beta / early access (although already very stable and feature complete), it´s not yet on GOG.com. You can get it at:

http://www.nielsbauergames.com

This is the complete changes list:

Smugglers 5 - Invasion V. 1.2.:

- The game plays after the civil war setting from the original game, in which a victorious Federation has to face a new even greater alien threat.
- A new playable alien race (the "tiger"-like Jalkath)
- New optional high resolution for main travel screen and combat screen for big screen; other screens remain unchanged, but these are only popup screens.
- Revised ship to ship combat. The skill bar at the bottom now works as a kind of deck displaying a current random selection of your skills. When a skill is used, it is removed from the list and at the beginning of the next turn replaced with a new randomly selected skill. This gives the game more diversity and more choices, especially at the beginning.
- Carriers introduced to the game as leaders of an invasion force, which are part of the battleship class, but have unique abilities (becoming available as soon as you capture one).
- New alien uniform, campaign ribbons and medals
- 10 new alien ships ranging from fighters to capital ships and a gigantic carrier
- 3 new alien ship squadrons (bomber wing, bomber squadron and the new Kamikaze squadrons)
- 6 new alien space systems
- A new intro music and a new background track
- New exploration stories for the new alien space systems
- Exploration stories for the space systems from the original game revised
- New exploration stories added for the space systems from the original game. Together with the random selection system it´s very likely most of the stories you encounter are new to you (depending on how often you played the first episode).
- Some space systems from the original game have been changed through the war ...
- New profession icons for the alien race
- Introducing new race dependend news broadcasts / event stories (still few; to be build upon with later releases)
- Permanent war between the two in-game factions requires new strategies, especially for traders and smugglers.
- Enemy home systems may now be conquered (which ends the war)
- Invasion forces can now be attacked directly resulting in a duel with the enemy carrier
- There are now skills available to suppress selectable enemy skills, which increases the tactical complexity.
- New skill: Hyperspace travel, a new non-combat skill for the new alien race
- New skill: Precognition, a new combat skill for the new alien race
- New skills: Energy cage I and II, a new combat skill for the new alien race
- New skill: Energy flux, a new combat skill for the new alien race
- New skill: Invulnerability, a new combat skill for the new alien race
- New skill: Veteran, a new combat skill for the human race
- New skill: Duelist, a new combat skill for the human race
- New skill: Top Gun, a new combat skill for both races
- New skill: Sharpshooter, a new combat skill for both races
- New skill: Launching bombers, a new combat skill for captain´s of carrier ships
- New skill: Launching interceptors, a new combat skill for captain´s of carrier ships
- New skill: Launching escort vessel, a new combat skill for captain´s of carrier ships
- New skill: Refueling, a new combat skill for captain´s of carrier ships
- Introducing new special booster skills with new icons, which randomly become available (specifically designed for the new revised combat system)
- Never more than 3 booster skills available at the same time.
- New booster skill: Break manouver, which is available to every player and enemy ship
- New booster skill: Immelmann, which is available to every player and enemy ship
- New booster skills: Luck I and II, which is available to every player and enemy ship
- New booster skills: ECM reconfigure I and II, which is available to every player and enemy ship
- New booster skills: Shield reconfigure I and II, which is available to every player and enemy ship
- New booster skills: Audacity I and II, which is available to every player and enemy ship
- New booster skills: EMP hardening I and II, which is available to every player and enemy ship
- Revised skills: Skills have been looked through to fit to the new revised ship to ship combat. Some cool, but less used skills (e.g. ramming or dropping cargo to escape) become a lot more meaning with the new combat system.
- Revised available skills for enemy trader ships
- Revised available skills for enemy military ships
- Revised available skills for enemy pirate ships
- Balance change: The scattergun skill now only uses up 1 AP regardless of any gun modifications etc. The idea is that the skill is used more often. This balance change does only effect the new revised combat system.
- It´s possible now to see the currently available skills of the target ship during combat. This makes it possible to adjust your
tactics according to the enemies capabilities, e.g. if the enemy does not have an EMP skill at the time, it makes no sense to use
the new skill "EMP hardening". You can access the new skill status screen from the target ship status screen at the bottom right.
Alternatively right-click on the enemy ship on the ship combat screen for faster access.
Left clicking on the enemy ship on the ship combat screen still opens up the usual target ship status screen.
- New game and in-game logo: Smugglers 5 - Invasion
- Sorry, still uses the same proven game interface (the two main screens are available in higher resoluton though, see above). :)
- 2 new illegal goods (Human and Jalkath artefacts) plus trade prices rebalanced
- Jalkath players can now purchase a battleship
- Bombers and bomber squadrons have a higher combat strength in fleet battles when used against
interplanetary missiles and battleships (not against battleship squadrons, which have interceptors).
- Carriers have a higher combat strength in fleet battles than normal battleships.

I am tempted to buy it now for the sake of not waiting for it come to GOG before playing it, but I don't know...

Thank you so much for the update!

Maybe you can grace us with Smugglers 1 through 4 on GOG sometime :)

I can't wait to dive into the update!

So what about those carriers that were promised ?
Does this new separate expansion mean they will not be coming ?

Item #6.

Right. They are included in the stand-alone expansion Smugglers 5: Invasion. They can be captured and flown by the player too.

Thanks for the continued improvements; best game I've bought with respect to that. Looking forward to Invasion.