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AI War 1.001 Released (First Full Version, Plus More DLC)

Arcen Games is pleased to announce the release of AI War: Fleet Command version 1.001. You can download a trial version of the game, as well as purchase a license key to unlock the full version.  If you already have the game or demo installed, just hit "Check For Updates" inside the game to get the latest patch.

More Free DLC:  A new unit is now available in your Starship Constructors! Leech Starships (shown left) are basically an upgraded version of the existing Raid Starship. The Leech Starships are the first starships to have the Reclamator ability, which makes them take over ships they kill (like parasites or core leeches).


The AI also has two elusive new units:  AI Troop Accelerators, and Anti-Starship Arachnids. The arachnids might come out if you spam starships at an AI planet for too long, but for the Troop Accelerators you'll just have to keep your eyes open.  There's a small chance you might see one on any given galaxy map -- and there's a chance that they will even be inserted into your existing savegames when you install the latest patch.

In addition, there are a number of small balance tweaks, the most significant ones dealing with making the single player experience more akin to the multiplayer experience in terms of resources available. Lastly, the final two in-game music tracks are now in place (and they are beautiful); there is also now victory and defeat music.  AI War is now considered fully released -- we'll continue doing patches with AI upgrades, free DLC, and any minor bugfixes/balance shifts that are needed (like any other RTS game, players tend to find these small issues over time). Enjoy!

AI War 0.940 Released (With First Free DLC)

Arcen Games is pleased to announce the release of AI War: Fleet Command version 0.940. You can download a trial version of the game, as well as purchase a license key to unlock the full version.  If you already have the game or demo installed, just hit "Check For Updates" inside the game to get the latest patch.

First Free DLC:  A new unit is now available in the DEF tab of your Command Stations! Tachyon Drones (shown left) are tiny  mobile tachyon beam emitters, great for discovering enemy mines and other cloaked ships.

In addition, the AI has learned a few new tactics on difficulty 5 and up -- this happens from time to time, and makes your already formidable digital opponents even more fearsome and realistic. The number of in-game music tracks has also doubled, and more music is on the way in Friday's release of version 1.0.  Lastly, there were a few tweaks to unit balance and a couple of minor bugfixes.  Enjoy!

Designing Games In A Vacuum

ABSTRACT - Part 1
In developing the space-based RTS game AI War: Fleet Command, I encountered an unexpected design challenge: namely, I hadn't anticipated the issues that would be caused by setting the game in space.  I've played many great games set in space, but most have either been action-oriented (Star Wars, etc), or very slowly paced (Homeworld).  The first and largest issue that arose was creating a sense of location in a non-action-oriented game.

Designing Games In A Vacuum, Part 1: Terrain & Positionality

ABSTRACT - Part 2
Continuing the discussion from the first part of this article.  Discusses the challenges of making unique spaceships memorable, RTS-genre issues caused by the lack of walls in space, and unit balance in a cooperative game.

Designing Games In A Vacuum, Part 2: Units, Walls, and Caps

AI War Demo And "Advance Release" Now Available

Arcen Games is pleased to announce the general availability of AI War: Fleet Command! You can now download a trial version of the game, as well as purchase a license key to unlock the full version.

Our release date for version 1.0 of the software remains May 15, one week from today, but the current build is quite stable and a blast to play.  We decided to do an "advance release" of the pre-1.0 version of the game in response to requests from gamers who weren't able to be part of the closed beta.

All future patches for AI War will be free, regardless of when you purchase the game. We play this game ourselves (it's replaced our other weekly RTS sessions), so rest assured that we're committed to continually updating and expanding the game.  In addition to a pair of planned expansion packs (pricing TBA), we'll also be including free DLC for all players. During the first month after release, we'll have at least one free new unit, gameplay mode, AI type, or game mechanic per week. After the first month, we'll be adding at least one of those new features for free every month, even after the expansion packs come out in 3-6 months.

AI War is already a huge game -- it will take you well over 120 hours to see every current feature if you play full campaigns -- but we're committed to expanding it even further. So much of this game is about exploration that we want you to always have something new to discover!

Release Date Moved Forward Again!

Our beta testing has proceeded exceptionally well, and at this stage we are hovering at or around zero known issues.  Things have been going so well, in fact, that we've decided to bump up the release date once again -- at present our target is May 15th, just ten days away.  Not all digital distribution services will immediately carry it on that date, but it will be available for purchase through our site at the very least, and other services will likely follow in the weeks and months afterward. More details on that as the date approaches; we will also release a demo on or before the 15th, but we will not be accepting preorders.

Now that the game is more finalized, we've once again updated the Gameplay, Features, and Mini Strategy Guide sections for AI War.  The Mini Strategy Guide has seen the largest update, with the amount of content in it almost doubling.  Also: if you haven't yet noticed, we added forums to the site a few weeks ago.

AI War Video Tutorials Now Online

Our beta testing is well under way, and the feedback so far has been excellent.  We already have interactive in-game tutorials, but we thought it would also be nice to have a series of video tutorials that showcase how an expert player starts a new campaign.  These are now available under the new Videos category on the left.

AI War Mini Strategy Guide Released

Just to update you all on our development progress on AI War, we're now even more ahead of schedule than we were ten days ago.  We'll be hitting beta within the week.  At present, the plan is now to release in early June, unforseen issues notwithstanding.

We've also made a few minor additions to the Gameplay section for AI War (finalizing the AI Types, for one thing), and we've also added a new Mini Strategy Guide.  This is something we're providing for our beta testers, and we thought we'd make it public so that everyone can benefit from it after the game comes out.

Updated AI War Information

We're pleased to announce that development work on AI War is proceeding ahead of schedule!  We now expect to hit closed beta in late May, with a target for release to the public in late June or July.  These dates are still subject to change, of course, but all indications are presently positive.

In light of this, we thought it was time that we updated you with the latest on the game itself -- the Features, Gameplay, and Screenshots sections for AI War have all had significant updates.  The old screenshots have been completely replaced (many of them shots were from very early versions of the game), and the Gameplay and Features sections now have partial screenshots relating to many of the topics on those pages.

Previews Available

What better way to open this new website than with a pair of previews -- check out the left sidebar for screenshots and game information about our first two titles.  We have other games in the more-distant pipeline, but these are the two that are nearing completion.

So take a look, and feel free to drop us a line and let us know what you think.  We'll set up forums at some
point in the coming months, but for the moment we just wanted to get a little bit of information out there about who we are and the exciting games that are on the way from us!