- The best strategy games on PC - 25 November 2019
You’ll ocassionally find someone on the internet sounding off about how the strategy genre is dead. If you see such a person in the future, send them this list of the best strategy games ever made. (more…)
- AI War 2 has left early access! - 22 October 2019
Chris here! By any sane metric I can think of, AI War 2 shouldn't exist. And yet it's more than I ever imagined it could be. When we first set out to make this game three years ago, it was far less ambitious. Even that was going to be really hard. Somehow, in the process of falling down the stairs over and over again during this period, we wound up with a game that seems to be superior to the original. This game shouldn't exist, but it does, and I'm both proud and stunned. https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F32938991%2Fed51420dc00461d199a437e6ece56bb118a6eb64.jpg The Secret? Community The intro to this post runs the risk of sounding like I'm tooting my own horn, but it's not actually about me. I'm not capable of making -- even just designing -- this game on my own. I don't think anyone is, really. The fact that this game exists isn't a testament to me having…
- The machine starts: AI War 2 launches out of early access - 22 October 2019
Humans! They are irrelevant. They couldn’t possibly threaten us, the mighty AI that destroyed them and conquered the galaxy. I’m sure that little exploded warp gate orbiting Ursinoe is nothing to worry about. We’ll reinforce the area a bit. Just a few pests. Mice in the walls, nothing more. That’s kinda how AI War 2 works. You’re the desperate remnants of humanity, and your job is to exploit that behaviour to survive and build up your forces until you’re strong enough to assassinate the CPU. It is, of course, Arcen’s sequel to their defining 2009 mega-strategy game AI War: Fleet Command , and after a 2016 Kickstarter and a year in early access, it’s finally ready. (more…)
- After Two Long Years, AI War 2 Hits Early Access! - 18 October 2018
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F32938991%2Fc6c568d45e0ac9b20ce2930db75c67179ce89f29.jpg It's been quite a saga, if you've followed along all this time. All that extra time paid off! At this point we have what fans have nearly-universally hailed as a worthy successor to the original classic. We still have plenty more to do prior to 1.0 in Q2 of 2019, but the game is ready to play now and we hope you'll come enjoy it and give us further feedback. Pick up the game now for 10% off! New To AI War? The original AI War is widely considered one of the top strategy games of all time, with a central mechanic that no other title has replicated. Humanity has already lost the war, and now you command the last remnants in a desperate campaign to take back the galaxy. More than most strategy games, your actions have consequences: taking every minor outpost you see is a…
- Yet More Massive Updates To AI War 2! - 26 July 2018
Be sure to stop by and wishlist AI War 2 to be notified when it launches into Early Access. You can read about the most recent update, plus a lot of planned upcoming updates, here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/573410/announcements/detail/1732082664630714967 Hopefully now you can see why we haven't pushed this game into Early Access yet. We're really wanting this to come out of the gate as something that we can be proud of and that you can be excited about, without us needing to go through a lot of revisions to basic mechanics after that point. It should be all content additions and bugfixing and refinement after we hit Early Access, hopefully. At any rate, it's been a really fun ride recently with out kickstarter backers, who have their hands on the game already (they sure ought to -- it's been almost two years!). Despite the long road, this is really coming together. Thanks for rea…
- The 50 best strategy games on PC - 28 June 2018
An entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made, now freshened up to include everything from 2017 and 2018. From intricate, global-scale wargames to the tight thrills of guerrilla squads, the broad expanse of the genre contains something for everyone, and we’ve gathered the best of the best. The vast majority are available to buy digitally, a few are free to download and play forever. They’re all brilliant. (more…)
- Massive update to AI War 2: "A Pivot And A Leap Forward" - 28 June 2018
You can read all about that here: https://steamcommunity.com/games/573410/announcements/detail/1699429118241526351 Be sure to pop by and wishlist the game, too!
- AI War Classic Sale Celebrating AI War 2 Teaser Trailer & Coming Soon Page - 26 April 2018
There's a sequel on the way! You can wishlist it here to be notified when it arrives in Early Access in July. https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F1139903%2Ffca7974aecbf1b87b10168488838dc4f945d504f.jpg We've uploaded a teaser trailer and listed a coming soon store page for AI War 2 (don't forget to wishlist)! To celebrate, all AI War classic products are on sale with deep discounts -- get AI War's base game or Collection bundle for 80% off, plus individual DLC for $1 each through May 5th. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iyi-ZEiPow This project has been in the works since 2016, and thanks to a kickstarter and a ton of support from all those alpha and beta testers, we're finally closing in on that ever-elusive Early Access point. After we hit EA in July, we hope to have an even wider array of testers, and then we'll be ready for a highly-polished 1.0 in Octobe…
- Starward Rogue Expansion Launch and AI War 2 News! - 24 January 2018
Chris here! Quick announcement about another title, but lots of AI War 2 notes further down, so read on! AI War 2 is coming together nicely to launch early this year, but we've also had a "volunteer brigade" working on something on the side: the first expansion pack for our rogue-lite shooter Starward Rogue -- Starward Rogue: AuGMENTED. Developed by the "Arcen Extended" team, which is comprised of former contractors and modders from the community, the expansion has been nearly 2 years in the making, and adds a boatload of new content, including new mechs, new enemies, new items, new bosses and much more. These folks have absolutely been pouring time and love into this project, but it hasn't been a diversion from AI War 2 for Keith, Blue, or me. It’s probably one of the biggest expansions we have ever released for any title, and something we are very proud of. The base game of Starward R…
- Starward Rogue Expansion Launch and AI War 2 News! - 24 January 2018
Chris here! Quick announcement about another title, but lots of AI War 2 notes further down, so read on! AI War 2 is coming together nicely to launch early this year, but we've also had a "volunteer brigade" working on something on the side: the first expansion pack for our rogue-lite shooter Starward Rogue -- Starward Rogue: AuGMENTED. Developed by the "Arcen Extended" team, which is comprised of former contractors and modders from the community, the expansion has been nearly 2 years in the making, and adds a boatload of new content, including new mechs, new enemies, new items, new bosses and much more. These folks have absolutely been pouring time and love into this project, but it hasn't been a diversion from AI War 2 for Keith, Blue, or me. It’s probably one of the biggest expansions we have ever released for any title, and something we are very proud of. The base game of Starward R…
- AI War 2 aims for Oct 2017 after Kickstarter success - 20 December 2016
It’s a Christmas miracle: AI War 2 has hits its crowdfunding goal on its second attempt, its wonderful creators Arcen Games will live to dev another day, and we’ve probably all learned a little about feelings or some other sappy nonsense I guess. The original AI War is a fascinating RTS – and one of Adam’s favourites – with a wealth of options in a war against an AI overlord who’s playing entirely differently to you. Given the first Kickstarter’s failure and Arcen’s recent troubles , I’d worried about both this game and the whole studio but thankfully all is looking up. …
- AI War 2 Kickstarter re-launch hits goal in 22 hours! Plus new video. - 19 November 2016
Um... wow? Folks are absolutely amazing in their support, and I'm just agog at this. I'm going to be out most of the weekend, but I just wanted to say thanks in advance if we hit any stretch goals before Monday. At the moment we seem likely to hit the stretch goal for new music sooner than later. So, other stuff -- first I'd like to share one new video with you: So just what is this "AI War" thing, and why should you be excited about it? Hopefully the kickstarter campaign page answers that question, in a general sense at least. ;) But prior to launching this campaign I was working on this video, and I finally finished editing it today (with Pablo's help cleaning up some unfortunately peaky audio because my mic gain was off), so I thought I'd share it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IluP7KEx0xk If you're wanting to explain to someone first what this game is, then why it's frickin awesom…
- AI War 2 Kickstarter re-launch hits goal in 22 hours! Plus new video. - 19 November 2016
Um... wow? Folks are absolutely amazing in their support, and I'm just agog at this. I'm going to be out most of the weekend, but I just wanted to say thanks in advance if we hit any stretch goals before Monday. At the moment we seem likely to hit the stretch goal for new music sooner than later. So, other stuff -- first I'd like to share one new video with you: So just what is this "AI War" thing, and why should you be excited about it? Hopefully the kickstarter campaign page answers that question, in a general sense at least. ;) But prior to launching this campaign I was working on this video, and I finally finished editing it today (with Pablo's help cleaning up some unfortunately peaky audio because my mic gain was off), so I thought I'd share it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IluP7KEx0xk If you're wanting to explain to someone first what this game is, then why it's frickin awesom…
- AI War 2 returns to Kickstarter, smaller and cheaper - 18 November 2016
Arcen Games have launched a new Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund AI War II , sequel to their cracking 2009 real-time strategy game which pitted players against AI playing by entirely different rules. “Didn’t they just …?” you’re wondering and yep, they did try to Kickstart it in October but cancelled the campaign when it was clear they wouldn’t reach their goal. They’re returned with a smaller pitch for a smaller game with a smaller budget, and this time they’re almost at their goal. …
- The 50 best strategy games on PC - 18 November 2016
An entirely objective ranking of the 50 best PC strategy games ever made, now brought up to date with the riches of the last two years. From intricate wargames to soothing peacegames, the broad expanse of the genre contains something for everyone, and we’ve gathered the best of the best. The vast majority are available to buy digitally, a few are free to download and play forever. They’re all brilliant. …
- AI War 2 Kickstarter re-launches... 50% funded in 4 hours! - 18 November 2016
Good grief! People are awesome. I didn't mean to update folks here "late," but the new campaign for AI War 2 has already reached half of its (admittedly much more modest) funding goal. https://youtu.be/CPrhD-_SNpo I've already written a first update post that has a large Q&A based on early questions. Apologies that the video above is just a teaser-style one, but one of the Q&A topics (way at the bottom) touches on the reasons for that. Basically perfectionism on my part, I guess. This is a very different project from the one that we were pitching in the first kickstarter, but I'm really excited about it. Keith has written up a new design document that explains what is planned. There's another document that compares the new vision for the sequel to the original AI War, for those wanting to see that comparison. One of the last updates to the original campaign does probably the most concis…
- AI War 2 Kickstarter re-launches... 50% funded in 4 hours! - 18 November 2016
Good grief! People are awesome. I didn't mean to update folks here "late," but the new campaign for AI War 2 has already reached half of its (admittedly much more modest) funding goal. https://youtu.be/CPrhD-_SNpo I've already written a first update post that has a large Q&A based on early questions. Apologies that the video above is just a teaser-style one, but one of the Q&A topics (way at the bottom) touches on the reasons for that. Basically perfectionism on my part, I guess. This is a very different project from the one that we were pitching in the first kickstarter, but I'm really excited about it. Keith has written up a new design document that explains what is planned. There's another document that compares the new vision for the sequel to the original AI War, for those wanting to see that comparison. One of the last updates to the original campaign does probably the most concis…
- AI War 2 on Kickstarter NOW! - 25 October 2016
FINALLY a sequel. Please stop by our kickstarter campaign -- we're counting on folks like you to make this bigger, better, clearer sequel a reality. You might hate kickstarter, and I hate preorders, but I hope you'll love this project on its own merits. The original AI War is something that RPS called one of the best strategy games ever made, and which is widely regarded as having some of the best and most interesting AI ever seen in a game. Why a sequel? The original was designed in a different time, under completely different design goals. We're finally creating a sequel that is being rebuilt from the ground up using a whole bunch of new tricks and tech that we've acquired over the last few years. The trickiest core technical improvements -- ranging from highly efficient 3D graphics to a multithreaded main-simulation to mod support -- are already complete. https://www.youtube.com/watc…
- AI War 2 on Kickstarter NOW! - 25 October 2016
FINALLY a sequel. Please stop by our kickstarter campaign -- we're counting on folks like you to make this bigger, better, clearer sequel a reality. You might hate kickstarter, and I hate preorders, but I hope you'll love this project on its own merits. The original AI War is something that RPS called one of the best strategy games ever made, and which is widely regarded as having some of the best and most interesting AI ever seen in a game. Why a sequel? The original was designed in a different time, under completely different design goals. We're finally creating a sequel that is being rebuilt from the ground up using a whole bunch of new tricks and tech that we've acquired over the last few years. The trickiest core technical improvements -- ranging from highly efficient 3D graphics to a multithreaded main-simulation to mod support -- are already complete. https://www.youtube.com/watc…
- Headtalker! Please sign up. Plus more "Reverse AI War" tidbits. - 20 October 2016
Chris here. I'm going to keep this brief and try not to be annoying! First up: if you didn't already know, we're running a kickstarter for the sequel to AI War, and that's a pretty big deal to us. If you have not already, please consider signing up for the Headtalker campaign for AI War II. The true power of this thing has only really become apparent to me today, and it's pretty awesome. Briefly: If 500 people sign up -- and there are 71 on there as of the time of this writing, including myself -- then a big social media blast goes out. I guess kind of like a Thunderclap? It tracks the amount of reach that we have on social media based on this, and basically it can be a way to get in front of a LOT of people. Out of just 71 people signed up so far, that gives us a potential reach of 960 thousand people. Bearing in mind that a ton of those people will have zero interest in this, it's sti…
