========================
Welcome to Freeciv 2.5.0
========================

The changes in the 2.5.x series are summarised below.
For changes prior to 2.5, see NEWS. For more detailed changes,
see the ChangeLog file.


CHANGES FROM 2.5.0-RC2 TO 2.5.0
-------------------------------

   For those who've been trying the betas, these are the changes since the
   last release candidate, 2.5.0-RC2:
     * Added graphics for civ2civ3's Internet wonder. GNAPATCH#5806
       GNA#23379
     * Updated localizations: Spanish (98.6% core, 97.2% nations),
       Japanese (93% core, 94% nations), Irish (46% core, 59% nations).
     * Tweak network protocol developer documentation. GNAPATCH#5908


CHANGES FROM 2.5.0-RC1 TO 2.5.0-RC2
-----------------------------------

   (from <http://www.freeciv.org/wiki/NEWS-2.5.0-RC2>)

   Since RC1 there have been some bugfixes and improvements:
     * When autosettlers were considering improving terrain, their
       thoughts could accidentally be sent to the client, so the client
       would display tiles with the wrong terrain temporarily. GNA#23286
     * Various bugfixes to the Qt client:
          + Changing ruleset caused the Qt client to crash. GNA#23322
          + Changing tileset could cause the Qt client to crash and other
            misbehavior. GNA#23326 GNA#23327
          + Fix some black-text-on-black-background tooltips. GNA#23325
          + Avoid scrollbars in the city production popup on Windows.
            GNA#23032
     * Clients failed to display unit nationality. GNA#23311
     * Fix a remaining crash in the Gtk2 client if the tileset is changed
       with the science dialog open. GNA#22625
     * An empty 'startunits' setting will now be rejected rather than
       causing a crash. GNA#23346
     * The Austrian nation was not being localized. GNA#23309
     * Updated Trident tileset with support for new game elements: lake,
       maglev, unit upkeep >2, unit activity icons, plus extras for
       modpacks (outpost, airstrip, aluminum, uranium, saltpeter,
       elephant). GNAPATCH#5856 GNAPATCH#5877
     * Fix minor misalignment of some city food/production/trade numbers
       in many supplied tilesets. GNA#23332
     * Other very minor tweaks to Cimpletoon and Amplio2 graphics.
       GNAPATCH#5855
     * Correct comment about gnuwin package used for Windows builds to
       match actual RC1 build. GNATASK#7887
     * Minor update to README.ruleset_civ2civ3 description of defense
       bonuses. GNAPATCH#5860
     * Invisible changes to assist localization. GNAPATCH#5854
     * Updated translations: Catalan (complete), Finnish (95.6% core, 87%
       nations).


CHANGES FROM 2.5.0-beta2 TO 2.5.0-RC1
-------------------------------------

   (from <http://www.freeciv.org/wiki/NEWS-2.5.0-RC1>)

   As well as the usual bugfixes, the civ2civ3 ruleset has had a number of
   rule changes to balance gameplay. The online help for civ2civ3 has been
   completely rewritten; it's worth a read even if you've already read
   through it, as some important rules were not documented. This release
   also fixes several serious crashes in the Windows packages.

Server / General

Changes affecting players (supplied rulesets)

     * Changes to the civ2civ3 rules:
          + The Tribal government no longer gives a bonus to movement
            (this was too powerful, and confused the AI). Instead it
            increases the chances of gaining veterancy from combat, and
            martial law that pacifies 2 citizen per unit. GNA#22621
            GNAPATCH#5763
          + Sun Tzu's War Academy no longer increases the chance of
            veterancy from combat. GNA#23206
          + Changes to terrain-related rules: GNAPATCH#5564 GNA#23275
               o Forest can be mined to Grassland; transformation now
                 yields Hills.
               o Irrigation time for Swamp reduced.
               o Deep Oceans now produce 1 food rather than none.
               o Harbors and Offshore Platforms can now be built adjacent
                 to Lake and Deep Ocean tiles, as well as Ocean.
          + Transports can no longer gain veterancy by cleaning pollution.
            Engineers' chances of veterancy from work are reduced.
            GNA#23290
          + Cities now get their extra defense bonus at size 9 rather than
            8, thus requiring an Aqueduct. The risk of fire starts at size
            9 also. City map icons updated to match. GNAPATCH#5764
            GNAPATCH#5800
          + Explorers and Partisans see an extra tile; Partisans are now
            granted based on citizen nationality rather than city's
            original owner. GNAPATCH#5544
          + Crusaders no longer cause military unhappiness (to match
            Fanatics). GNAPATCH#5543
          + A.Smith's Trading Co. now has no effect during a Communist
            government; previously in this situation, buildings with
            upkeep 2 were free of upkeep. GNA#23205
          + Simplify production waste rules: the unlikely case of a
            Communist or Federation government without knowledge of Trade
            no longer leads to extra waste. GNAPATCH#5814
     * Changes to bombarder units (such as bombers and helicopters in
       civ2civ3):
          + Rule change: neither attacker nor defender can gain veterancy
            from bombardment. GNAPATCH#5835
          + Bug fix: attempting to move into an empty city with a
            bombarder now moves, rather than bombarding. GNA#20956
     * Changes to the experimental rules:
          + Caravan is no longer obsoleted by Freight; while slower, it
            can travel on more terrain than Freight. GNAPATCH#5791
          + Copy trade route rules from the classic ruleset (maximum trade
            routes varies depending on technology). GNAPATCH#5735
     * Fix trouble receiving future tech from Darwin's Voyage in the
       multiplayer ruleset. GNA#23264 GNA#23231
     * Cosmetic: the multiplayer ruleset (which doesn't support trade
       routes) no longer displays cities as having "0/4" trade routes.
       GNA#23253
     * In the civ2 ruleset, Fanatics are now free of upkeep under a
       Fundamentalist government; the free shield upkeep under that
       government has been reduced from 10 to 8. GNAPATCH#3505
     * Barbarian nations are no longer granted partisans from city capture
       in any supplied ruleset. GNAPATCH#5454
     * Changes to supplied scenario maps:
          + Various changes to small and large Earth maps, including more
            starting positions, increased player limits, and removal of
            non-default settings. GNAPATCH#5487
          + Reduce default number of players in France and North America
            scenarios so that nations matching the scenario start
            positions will be used with the core nationset. GNA#21350
          + Fix a terrain glitch in the France scenario. GNA#23273
     * With the new 'fair island' map generator, generated terrain
       resources were ineffective. Saving and reloading the game fixed
       this. GNA#22981
     * In rulesets where the maximum number of trade routes can vary, a
       city with more trade routes than the current maximum could not
       change them. Now, a single new trade route that would yield more
       than several of the current ones and bring the number of routes
       within the new maximum can be established. GNA#22243
     * Prevent team-mates from withdrawing shared vision from each other.
       GNA#22992 GNAPATCH#5472
     * Fix some bugs with visibility of unit movement: GNA#23030
          + If one of your nuclear units exploded over an enemy city, you
            could be left with an apparent immovable 'ghost' missile over
            the city.
          + Players witnessing paradrops through shared vision could fail
            to see the unit.
     * When a technology or similar effect increased city vision radius
       (such as Electricity in civ2civ3), the benefit was not immediately
       applied to existing cities. GNA#23254
     * When an enemy pillages a vision-granting base such as a buoy, the
       base is now removed from the victim's view of the map. GNA#22863
     * When a disaster causes loss of production progress in a city, close
       some loopholes that allowed recovery in some circumstances.
       GNA#23218

Changes affecting other rulesets / modders

     * script.lua is now evaluated before default.lua, so that rulesets
       can pre-empt signal handlers set by by default.lua (currently
       "hut_enter" and "city_lost"). GNA#23101
     * Previously, only completion of a mine would cause units on adjacent
       tiles to check whether they could complete their activity (because
       it could prevent new irrigation in supplied rulesets). This check
       has been extended to all terrain-altering activities. GNAPATCH#4656
     * Logic that picks a good defender unit for a city now looks at the
       ruleset's BadCityDefender flag, rather than assuming that sea units
       have that flag and others do not. GNAPATCH#4838
     * If a ruleset triggered an effect off the "disaster" Lua signal, the
       game engine would still emit the message "We survived the disaster
       without serious damages", which could be inappropriate. This
       message has now been removed. GNA#22082
     * Fix a few cases where a negative value for a boolean effect would
       erroneously enable it: 'Fanatics' (GNA#23142), 'Unit_No_Lose_Pop'
       (GNA#23180), and 'Tile_Workable' (GNA#23266).
     * Fix possible AI confusion in rulesets with sea units with native
       bases. GNAPATCH#4836
     * More robustness against invalid rulesets. GNA#23107
     * Apply patch 3 to the included Lua 5.2.3. GNAPATCH#5839

Changes affecting server operators

     * The --identity option now affects LAN announcements as well as
       metaserver announcements. GNAPATCH#5436
     * The /mapimg delete all command did not always delete every
       definition. GNA#23095
     * Server tab completion for save file names did not allow .xz
       compressed savegames. GNA#23105
     * Log any failure to save a game. GNAPATCH#5739
     * Fix a possible server crash on quit. GNA#22996

General

     * Change the networking code on Windows to hopefully resolve "bind
       failed" errors when starting the server. GNA#22448
     * Fix a bug that could cause incorrect interpretation of non-ASCII
       characters in descriptions of nations in the extended set
       (nationset=all). GNA#23159 This is believed to be the root cause of
       client crashes on Windows in certain non-English locales with the
       extended nations. GNA#22638
     * Some optimization for speed, particularly on the server, some as a
       result of profiling analysis. GNAPATCH#5633 GNAPATCH#5632 GNA#23093
       GNAPATCH#5778
     * Memory leak fixes. GNA#23169 GNA#23171 GNA#23170 GNA#23174
       GNA#23173 GNAPATCH#5740 GNA#23221 GNA#23208 GNA#23209 GNAPATCH#5741
       GNAPATCH#5749 GNA#23226 GNA#23234 GNA#23257
     * Various internal changes which should only affect developers.
       GNAPATCH#5429 GNA#22850 GNAPATCH#5460 GNAPATCH#5473 GNA#22977
       GNAPATCH#5453 GNAPATCH#5491 GNAPATCH#5579 GNA#23089 GNAPATCH#5653
       GNAPATCH#5682 GNAPATCH#5659 GNA#23292 GNA#23167 GNAPATCH#5711
       GNAPATCH#5722 GNA#23172 GNAPATCH#5752 GNAPATCH#5775 GNAPATCH#5780
       GNAPATCH#5779 GNAPATCH#5777 GNAPATCH#5817 GNA#23268

AI

     * The AI now treats players it has never met as potentially hostile;
       this should make it harder for human players to sneak forces into
       place before first diplomatic contact. GNAPATCH#5441
     * The city the AI has nominated to build wonders is now permitted to
       build defensive units instead if necessary. GNAPATCH#5588
     * The AI could continue trying to build worker units in inappropriate
       situations, such as where the population cost would cause a city to
       disband. GNA#22972
     * AI players could be prevented from ever making any new treaties by
       failing to remove clauses from an existing failed treaty. This
       particularly affected diplomacy between AI players. GNA#20761
     * The AI now better understands worker/settler units that cost more
       than 1 city population to build (as in the civ2civ3 ruleset).
       GNAPATCH#5440
     * Fix possible AI crashes in rulesets with ocean cities. GNA#23046
       GNA#23227 GNA#23230 GNA#23250
     * Changes to the 'Cheating' AI level:
          + It now costs 20% more to incite cities belonging to the
            'Cheating' AI level to revolt. GNAPATCH#5743 GNAPATCH#4754
          + The civ2civ3 ruleset was missing some of the standard bonuses
            for the 'Cheating' AI. GNAPATCH#5811
     * In servers with the threaded AI built in but not in use, a message
       queue would silt up causing unbounded memory and CPU use. GNA#23146
     * With the threaded AI, terrain improvement tasks assigned by cities
       were never dealt with. GNA#23079 GNA#23081
     * For AI developers: a new configure option --with-ai-lib forces the
       default AI code to be built in for use by a custom AI, even if none
       of the supplied AIs are being built. GNAPATCH#5447

Clients

     * New features and bugfixes in the Qt client:
          + Added on-line help. GNA#23009 GNA#23052 GNAPATCH#5546
            GNAPATCH#5747 GNAPATCH#5748
          + Add bulk selection criteria to the city report. GNA#23033
          + Added 'Save' and 'Leave game' options. GNA#23011 GNA#23097
            GNAPATCH#5600
          + Ask for confirmation to exit. GNA#23062
          + Can now change government by clicking on the main map
            government icon. GNAPATCH#5762
          + Menu option for unit to help build wonder. GNA#23100
          + Bug fix: city names with non-ASCII characters were displayed
            incorrectly. GNA#23007
          + Bug fix: city dialog claimed city was celebrating when it was
            not. GNAPATCH#5552
          + Bug fix: changing tileset did not fully refresh the science
            dialog. GNA#22935
          + Replaced some icons to fix a licensing issue. GNA#23094
            GNA#23213
          + Other minor cosmetic tweaks. GNAPATCH#5760
          + The Windows installer included some unneeded cruft and is now
            smaller. GNA#23057
     * The client could crash if the tileset was changed with the science
       dialog open. GNA#22625
     * Area selection mode for cities (right-click-and-drag) now works in
       games with national borders disabled. GNA#23058
     * Some speedups to map drawing. GNAPATCH#5449 GNAPATCH#5450
     * Improve diagnostics for unknown client-specific command-line
       options. GNA#23035
     * (Gtk2) On Windows, the Gtk2 client could crash whenever windows
       were moved or resized. GNA#23022
     * (Gtk3) Fix a consistent crash on some systems whenever a city
       dialog is opened (for instance, when founding the first city).
       GNA#21942
     * (Gtk3) The Turn Done button now blinks if you are the last player
       to finish a turn in a multiplayer game. GNA#23269 (This
       functionality has theoretically been present in all clients, but
       has been more or less broken forever. It now takes into account
       disconnected players. GNA#23277)
     * (Gtk3) Make opening page work better on small screens. GNA#21028
     * (Gtk3) Clicking "Show All Cities" in the Goto/Airlift dialog could
       cause all cities to be focused in turn. GNA#20624
     * (Gtk) Minor visual tweaks. GNAPATCH#5456 GNAPATCH#5455 GNA#20772
       GNAPATCH#5776
     * (SDL) It was not possible to withdraw shared vision from someone
       you were at war with. GNA#23210
     * (SDL) Correct shortcut key label for transform (to 'O' instead of
       'M'). GNA#23162
     * (SDL) Fix a possible crash if font loading fails. GNA#23195
     * The Xaw client is now considered unmaintained. GNAPATCH#5504
       GNAPATCH#5793 GNAPATCH#5792

Tools

     * Fix several serious bugs in the Qt modpack installer that made it
       largely unusable, especially on Windows. GNAPATCH#5488 GNA#23067
       GNA#23141 GNA#23029 GNAPATCH#5706
     * Fix error messages and possible crashes from modpack installers on
       Windows. GNA#22966
     * Fix possible bugs when closing the modpack installer. GNA#23055
     * Accept GUI-specific command-line arguments. GNA#23102

Tilesets / Art

     * Better support for the civ2civ3 ruleset:
          + Tilesets can now provide distinct graphics for Tribal and
            Federation governments and the Internet wonder. GNAPATCH#5804
            GNAPATCH#5801
          + All supplied tilesets now have graphics for all civ2civ3
            elements except the Internet. GNAPATCH#5486 GNA#20030
            GNA#23134 GNAPATCH#5805
     * Extra graphics and fixes in the Cimpletoon and Amplio2 tilesets:
          + Icons for unit upkeep above 2, to support rulesets where
            that's possible. Notably, this makes more obvious the
            longstanding behaviour that the multiplayer ruleset's
            Fundamentalism government has food upkeep 3. GNAPATCH#4486
            GNAPATCH#5784
          + Distinct icons for all unit activities. GNA#20032
            GNAPATCH#5840
          + "Outpost" and "airstrip" graphics for use by third-party
            rulesets (intended for Fortress and Airbase precursors).
            GNAPATCH#5027 GNAPATCH#5816 GNAPATCH#5841
          + Minor glitch fixes. GNAPATCH#5282
     * The Trident tileset now has graphics for Maglev. GNAPATCH#5598
     * The Cimpletoon and Trident tilesets now have Inaccessible terrain
       graphics. GNAPATCH#4160 GNA#23135
     * The editor 'road' tool now has a proper icon. GNA#20536

Help / Documentation

     * The help for the civ2civ3 ruleset has been substantially reworked
       and expanded. GNAPATCH#4936 GNA#23255 GNAPATCH#5831 GNA#23278
       GNAPATCH#5799
     * Unit help is now more specific about which terrain improvement
       actions units can do. GNAPATCH#5774 GNAPATCH#5783 GNAPATCH#5006
       GNAPATCH#5797
     * Miscellaneous improvements to in-game text and user documentation.
       GNA#23039 GNAPATCH#5645 GNA#23197 GNAPATCH#5515 GNA#23074 GNA#23204
       GNAPATCH#5751 GNAPATCH#5759 GNAPATCH#5761 GNA#23239 GNA#23240
       GNAPATCH#5782 GNA#23241 GNA#23214 GNA#23252 GNAPATCH#5809 GNA#22294
     * Miscellaneous changes to developer/ruleset docs. GNAPATCH#5128
       GNAPATCH#5477 GNA#23163 GNA#23145 GNA#23144 GNA#23200 GNAPATCH#5723
       GNAPATCH#5744
     * Invisible changes to assist localization. GNAPATCH#4762
       GNAPATCH#5758 GNAPATCH#5807 GNA#23280 GNA#23274

Translations

     * Updated translations:
          + Complete translations: French, Russian, British English.
          + Incomplete translations: Polish (97.7% core, 100% nations),
            Catalan (96.3% core, 100% nations), Finnish (93% core, 87%
            nations), Japanese (84% core, 92% nations).

Build/portability

     * Fix failure to build twice in a row due to missing mkinstalldirs.
       GNA#22773
     * Improve diagnostic if configure fails to find pkg-config
       (previously it was erroneously warning about libcurl). GNA#23133
     * The shipped Windows installer Makefile is now compatible with the
       environment that is used to build the Windows installers. GNA#23246
       GNAPATCH#5845


CHANGES FROM 2.5.0-beta1 TO 2.5.0-beta2
---------------------------------------

   (from <http://www.freeciv.org/wiki/NEWS-2.5.0-beta2>)

   Highlights of this release are a new map generator, a basically
   complete Qt client, and a large number of bug fixes.

Server / General

Changes affecting players (supplied rulesets)

     * New map generation features ported from warserver:
          + 'Fair' island map generator ('generator=fair'), which creates
            an identical island for each player or team. GNAPATCH#5146
            GNA#22562 GNA#22564 GNA#22572 GNAPATCH#5179 GNA#22605
            GNA#22904 GNA#22906 GNAPATCH#5409
          + New server setting 'teamplacement', allowing control of
            whether team-mates start near each other on the map.
            GNAPATCH#5145
     * Barbarian players no longer get a free Palace when they conquer a
       city. (This was a recent regression, only introduced in beta1.)
       GNA#22340
     * When a city is struck by plague, it now cannot grow again in the
       same turn. GNA#22803
     * When following orders into fogged territory, a unit will now abort
       its orders if it runs into an unexpected unit or city on its last
       step (rather than blindly attacking, etc). GNA#20618
     * When there are multiple possible transports for a unit to load
       onto, the server is cleverer about choosing one. Among other
       criteria, idle transports are preferred, as are those from which
       units can unload at any time. This preference order is now used in
       more circumstances. GNAPATCH#4982 GNAPATCH#5367
     * Numerous fixes to research in games with teams:
          + With team_pooled_research enabled:
               o Technology cost now takes into account effects from all
                 players in the team; previously it was picking a random
                 player for Novice AI science penalty, cost reduction from
                 embassies in civ2civ3, etc. GNAPATCH#5098
               o Similarly, tech upkeep now takes into account all players
                 in a team. GNAPATCH#5099 Notably, in the civ2civ3
                 ruleset, upkeep scales with the total number of cities in
                 a team, not those of a random team member. GNA#22158
               o If a technology is lost, all team members share the
                 effects (such as losing their government), and all
                 clients can see that the tech is lost. GNA#21935
               o All clients are kept up to date with accurate progress of
                 current research. GNAPATCH#5100 GNAPATCH#5185 GNA#22705
          + With team_pooled_research disabled: only one player per team
            was getting the free techs given at the start of the game
            (e.g., with the 'techlevel' setting). GNA#22522
     * Other fixes to tech loss:
          + There was a small chance of technology not being lost when it
            should have been. GNA#22576
          + The server's count of a player's technologies was not reduced.
            This could cause technology cost to be too high and have other
            bad effects. GNA#22579
          + Ruleset effects that survived the global loss of a technology
            (such as wonder obsoletion) did not survive a save/reload
            cycle. GNA#22909
     * Fixes to rulesets with root requirements in their technology tree,
       such as the experimental ruleset:
          + Research could fail to pick the next technology toward a
            faraway goal. GNA#22789
          + Fix general slowness (sometimes extreme) in such rulesets.
            GNA#22159 GNAPATCH#5357 GNA#22876
     * Tech upkeep cost was slightly larger than intended. GNA#22912
     * Fix numerous problems with visibility of unit movement and
       destruction:
          + Fix bugs that could leave a 'ghost' unit visible in clients,
            such as land units alone in the sea (GNA#22600):
               o If a foreign unit was briefly visible loading onto a
                 transport.
               o If a barbarian unit reached the end of its life while on
                 a transport.
          + Fix trouble when a city is transferred, particularly by
            diplomatic treaty. GNA#20705
          + Transported units or those in cities could fail to be revealed
            when entering an alliance. GNA#20726 GNA#22851
          + Fix some bugs and error messages related to visibility of
            foreign units loading and unloading from transports.
            GNAPATCH#4912
          + An assertion could fail when foreign transports moved out of
            sight. GNA#22852
          + Fix client error "Server wants us to remove unit" when
            witnessing the defeat of a cargo-carrying transport in a game
            with 'killstack' disabled, or in complicated alliance breakup
            situations. GNA#22721 GNA#22795
          + Fix some bugs related to visibility of units moved or killed
            as a result of other units' movement, for instance by a
            ruleset script; and show unit movement in more cases where
            units move into or out of visibility. GNA#22765 GNA#22853
          + Fix some cases where unit information was not sent correctly
            to global observers. GNA#22764 GNAPATCH#4973
     * Units were spuriously prevented from moving from one transport to
       another. GNA#22380
     * 'unitwaittime' now applies to exploding nuclear units in place as
       well as to regular attacks. GNA#22838
     * Investigating an empty city that was previously known to contain
       units mistakenly displayed the former units as still
       present/supported. GNA#22498
     * When the 'foggedborders' server option was enabled, border
       information was not included in map transfers between players.
       GNA#22497
     * Fix a server crash when paradropping. GNA#22391 GNA#22479
     * Fix a possible server crash when a diplomat is killed after bribing
       a unit. GNA#22762
     * Fix a possible assertion failure from autosettlers. GNA#22345
     * Fix some assertion failures when changing player (for instance in
       edit mode). GNA#19848
     * Fix bugs with taking AI players and entering/leaving AI or 'away'
       mode: GNA#22716 GNAPATCH#5046
          + Taking an AI player could leave the player with invalid tax
            rates.
          + Putting a player who'd previously been /away under full AI
            control could leave them with the conservative 'away' skill
            level rather than a proper AI skill level.
          + AI state was not set up and cleared correctly when changing
            '/away' mode. For the classic AI, this could lead to incorrect
            defense calculations.
          + 'autotoggle' and 'aitoggle' now work for barbarian players (as
            'away' did before). GNA#22724
     * Minor fixes to civ2civ3 ruleset corner cases:
          + You can no longer sell your Aqueduct after building a Sewer
            System and still have your city grow. GNA#22804
          + Triremes starting their turn in coastal river cities missed
            out on the Lighthouse move bonus. GNA#22438
          + Barbarian players without a capital no longer suffer crippling
            corruption and waste. GNA#22330
          + Prevent Transport units from performing land terrain
            improvements while in cities. GNA#22417
          + Ensure that cold war and related effects survive destruction
            of Apollo Program and/or Manhattan Project. GNA#22805
          + Treat Solar Plants as redundant with the Hoover Dam. GNA#22434
     * Fixes to the multiplayer ruleset:
          + Ensure notifications are sent out about new technologies
            gained from Philosophy or Darwin's Voyage. GNA#22783
            GNAPATCH#5355 GNAPATCH#5358 GNA#22827
     * In the classic and experimental rulesets, close a loophole where a
       Lighthouse and Port Facility together could yield hardened sea
       units. (This would have required a very unusual game.) GNA#22081
     * Prevent diplomacy with barbarian players in the civ1 and civ2
       rulesets (in civ1, it was possible to attempt treaty with pirates
       but not barbarians). GNA#22727 GNA#22728
     * Map generation fixes:
          + When map generation leads to a change in settings, announce
            the fallback settings afterwards. If multiple attempts are
            required to generate a map, reset these settings between each
            attempt. GNAPATCH#5180
          + The 'tilesperplayer' setting is now enacted more accurately.
            GNAPATCH#5187
          + Remove spurious assertion failures about MAP_MAX_LINEAR_SIZE
            when generating large maps. GNA#19429 GNA#22640
     * For the purposes of credit in the rank log, any user detaching from
       a player (even an observer) was resetting the username used for
       ranking. For now the ranking rules have been reverted to those used
       up until 2.3.2. GNA#22458
     * Fixes to voting:
          + Do not call votes which will immediately pass (for instance if
            a user is alone on a server). GNAPATCH#5181
          + Fix incorrect vote information displayed in a client which
            connects while a vote is in progress. GNA#22566
     * The 'surrender' command now does additional sanity checks.
       GNA#22622
     * Fix display of team names. GNA#22394
     * Silence some warnings when loading games saved with previous
       versions:
          + Spurious "City size and number of citizens does not match"
            warnings from 2.4 default ruleset games. GNA#22360
          + "Trying to put <number> into 8 bits" warnings from pre-2.3
            savegames. GNA#22364

Changes affecting other rulesets / modders

     * When upgrading a unit which has the NoVeteran flag (cannot gain
       veteran levels through experience), any existing veteran levels are
       no longer discarded. GNA#22425
     * The server now handles the case of a city being destroyed while
       being transferred (which is most likely to happen as a result of a
       Lua script). GNA#18191
     * If team_pooled_research is enabled, the tech_researched script
       signal is now sent to all players on a team, not just one of them.
       GNA#22474 GNAPATCH#5430 GNA#22782
     * Lua scripts can determine whether two players share research with
       the new (Player):shares_research() function. GNAPATCH#5408
     * Calling (Tile):has_base() in Lua with a nonexistent base name could
       crash the server. GNA#22341
     * Clients were not always kept up to date after a Lua script called
       (Tile):set_label(). GNA#19962
     * Extra sanity checking when loading rulesets. GNAPATCH#4972
     * Apply patch 2 to the included Lua 5.2.3. GNAPATCH#5307

Changes affecting server operators

     * On Unix, the server could fail to start again shortly after
       quitting, dying with "bind failed: Address already in use". This
       was a regression from 2.4. GNA#22702
     * Comments are now only accepted at the start of a server command
       line, allowing a '#' character to be entered in commands. GNA#16864
     * Servers built with support for multiple database backends could
       only use one of them. GNA#20723
     * The event cache can now store much more history. GNA#18742
     * Some of the settings in server scripts written by the '/write'
       command did not take effect, because the 'rulesetdir' command at
       the end was resetting settings set earlier in the script. GNA#22447
     * When the server was in edit mode, detached clients could receive
       unwanted packets and emit warnings. GNA#21468
     * Creating a player midgame (with /create or Lua script) didn't
       initialize city style and gender correctly. GNA#22832
     * The /create command now validates the AI type argument better.
       GNA#22697
     * When built without readline support, the server could stop
       accepting input after an empty line. GNA#18254
     * More robustness against loading invalid savegames. GNA#22523
       GNA#21327
     * Send more information to metaserver: nation flag tag
       (GNAPATCH#5199) and ruleset name (GNAPATCH#5229).

General

     * Numerous improvements to pathfinding, used for client goto and for
       the AI:
          + Units which will be unable to move next turn but still have
            move points this turn (for instance due to tech loss) are now
            handled correctly. (This could lead to premature nuclear
            explosion in rulesets where nuclear units require extra
            technology to move, such as civ2civ3.) GNA#22569
          + Fix some possible issues for units with more than one turn of
            fuel, such as bombers. GNAPATCH#4931
          + A collection of general fixes which, together with
            client-specific fixes, we hope will resolve a client crash
            observed on Windows (GNA#21774), and probably fix other bugs
            too. GNAPATCH#5190 GNA#22693 GNA#22756 GNA#22755
          + Other minor fixes and speed improvements. GNA#22636 GNA#21938
     * Already-built wonders are now dismissed when considering what
       players can ever build. This affects the client city UI and may
       also affect AI behavior. GNA#22667
     * Fix a bug which could cause strings to contain invalid/truncated
       UTF-8 sequences. GNA#22885
     * Fix/improve diagnostic messages in error cases, notably including
       network failures. GNA#22481 GNA#22503 GNA#22462 GNA#22706 GNA#22729
       GNA#22282 GNAPATCH#5371
     * Fix a possible crash when an --enable-debug build tried to print a
       very deep backtrace. GNA#22854
     * Some optimization for speed, particularly on the server, some as a
       result of profiling analysis. GNAPATCH#4933 GNAPATCH#5154
     * Memory savings and leak fixes. GNA#21552 GNA#22582 GNA#22583
       GNA#22586 GNA#22587 GNA#22584 GNA#22589 GNA#22590 GNA#22626
       GNA#22670 GNA#22627 GNA#22629 GNA#22630 GNA#22631 GNA#22632
       GNAPATCH#5123
     * Various internal changes which should only affect developers.
       GNAPATCH#5000 GNA#22413 GNAPATCH#5091 GNA#21543 GNAPATCH#5111
       GNAPATCH#5092 GNAPATCH#5144 GNAPATCH#5095 GNAPATCH#5167
       GNAPATCH#5120 GNAPATCH#5182 GNAPATCH#5267 GNA#22809 GNAPATCH#5381
       GNAPATCH#5298 GNA#22824 GNAPATCH#5192 GNAPATCH#5299 GNAPATCH#5297
       GNAPATCH#5296 GNA#22781 GNAPATCH#5411 GNAPATCH#5418 GNA#22955
       GNAPATCH#5127

AI

     * The AI can now take into account the defense value of existing
       bases when picking a site for a new city. GNA#22079
     * The AI now counts the pillaging of any fortress it owns against the
       responsible player, even if that caused it to lose the territory on
       which the fortress stood. GNA#22445
     * The AI was undervaluing units defined as good defenders in the
       ruleset, and overvaluing 'OK' defenders. GNA#22617
     * The AI was undervaluing cities in various ways for the purpose of
       diplomatic treaties. GNA#22436
     * The AI now considers the effect of the 'diplcost' setting when
       evaluating the value of a gold transfer clause in a treaty.
       GNAPATCH#5399
     * The AI's evaluation of improvement benefits was broken in the
       presence of effect clauses with zero value in the ruleset. (Should
       not affect most rulesets, but may sometimes occur when testing a
       new ruleset.) GNA#22363
     * Some fixes to the AI's evaluation of benefits in rulesets using
       negated requirements. Does not affect the supplied rulesets.
       GNA#22399
     * Fix some possible crashes with the threaded AI. GNA#22344
       GNAPATCH#5328
     * Allow threaded AI to be built in without classic AI. GNA#22529

Clients

     * The Qt client is now substantially complete, with many features
       added since beta1.
     * The Windows Gtk client is built against a different Gtk version,
       fixing major problems in East Asian locales, including inability to
       use the chatline and other text boxes, and failure to display the
       online help. GNA#21038 GNA#22607
     * Fix a longstanding bug in the Gtk client that could make it
       impossible to select a new government. GNA#18764
     * The client now supports loading a save file from the command line
       directly, with the --file command line option. GNAPATCH#3180
     * The 'Explode Nuclear' command is now more careful; previously, if
       the nuclear unit was unable to reach the specified destination (or
       move at all), it would explode regardless (this could happen due to
       'unitwaittime', due to another bug). Also, the command now supports
       setting waypoints. GNA#21934 GNA#22624 GNA#22722
     * Various fixes to client goto. (Some of these may resolve a client
       crash observed on Windows: GNA#21774.)
          + Ignore duplicate waypoints in client goto, and attempts to go
            nowhere. GNAPATCH#5271 GNAPATCH#5191 GNA#22610
          + Improve behaviour if a unit moves or is lost while the user is
            in the middle of specifying a goto. GNAPATCH#5193 GNA#22577
     * Fix client error messages when manipulating units with a zero move
       rate. GNA#22571
     * Some fixes to spy and caravan action dialogs:
          + Some buttons were active when the relevant action was not
            available. GNA#22565 GNA#22592 GNA#22593 GNA#22591
          + (Gtk) When multiple spy action dialogs were active at the same
            time, orders could end up being issued to the wrong unit.
            GNA#21636 GNA#22595
     * Fix a random client crash or error message after selecting 'Connect
       to Network Game'. GNA#22449 GNA#22316
     * Fix a cause of the client starting a server which it then could not
       connect to. GNA#22463
     * Fix error messages and possible instability when the city governor
       is working on a city that has been destroyed. GNA#16438
     * The client could report an incorrect ping time when the real time
       was not yet known. GNAPATCH#5349 GNA#22761
     * Fix some graphical glitches when moving units. GNA#19946 GNA#22770
     * Fix an error message when observing a player who is building a
       spaceship. GNA#22933
     * Map editor fixes and improvements:
          + Make it possible to select a nation for barbarian players.
            GNA#22741 Prevent setting normal players to barbarian and
            other unsuitable nations. GNA#22742
          + Players' research progress can now be edited. GNA#22840
          + Fix bugs in tile copy and paste:
               o Tiles were pasted in completely the wrong place.
                 GNA#21655
               o Copying units could cause assertion failures. GNA#22558
               o The client could remember possibly-invalid tiles from one
                 game to the next. GNA#22553
     * (Gtk) With the 'Help' box checked in the science dialog, technology
       help would pop up randomly at turn end and other times. GNA#19882
     * (Gtk) The apostrophe key now focuses the chatline in pregame (as it
       already did during play). GNA#22429 GNA#22453
     * (Gtk) Fix an assertion failure on quit after opening the Lua
       console. GNA#22431
     * (Gtk3) Clicking on specialists in the city dialog did the wrong
       thing. GNA#22366
     * (Gtk3) Fix a bug causing the chat window to be minimised after
       reconnecting, and assertion failures. GNA#21639 GNA#22673
     * (Gtk3) Various display issues:
          + Fix problems with flag display. GNA#21373 GNA#22457 GNA#22517
          + Fix fog-of-war in some tilesets. GNA#21601
          + Miscellaneous cosmetic tweaks. GNA#22671 GNA#22672
     * (SDL) The SDL client now supports changing nation sets.
       GNAPATCH#4351
     * (SDL) Fix client crash when attempting industrial sabotage of a
       city with no buildings. GNA#22495
     * (SDL) Don't prevent bases from being built on city center tiles in
       rulesets which allow this. GNA#22509
     * (SDL) Fix incorrect background color on some dialogs. GNA#22511

Tilesets / Art

     * The Cimpletoon tileset now includes graphics for the Migrant unit
       in the civ2civ3 ruleset. GNA#20029
     * The maglev graphics in the Amplio2 and Cimpletoon rulesets were
       never displayed. GNA#22371
     * Enable display of mines on water in all supplied tilesets, to
       support modpacks with different mining rules from the supplied
       rulesets. GNA#22424
     * Added a sound effect for an illegal server command to the standard
       soundset. GNAPATCH#5232

Help / Documentation

     * Minor improvements and corrections to civ2civ3 ruleset help.
       GNAPATCH#5008 GNA#22365
     * Minor improvements to help for other supplied rulesets. GNA#22333
       GNA#22419 GNAPATCH#5009
     * Barbarian nations were omitted from the online help. GNA#22603
       GNAPATCH#5331
     * Fix a large number of assertion failures when running the
       freeciv-manual tool. GNA#22347
     * Miscellaneous improvements to in-game text and user documentation.
       GNA#21550 GNA#22405 GNA#22416 GNAPATCH#5012 GNA#22427 GNA#22430
       GNAPATCH#5016 GNAPATCH#5032 GNA#22513 GNA#22623 GNA#22637
       GNAPATCH#5314 GNA#22825 GNA#22823 GNA#22846 GNA#22869 GNAPATCH#5388
       GNAPATCH#5389 GNAPATCH#3907 GNA#22847
     * Miscellaneous changes to developer/ruleset docs. GNA#22444
       GNAPATCH#5183 GNAPATCH#5252 GNAPATCH#5356 GNAPATCH#5374 GNA#22793
       GNA#22848 GNAPATCH#5412 GNAPATCH#5423
     * Invisible changes to assist localization. GNA#22303 GNA#22415
       GNAPATCH#5045 GNA#22551

Translations

     * Updated translations:
          + Complete translations: French.
          + Incomplete translations: Polish (99.9% core, 100% nations),
            Catalan (99.5% core, 100% nations), British English (98.4%
            core, 100% nations), Finnish (89% core, 87% nations), Scottish
            Gaelic (88% core, 84% nations), German (88% core, 84%
            nations).

Build/portability

     * Fix some compiler warnings. Build is now Clang-clean (with 3.3,
       3.4, and 3.5). GNAPATCH#4957 GNA#21386 GNA#22872 GNA#22886
       GNA#22887 GNA#22889 GNA#22895 GNA#22894 GNA#22916 GNA#22915
     * Fix compiler invocation to avoid a warning about -fopenmp from
       Clang. GNA#21493
     * Better diagnostics for failure to build the Qt client (particularly
       in the absence of a usable C++ compiler). GNA#22784
     * Fix compilation with Glib older than 2.32. GNA#22467
     * Fix a possible failure to find SDL headers at configure time.
       GNA#22879
     * Fix failure to build twice in a row due to missing mkinstalldirs.
       GNA#22773
     * New configure options --with-desktopdir and --with-appdatadir for
       finer control of installation locations. GNAPATCH#5047
     * Add search keywords to .desktop files. GNA#21573
     * The --enable-fcweb configure option is not yet useful in 2.5, so
       remove it. GNA#22696
     * The outdated 'vms' directory is no longer distributed.
       GNAPATCH#5313
