Chris sat down with Nick Puleo of Co-Optimus for a more in-depth look at the recently revealed multiplayer and co-op features for A Valley Without Wind.
In it, they discuss MMORPG aspects, retention of the isolation theme, solutions on playing together with varying levels, avoiding the grind, the first season of LOST, and much more.
Read the full interview over on Co-Optimus.
Friday, February 25, 2011
A Valley Without Wind Progress Report 4: Multiplayer, The World Map, Regions, and Windstorms
Arcen Games continues its weekly report on its procedurally-generated action-adventure title A Valley Without Wind with information on the game's multiplayer, server support, world map, regions, windstorms and more.
Multiplayer is coming to AVWW through the support of servers. The plan is for mainly co-op play, but there's room for pvp content if the server administrator wants to allow it. You'll be able to launch the game server on any computer, and then other players can connect to it (including the computer running the server, if you wish). At the moment there's no explicit limits on the number of players per server, but a game should run smoothly with up to 16 players depending on the players' and admin's hardware and connections.
Also introduced this week is the World Map. Each tile on the map represents a "region" consisting of one big outdoors area with a variety of buildings, caves, tunnels, and so on leading down into the earth or up into the sky. Windstorm events occur occasionally as you make your way across the map, sweeping you into the region you're standing on, and forcing you to deal with inclement weather and more, stronger monsters than typically dealt with until all characters have escaped from that region. This result brings more risk to traveling, particularly in parts of the world map with levels higher than yours.
The development of new regions are on display as well. Currently seven different regions have been created and there will be many, many types in the game as it moves toward version 1.0, with hopes of having around 20+ in place by the start of alpha. Arcen's own Chris Park goes into full detail on everything mentioned above and more in the game's latest dev diary: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/02/multiplayer-world-map-regions-and.html
A whopping 16 new screenshots of the latest build are now available on the game's feature page: http://www.arcengames.com/w/index.php/games/avww-features
And our latest gameplay video shows it all in action (HD link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eyhf9PxOU7U&hd=1
We'll be back next week with the latest progress report containing all the new reveals, footage and screens. A Valley Without Wind is targeted for official release on PC and Mac late this year with a playable Alpha build available to all pre-order customers in spring.
About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year was a busy one, seeing the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first full expansion for AI War; Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth; and Children of Neinzul, a micro-expansion for AI War with all profits benefiting the Child's Play charity, of which Arcen is a platinum sponsor.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, and now the company has shifted its focus and excitement to the development of A Valley Without Wind. Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles.
Multiplayer is coming to AVWW through the support of servers. The plan is for mainly co-op play, but there's room for pvp content if the server administrator wants to allow it. You'll be able to launch the game server on any computer, and then other players can connect to it (including the computer running the server, if you wish). At the moment there's no explicit limits on the number of players per server, but a game should run smoothly with up to 16 players depending on the players' and admin's hardware and connections.
Also introduced this week is the World Map. Each tile on the map represents a "region" consisting of one big outdoors area with a variety of buildings, caves, tunnels, and so on leading down into the earth or up into the sky. Windstorm events occur occasionally as you make your way across the map, sweeping you into the region you're standing on, and forcing you to deal with inclement weather and more, stronger monsters than typically dealt with until all characters have escaped from that region. This result brings more risk to traveling, particularly in parts of the world map with levels higher than yours.
The development of new regions are on display as well. Currently seven different regions have been created and there will be many, many types in the game as it moves toward version 1.0, with hopes of having around 20+ in place by the start of alpha. Arcen's own Chris Park goes into full detail on everything mentioned above and more in the game's latest dev diary: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/02/multiplayer-world-map-regions-and.html
A whopping 16 new screenshots of the latest build are now available on the game's feature page: http://www.arcengames.com/w/
And our latest gameplay video shows it all in action (HD link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?
We'll be back next week with the latest progress report containing all the new reveals, footage and screens. A Valley Without Wind is targeted for official release on PC and Mac late this year with a playable Alpha build available to all pre-order customers in spring.
About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year was a busy one, seeing the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first full expansion for AI War; Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth; and Children of Neinzul, a micro-expansion for AI War with all profits benefiting the Child's Play charity, of which Arcen is a platinum sponsor.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, and now the company has shifted its focus and excitement to the development of A Valley Without Wind. Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles.
AI War and LotS Review on IncGamers
Peter Parrish has written a great review of AI War and the Light of the Spire expansion over on IncGamers. In it he awards the game a 9 out of 10 on their review scale and sums it up as "an exceptional, unique strategy title with near-endless customization and unparalleled post-release support."
A particular excerpt that put smiles on our faces:
A particular excerpt that put smiles on our faces:
"Having played this title at two distinct points in its life cycle what really stands out is the incredible dedication of Arcen Games in keeping one top of how the game evolves and expands. Even though a great many features have been added and tweaked and refined, it was possible for me to drop back into AI War after more than a year away and not find it to be a confusing mish-mash of feature overload. The post-release support is, quite honestly, the best I've seen for any game."Read the full review on IncGamers.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
AI War Beta 5.002 Released!
This one continues our bugfix/polish work, and also includes some small additional features that were the top requests on our idea tracker. Namely: triple-clicking units allows for a new kind of selection ability; there are now keybinds for showing strong/weak info; and the selection description window in the bottom right has seen some added functionality.
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have 4.000 or later. When you launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found if you're connected to the Internet at the time. If you don't have 4.000 or later, you can download that here.
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have 4.000 or later. When you launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found if you're connected to the Internet at the time. If you don't have 4.000 or later, you can download that here.
Friday, February 18, 2011
A Valley Without Wind Progress Report 3: Shadows, Traps and Particles... Oh My!
Arcen Games is excited to pass along the latest media and developments for A Valley Without Wind, a procedurally-generated action-adventure game that takes place in an ever-expanding world. Much has been added since last week, with AVWW now boasting a new Junkyard area, the addition of shadows, and more robust particle effects; but wait...there's more!
The HUD has been introduced along with an inventory that allows the collection of scrap and other new objects. The bear trap--the game's first trap-- new spells, tweaked Skelebot behavior and a spell targeting system have been implemented as well. Not to mention a new story reveal that won't spoil anything, but should get the synapses firing.
To show all this off, a new developer diary, a dozen new screenshots and a new gameplay video are now available to check out. Arcen head Chris Park discusses all the latest goodies in greater detail on the Games By Design devblog: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/02/shadows-traps-and-particles-oh-my.html
The aforementioned screens can be viewed/downloaded on the AVWW features page: http://www.arcengames.com/w/index.php/games/avww-features
While the video of the latest pre-alpha build can be viewed here (HD'd for the full effect): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI8yG5AknSE&hd=1
Tune in next week for the latest progress report containing new reveals, footage and screenshots. A Valley Without Wind is targeted for official release on PC and Mac late this year. The first playable Alpha build is still on target for March, and will be available to all pre-order customers.
About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year was a busy one, seeing the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first full expansion for AI War; Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth; and Children of Neinzul, a micro-expansion for AI War with all profits benefiting the Child's Play charity, of which Arcen is a platinum sponsor.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, and now the company has shifted its focus and excitement to the development of A Valley Without Wind. Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles.
The HUD has been introduced along with an inventory that allows the collection of scrap and other new objects. The bear trap--the game's first trap-- new spells, tweaked Skelebot behavior and a spell targeting system have been implemented as well. Not to mention a new story reveal that won't spoil anything, but should get the synapses firing.
To show all this off, a new developer diary, a dozen new screenshots and a new gameplay video are now available to check out. Arcen head Chris Park discusses all the latest goodies in greater detail on the Games By Design devblog: http://christophermpark.
The aforementioned screens can be viewed/downloaded on the AVWW features page: http://www.arcengames.com/w/
While the video of the latest pre-alpha build can be viewed here (HD'd for the full effect): http://www.youtube.com/watch?
Tune in next week for the latest progress report containing new reveals, footage and screenshots. A Valley Without Wind is targeted for official release on PC and Mac late this year. The first playable Alpha build is still on target for March, and will be available to all pre-order customers.
About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year was a busy one, seeing the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first full expansion for AI War; Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth; and Children of Neinzul, a micro-expansion for AI War with all profits benefiting the Child's Play charity, of which Arcen is a platinum sponsor.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, and now the company has shifted its focus and excitement to the development of A Valley Without Wind. Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
AI War Beta 5.001 Released!
This one packs a fair number of tweaks. It lets you bind mouse buttons beyond the first two, which is a handy new feature for players with a lot of mouse buttons. The core triangle ships have seen some balance tuning after much discussion with players, as have reclamators and guardians. It's nothing that fundamentally changes the game, but it is a better version of what was there.
Also fixed a bug where hybrid hives were basically broken for the last month and a half or two, apparently. In terms of grand balance, we changed how the AI scales up its tech levels at the high difficulty levels to avoid expert players feeling it's too grindy, and we also much increased the effect that handicaps have on AI player activities in general (it was affecting far too little since... forever, really).
As we previously promised, we're still in refinement and polish mode for the game, and plan to stay in that mode for the next good number of months. So even if you're not normally one who plays the latest bleeding edge betas, this is a pretty safe time to play with the betas since they largely just make things more refined without requiring you to completely redefine your strategies every week as was happening back in the 4.0 to 5.0 time period. Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have 4.000 or later. When you launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found if you're connected to the Internet at the time. If you don't have 4.000 or later, you can download that here.
Also fixed a bug where hybrid hives were basically broken for the last month and a half or two, apparently. In terms of grand balance, we changed how the AI scales up its tech levels at the high difficulty levels to avoid expert players feeling it's too grindy, and we also much increased the effect that handicaps have on AI player activities in general (it was affecting far too little since... forever, really).
As we previously promised, we're still in refinement and polish mode for the game, and plan to stay in that mode for the next good number of months. So even if you're not normally one who plays the latest bleeding edge betas, this is a pretty safe time to play with the betas since they largely just make things more refined without requiring you to completely redefine your strategies every week as was happening back in the 4.0 to 5.0 time period. Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have 4.000 or later. When you launch the game, you'll see the notice of the update having been found if you're connected to the Internet at the time. If you don't have 4.000 or later, you can download that here.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Eurogamer Reviews AI War!
It's a balancing act, with your own strength on one side, and the AI's opinion of you on the other. Piss it off before you're ready to face it, and you're going to get squashed. That moment, when you're finally in a position to turn the tables, is about as glorious as gaming gets.
- Phill Cameron, Eurogamer Review
The review is really quite worth a read, as it's one of the better ones we've ever seen for really capturing what the game is all about.
- Phill Cameron, Eurogamer Review
The review is really quite worth a read, as it's one of the better ones we've ever seen for really capturing what the game is all about.
Monday, February 14, 2011
AI War 5.0 and Light of the Spire Expansion Now Available on Steam
The Light of the Spire Expansion
Arcen Games is proud to announce AI War: Light of the Spire, the game's biggest expansion ever, is out now for PC and Mac on Steam. To celebrate, the base game will go for 50% off and the new add-on 10% off on Valve's digital distribution platform until February 21 at 10 AM PST: http://store.steampowered.com/The expansion is packed full of new additions. The "Fallen Spire" campaign brings in-game linear story elements to the title for the first time, and culminates in a whole new way to win. Players with minutes instead of hours should take to the new Defender Mode, offering bite-sized timed games against crazy AI aggression.
Light of the Spire also brings 180 new ships, including the powerful "Spirecraft" vessel class which stands as the second largest unit class in the game. New music from composer Pablo Vega, new AI types, map types, bonus ship classes, minor factions and quite a bit more packs the expansion to the brim. Prepare for a new war!
Light of the Spire is available now for $10 through ArcenGames.com and most major digital distributors. More information and a trailer can be found here, along with a comprehensive feature list: http://www.arcengames.com/w/
AI War 5.0
Arriving alongside the LotS expansion is AI War 5.0, a massive update free to owners of the base game on Steam. Version 5.0 refines the title by taking the best of all past versions and blending them into the definitive AI War experience. While the game will continue to grow and evolve, 5.0 now serves as the foundation for the future.
With this update, nearly every combat ship in the game has been rebalanced in an effort to integrate all the new units added over the past year. Golems have been completely revamped and the AI have received major intelligence upgrades such as more proactive retreats, a network of core shield generators, and the new "stalking" mechanic where it lies in wait until the player is at their most vulnerable.
Players should also be pleased with significant adjustments to overall difficulty and the shortening of the early part of the game -- allowing you to "get to the good part" faster. Not to mention tons of performance improvements, as well as more of a general accessibility regardless of what level of player you are.
Steam users who own AI War simply can load up the game to automatically download the new update. Interested parties can read all the additions, improvements and changes in massive detail here: http://arcengames.com/
Updated Demos
The PC demo on AI War: Fleet Command's Steam page now reflects the latest update. PC and Mac Demos of both AI War 5.0 and Light of the Spire can be downloaded here: http://www.arcengames.com/w/About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year was a busy one, seeing the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first full expansion for AI War; Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth; and Children of Neinzul, a micro-expansion for AI War with all profits benefiting the Child's Play charity, of which Arcen is a platinum sponsor.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, and now the company has shifted its focus and excitement to the development of A Valley Without Wind. Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles.
Friday, February 11, 2011
AVWW Interview on BigDownload
We have another sizable interview on A Valley Without Wind to pass along. Chris and I got together with James Murff of BigDownload to chat about Arcen and our upcoming game in detail. Topics touched upon include world-building, comparisons to other titles, pre-order plans and more.
Also packed with the feature are some exclusive screens that reflect the current build of the title--make sure you check those out in their gallery to view the shots in high resolution.
Read up over on BigDownload.
Also packed with the feature are some exclusive screens that reflect the current build of the title--make sure you check those out in their gallery to view the shots in high resolution.
Read up over on BigDownload.
A Valley Without Wind Screenshots And Video Show Off New Spells And First Enemy
Arcen Games is proud to roll out new info and media for their upcoming procedurally-generated action-adventure title A Valley Without Wind. Today is especially notable for the game, as for the first time actual gameplay has been implemented into the PreAlpha build; thus launching it past the "running around in the woods sim" phase and into the much more satisfying "shooting fireballs and not getting killed by robots" phase.
Much has been tweaked and added to the artwork since AVWW's reveal last week. The placeholder building has been replaced with the real thing, several actually, improvements for the character's run animation and the white borders around certain graphics, the appearance of a pair of magic spells, and the introduction of the game's first enemy.
Arcen head Chris Park on the progress:
"We're still just getting started of course, but we're also really proud of how fast we've been able to get the game to even this stage -- three weeks of dev time! By the time we hit publish alpha in another month to month and a half, this is going to be quite a cool game. And it's still only going to grow from there!...And by the way, the respawns that you see of the character in this video are temporary. Perma-death is still very much coming, so never fear!"
8 new screenshots of the latest build are linked below, and a video showcasing the latest features and additions of the PreAlpha can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Cn881LSnI&hd=1. The latest in-game music track by Pablo Vega is also in the video, as the composer continues to build and share AVWW's expanding soundtrack bit by 8-bit. Speaking of the composer, Vega has written up a new dev diary giving a glimpse into his methods on constructing a game soundtrack and providing his take on the "no such thing as original music" theory. Check it out here: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-look-into-old-sounds.html.
Stay tuned! We'll have new media every week as we get closer and closer to our alpha release in March. Interested parties are encouraged to view the video in HD (720p) and the screens in their original resolution. The shots can be viewed here:
PreAlpha-v003-BurnWinterGrasses
PreAlpha-v003-Characterdeath
PreAlpha-v003-Houses
PreAlpha-v003-Roadside
PreAlpha-v003-RobotAttack
PreAlpha-v003-TeleportCliff
PreAlpha-v003-TeleportWinter
PreAlpha-v003-WinterRobots
About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year was a busy one, seeing the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first full expansion for AI War; Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth; and Children of Neinzul, a micro-expansion for AI War with all profits benefiting the Child's Play charity, of which Arcen is a platinum sponsor.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, and now the company has shifted its focus and excitement to the evelopment of A Valley Without Wind. Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles.
Much has been tweaked and added to the artwork since AVWW's reveal last week. The placeholder building has been replaced with the real thing, several actually, improvements for the character's run animation and the white borders around certain graphics, the appearance of a pair of magic spells, and the introduction of the game's first enemy.
Arcen head Chris Park on the progress:
"We're still just getting started of course, but we're also really proud of how fast we've been able to get the game to even this stage -- three weeks of dev time! By the time we hit publish alpha in another month to month and a half, this is going to be quite a cool game. And it's still only going to grow from there!...And by the way, the respawns that you see of the character in this video are temporary. Perma-death is still very much coming, so never fear!"
8 new screenshots of the latest build are linked below, and a video showcasing the latest features and additions of the PreAlpha can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_Cn881LSnI&hd=1. The latest in-game music track by Pablo Vega is also in the video, as the composer continues to build and share AVWW's expanding soundtrack bit by 8-bit. Speaking of the composer, Vega has written up a new dev diary giving a glimpse into his methods on constructing a game soundtrack and providing his take on the "no such thing as original music" theory. Check it out here: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-look-into-old-sounds.html.
Stay tuned! We'll have new media every week as we get closer and closer to our alpha release in March. Interested parties are encouraged to view the video in HD (720p) and the screens in their original resolution. The shots can be viewed here:
PreAlpha-v003-BurnWinterGrasses
PreAlpha-v003-Characterdeath
PreAlpha-v003-Houses
PreAlpha-v003-Roadside
PreAlpha-v003-RobotAttack
PreAlpha-v003-TeleportCliff
PreAlpha-v003-TeleportWinter
PreAlpha-v003-WinterRobots
About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year was a busy one, seeing the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first full expansion for AI War; Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth; and Children of Neinzul, a micro-expansion for AI War with all profits benefiting the Child's Play charity, of which Arcen is a platinum sponsor.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, and now the company has shifted its focus and excitement to the evelopment of A Valley Without Wind. Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Two-Part AVWW Interview On Rock, Paper, Shotgun
Chris recently sat down with RPS's Phill Cameron for a nice and extensive two-part interview on all things A Valley Without Wind.
There are new details and a lot more in-depth explanation on the features we talked about in our recent announcement. The pieces contain a couple of new screenshots put together exclusively for the feature as well.
Check it out here: Part 1, Part 2.
While I'm here directing you around the internet, I might as well quickly introduce myself. Name's Erik, I joined Arcen last month, and will focus primarily on taking the PR load off of the rest of the team as a whole--letting them do what they do best.
Nice to meet everyone! I'm genuinely ecstatic about what we're working on for AVWW, our two released titles and everything else beyond that. Look forward to talking to/working with some of you going forward.
There are new details and a lot more in-depth explanation on the features we talked about in our recent announcement. The pieces contain a couple of new screenshots put together exclusively for the feature as well.
Check it out here: Part 1, Part 2.
While I'm here directing you around the internet, I might as well quickly introduce myself. Name's Erik, I joined Arcen last month, and will focus primarily on taking the PR load off of the rest of the team as a whole--letting them do what they do best.
Nice to meet everyone! I'm genuinely ecstatic about what we're working on for AVWW, our two released titles and everything else beyond that. Look forward to talking to/working with some of you going forward.
Friday, February 4, 2011
First A Valley Without Wind Screens And Video!
[Cary, NC] -- February 4, 2011 -- Arcen Games, developer of the cult
classic and ever-evolving space strategy game AI War: Fleet Command, is
excited to announce its third full title A Valley Without Wind, a
procedurally-generated action-adventure game coming this year to PC and
Mac.AVWW is a complete departure from what Arcen has previously developed in terms of genre. Set in a post-ice-age world in the distant future, the game focuses on survival and exploration. As a random survivor of this harsh world, you decide what impact to make on it. In fact, nearly anything you do will shape your world in some way. Span regions, even continents if you desire. Form settlements and build shelters for safer travel. Map your world, and face its many dangers. Being procedurally-generated, the world is unique for each individual player and it literally goes on forever. No two worlds are the same, and your world permanently forms only as you discover it. Explore, scavenge, craft, cast (yup, there's magic), and fend off foes in a variety of ways. Better your world by aiding other survivors and gaining their help. Or don't, kill everyone in sight and deal with the consequences. It's all up to you.
While death for your characters is permanent, weapons, loot, levels and anything else you've earned while playing will always exist. If one character dies, the player simply assumes a new survivor and the world continues on from there. Not as if nothing happened, though. Those who came in contact with the now-deceased will eventually catch word of their passing, and may share feelings on the departed, for better or worse. Current characters can even pay their respects by visiting the player's own personal graveyard which will contain each and every deceased character played.
Accompanying the AVWW announcement are seven pre-alpha screenshots and a music and animations video from the game. They can be viewed on the main Arcen page for the game as well. For more information on A Valley Without Wind, please visit: http://www.arcengames.
About Arcen Games
Arcen Games entered the PC indie scene in 2009 with their cult classic AI War: Fleet Command, which was named the 40th best-reviewed PC game of the year by MetaCritic. Their second year was a busy one, seeing the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first full expansion for AI War; Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth; and Children of Neinzul, a micro-expansion for AI War with all profits benefiting the Child's Play charity, of which Arcen is a platinum sponsor.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, and now the company has shifted its focus and excitement to the development of A Valley Without Wind. Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Update On Children Of Neinzul Donations For Child's Play: We Hit Our Goal!
As of February 3rd, 2011, we have so far raised and donated $14,798.42!
We missed our 2010 goal by about $4,000, but less than a month later
we made it! Most of the money earned by our games is actually paid on
"net 30" or "net 60" terms to us, meaning that the money that pushed us
over the top was actually earned in 2010. So that's something!
We'll post monthly updates on how the donations are doing, so you can always see the updated number. We're so proud to have been able to contribute to such a worthy cause in a substantial way! Check us out on the platinum sponsors list on the Child's Play site.
More About AI War: Children of Neinzul and Child's Play
When you purchase AI War: Children Of Neinzul, you're not only getting an exciting new expansion, you're also supporting an important cause. Arcen Games has partnered with the Child's Play charity, pledging 100% of the profits from sale of Children of Neinzul (excepting any taxes and distributor fees) to helping sick kids in need.
The staff at Arcen has long admired the work done by Child's Play, and we're very excited to finally be able to contribute in a substantial manner. Our goal for 2010 was to raise $14,000.00 USD for Child's Play, but even after 2010 all of the proceeds from this micro-expansion are continuing to be donated to the charity.
At the moment, this micro-expansion is available directly through the Arcen Online Store ($3.99 USD), as well as through Steam, Impulse, and GamersGate.
We'll post monthly updates on how the donations are doing, so you can always see the updated number. We're so proud to have been able to contribute to such a worthy cause in a substantial way! Check us out on the platinum sponsors list on the Child's Play site.
More About AI War: Children of Neinzul and Child's PlayWhen you purchase AI War: Children Of Neinzul, you're not only getting an exciting new expansion, you're also supporting an important cause. Arcen Games has partnered with the Child's Play charity, pledging 100% of the profits from sale of Children of Neinzul (excepting any taxes and distributor fees) to helping sick kids in need.
The staff at Arcen has long admired the work done by Child's Play, and we're very excited to finally be able to contribute in a substantial manner. Our goal for 2010 was to raise $14,000.00 USD for Child's Play, but even after 2010 all of the proceeds from this micro-expansion are continuing to be donated to the charity.
At the moment, this micro-expansion is available directly through the Arcen Online Store ($3.99 USD), as well as through Steam, Impulse, and GamersGate.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
What's Coming Up For AI War?
Version 5.0 is out most places (not yet Steam, but that's coming) along with the latest massive expansion, Light of the Spire. This is a big milestone! And you might notice that the next expansion isn't due until late this year at the earliest. So what happens in the meantime?
Well, our take on the core community is that they are currently pretty worn out on reinvention. We've had a nonstop flurry of changes to the game all the way from version 4.0 and the Children of Neinzul expansion in the September, up through 5.0 and the LotS expansion in late January. At some point the game has to stop changing massively and kind of "settle."
That's the phase that we're entering now, and it's something that a number of players have hinted to us that they'd like. "Letting the game settle" does not mean just forgetting about it. Rather, it bespeaks a different way of continuing to work with it. Those who were around for the eight-month span between 3.0 and 4.0 know what I'm referring to.
It boils down to refining what we already have in place, tweaking where tweaking needs to happen, and adding little extra features that enhance the overall process of the game rather than reinventing it wholesale. During this period, we're going to be paying special attention to the Vote Tallies section of our mantis idea tracker. New features that rank high in the vote tallies are a lot more likely to get implemented in our ongoing free DLC releases, alongside the various bugfixes and general tweaks that will be going into the game on an ongoing basis.
All in all: it's a great time to be playing AI War. You can learn the current rules and functionality with the security that it isn't going to be changing on you every week. And yet the game isn't going to get stagnant, it's going to be gradually changing into the best possible version of itself. A lot of people remember the post-3.0 time period with special fondness, despite the fact that our attention was so hugely on making Tidalis, and I think that's why. It's no secret that our focus coming up is going to be hugely on making A Valley Without Wind, but at the same time that leaves plenty of room for continuing AI War's evolution.
It's definitely a great time to be playing AI War!
Well, our take on the core community is that they are currently pretty worn out on reinvention. We've had a nonstop flurry of changes to the game all the way from version 4.0 and the Children of Neinzul expansion in the September, up through 5.0 and the LotS expansion in late January. At some point the game has to stop changing massively and kind of "settle."
That's the phase that we're entering now, and it's something that a number of players have hinted to us that they'd like. "Letting the game settle" does not mean just forgetting about it. Rather, it bespeaks a different way of continuing to work with it. Those who were around for the eight-month span between 3.0 and 4.0 know what I'm referring to.
It boils down to refining what we already have in place, tweaking where tweaking needs to happen, and adding little extra features that enhance the overall process of the game rather than reinventing it wholesale. During this period, we're going to be paying special attention to the Vote Tallies section of our mantis idea tracker. New features that rank high in the vote tallies are a lot more likely to get implemented in our ongoing free DLC releases, alongside the various bugfixes and general tweaks that will be going into the game on an ongoing basis.
All in all: it's a great time to be playing AI War. You can learn the current rules and functionality with the security that it isn't going to be changing on you every week. And yet the game isn't going to get stagnant, it's going to be gradually changing into the best possible version of itself. A lot of people remember the post-3.0 time period with special fondness, despite the fact that our attention was so hugely on making Tidalis, and I think that's why. It's no secret that our focus coming up is going to be hugely on making A Valley Without Wind, but at the same time that leaves plenty of room for continuing AI War's evolution.
It's definitely a great time to be playing AI War!
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