As I told DJ and Buckeye yesterday, there will now be +1, +2, +3 upgrades available to research for ships and buildings.

In addition, Operation Centers and Transformation Gateways will no longer be able to construct units.  You can still add units and take them away from your group using these buildings, as well as exchange your type of unit for another type of unit.  However, actual unit construction is handled by research buildings.  In the case of the humans, the Argo Laboratory, Factory and Starbase construct units.  (Thus, the more of these you have in late-game, the faster you can construct units.)  Unlike most RTS games, you can use a research building to both buy a unit AND research abilities.

By the way, this does not apply to Scouters or their equivalents in other races.  Scouters come from an Operation Center/Tranformation Gateway, and are available instantly.

Yes, I must apologize though that I still haven't worked the Xaos out. So I'll set myself a deadline: before 8th september the Xaos will be done!

Excellent!   Don't forget that S.A.D. now supports multiple numbers of the same kind of unit inside a group.

COMMAND SHIP

It's probably very appropriate that the last of "my" ships (with Matthias working on the Xoas) is the most powerful unit in S.A.D.--The Tosonian Command ship.  Since the Tosonians have expensive, powerful units, the Command Ship is the most powerful of the capital ships.

The Command Ship does not have the ability to fire Plasma Torpedoes.  However, it can be upgraded to have a deflector shield and will have some sort of "Yamato Cannon" refillable upgrade.

Interesting. Is the Talec kinda like the Zerg lurkers?

Exactly, except that it can't move to a different location and it can't be detected.  The Talec was certainly inspired by the lurkers, and I almost drew "spines" 

TOSONIANS

No, we are not talking about the Tosonian Faction in this case.  We are talking about actual Tosonians.  That is, the spiritual beings themselves.

Tosonians, when used as an S.A.D. unit, are quite unique.  They have no attack of their own, but are rather used as "finders of opportunity."  They are "cloaked," since they are spiritual beings, but they can be attacked and detected.

The Tosonians warriors have 4 abilities they can use, two of which must be researched.  When it is time to use the ability, every single Tosonian in your group is lost, with one exception.  Furthermore, even though the abilities are worth it, Tosonian warriors are somewhat expensive and have low HP.  Thus you must be certain to find the right opportunity to use them rather than spamming and wasting them--and careful micro is needed.

Be aware that the more Tosonians you have grouped together, the better chance you have of reaching your goal.  After all, if even ONE Tosonian makes it safely to an opportune spot, you can at least morph it.

Plant Spy:  A player can place ONE tosonian at a time on an unoccupied tile, which will uncover a small (probably 4 tiles) area of fog of war.  A spy can be attacked, but cannot be detected.  This ability must be researched.

Capture Units: This ability must also be researched.  Tosonians can take over units in an enemy group of units, one enemy unit for each Tosonian.  Any leftover Tosonians are destroyed.  Furthermore, this ability cannot be used on Capital ships.  A Tosonian can use any abilities available to the captured units, whether the enemy researched the abilities or not.

Morph into Talec  Yes, just like "Zerg" morph.  Tosonians can morph into a single Talec, which resides underground and attacks anything in its radius.  Once the Talec goes into the ground, it becomes part of the tilemap (and is, essentially, a "building") and cannot be moved.  Like the Tosonian Spies, Talecs can be attacked, but not detected.  In addition, the moment the Talec is underground, the Tosonian player is free to use other units.  This ability does not need to be researched.

Morph into Malec  Tosonians can choose to morph into a single Malec, which resides underground and attacks any Operation Centers (or equivalent) in its radius, without the need for Plasma Torpedoes.  (Since the radius is huge, it probably will not be uncommon for a Tosonian player to snipe two or more Operation Centers using this method.)  Once the Malec goes into the ground, it becomes part of the tilemap (and is, essentially, a "building") and cannot be moved.  Like the Tosonian Spies and Talecs, Malecs can be attacked, but not detected.  In addition, the moment the Malec is underground, the Tosonian player is free to use other units.  This ability does not need to be researched.

Good news for those of you who enjoy traditional RTS games: Ship units will now have a build time.  I remembered I had to add build time for upgrades and for the construction of processing units, so I can just borrow code for building ship units.

As you think about S.A.D., get used to the idea of using lots of Transformation Gateways, or their equivalents in other races.  If you use one for each base (about 33% of the amount of supply depots or pylons you use in a typical Starcraft game), they'll be a big help in the long run.  (I'm telling you this because I had to keep reminding myself about that.  I was glum today, thinking, "Oh, how inflexible a player's strategy can be since only one type of unit can be used at a time."  Once I remembered spamming Transformation Gateways, I realized that I was fretting over nothing.)

Update: around 75% finished!

75%?  WOW!  I can't wait!