Note: these do not reflect a lot of design and prototyping work that's been going on behind the scenes, as those aren't ready to be discussed quite yet, and won't be in 0.54.1a at any rate.
Oh you know how to tease your fanbase sir. Almost too well
Comes with practice
Seriously, though, the reason I put that there is to make it clear that these don't encompass the sum total of the work since the 0.54a release.
Totally awesome changelog. Great work!
Thank you sir
Said it before and will repeat. Make Guardians built in weapons on the Astral!
However what do you think about the 'Built-In' hull mods Alex?
Guys, let's not turn this into a "suggestions, but with more chance of me reading it" thread.
With that in mind, let me respond to each.
Re: built-in Guardians on the Astral - well, that'd certainly be nice for the Astral, but also limits the flexibility you have in outfitting it. I haven't spent that much time thinking about it, but it doesn't seem like a no-brainer, so I'll hold off on making changes until there's a compelling reason. I'd also like to wait until the role of carriers and fighters in the "real" campaign becomes more clear.
Re: built-in hullmods - that's been on my radar since adding built-in weapons. So, maybe at some point. It could be a little odd for some mods (such as, say, Heavy Armor - its effect could be entirely emulated by the actual hull stats), but with some other mods it makes more sense and could be more interesting - such as with Advanced Optics predisposing a ship towards beam weapons, or Expanded Missile Racks making it a more capable missile boat. They wouldn't be "hull modifications" anymore, though, so some conceptual weirdness remains. But... well, like I said, maybe. Certainly not a priority now, but perhaps when it's time to really crank out campaign content, it'll make sense to look at.
(And by the way, I've read both of your guys' threads in the Suggestions section
I'd say I probably end up reading about 90% of what's in there, even if I don't have time to respond to everything...)