The Sins of a Solar Empire Website announces the promised beta version 1.1 patch for Ironclad Games' space strategy game is now available, exclusively through Stardock's Impulse service. What's new and different is outlined in this change log, while the beta can be discussed in this forum thread. Here's the post, which humorously crosses the URL for Impulse (impulsedriven.com) with that of Steam (steampowered.com):

The next major update for Sins of a Solar Empire, the best-selling PC strategy game of 2008 that puts the player in command of an interstellar empire at war, is here!

Since this new update is huge and contains several brand new technologies, we're going to be offering it as an optional beta for those who want to help test it out and provide feedback.

Version 1.1 not only includes a host of play balancing changes but new content such as an updated graphics engine, updated visuals, new damage animations, and more. It also includes a new multiplayer system called "Alloy" which eliminates the need for configuring routers or changing port numbers.

This beta update will be available only through Stardock's new Impulse platform (http://www.impulsepowered.com).

See the full change log for all the details and the beta information thread for more information on obtaining the update.

Update: The Impulse URL in the original post has been corrected.