This one is relatively small but contains the last new bonus ship type of the expansion, a few important changes to Showdown Devices, and a few less-important-but-still-nice other changes.
That last bonus ship type is the "Neinzul Combat Carrier", which is a light combatant starship that can also build any youngling types you have unlocked. It also can always build a new unique type of youngling called the "Shrike", which is a fast cloaked raider-type ship sure to better enable humans everywhere to annoy the AI.
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.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Skyward Collapse 1.007 "Stats Fit For A God" Released!
This one has a wide variety of stuff in it. Most exciting for most players are likely going to be the new counts and stats on both the left and right sidebars. Without getting too cluttered, you now have a much better view of what is going on in your dominions.
There are also several multiplayer improvements: two to the interface to better let you tell what other players are doing (if they are waiting on you, etc); and one to self-correct from any desyncs that might happen in a turn (yay safety code).
There was also a bug with the Midgard Serpent, Labyrinth, and Yggdrasil that was causing units to act crazily: hopping over gaps, causing exceptions, walking onto other units, etc. Fixing this one bug also fixes a likely cause of desyncs in multiplayer, aside from it being wonky in solo play.
Beyond that, there are a few other tweaks and improvements. More to come soon.
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
There are also several multiplayer improvements: two to the interface to better let you tell what other players are doing (if they are waiting on you, etc); and one to self-correct from any desyncs that might happen in a turn (yay safety code).
There was also a bug with the Midgard Serpent, Labyrinth, and Yggdrasil that was causing units to act crazily: hopping over gaps, causing exceptions, walking onto other units, etc. Fixing this one bug also fixes a likely cause of desyncs in multiplayer, aside from it being wonky in solo play.
Beyond that, there are a few other tweaks and improvements. More to come soon.
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
AI War Beta 6.035-6.038 "Dire Protector" Released!
This one introduces Dire Guardians to the alpha players of the upcoming Vengeance of the Machine expansion. This won't hurt a bit, really. Remember, if you're interested in alpha testing for the expansion, please shoot me a PM in the forums.
This release also adds the fifth of six new bonus ship types planned for the expansion: The Protector Starship. It's our first "finite" counter-shooter in that one of its its module can shoot down, say, 100 missiles in a second (when fully loaded anyway, after that it's about 10 reloads per second) but not more than that. This is very different than the existing counter-shooter units like the Counter-Missile Turret which could shoot down 10 billion missiles per second if they were all fired at its allies within its range. Anyway, the new finite-counter mechanic is somewhat CPU/memory intensive so the cap on the Protector is low (2, like several other starships) and its module count is low as well (1 slot per mark), but the overall result is an interesting utility-player type that I hope y'all enjoy :)
There are a few other changes in there too, including a little rebalancing of the new Zenith Devastator and a likely-to-be-popular improvement to the Custom galaxy-map display modes (they now show immobile enemy units you've previously scouted).
Update: 6.036 is out to hotfix a bug in the last version where some old saves would load as if the "Fast Drones" toggle were turned off.
Update: 6.037 is out to fix a bug in the last version that threw errors when loading some saves from a couple versions ago (the protector starship had snuck out, and trying to load one that a wasn't modular with the game now knowing it was modular... yeah).
Update: 6.038 is out to fix a bug (that's actually been there for nearly a month, amusingly enough) preventing the creation of new Defender-mode games. Also fixed a laundry list of issues recently brought up by testers.
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.
This release also adds the fifth of six new bonus ship types planned for the expansion: The Protector Starship. It's our first "finite" counter-shooter in that one of its its module can shoot down, say, 100 missiles in a second (when fully loaded anyway, after that it's about 10 reloads per second) but not more than that. This is very different than the existing counter-shooter units like the Counter-Missile Turret which could shoot down 10 billion missiles per second if they were all fired at its allies within its range. Anyway, the new finite-counter mechanic is somewhat CPU/memory intensive so the cap on the Protector is low (2, like several other starships) and its module count is low as well (1 slot per mark), but the overall result is an interesting utility-player type that I hope y'all enjoy :)
There are a few other changes in there too, including a little rebalancing of the new Zenith Devastator and a likely-to-be-popular improvement to the Custom galaxy-map display modes (they now show immobile enemy units you've previously scouted).
Update: 6.036 is out to hotfix a bug in the last version where some old saves would load as if the "Fast Drones" toggle were turned off.
Update: 6.037 is out to fix a bug in the last version that threw errors when loading some saves from a couple versions ago (the protector starship had snuck out, and trying to load one that a wasn't modular with the game now knowing it was modular... yeah).
Update: 6.038 is out to fix a bug (that's actually been there for nearly a month, amusingly enough) preventing the creation of new Defender-mode games. Also fixed a laundry list of issues recently brought up by testers.
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, May 28, 2013
Skyward Collapse 1.006 "Listen When I Command!" Released!
This one has two very key bugfixes, and a handful of other tweaks.
The first bugfix is one that was causing desyncs in multiplayer, occasional stupidity on the part of the AI, units moving onto enemy units, and more. It wasn't very easily reproducible, and wasn't super common in every game, but it all tracked back to an error in how the playback of melee units worked... in certain circumstances (mainly if they were standing on the tile they were attacking).
It also didn't manifest if you just ended playback rather than actually watching them play out their attack. So, yeah -- that was hugely difficult to track down until a player came up with a perfect savegame that let me reproduce it reliably. Then it was easily fixed within 15 minutes, but prior to that it was a frustrating needle-in-a-haystack situation that only happened sporadically, and that it wasn't clear was actually all one issue.
The second fix is to the military commandments not working properly in terms of getting regular units to go attack gods. This was accidentally messed up right before we released the game, and now it's restored to how it's supposed to work.
Beyond that and the few other tweaks, today has largely been a "measure twice, cut once" sort of day with us doing a lot of talking with players about proposed changes rather than actually implementing a flurry of changes. This process will hopefully lead to something more refined on the first try of implementing said new features, rather than a disorienting flip-flopping around of how the game works for players not involved in the discussion.
Anyway, those discussions are starting to bear some interesting fruit, but we're not there yet on them. In the meantime we're working on a few new features, and also are going through the list of mantis issues logged. By the by, if you're inclined to submit ideas for new Woes, feel free to submit those on our forum thread for new woes or in the issue tracker.
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
The first bugfix is one that was causing desyncs in multiplayer, occasional stupidity on the part of the AI, units moving onto enemy units, and more. It wasn't very easily reproducible, and wasn't super common in every game, but it all tracked back to an error in how the playback of melee units worked... in certain circumstances (mainly if they were standing on the tile they were attacking).
It also didn't manifest if you just ended playback rather than actually watching them play out their attack. So, yeah -- that was hugely difficult to track down until a player came up with a perfect savegame that let me reproduce it reliably. Then it was easily fixed within 15 minutes, but prior to that it was a frustrating needle-in-a-haystack situation that only happened sporadically, and that it wasn't clear was actually all one issue.
The second fix is to the military commandments not working properly in terms of getting regular units to go attack gods. This was accidentally messed up right before we released the game, and now it's restored to how it's supposed to work.
Beyond that and the few other tweaks, today has largely been a "measure twice, cut once" sort of day with us doing a lot of talking with players about proposed changes rather than actually implementing a flurry of changes. This process will hopefully lead to something more refined on the first try of implementing said new features, rather than a disorienting flip-flopping around of how the game works for players not involved in the discussion.
Anyway, those discussions are starting to bear some interesting fruit, but we're not there yet on them. In the meantime we're working on a few new features, and also are going through the list of mantis issues logged. By the by, if you're inclined to submit ideas for new Woes, feel free to submit those on our forum thread for new woes or in the issue tracker.
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
Skyward Collapse 1.005 "Player's Choice" Released!
This one reverts two very unpopular recent changes. We've made some cool shifts post-1.0 on the game, but these two were not viewed to be among them. Players complained, loudly, and so after listening to the reasoning we've decided to revert the changes. Not the first time this has happened in an Arcen title, and not likely to be the last; sometimes we try something new, and it just doesn't work. The key thing is we listen to you when you tell us about that.
Now: these changes were both intended to solve some edge-case "cheese" tactics that some players were using to basically break the game rules and win trivially. These edge cases are frustrating for me in particular, because it makes the game feel broken. "Somebody found a way around the game, to play the game without playing the game! Augh! Must. Fix. Now."
The problem with that is obviously when it impacts regular players in a negative way. The ones playing the game, having loads of fun, and not wanting the mechanics to change and screw them up. "Fixing" the cheese tactics that someone who is (clearly clever) but also clearly not all that into the game is... well, it's not the best choice. Sorry for panicking and doing that to you, folks. Bad move on my part.
I suppose the issue comes back to a fear that if a loose thread is found, then the whole tapestry will unravel. If one person discovers a cheese tactic, what happens to the core players who love the game? The fear is that they realize that tactic is there, start using it, and all the fun is sucked out of the game. Soon it's a graveyard and a broken game because of a lack of developer attention.
I don't think that's an unreasonable fear, but there are definitely some sayings about babies and bathwater that are appropriate about now. Anyway, I would still obviously like to solve the cheese tactics, as those irk me to no end and I feel like it does undermine the game to some extent. However, it's certainly good to use the carrot rather than the stick when possible, and that is not something that these two changes allowed for. They were elegantly simple changes in a lot of ways, which is why I went with them... but also unfun, so there goes that.
We'll all mull on the couple of edge case cheese problems and see if we can come up with something better between the players and the devs, and if we do we'll make a shift. Beyond that, we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. ;)
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
Now: these changes were both intended to solve some edge-case "cheese" tactics that some players were using to basically break the game rules and win trivially. These edge cases are frustrating for me in particular, because it makes the game feel broken. "Somebody found a way around the game, to play the game without playing the game! Augh! Must. Fix. Now."
The problem with that is obviously when it impacts regular players in a negative way. The ones playing the game, having loads of fun, and not wanting the mechanics to change and screw them up. "Fixing" the cheese tactics that someone who is (clearly clever) but also clearly not all that into the game is... well, it's not the best choice. Sorry for panicking and doing that to you, folks. Bad move on my part.
I suppose the issue comes back to a fear that if a loose thread is found, then the whole tapestry will unravel. If one person discovers a cheese tactic, what happens to the core players who love the game? The fear is that they realize that tactic is there, start using it, and all the fun is sucked out of the game. Soon it's a graveyard and a broken game because of a lack of developer attention.
I don't think that's an unreasonable fear, but there are definitely some sayings about babies and bathwater that are appropriate about now. Anyway, I would still obviously like to solve the cheese tactics, as those irk me to no end and I feel like it does undermine the game to some extent. However, it's certainly good to use the carrot rather than the stick when possible, and that is not something that these two changes allowed for. They were elegantly simple changes in a lot of ways, which is why I went with them... but also unfun, so there goes that.
We'll all mull on the couple of edge case cheese problems and see if we can come up with something better between the players and the devs, and if we do we'll make a shift. Beyond that, we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. ;)
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
Players and Press React To Skyward Collapse
Reviewers like what they see:
PixelJudge: Skyward Collapse Review [5/5, 3/5, 4/5]
"I honestly tried to find even one element that could be seen as a flaw on Skyward Collapse. The problem is – it was nearly impossible, as everything the developers did here, they did great, giving us an astonishingly complex game which plays differently every time. The only weak spot would be the time required to actually understand what you are doing. Not everyone will have the patience, but then again, they shouldn’t have picked a strategy game if they don’t. Apart from that, Skyward Collapse is flawless and could be easily recommended to every gamer seeking some innovative, slow-paced, complex gameplay which will take ages to become boring!"
Dad's Gaming Addiction: Skyward Collapse Review [8/10]
"Overall, I found ”Skyward Collapse” to be an intensely in-depth strategy game. It looks simple on the surface, but there a ton of things going on behind the scenes that will keep analysts busy for hours. Luckily, the easier difficulties allow those who don’t want to dive into all of the number crunching a chance to experience the game in a casual manner."
Broken Analog: Skyward Collapse Review [8.5/10]
"I have begun to associate Arcen Games with their unique take on strategy games, but I have started to play their games more and more due to the wonderful soundtracks. A Valley Without Wind 2 has a great soundtrack, and Shattered Haven’s music did a great job setting the atmosphere of the game. Skyward Collapse’s music has a nice mix of both, great atmosphere with a nice variety of musical styles. The music alone is a reason to pay attention to Skyward Collapse."
Game Wisdom: Skyward Collapse Mythical Strategy [No Score]
"Normally the strategy genre was all about balance: making sure every unit has the proper counter, no strategy being completely dominate and so on. With Skyward you have powers that can kill everyone on the map except for Gods instantly, bestow invulnerability and more. Just try to imagine fitting that into a game of Starcraft."
Kelevandos: Skyward Collapse Review (Polish) [No Score]"Normally the strategy genre was all about balance: making sure every unit has the proper counter, no strategy being completely dominate and so on. With Skyward you have powers that can kill everyone on the map except for Gods instantly, bestow invulnerability and more. Just try to imagine fitting that into a game of Starcraft."
Game Decider: Skyward Collapse Review [No Score]
There's been a good amount of interest from both YouTube and TwitchTV channel owners as well:
Jasix: Skyward Collapse (Steam) - Jasix, Cous & Co. - [Child's Play Charity]
Metal Canyon: Let's Look At Skyward Collapse
TekkorGJC: Skyward Collapse - Extended Quicklook
Evilmidgit: Skyward Collapse with Gladdy, Vibez, and Popcorn
JTW158: Playing Skyward Collapse with Scott (Co-op)
Skyward Collapse with the Siberian Lemming (Russian)
TheBBRcast vs Skyward Collapse (Polish)
Vaetrian: Trying out Skyward Collapse
So Many Fail: Skyward Collapse - First Age
Thepicgamerseal: Skyward Collapse (Parts 1-3)
Tobias Knoll: Tobi plays Skyward Collapse (German)
Mishapp53: Playing Skyward Collapse
Dad's Gaming Addiction: Skyward Collapse (Parts 1-3)
It's still in the early going, but sales have been very solid. While I don't have anything official to announce at the moment, the team is very confident Skyward Collapse will receive significant post-launch support moving forward. I sign off with some interviews and the rest of Skyward's coverage. Until next time!
Interviews
Chris Park on Skyward Collapse: "My big fear with games is always that players will find an optimal unbeatable strategy."
Skyward Collapse Interview with Erik Johnson
Interviews
Chris Park on Skyward Collapse: "My big fear with games is always that players will find an optimal unbeatable strategy."
Skyward Collapse Interview with Erik Johnson
More Skyward Press Coverage
VG247: Skyward Collapse now available for Mac and PC
RPS: God’s Got Game - Skyward Collapse Trailer
IndieGames.com: Arcen's god game Skyward Collapse has you balance carnage and creation
PCGamersN: Skyward Collapse plummets on to Steam
Blue's News: Steamships Ahoy - Skyward Collapse
Multiplayer: PC Magazine #119 (Italian)
Strategy Informer: 4x turn-based stategy god game Skyward Collapse coming 23rd May
Indie Squish: Skyward Collapse – Strategy God-Game from Arcen Games
Gamershell: Skyward Collapse Revealed and Trailer
Invision: Skyward Collapse Launches Soon
Deep Apple: The unusual strategy game Skyward Collapse (Russian)
Indie Squish: Skyward Collapse – Strategy God-Game from Arcen Games
Gamershell: Skyward Collapse Revealed and Trailer
Invision: Skyward Collapse Launches Soon
Deep Apple: The unusual strategy game Skyward Collapse (Russian)
Mega Games Hub: Skyward Collapse by Arcen Games to be released on May 23rd on PC & Mac
Indie Game HQ: Skyward Collapse Receives New Site, Trailer, and Screenshots
DigiBoardGames: Arcen Games Skyward Collapse Launches Tomorrow
MWeb: Skyward Collapse: New Strategic God-Game
Indie Game Insider: Indie Daily 05.23.13
Co-Optimus: Arcen Games' Latest Skyward Collapse Hits Steam Today
Game Podunk: Skyward Collapse Coming to Steam Tomorrow
Indie Game HQ: Skyward Collapse Receives New Site, Trailer, and Screenshots
DigiBoardGames: Arcen Games Skyward Collapse Launches Tomorrow
MWeb: Skyward Collapse: New Strategic God-Game
Indie Game Insider: Indie Daily 05.23.13
Co-Optimus: Arcen Games' Latest Skyward Collapse Hits Steam Today
Game Podunk: Skyward Collapse Coming to Steam Tomorrow
Monday, May 27, 2013
AI War Beta 6.033-6.034 "Bonus Tricks" Released!
This one includes another big chunk of content for the upcoming Vengeance of the Machine expansion. We've already got quite a few alpha testers smashing at it, but it would benefit from more so if you're interested in alpha testing for the expansion, please shoot me (username is keith.lamothe) a PM in the forums.
Anyway, this release includes 4 of the 6 new bonus ship types planned for the expansion:
* The Lightning Torpedo Frigate, which fires miniature lightning warheads.
* The Zenith Devastator, a starship that isn't really a raider (kinda slow, for one), but can shoot right through forcefields to get at the juicy targets underneath. So more helpful in a stand-up battle versus a big pile of shields (exos, anyone?) than a Raid Starship.
* The Neinzul Railpod, a two-shot railgun that can be mass produced at alarming speed.
* The Zenith Hydra, which breathes flame and regenerates (no idea where Hearteater could have gotten the idea from).
There are also seven new types of AI guardian, ranging from the relatively straightforward (but dangerous) Needler Guardian to the outright terrifying Infiltration Guardian.
Perhaps most interesting of all (to me, anyway) is the new AI Planetary Subcommanders: generally only a few planets in a given game will have one, and you won't see them flying around or whatever, but you'll probably notice when you see the very... um, peculiar choices they make in command stations, guard posts, and where to put those.
There's also several (not necessarily expansion-related) bugfixes and balance changes and miscellaneous improvements. For one, I'm sure many of you will be happy to see your blade spawners and ally enclaves (and player enclaves, for that matter) not dumping endless numbers of ships onto your homeworld just because of that stupid subspace signal off in deep space.
Update: 6.034 hotfix to fix an unhandled errors problem with CPA launches due to the attempt to make the carriers not drop on neutered planets. A few other small changes in there too.
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.
Anyway, this release includes 4 of the 6 new bonus ship types planned for the expansion:
* The Lightning Torpedo Frigate, which fires miniature lightning warheads.
* The Zenith Devastator, a starship that isn't really a raider (kinda slow, for one), but can shoot right through forcefields to get at the juicy targets underneath. So more helpful in a stand-up battle versus a big pile of shields (exos, anyone?) than a Raid Starship.
* The Neinzul Railpod, a two-shot railgun that can be mass produced at alarming speed.
* The Zenith Hydra, which breathes flame and regenerates (no idea where Hearteater could have gotten the idea from).
There are also seven new types of AI guardian, ranging from the relatively straightforward (but dangerous) Needler Guardian to the outright terrifying Infiltration Guardian.
Perhaps most interesting of all (to me, anyway) is the new AI Planetary Subcommanders: generally only a few planets in a given game will have one, and you won't see them flying around or whatever, but you'll probably notice when you see the very... um, peculiar choices they make in command stations, guard posts, and where to put those.
There's also several (not necessarily expansion-related) bugfixes and balance changes and miscellaneous improvements. For one, I'm sure many of you will be happy to see your blade spawners and ally enclaves (and player enclaves, for that matter) not dumping endless numbers of ships onto your homeworld just because of that stupid subspace signal off in deep space.
Update: 6.034 hotfix to fix an unhandled errors problem with CPA launches due to the attempt to make the carriers not drop on neutered planets. A few other small changes in there too.
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.
Skyward Collapse 1.004 "Rise of the Valkyrie" Released!
This one is quite small, as it's still a holiday weekend for us here in the US. However, we'll be back to our regular schedule tomorrow.
The biggest changes in this version concern mythological units:
1. The Norse mythologicals in general have gotten a huge buff against other mythologicals.
2. The Greek mythologicals lost all bonuses against buildings.
3. The bandit keeps are now immune to mythologicals (!!!), but the health of said keeps have also been reduced by half.
Also fixed two multiplayer issues, and a bug with the undo function in certain circumstances.
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
The biggest changes in this version concern mythological units:
1. The Norse mythologicals in general have gotten a huge buff against other mythologicals.
2. The Greek mythologicals lost all bonuses against buildings.
3. The bandit keeps are now immune to mythologicals (!!!), but the health of said keeps have also been reduced by half.
Also fixed two multiplayer issues, and a bug with the undo function in certain circumstances.
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Skyward Collapse 1.002 "Hunting Through Rubble" Released!
This one is our first true post-release update, and it includes all of the main requests from new (post-alpha) players.
Probably my favorite thing is the ability to see what former building sites were by hovering over them or holding the Ctrl key. Actually, holding the Ctrl key in general is super useful for telling at a glance whether you have the buildings you want in a town -- when you're zoomed out or a unit is standing in the way of a tile, it can otherwise be hard to tell very quickly.
There have also been a number of mostly-minor balance changes, with the exception of the Minotaurs, which were rebalanced pretty heavily. These dudes still hit like a ton of bricks, but they do it with a hammer rather than ranged fireballs now. And they have both more health and lower regen, which makes them a little more tank-like in an interesting way. Overall they should be less OP now.
Which brings me to an interesting point, really: the fact that the Minotaurs were OP before wasn't really causing game-breaking easy strategies. In fact, kind of the opposite -- players would play a Labyrinth (which spawns minotaurs) and it would soon be game over if they weren't careful. Not to say that Minotaurs weren't also an occasional "get out of jail free" card, but it's just interesting how the balance concerns here are the opposite of most games -- our goal is actually to unbalance the game, not balance it. But it always has to be in a fun way, where it's not frustrating trying to bring balance to their own games. Bit of a different design challenge from, say, AI War -- which is a fun change of pace. :)
There were also a couple of multiplayer glitches that have been fixed, and a couple of typos. Oh! And the finished goods on the sidebar should be way less confusing for new players now. That was another big thing off the "top feedback" list.
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
Probably my favorite thing is the ability to see what former building sites were by hovering over them or holding the Ctrl key. Actually, holding the Ctrl key in general is super useful for telling at a glance whether you have the buildings you want in a town -- when you're zoomed out or a unit is standing in the way of a tile, it can otherwise be hard to tell very quickly.
There have also been a number of mostly-minor balance changes, with the exception of the Minotaurs, which were rebalanced pretty heavily. These dudes still hit like a ton of bricks, but they do it with a hammer rather than ranged fireballs now. And they have both more health and lower regen, which makes them a little more tank-like in an interesting way. Overall they should be less OP now.
Which brings me to an interesting point, really: the fact that the Minotaurs were OP before wasn't really causing game-breaking easy strategies. In fact, kind of the opposite -- players would play a Labyrinth (which spawns minotaurs) and it would soon be game over if they weren't careful. Not to say that Minotaurs weren't also an occasional "get out of jail free" card, but it's just interesting how the balance concerns here are the opposite of most games -- our goal is actually to unbalance the game, not balance it. But it always has to be in a fun way, where it's not frustrating trying to bring balance to their own games. Bit of a different design challenge from, say, AI War -- which is a fun change of pace. :)
There were also a couple of multiplayer glitches that have been fixed, and a couple of typos. Oh! And the finished goods on the sidebar should be way less confusing for new players now. That was another big thing off the "top feedback" list.
Enjoy!
This is a standard update that you can download through the in-game updater itself, if you already have any version of the game. 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.
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Skyward Collapse Now Available For PC/Mac
PRESS RELEASE
Skyward Collapse Now Available For PC/Mac
10% Off During Launch Week
Arcen Games is proud to announce the release of its turn-based strategy god game Skyward Collapse – out now for Windows PC and Mac OS X on Steam, GamersGate, Green Man Gaming and the Arcen Store.
To celebrate, the game is 10% off during its first week. The discount takes the $4.99 title down to just $4.49 through next Thursday, May 30th.
On top of that, Nick Trujillo (of Penny Arcade’s Strip Search) has completed and released his five-page comic based on the title and its cast. The collection in full can be viewed here.
Check out Skyward Collapse’s official website for more information, along with the game’s launch trailer and a batch of screenshots. Those interested in regular updates and discussion can follow the game on its Forums, IndieDB, Twitter, Facebook and Reddit.
Press and/or video channel owners interested in a Steam key for the game, please email: ArcenGames[at]gmail.com.
About Skyward Collapse
How do you balance -- and indeed encourage -- a war between factions without letting either side obliterate the other? How do you rule over gods, creatures, and men who refuse to obey you? How do you build a landscape of villages when bandits and mythology are conspiring to tear it down? Skyward Collapse places you into the role of The Creator, and frees you to tackle these problems your own way. Brought to you by the developer of the modern strategy classic AI War: Fleet Command, Arcen's second full strategy title is equally unique (but far easier to learn): a turn-based 4x strategic god-game.
Your task is to build and populate the floating continent of Luminith. You create -- but cannot control -- gods, creatures, and artifacts from both Greek and Norse mythology. The power you wield with these is immense: Heimdall's horn causes everyone outdoors to drop dead, for crying out loud. Your task is to keep both factions alive and fighting until The Master calls you home -- but this is harder than it sounds. Bandit Keeps pop up periodically, as do Woes such as floods, serial killers, guild strikes, and vegetarian uprisings. Every game plays out differently, and you'll need even the craziest of your powers in order to survive what lies in store for you.
Available May 23rd on Steam, our site, and other distributors!
Game Features
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 saw the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first two full expansions for AI War; as well as Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, with the rest of the company's focus being devoted to their most massive project yet: A Valley Without Wind, which released in 2012. The end of 2012/start of 2013 has been another busy time for the team, with AI War's fourth expansion Ancient Shadows launching, A Valley Without Wind 2 hitting 1.0, and Shattered Haven's releasing as well. The studio is currently working on its latest title, Skyward Collapse, for release in May.
Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles. The team is also proud to be a platinum sponsor of the Child’s Play charity. For all the latest news, coverage and other musings, visit us on our Website, Forums, Twitter and Facebook; as well as Arcen founder Chris Park's Games By Design blog.
Skyward Collapse Now Available For PC/Mac
10% Off During Launch Week
To celebrate, the game is 10% off during its first week. The discount takes the $4.99 title down to just $4.49 through next Thursday, May 30th.
On top of that, Nick Trujillo (of Penny Arcade’s Strip Search) has completed and released his five-page comic based on the title and its cast. The collection in full can be viewed here.
Check out Skyward Collapse’s official website for more information, along with the game’s launch trailer and a batch of screenshots. Those interested in regular updates and discussion can follow the game on its Forums, IndieDB, Twitter, Facebook and Reddit.
Press and/or video channel owners interested in a Steam key for the game, please email: ArcenGames[at]gmail.com.
About Skyward Collapse
How do you balance -- and indeed encourage -- a war between factions without letting either side obliterate the other? How do you rule over gods, creatures, and men who refuse to obey you? How do you build a landscape of villages when bandits and mythology are conspiring to tear it down? Skyward Collapse places you into the role of The Creator, and frees you to tackle these problems your own way. Brought to you by the developer of the modern strategy classic AI War: Fleet Command, Arcen's second full strategy title is equally unique (but far easier to learn): a turn-based 4x strategic god-game.
Your task is to build and populate the floating continent of Luminith. You create -- but cannot control -- gods, creatures, and artifacts from both Greek and Norse mythology. The power you wield with these is immense: Heimdall's horn causes everyone outdoors to drop dead, for crying out loud. Your task is to keep both factions alive and fighting until The Master calls you home -- but this is harder than it sounds. Bandit Keeps pop up periodically, as do Woes such as floods, serial killers, guild strikes, and vegetarian uprisings. Every game plays out differently, and you'll need even the craziest of your powers in order to survive what lies in store for you.
Available May 23rd on Steam, our site, and other distributors!
Game Features
- A turn-based strategic god-game where you control neither faction, but instead strive to maintain the balance of power.
- Make towns and war as the boardgame-like floating continent continues to construct itself around you.
- Persuade your minions into doing what you want by controlling the circumstances of their (brief) lives.
- 16 gods, each with unique passive abilities and three active powers, help you further your goals as you pass into the Age of Monsters.
- Level up your player profile by winning games. Twelve unlockable buildings in all!
- Straightforward controls paired with an intuitive and helpful interface make this an easy title to pick up... but the strategy runs deep.
- Multiple difficulty levels let you play a very relaxed game up to a nail-bitingly difficult one. There's no one best way to win!
- Co-op multiplayer for up to 8 players.
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 saw the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first two full expansions for AI War; as well as Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, with the rest of the company's focus being devoted to their most massive project yet: A Valley Without Wind, which released in 2012. The end of 2012/start of 2013 has been another busy time for the team, with AI War's fourth expansion Ancient Shadows launching, A Valley Without Wind 2 hitting 1.0, and Shattered Haven's releasing as well. The studio is currently working on its latest title, Skyward Collapse, for release in May.
Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles. The team is also proud to be a platinum sponsor of the Child’s Play charity. For all the latest news, coverage and other musings, visit us on our Website, Forums, Twitter and Facebook; as well as Arcen founder Chris Park's Games By Design blog.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
AI War Beta 6.032 "Tumbleweeds In The Stars" Released!
This one is the first non-hotfix release we've done since starting the private alpha of the upcoming Vengeance of the Machine expansion.
The release has a number of non-expansion changes that we hope help (we're particularly curious to hear how that target sorting performance improvement works out), but the main addition is the new "Showdown Devices" minor faction for the expansion.
Won't spoil the details on the faction for now, but we will mention the ultimate point of the faction: provide another alternate way to win, and an ultimate stalemate-breaker :)
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.
The release has a number of non-expansion changes that we hope help (we're particularly curious to hear how that target sorting performance improvement works out), but the main addition is the new "Showdown Devices" minor faction for the expansion.
Won't spoil the details on the faction for now, but we will mention the ultimate point of the faction: provide another alternate way to win, and an ultimate stalemate-breaker :)
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.
Skyward Collapse Official Website Live
PRESS RELEASE
Skyward Collapse Official Website Live
Launch Trailer And Screenshots Out Ahead of May 23 Release
Arcen Games has launched the official site for upcoming indie turn-based strategy god game Skyward Collapse, ahead of the game’s release later this week.
The official Skyward Collapse page includes the game’s description and feature list, along with the game’s launch trailer and a fresh batch of new screenshots. The landing will also serve as one of the storefronts for the title, alongside Steam and other select digital distributors.
Skyward Collapse releases this Thursday, May 23rd on Windows PC and Mac OS X. Members of the press and video channel owners interested in a copy of the game, please contact: ArcenGames[at]gmail.com.
About Skyward Collapse
How do you balance -- and indeed encourage -- a war between factions without letting either side obliterate the other? How do you rule over gods, creatures, and men who refuse to obey you? How do you build a landscape of villages when bandits and mythology are conspiring to tear it down? Skyward Collapse places you into the role of The Creator, and frees you to tackle these problems your own way. Brought to you by the developer of the modern strategy classic AI War: Fleet Command, Arcen's second full strategy title is equally unique (but far easier to learn): a turn-based 4x strategic god-game.
Your task is to build and populate the floating continent of Luminith. You create -- but cannot control -- gods, creatures, and artifacts from both Greek and Norse mythology. The power you wield with these is immense: Heimdall's horn causes everyone outdoors to drop dead, for crying out loud. Your task is to keep both factions alive and fighting until The Master calls you home -- but this is harder than it sounds. Bandit Keeps pop up periodically, as do Woes such as floods, serial killers, guild strikes, and vegetarian uprisings. Every game plays out differently, and you'll need even the craziest of your powers in order to survive what lies in store for you.
Game Features
* A turn-based strategic god-game where you control neither faction, but instead strive to maintain the balance of power.
* Make towns and war as the boardgame-like floating continent continues to construct itself around you.
* Persuade your minions into doing what you want by controlling the circumstances of their (brief) lives.
* 16 gods, each with unique passive abilities and three active powers, help you further your goals as you pass into the Age of Monsters.
* Level up your player profile by winning games. Twelve unlockable buildings in all!
* Straightforward controls paired with an intuitive and helpful interface make this an easy title to pick up... but the strategy runs deep.
* Multiple difficulty levels let you play a very relaxed game up to a nail-bitingly difficult one. There's no one best way to win!
* Co-op multiplayer for up to 8 players.
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 saw the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first two full expansions for AI War; as well as Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, with the rest of the company's focus being devoted to their most massive project yet: A Valley Without Wind, which released in 2012. The end of 2012/start of 2013 has been another busy time for the team, with AI War's fourth expansion Ancient Shadows launching, A Valley Without Wind 2 hitting 1.0, and Shattered Haven's releasing as well. The studio is currently working on its latest title, Skyward Collapse, for release in May.
Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles. The team is also proud to be a platinum sponsor of the Child’s Play charity. For all the latest news, coverage and other musings, visit us on our Website, Forums, Twitter and Facebook; as well as Arcen founder Chris Park's Games By Design blog.
Skyward Collapse Official Website Live
Launch Trailer And Screenshots Out Ahead of May 23 Release
Arcen Games has launched the official site for upcoming indie turn-based strategy god game Skyward Collapse, ahead of the game’s release later this week.
The official Skyward Collapse page includes the game’s description and feature list, along with the game’s launch trailer and a fresh batch of new screenshots. The landing will also serve as one of the storefronts for the title, alongside Steam and other select digital distributors.
Skyward Collapse releases this Thursday, May 23rd on Windows PC and Mac OS X. Members of the press and video channel owners interested in a copy of the game, please contact: ArcenGames[at]gmail.com.
About Skyward Collapse
How do you balance -- and indeed encourage -- a war between factions without letting either side obliterate the other? How do you rule over gods, creatures, and men who refuse to obey you? How do you build a landscape of villages when bandits and mythology are conspiring to tear it down? Skyward Collapse places you into the role of The Creator, and frees you to tackle these problems your own way. Brought to you by the developer of the modern strategy classic AI War: Fleet Command, Arcen's second full strategy title is equally unique (but far easier to learn): a turn-based 4x strategic god-game.
Your task is to build and populate the floating continent of Luminith. You create -- but cannot control -- gods, creatures, and artifacts from both Greek and Norse mythology. The power you wield with these is immense: Heimdall's horn causes everyone outdoors to drop dead, for crying out loud. Your task is to keep both factions alive and fighting until The Master calls you home -- but this is harder than it sounds. Bandit Keeps pop up periodically, as do Woes such as floods, serial killers, guild strikes, and vegetarian uprisings. Every game plays out differently, and you'll need even the craziest of your powers in order to survive what lies in store for you.
Game Features
* A turn-based strategic god-game where you control neither faction, but instead strive to maintain the balance of power.
* Make towns and war as the boardgame-like floating continent continues to construct itself around you.
* Persuade your minions into doing what you want by controlling the circumstances of their (brief) lives.
* 16 gods, each with unique passive abilities and three active powers, help you further your goals as you pass into the Age of Monsters.
* Level up your player profile by winning games. Twelve unlockable buildings in all!
* Straightforward controls paired with an intuitive and helpful interface make this an easy title to pick up... but the strategy runs deep.
* Multiple difficulty levels let you play a very relaxed game up to a nail-bitingly difficult one. There's no one best way to win!
* Co-op multiplayer for up to 8 players.
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 saw the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first two full expansions for AI War; as well as Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, with the rest of the company's focus being devoted to their most massive project yet: A Valley Without Wind, which released in 2012. The end of 2012/start of 2013 has been another busy time for the team, with AI War's fourth expansion Ancient Shadows launching, A Valley Without Wind 2 hitting 1.0, and Shattered Haven's releasing as well. The studio is currently working on its latest title, Skyward Collapse, for release in May.
Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles. The team is also proud to be a platinum sponsor of the Child’s Play charity. For all the latest news, coverage and other musings, visit us on our Website, Forums, Twitter and Facebook; as well as Arcen founder Chris Park's Games By Design blog.
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Skyward Collapse Launches May 23rd for PC and Mac
PRESS RELEASE
Skyward Collapse Launches May 23
Unique turn-based god game to be priced at $4.99 for Windows PC and Mac OS X
Arcen Games is pleased to announce its turn-based god game Skyward Collapse is set to launch on Steam next Thursday, May 23rd.
How do you balance a war between towns without letting either side obliterate the other? How do you rule over gods, creatures, and men who refuse to obey you? How do you build a thriving landscape of villages against the threat of bandits and mythological powers? Skyward Collapse places you into the role of The Creator, and frees you to tackle these problems your own way.
Create -- but not control -- gods, creatures, and artifacts from both Greek and Norse mythology. The power you wield with these is immense. Your task is to keep both factions alive until The Master calls you home -- but this is harder than it sounds. Bandits, along with periodic Woes add to the variety of challenges that you'll face in any given game. Every game plays out completely differently, and you'll need even the craziest of your powers in order to survive what lies in store.
A short trailer for the game can be viewed now, showcasing both sides of the fight. Additionally, Nick Trujillo of Penny Arcade’s Strip Search has created a series of web comics based on Skyward Collapse – the first of which is out now.
The Skyward Collapse OST was also just recently completed by composer Pablo Vega, and is now available for purchase through Arcen Games BandCamp page – where the entire soundtrack can be previewed online.
Along with the Steam launch, Skyward Collapse will also be made available directly through Arcen’s online store. If you’re a member of the press and are interested in a copy of the game, please contact: arcengames[at]gmail.com.
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 saw the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first two full expansions for AI War; as well as Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, with the rest of the company's focus being devoted to their most massive project yet: A Valley Without Wind, which released in 2012. The end of 2012/start of 2013 has been another busy time for the team, with AI War's fourth expansion Ancient Shadows launching, A Valley Without Wind 2 hitting 1.0, and Shattered Haven's releasing as well. The studio is currently working on its latest title, Skyward Collapse, for release in May.
Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles. The team is also proud to be a platinum sponsor of the Child’s Play charity. For all the latest news, coverage and other musings, visit us on our website, Twitter and Facebook; as well as Arcen founder Chris Park's Games By Design blog.
Skyward Collapse Launches May 23
Unique turn-based god game to be priced at $4.99 for Windows PC and Mac OS X
Arcen Games is pleased to announce its turn-based god game Skyward Collapse is set to launch on Steam next Thursday, May 23rd.
How do you balance a war between towns without letting either side obliterate the other? How do you rule over gods, creatures, and men who refuse to obey you? How do you build a thriving landscape of villages against the threat of bandits and mythological powers? Skyward Collapse places you into the role of The Creator, and frees you to tackle these problems your own way.
Create -- but not control -- gods, creatures, and artifacts from both Greek and Norse mythology. The power you wield with these is immense. Your task is to keep both factions alive until The Master calls you home -- but this is harder than it sounds. Bandits, along with periodic Woes add to the variety of challenges that you'll face in any given game. Every game plays out completely differently, and you'll need even the craziest of your powers in order to survive what lies in store.
A short trailer for the game can be viewed now, showcasing both sides of the fight. Additionally, Nick Trujillo of Penny Arcade’s Strip Search has created a series of web comics based on Skyward Collapse – the first of which is out now.
The Skyward Collapse OST was also just recently completed by composer Pablo Vega, and is now available for purchase through Arcen Games BandCamp page – where the entire soundtrack can be previewed online.
Along with the Steam launch, Skyward Collapse will also be made available directly through Arcen’s online store. If you’re a member of the press and are interested in a copy of the game, please contact: arcengames[at]gmail.com.
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 saw the release of The Zenith Remnant, the first two full expansions for AI War; as well as Tidalis, an innovative block-based puzzle with casual appeal and hardcore depth.
AI War's third and largest expansion Light of the Spire marked Arcen's first release of 2011, with the rest of the company's focus being devoted to their most massive project yet: A Valley Without Wind, which released in 2012. The end of 2012/start of 2013 has been another busy time for the team, with AI War's fourth expansion Ancient Shadows launching, A Valley Without Wind 2 hitting 1.0, and Shattered Haven's releasing as well. The studio is currently working on its latest title, Skyward Collapse, for release in May.
Originally a one-man shop, Arcen Games has grown to have half a dozen part-time or fulltime contributors to its various titles. The team is also proud to be a platinum sponsor of the Child’s Play charity. For all the latest news, coverage and other musings, visit us on our website, Twitter and Facebook; as well as Arcen founder Chris Park's Games By Design blog.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
AI War Beta 6.028-6.031 "So I Rewired It" Released!
This one contains a huge chunk of the "base game" (not part of the expansion) work going into 7.0. Following the expansion's theme we've just put a lot of work into updating the AI itself to better deal with the many additions and changes made to the game over the last few years, and also take advantage of new things we've learned in that time.
So fair WARNING: this release has some significant "foundational upheavel", mostly in the AI code, and may have some very strange and wonderful bugs (more strange than wonderful). That said, we've put many hours into testing it both in unit tests and just playing the game and it's been stable, smooth, and fun so I think it's ready for beta release. If/when you run into issues, please let us know! :) And please give us your feedback (positive or negative) on the changes in general. You may not even notice them very much depending on the situation, depending on how much time you spend actually looking at what the AI units are doing.
Anyway, a few highlights on the AI changes:
- The AI thread itself now runs much faster and thus the AI is now able to respond to changes in the situation more quickly.
- The AI's normal "threat" (as opposed to the "threatfleet") is now better at finding targets it both wants to reach and can reach and is now more responsive to changes in the situation.
- The AI's "wait" behavior (when it's sending units through a wormhole but realizes it shouldn't send them in yet or they'll just die) has been significantly improved to not wait right on the wormhole, to have a better understanding of the actual balance of power (and thus when to go through or not go through), and to "cut bait" if it's waiting too long and a better opportunity is available somewhere else.
- The AI's individual ship targeting priorities have been improved in several ways, including making some of its heavier combatants more serious about taking out the main human threats on the battlefield and making its units less concerned about secondary targets (and thus more concerned about primary targets) in major fleet actions.
- Various strange bugs and oddities that crept in over the years have been excised. There's almost certainly still some hiding out, and others introduced in what we've just done, but now we're in a better position to actually find and fix them. Notably, there are several new debug commands available to players who want to help us find out what's going on when they see some strange AI behavior (particularly those that we can't reproduce from a saved game).
And some other highlights of this release:
- Guardian seeding in a game's initial map generation is now much less painful because each planet won't start at full population, and guardian populations in general will be lower and less dependent on map type (because guardians will no longer spawn for Wormhole Guard Posts). But remember that alerting a planet will (as before) allow it to gradually reinforce up to maximum guardian population. That can be painful ;)
- Cross Planet Attacks now always deploy as carriers, and carriers auto-deploy much more readily in most combat conditions (and can now partially deploy, in those conditions). Also, we undid the recent change that made CPA ships start as threatfleet instead of normal threat, because the AI improvements have made normal threat much more immediately dangerous. Oh, CPAs can also syncrhonize with exos on higher difficulties under certain conditions now. That won't hurt a bit, really.
- Fixed a recent bug that was causing _way_ too many counterattack guard posts to seed during initial map generation.
Update: 6.029 hotfix for a bug from a few versions ago where auto-loading with the ships in a control group with the new "control group always group moves" toggle would cause unhandled errors. Also fixed a bug (probably from the last version, not 100% sure) where threat could get stuck on a planet where the only human unit was a captured core warhead interceptor.
Update: 6.030 hotfix to fix a number of issues found in the recently started private alpha of the expansion.
Update: 6.031 hotfix to fix some more issues discovered by the alpha, as well as some non-expansion-related bugs.
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.
So fair WARNING: this release has some significant "foundational upheavel", mostly in the AI code, and may have some very strange and wonderful bugs (more strange than wonderful). That said, we've put many hours into testing it both in unit tests and just playing the game and it's been stable, smooth, and fun so I think it's ready for beta release. If/when you run into issues, please let us know! :) And please give us your feedback (positive or negative) on the changes in general. You may not even notice them very much depending on the situation, depending on how much time you spend actually looking at what the AI units are doing.
Anyway, a few highlights on the AI changes:
- The AI thread itself now runs much faster and thus the AI is now able to respond to changes in the situation more quickly.
- The AI's normal "threat" (as opposed to the "threatfleet") is now better at finding targets it both wants to reach and can reach and is now more responsive to changes in the situation.
- The AI's "wait" behavior (when it's sending units through a wormhole but realizes it shouldn't send them in yet or they'll just die) has been significantly improved to not wait right on the wormhole, to have a better understanding of the actual balance of power (and thus when to go through or not go through), and to "cut bait" if it's waiting too long and a better opportunity is available somewhere else.
- The AI's individual ship targeting priorities have been improved in several ways, including making some of its heavier combatants more serious about taking out the main human threats on the battlefield and making its units less concerned about secondary targets (and thus more concerned about primary targets) in major fleet actions.
- Various strange bugs and oddities that crept in over the years have been excised. There's almost certainly still some hiding out, and others introduced in what we've just done, but now we're in a better position to actually find and fix them. Notably, there are several new debug commands available to players who want to help us find out what's going on when they see some strange AI behavior (particularly those that we can't reproduce from a saved game).
And some other highlights of this release:
- Guardian seeding in a game's initial map generation is now much less painful because each planet won't start at full population, and guardian populations in general will be lower and less dependent on map type (because guardians will no longer spawn for Wormhole Guard Posts). But remember that alerting a planet will (as before) allow it to gradually reinforce up to maximum guardian population. That can be painful ;)
- Cross Planet Attacks now always deploy as carriers, and carriers auto-deploy much more readily in most combat conditions (and can now partially deploy, in those conditions). Also, we undid the recent change that made CPA ships start as threatfleet instead of normal threat, because the AI improvements have made normal threat much more immediately dangerous. Oh, CPAs can also syncrhonize with exos on higher difficulties under certain conditions now. That won't hurt a bit, really.
- Fixed a recent bug that was causing _way_ too many counterattack guard posts to seed during initial map generation.
Update: 6.029 hotfix for a bug from a few versions ago where auto-loading with the ships in a control group with the new "control group always group moves" toggle would cause unhandled errors. Also fixed a bug (probably from the last version, not 100% sure) where threat could get stuck on a planet where the only human unit was a captured core warhead interceptor.
Update: 6.030 hotfix to fix a number of issues found in the recently started private alpha of the expansion.
Update: 6.031 hotfix to fix some more issues discovered by the alpha, as well as some non-expansion-related bugs.
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.
Monday, May 6, 2013
AI War Beta 6.026-6.027 "The Guard Before The Storm" Released!
This one contains many visible changes but mainly a lot of behind-the-scenes changes in preparation for the upcoming "Vengeance of the Machine" expansion (more details to come on that fairly soon).
Some of those changes are peeking out from behind the curtain: the AI's Guardians are now becoming another source of variety between games (i.e. Replay Value). So we're revising the existing guardians to be more notable so that you'll care whether the AI rolled Laser Guardians or Artillery Guardians or Special Forces Guardians (or all three) or whatever. Right now there are only 19 guardian types to choose from (Tachyon Guardians are separate) so there's something like a 40% chance in any given game that one guardian type will be in the initial 3 picks for both fo the AI players. That's not too bad, as far as variety goes, but one goal of the expansion is to add substantially to that guardian variety. We'll see!
Other notable changes include some significant follow-up buffs to the Enclave after its recent re-imagination, fixes for some longstanding (mainly edge-case) AI behavior quirks, and an increase in the number of rolls of tissue paper used to armor Advanced Factories.
Update: 6.027 hotfix to get some for-next-expansion stuff back behind the scenes (sounds of something being hit with a cane). "Shoo! Shoo!"
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.
Some of those changes are peeking out from behind the curtain: the AI's Guardians are now becoming another source of variety between games (i.e. Replay Value). So we're revising the existing guardians to be more notable so that you'll care whether the AI rolled Laser Guardians or Artillery Guardians or Special Forces Guardians (or all three) or whatever. Right now there are only 19 guardian types to choose from (Tachyon Guardians are separate) so there's something like a 40% chance in any given game that one guardian type will be in the initial 3 picks for both fo the AI players. That's not too bad, as far as variety goes, but one goal of the expansion is to add substantially to that guardian variety. We'll see!
Other notable changes include some significant follow-up buffs to the Enclave after its recent re-imagination, fixes for some longstanding (mainly edge-case) AI behavior quirks, and an increase in the number of rolls of tissue paper used to armor Advanced Factories.
Update: 6.027 hotfix to get some for-next-expansion stuff back behind the scenes (sounds of something being hit with a cane). "Shoo! Shoo!"
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.