Arcen Games is pleased to show off several new additions, improvements, and changes for our upcoming survival action-adventure title A Valley Without Wind. We have a variety of items to update on this week, including interior generation, a reworking of the game's story and setting, settlement changes, implementation of new features such as Explorer NPCs and Evil Outposts, and much more.
To start, there have been some major shifts in AVWW's story and setting that we'd like to share. We are keeping the broken-earth setting and former ice age focus for the title, but the real-world future setting has been replaced. Instead the game is now set in a purely fantasy world called Environ -- taking place in the year 888. We feel that exchanging the reality-based future setting for a more fantasy/sci-fi mix (that still keeps elements from the real world) gives us a lot more flexibility as we put together the major themes of the title. More details on the new developments, including a basic timeline for the known history of Environ, can be found on our updated feature page for A Valley Without Wind.
Onward from that, we've made a rather significant breakthrough in terms of the creation and generation of AVWW's interiors. Interior procedural-generation was a troublesome task that others have solved in various ways, but which nobody seemed to have solved in the specific way that was needed for the game. So our lead programmer Chris Park has come up with a moderately new approach to the problem, basing part of his work on how the issue in a roguelike is dealt with, resulting in some very interesting and varied interior floorplans at this stage. In a month or two when it's further polished, Arcen will be releasing the C# source code for our interior generator as open source under the MIT license, so that others can make use of it. Chris has written up a technical outline in this developer journal thoroughly explaining the step-by-step process of the program for those interested.
Many other additions and improvements have found their way into A Valley Without Wind as well. The game now makes use of the helpful Explorer NPC's and the not-so-helpful Evil Outposts, there's been major progress to settlements and the Minimap, and lots of new and upgraded visuals have been added as well. We could go on all day, but the title's new animation test video does a much tidier job illustrating some of the aforementioned items. While a complete explanation on everything that's been touched on can be found in our latest Games By Design post.
For more info about the title and what else Arcen Games is working on, make sure to check out our recent interview on Gnome's Lair. A Valley Without Wind is currently targeted for official release on PC and Mac in October 2011, with a playable Beta build available to pre-order customers coming this summer.
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. For all the latest news, media coverage, and some of our other musings, follow us on our developer and individual game pages on Facebook or on Twitter: @ArcenGames.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Announcing The AI War Alien Bundle And AI War Two Year Anniversary Sale!
Has It Really Been Two Years!?
It seems like just yesterday that AI War 1.0 made it's public debut, but it's actually been two years. And what a busy two years! In that time we've released three new expansions, changed the game to the Unity 3D engine, added Mac OSX support, created our puzzle game Tidalis, and released version 5.0 of the base game free to anyone who bought 1.0 of the game or higher.
In celebration, of the two-year anniversary of AI War's public debut, we're running a big sale on the entire Arcen Store from today through May 24th. All of the individual titles are 50% off, and the bundle (see below) is 30% off its regular reduced price.
Two years later and AI War is more popular than ever, with more expansions planned, and with us still making the games we always wanted to make. We couldn't be more grateful for the support of our players!
Alien Bundle: The AI Isn't Your Only Adversary...
Right from the start, the universe of AI War has always included a few alien craft. However, it wasn't until each of the first three expansions were released that the three alien races from AI War were fully explored: from the ancient, venerable Zenith; to the short-lived, vicious Neinzul; to the massive Spire.
These first expansions represent something of a watershed for AI War, because these are the only expansions that will be focused on individual alien races. Future expansions to the game will focus on other aspects of the AI War universe, as well as pulling in a few ships here and there from all three of the races.
That makes these three something of a matched set; and for the first time ever, we're bundling them all together with the base game at more than a 30% discount off their combined total price (and during the two-year anniversary sale, there's another 30% off applied on top of that regular 30% discount).
What's Included In The Alien Bundle?
* AI War: Fleet Command (standalone base game)
* AI War: The Zenith Remnant (expansion 1)
* AI War: Children of Neinzul (expansion 2)
* AI War: Light of the Spire (expansion 3)
Child's Play
When you purchase the AI War Alien Bundle, you're not only getting a great game and three huge expansions, you're also supporting an important cause. Arcen Games is a platinum sponsor of 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. That works out to 9% of the purchase price of the AI War Alien Bundle.
It seems like just yesterday that AI War 1.0 made it's public debut, but it's actually been two years. And what a busy two years! In that time we've released three new expansions, changed the game to the Unity 3D engine, added Mac OSX support, created our puzzle game Tidalis, and released version 5.0 of the base game free to anyone who bought 1.0 of the game or higher.
In celebration, of the two-year anniversary of AI War's public debut, we're running a big sale on the entire Arcen Store from today through May 24th. All of the individual titles are 50% off, and the bundle (see below) is 30% off its regular reduced price.
Two years later and AI War is more popular than ever, with more expansions planned, and with us still making the games we always wanted to make. We couldn't be more grateful for the support of our players!
Alien Bundle: The AI Isn't Your Only Adversary...
Right from the start, the universe of AI War has always included a few alien craft. However, it wasn't until each of the first three expansions were released that the three alien races from AI War were fully explored: from the ancient, venerable Zenith; to the short-lived, vicious Neinzul; to the massive Spire.
These first expansions represent something of a watershed for AI War, because these are the only expansions that will be focused on individual alien races. Future expansions to the game will focus on other aspects of the AI War universe, as well as pulling in a few ships here and there from all three of the races.
That makes these three something of a matched set; and for the first time ever, we're bundling them all together with the base game at more than a 30% discount off their combined total price (and during the two-year anniversary sale, there's another 30% off applied on top of that regular 30% discount).
What's Included In The Alien Bundle?
* AI War: Fleet Command (standalone base game)
* AI War: The Zenith Remnant (expansion 1)
* AI War: Children of Neinzul (expansion 2)
* AI War: Light of the Spire (expansion 3)
Child's Play
When you purchase the AI War Alien Bundle, you're not only getting a great game and three huge expansions, you're also supporting an important cause. Arcen Games is a platinum sponsor of 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. That works out to 9% of the purchase price of the AI War Alien Bundle.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Brutal Gamer Interviews Arcen Games
Brutal Gamer's Amy Nelson followed up her Tidalis review by interviewing us on all things Arcen and indie games. We discuss several topics including potential consoles/handheld devices we've considered for our games, as well as our selling points for A Valley Without Wind.
Here's one of the questions and responses from the piece:
"AI War: Fleet Command is a RTS, Tidalis is a puzzle game, and A Valley Without Wind is an action adventure. You seem to be hitting on all the popular genres. What do you have in store for us next?
Chris: Well, these are the genres that I have a lot of personal interest in — my goal was to never be thought of us “just a strategy game developer.” Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but I have broader interests than just strategy games, and part of the freedom of being an indie is getting to pursue your interests. I think we’re going to be busy with AVWW, and expansions and free DLC for both it and AI War for another year or two — ideally, anyway. Beyond that it’s hard to say with any clarity, but we’ve got a lot of game designs floating around the team. If there’s one thing we never have a shortage of, it’s ideas! I think perhaps the most popular next project idea at the moment is a very streamlined turn-based tactics game built partly on the AVWW engine."
Read the full interview over on Brutal Gamer.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Tidalis (Mac) Reviewed on Brutal Gamer
Amy Nelson of Brutal Gamer has taken the time to have a look at the Mac version of our puzzler Tidalis. In it she touches on the amount of variety in the game, as well as discussing both the more intense and zen-like modes she came across and how they compliment one another.
She concludes her review by rewarding the game a score of 8.5 out of 10, with a strong recommendation to puzzle fans looking for something new and different, describing it as such:
She concludes her review by rewarding the game a score of 8.5 out of 10, with a strong recommendation to puzzle fans looking for something new and different, describing it as such:
"Tidalis is engaging, challenging, unique, and just plain a whole lotta fun. With such a great variety in levels and items, the game just never gets old. The ability to create custom levels adds even more variety. The characters and music fit perfectly with the colorful style of the game. Tidalis is just a well-rounded and well-executed game that really gives you bang for your buck."Read the full review over on Brutal Gamer.
New AVWW Q&A, Facebook Page, and Preview by Jordan Rivas
Arcen Games has a trio of items to share related to our upcoming procedurally-generated action adventure title A Valley Without Wind.
CEO and lead programmer Chris Park has written up a new Q&A inspired by several questions from a user on our forums. In it, Park responds in length on a few major subjects regarding AVWW's world including economies and crafting. Discussion includes crafting process, resource properties, plans for a unique economy set-up, and in what ways crafted items can differ from one another.
Outside our own confines, writer Jordan Rivas has put together an in-depth preview for the game in which he looks at both the interior and exterior aspects of its development. His research on the game dates back to when Rivas and Park first chatted about it in an interview last August.
Lastly, A Valley Without Wind now has a Facebook page for fans of the game and users of the social site to follow along in the game's development process. We're hoping it will be another solid place for interested parties to get updates and discuss the game with us.
CEO and lead programmer Chris Park has written up a new Q&A inspired by several questions from a user on our forums. In it, Park responds in length on a few major subjects regarding AVWW's world including economies and crafting. Discussion includes crafting process, resource properties, plans for a unique economy set-up, and in what ways crafted items can differ from one another.
Outside our own confines, writer Jordan Rivas has put together an in-depth preview for the game in which he looks at both the interior and exterior aspects of its development. His research on the game dates back to when Rivas and Park first chatted about it in an interview last August.
Lastly, A Valley Without Wind now has a Facebook page for fans of the game and users of the social site to follow along in the game's development process. We're hoping it will be another solid place for interested parties to get updates and discuss the game with us.
A Valley Without Wind is currently set for official release on PC and Mac in October 2011, with a playable Beta build available to customers who pre-order coming this summer.
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. For all the latest news, media coverage, and some of our other musings, follow us on our developer and individual game pages on Facebook or on Twitter: @ArcenGames.
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. For all the latest news, media coverage, and some of our other musings, follow us on our developer and individual game pages on Facebook or on Twitter: @ArcenGames.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
A Valley Without Wind Update #10: Overworld Maps, Soft Focus, and NPCs
Arcen Games is excited to share the latest update for our procedurally-generated survival action-adventure title A Valley Without Wind. Many new developments have taken place since last we checked in, highlighted by the addition of the new Soft Focus visual style, revamped Overworld sections, and tons of progress on Crafting, NPCs, Settlements and various other areas in the game.
We now have a map editor with a variety of functionality for drawing, filling, and smoothing that allows us to create a large number of heavily randomized maps and variants for players to explore. All Overworld chunks are now 256x256 in size; many of them were previously 128x128, which makes for a fourfold increase in size. To give a visual comparison, each tile on the world map is equal to around two-thirds the size of the the entire world map of the original Legend of Zelda.
To fill these large and numerous maps, a lot of progress has been made on crafting, NPCs, settlements, and other meaningful areas. Visually, we've added and improved several areas including new objects, spell/environment effects, and more. We've also introduced a new and improved visual style around the entire game that makes colors more saturated and dramatic, as well as ties all the elements together.
To show everything off our latest video -- Pre-Alpha Footage #10 -- is out now, and nearly two dozen screenshots are available to view on the official AVWW page. For a complete comprehensive look at what we've done this time around, we point you to the title's latest Developer Journal which explains every aspect of the update in full detail.
A Valley Without Wind is currently targeted for official release on PC and Mac in October 2011, with a playable Beta build available to customers who pre-order coming this summer.
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.
We now have a map editor with a variety of functionality for drawing, filling, and smoothing that allows us to create a large number of heavily randomized maps and variants for players to explore. All Overworld chunks are now 256x256 in size; many of them were previously 128x128, which makes for a fourfold increase in size. To give a visual comparison, each tile on the world map is equal to around two-thirds the size of the the entire world map of the original Legend of Zelda.
To fill these large and numerous maps, a lot of progress has been made on crafting, NPCs, settlements, and other meaningful areas. Visually, we've added and improved several areas including new objects, spell/environment effects, and more. We've also introduced a new and improved visual style around the entire game that makes colors more saturated and dramatic, as well as ties all the elements together.
To show everything off our latest video -- Pre-Alpha Footage #10 -- is out now, and nearly two dozen screenshots are available to view on the official AVWW page. For a complete comprehensive look at what we've done this time around, we point you to the title's latest Developer Journal which explains every aspect of the update in full detail.
A Valley Without Wind is currently targeted for official release on PC and Mac in October 2011, with a playable Beta build available to customers who pre-order coming this summer.
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, April 20, 2011
AI War Expansions Reviewed on Big Download
James Murff of Big Download already gave AI War a full review back in 2009, and now he has given the same treatment to all three of the game's expansions: The Zenith Remnant, Children of Neinzul, and Light of the Spire.
Some of our favorite excerpts:
"Each expansion is independent of the others and brings new ships and Ai types unique to that particular expansion. The one thing they have in common, however, is how much they increase the difficulty compared to the original game. These expansions are for the hardest of the hardcore."
From the Zenith Remnant portion:
"Zenith Remnant provides a ton of new content for players to sink their teeth into, and it's an excellent addition to the AI War franchise... If you have AI War, this expansion is a must purchase, and paves the way for the next two in terms of difficulty."
From the Children of Neinzul portion:
"You aren't so much purchasing a new expansion, but rather donating a few bucks to a charity and getting extra content in AI War as a result. It's a cool system that we wish more developers tried."
From the Light of the Spire portion:
"Spire is our personal favorite expansion... The new campaign types are significantly harder than the core game, and the additions to the AI's arsenal take a heavy toll on inexperienced players. The sheer variety it adds, though, is extremely impressive. If you feel daring enough, this is the expansion that we recommend highest of all three."
Murff concluded each review with a verdict of "Must Own", which puts a significant amount of love in our tummies. Read all three AI War expansion reviews here.
Murff concluded each review with a verdict of "Must Own", which puts a significant amount of love in our tummies. Read all three AI War expansion reviews here.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
A Valley Without Wind: Weather, Characters and Monsters
Arcen Games is pleased to share a large update for its procedurally-generated survival adventure title A Valley Without Wind. Several additions and improvements have been made to the game, including weather, monsters, a new female character, and many other new visuals.
Six new monsters have been introduced, looking to pursue and destroy characters who stray too far in their respective regions. Meet the Espers, Desert Burrowers, Sniper Skelebots, and Bats -- they come in standard, fire and ice flavors. Yes, bats. Scoff at one sure, but beware: they always bring friends. With them, Dawn (AVWW's first female character sprite) joins the survivor fray alongside the original male character Darrell and the Neutral Skelebot. A variety of flowers, dozens of cars, and other new buildings/objects have also been added.
AVWW now carries several different kinds of weather as well, rainfall and snowfall in several regions can range from light to raging, blowing dust and sandstorms in the desert region, firestorms in the lava region and more. Major visual improvements to the HUD and main menu, plus new name dictionaries for characters also come packed in the latest update.
Check out A Valley Without Wind's latest pre-alpha trailer showing off the aforementioned items (in HD): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaquSjyUsLA&hd=1
Arcen head Chris Park discusses all of the above, plus some new items on the technical side such as character animations and region level gating in this developer journal: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/04/avww-9-preview-video-is-coming-later.html
Chris also touches on other new aspects including the revamped HUD, ground graphics, melee models, and more in the latest developer journal for the title: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/04/avww-pre-alpha-9-video-bats-espers.html
16 new screenshots can be found on the AVWW feature page as well: http://www.arcengames.com/w/index.php/games/avww-features
A Valley Without Wind is currently targeted for official release on PC and Mac in October 2011, with a playable Beta build available to customers who pre-order coming this summer.
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 Beta 5.010, "Blade Shield," Released!
This one
fixes some of the balance issues with the blade spawners in the hands of the AI in particular. It also brute-force fixes older savegames, which should be a welcome relief to those affected. 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 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.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Update On Children Of Neinzul Donations For Child's Play: $18K And Counting!
As of April 4th, 2011, we have so far raised and donated $18,329.33! A substantial $3,350.91 has come in for the CoN expansion since our previous update in February, 100% of which goes to Child's Play.
We'll continue to post monthly updates on how the donations are doing. We're so proud to have been able to contribute to such a worthy cause in a significant 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 continue to post monthly updates on how the donations are doing. We're so proud to have been able to contribute to such a worthy cause in a significant 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.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
AI War LotS Review on Indie Game Reviewer
Over on Indie Game Reviewer Callabrantus has taken the time to check out and give his thoughts on AI War's recently released Light of the Spire expansion.
Some of the more tasty bits:
"This latest entry brings with it a healthy variety of new content and features, most notably the campaign modes, while staying true to the core experience...Even without the expansion sets, AI War is the type of game one never truly masters...Here, the concept of “casual” cowers in fear."
Read the full review on IGR.
Some of the more tasty bits:
"This latest entry brings with it a healthy variety of new content and features, most notably the campaign modes, while staying true to the core experience...Even without the expansion sets, AI War is the type of game one never truly masters...Here, the concept of “casual” cowers in fear."
Read the full review on IGR.
A Valley Without Wind: First Public Release Now Beta, New Lighting Video and Perma-Death Journal
Arcen Games would like to pass along word of a new video, developer journal and new release info for its procedurally-generated action adventure title A Valley Without Wind.
We have made the significant decision to push back the first public release of AVWW to what we had originally planned for beta. For one, we feel it'd be a giant mistake to release any playable build of the game before there's more to do in it than fight Skelebots and destroy trees.
Not that killing Skelebots isn't fun, but that's not all this game is about; not by a long-shot. The choice to make the beta version the first publicly available build of the game allows us to add dynamic goals that players will actually care about, a fuller realization of our perma-death feature, and more ways the player can make an impact on their world -- along with much more overall content and variation. Those items, we feel, are now essential for the game before it can be considered playable and on sale to the public.
What this means for AVWW's release schedule is that the public alpha that was to arrive in April is now officially canned in lieu of a public beta. We'll determine a release date for it once we're closer to the completion of the aforementioned features. To sum it all up: A Valley Without Wind's first public pre-release will bring a much more content rich experience, we just need some time to put it together. The 1.0 launch remains unaffected by these changes and is still currently on target for October of this year, and of course we'll continue to update on the development of the game when new features and improvements are added.
Arcen head Chris Park explains and explores all facets of the matter in full detail on the Games by Design blog: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/03/first-public-version-of-valley-without.html
Making weighty decisions for AVWW doesn't mean we haven't been working on it! Check out our latest video showcasing the improved lighting in the game (along with a full explanation on where we were, and how we got to this point with the new method): http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/03/valley-without-wind-pre-alpha-8-new.html
Chris also dives into the game's interesting take on perma-death and what he hopes it'll mean for the player's overall experience: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/03/valley-without-wind-whats-deal-with.html
A Valley Without Wind is currently set for official release on PC and Mac in October, with a public pre-release build coming earlier in the year.
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.
We have made the significant decision to push back the first public release of AVWW to what we had originally planned for beta. For one, we feel it'd be a giant mistake to release any playable build of the game before there's more to do in it than fight Skelebots and destroy trees.
Not that killing Skelebots isn't fun, but that's not all this game is about; not by a long-shot. The choice to make the beta version the first publicly available build of the game allows us to add dynamic goals that players will actually care about, a fuller realization of our perma-death feature, and more ways the player can make an impact on their world -- along with much more overall content and variation. Those items, we feel, are now essential for the game before it can be considered playable and on sale to the public.
What this means for AVWW's release schedule is that the public alpha that was to arrive in April is now officially canned in lieu of a public beta. We'll determine a release date for it once we're closer to the completion of the aforementioned features. To sum it all up: A Valley Without Wind's first public pre-release will bring a much more content rich experience, we just need some time to put it together. The 1.0 launch remains unaffected by these changes and is still currently on target for October of this year, and of course we'll continue to update on the development of the game when new features and improvements are added.
Arcen head Chris Park explains and explores all facets of the matter in full detail on the Games by Design blog: http://christophermpark.
Making weighty decisions for AVWW doesn't mean we haven't been working on it! Check out our latest video showcasing the improved lighting in the game (along with a full explanation on where we were, and how we got to this point with the new method): http://christophermpark.
Chris also dives into the game's interesting take on perma-death and what he hopes it'll mean for the player's overall experience: http://christophermpark.
A Valley Without Wind is currently set for official release on PC and Mac in October, with a public pre-release build coming earlier in the year.
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.
Monday, March 28, 2011
AI War Beta 5.009, "Desync II: The Resyncing," Released!
This one fixes yet another desync that Fleet and Tssbackus were the sole folks to be able to find. Turns out you had to save your game under just the right circumstances in the middle of a big battle to get this one, which not many people presumably do, hence the rarity.
This release also includes some stronger desync detection methods based on a simple hash method on the clients and host, to make desyncs quicker to find and easier to reproduce. Hopefully that was the last desync for a while, though!
And lastly, this sharply nerfs the health of a lot of the spire core shield generators that the AI has, which I'm sure many people will be quite happy about. 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 includes some stronger desync detection methods based on a simple hash method on the clients and host, to make desyncs quicker to find and easier to reproduce. Hopefully that was the last desync for a while, though!
And lastly, this sharply nerfs the health of a lot of the spire core shield generators that the AI has, which I'm sure many people will be quite happy about. 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.
A Valley Without Wind: Interiors, Lighting, Crafting, New Regions, Character Stats, And Perma-Death (And Much More!)
Arcen Games is downright ecstatic to share the latest updates, screens and video footage for its procedurally-generated action adventure title A Valley Without Wind. We haven't shared in a few weeks, so there's a ton of new stuff to show and tell including interiors, lighting, crafting, playable/NPC Skelebots, lava and desert regions, perma-death implementation and lots more.
Interiors -- the last remaining world building focus for the game -- have been added, though at the moment we'll be needing the proper time to populate them. These structures don't have any electrical power, making most indoor exploring pretty dark. This is where lighting comes into play, as several darker areas both interior and exterior can be lit by various spells and objects to grant better visibility and ease the search.
There's been plenty of character focus this past update as well: Perma-death and crafting in their basic forms are now in place, along with a working system for producing a unique set of stats for each individual character. A neutral Skelebot that works as both playable character and as a non-hostile NPC, a dynamic character name generator, and NPC dialog have also been thrown into the mix.
New music, regions, improvements to shadows and particle effects, a new lamp object, and two new spells: "shrink" and "flash of light," round out the sizable list of update highlights. Check out the latest gameplay video showing off everything mentioned and more here (in HD): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24qWu6TPdpE&hd=1
17 new screenshots can be found on the AVWW feature page: http://www.arcengames.com/w/index.php/games/avww-features
And to make up for the lengthy radio silence, we have three new developer journals available. A breakdown of the video as well as a detailed explanation of the aforementioned features, additions and improvements: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/03/valley-without-wind-pre-alpha-7.html
Arcen head Chris Park goes into his approach to the design process of AVWW as compared with past works: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/03/a-valley-without-wind-design-process.html
Lastly, Chris discusses horizontal versus vertical game development phases, and wonders why indies can't explore the latter as much as they do the former: http://christophermpark.blogspot.com/2011/03/horizontal-vs-vertical-game-development.html
That's all for this process improvement focused update. Come back next time for an update heavier on the art advancement. A Valley Without Wind is currently set for official release on PC and Mac later this year, with a playable Alpha build available to customers who pre-order coming in April.
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.
Interiors -- the last remaining world building focus for the game -- have been added, though at the moment we'll be needing the proper time to populate them. These structures don't have any electrical power, making most indoor exploring pretty dark. This is where lighting comes into play, as several darker areas both interior and exterior can be lit by various spells and objects to grant better visibility and ease the search.
There's been plenty of character focus this past update as well: Perma-death and crafting in their basic forms are now in place, along with a working system for producing a unique set of stats for each individual character. A neutral Skelebot that works as both playable character and as a non-hostile NPC, a dynamic character name generator, and NPC dialog have also been thrown into the mix.
New music, regions, improvements to shadows and particle effects, a new lamp object, and two new spells: "shrink" and "flash of light," round out the sizable list of update highlights. Check out the latest gameplay video showing off everything mentioned and more here (in HD): http://www.youtube.com/watch?
17 new screenshots can be found on the AVWW feature page: http://www.arcengames.com/w/
And to make up for the lengthy radio silence, we have three new developer journals available. A breakdown of the video as well as a detailed explanation of the aforementioned features, additions and improvements: http://christophermpark.
Arcen head Chris Park goes into his approach to the design process of AVWW as compared with past works: http://christophermpark.
Lastly, Chris discusses horizontal versus vertical game development phases, and wonders why indies can't explore the latter as much as they do the former: http://christophermpark.
That's all for this process improvement focused update. Come back next time for an update heavier on the art advancement. A Valley Without Wind is currently set for official release on PC and Mac later this year, with a playable Alpha build available to customers who pre-order coming in April.
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, March 25, 2011
AI War Beta 5.008, "Bad Robot, No Cookie," Released!
This one is pretty minor, just with a few balance tweaks and a bugfix related to minor factions and zombies going off their leashes too far. Since that one in particular is really important to some folks, we're going ahead and releasing the patch for this today. 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 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.
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