Update 0.5.25: Blockade & Command — Naval Sieges, Unit Bar v3 & Redrawn Seas

Update 0.5.25: Blockade & Command introduces full maritime interdiction, the unified Unit Command Bar v3, organic sea zones, scripted invasion waves, and shared command authority. Hello, world leaders! We are excited to deliver Update 0.5.25: Blockade & Command. This release introduces tactical naval blockades to strangle hostile trade, a ground-up redesign of map military orders, persistent control groups, redrawn organic sea zones, scripted invasion waves, and shared command authority tolend armed forces to your allies.

Naval Blockades & Maritime Interdiction

Naval power can now decisively sever an adversary's maritime economy:

• Blockade Orders (Command 307): Position warships along enemy shores with Blockade here, target nearby coasts via Blockade at…, or issue Lift to end the siege.
• Coverage & Sea Control: Imposing a blockade requires local naval supremacy. Trade loss scales directly with coast coverage: more coast controlled equals greater trade collapse.
• Targeted Disruption: Blockades spare overland trade while severing maritime lanes and bilateral supply contracts across contested waters.
• Garrison Starvation & Exhaustion: Cut off supply lines to island garrisons and inflict compounding national war exhaustion.
• Wartime Trade Suspension: War automatically suspends active bilateral trade contracts with enemies; peace immediately restores them.
• Rules & AI Behavior: Fleets transporting or embarking ground troops cannot blockade. The AI actively blockades high-value coastlines and hunts enemy blockaders.

Unit Command Bar v3 & Operational Controls

Commanding land, sea, and air operations is now faster and unified across a single tactical bar:

• Unified Tri-Service Bar: Armies, fleets, and air wings share one clean bar with dedicated branch tabs.
• Multi-Unit "Selected" Tab: Selecting multiple units opens an aggregated overview with total strength, composition, and batch orders for all selected formations.
• Streamlined Orders Grid: A compact two-column order layout with clear labels. Right-click directly executes moves and attacks—redundant Move and Attack buttons are removed.
• Regiment Split Dialog: Features branch-specific icons, smooth scrolling rows, and instant designation of new divisions.
• Home Province Dynamic Naming: Through UnitNameBook, newly mobilized formations are dynamically named after their home province (e.g. "Van Army 2" or "London Fleet 1" ).
• Custom Renaming (Command 210): Personalize any unit or fleet name; clearing the text field instantly restores the home province name.

Persistent Control Groups (Ctrl + 0–9)

• Stable Recall: Assign any selection with Ctrl + 0–9 and recall it instantly by pressing the number.
• Persistent by Stable ID: Groups track units by permanent entity IDs, keeping battle groups intact through regiment splits, merges, saves, and multiplayer resyncs.
• Visual Badges: Control group numbers appear directly on unit bars, tabs, map counters, the Forces roster, and the outliner.

Organic Sea Zones & Visual Borders

• 6,323 Redrawn Sea Cells: Rectilinear grid blocks are replaced with organic sea zones that naturally follow real coastlines, straits, and gulfs.
• Tactical Border Lines: Faint dashed maritime borders appear at close-up zoom to assist fleet placement, and hide in Economy map mode.
• Graphics Toggle: Adjust boundary visibility in Settings › Graphics › Sea zone borders.
• Save Repair: Save format updated to v56. Saves from earlier grid layouts are automatically repaired and remapped to organic sea cells on load.

Notification Center & Sticky Request Card

Critical diplomatic decisions no longer get buried in transient toasts:

• Sticky Request Card: High-priority requests sit on a persistent "Waiting for your answer" summary card until resolved.
• Visible Deadlines: Pending proposals display clear expiration countdowns (e.g. "Expires in 2 d" ).
• Hotkey Access: Press N to toggle the Notification Center drawer.
• Transparent Snooze & Mute: Clearly explains what is hidden and how and when it returns.

Scenario Engine: Invasion Waves & Shared Command

• Shared Command Authority (Command 211): Strategically lend armies, fleets, or air wings to an ally or proxy state via grant_command_authority, with full rights to Recall them anytime.
• Scripted Invasion Waves: Author coordinated multi-stack amphibious landings, marches, and siege assaults that retain wave identity without auto-merging.
• Unit Conversions & Modernization: The upgrade_units effect refits existing regiments immediately or across a refit program, while retire_old phases out obsolete templates.
• Modder Top-Bar Trackers: Scenarios can display up to three custom real-time status gauges on the top HUD bar.
• Research-Gated Buildings: Technologies can directly lock or unlock civilian and military structures.
• Mod Builder Expansion: Author invasion waves, pool conditions, and UI trackers directly in the Mod Builder.

Missile Warfare & Strategic Parity

• Conventional Missile Launches: Non-nuclear nations at war now reliably launch ordered conventional strikes (fixing a bug where non-nuclear strikes were blocked by nuclear checks).
• Stranded Order Refunds: Orders stranded in pre-v52 saves are automatically refunded on load.
• DEFCON Launch Authorization: Strategic nuclear launches strictly require DEFCON 3 or lower (Standby gate).
• Strike Awareness: Belligerents joining existing wars and third-party missile strikes relevant to you are formally announced.

Quality of Life & General Fixes

• Cursor Size Slider: Added an adjustable Cursor Size slider under Settings.
• Unified Mode Pill: All map interaction modes (Fleet Move, Rebase, Auto-Transport, Blockade at…) use a standardized top banner; pressing Escape exits the mode.
• Auto Sea Transport: Prioritizes the fastest available fleet and leaves transports committed to other forces alone.
• Economy Displays: Economy › Resources cleanly displays "—" until the first monthly economic tick resolves.
• Post-Annexation Missile Defense: Coverage estimates anchor to your true capital after annexations.
• Forces Strip Split: Split modal opens immediately from the Forces roster, whether running or paused.
• Multiplayer Determinism (Rev 37): Preserves individual throughput history for parallel trade lanes across reconnects; version mismatch protection guards lobbies.

Thank you for your ongoing feedback and support as we continue expanding Global Protocol!