AI War Beta 4.073 Released -- Release Candidate 4!

[x4000]

Original: http://arcengames.blogspot.com/2011/01/ai-war-beta-4073-released-release.html

This one has another handful of maintenance fixes.   We're mostly laying low on AI War while we wait for players to be able to test for really serious issues (so that we don't introduce more in the meantime!).  So far, no reports of any desyncs since a few versions back, which is seeming very promising.

If all goes well, we could still be on schedule for a release on Monday, but a lot of that depends on whether any reports of serious issues come in over the weekend from players.  Fingers crossed!

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.

[TechSY730]

YES! I've been holding back on starting a new game until the wave sizes were fixed. I will play now.

[Fleet]

Serious issues you say? I'll take the opportunity to shamelessly promote my friends bug report http://www.arcengames.com/mantisbt/view.php?id=2574

The issue is rather serious for us because it really hinders multiplayer strategies which involve strict role division which can be necessary in tough games. He can't maintain remains rebuilders or engies on my planets, which he is tasked with defending through turret placements.

[x4000]

That's definitely post 5.0. It's a new feature, not a bug, and it has a very high chance of introducing new bugs. I also want something like that feature, for personal reasons, but if we keep adding new features this will never release. By serious issues I meant critical bugs or imbalances only. But once 5.0 comes out, we won't have that restriction anymore, and we can start doing our normal "maintenance mode" of small new features and fixes, etc. That's definitely way up there on my list for that period.

[Fleet]

Oh, I guess I misinterpreted this from .67

"The mobile-builder-command-station-foldouts in multiplayer will now process per-planet auto-build controls (for engineer mkI,II,III, remains rebuilder, and energy reactor I,II,III) set by the owner of the foldout (not the owner of the planet)."

I took this to mean that my allies foldout (which are always on my planets, not his, since he as the actual building on his own planets) would process commands that he sets for per-planet autobuilding.

[x4000]

Yeah, they should -- but it's a new feature that "didn't take," rather than existing feature which is suddenly broken, if that makes sense.

[Shardz]

So...I was just wondering. With the advent of AI War v5.0 and its' collective expansions, wouldn't this be a terrific time for a PC Gamer and/or Gamespot review? I've been dropping hints like bombs over at Gamespot for the past year to focus on AI War for a formal review to no avail. The response I get is somewhat of a generic, "Well, if we review one Indie game, we have to review 50,000 Indie games." I can't help but think...but...but isn't that the function of the site in the first place? Or maybe not...

And then...finally over the past month, they actually reviewed Super Meat Boy and started to mention Minecraft. Ok...well, isn't this a double standard then? I know that Notch had a LOT of help from internal friends at PC Gamer UK to help spread the word for Minecraft. Great. And IndieDB seems like a place to easily outgrow the scope of the site requirements...I think AI War is too big and successful for them at this stage. So where is the balance then?

The mind-boggling thing to me is that AI War is the best RTS game on the market, but it seems like the industry isn't quite prepared to handle titles ranging between dirt-poor productions and full scale $30 million corporate games which are all the same these days. So...what's it going to take to bust through the politics here? Should we all write letters to Gamespot and tell them to get with the program, or should we just lie dormant and expect world domination in due time?

Just a few thoughts...

[Fleet]

I don't see why we need the support of those big review sites. Focus on word of mouth, get some viral youtube videos, have people post their blog, and so on.

I think a contest for a fan-made AI War trailer would be great. The videos that pop on on Youtube with a search of "AI War' do the game *no* justice. They are from such old versions.

[x4000]

http://www.arcengames.com/aiwar_press.php

Also see us on MetaCritic, which named AI War as the 40th best-reviewed PC title of 2009 (AAA titles included). That's a pretty big deal for a tiny company like us!

We could always use more, but most big review sites have either already reviewed the game or consider it "too old," I'm afraid.

[Echo35]

Good stuff! Please tell me there's going to be a sale on it when it comes out.

[x4000]

We almost never do sales on an expansion right when it comes out -- actually I don't think we ever have.  Usually there is a sale on something, like other expansions or the base game, though.

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Good stuff! Please tell me there's going to be a sale on it when it comes out.

Never seen anyone sell a game/expansion on sale...seems rather odd. 

King

[keith.lamothe]

We almost never do sales on an expansion right when it comes out -- actually I don't think we ever have.

Tidalis, 10%-off out of the gate.  That kind of "opening week" promotion seems fairly common on Steam nowadays.

[x4000]

We almost never do sales on an expansion right when it comes out -- actually I don't think we ever have.

Tidalis, 10%-off out of the gate.  That kind of "opening week" promotion seems fairly common on Steam nowadays.

Well, that's true, when AI War first came to Steam it was also 10% off.  But with TZR and CoN it was just the base game that went something like 50% off.

[Echo35]

We almost never do sales on an expansion right when it comes out -- actually I don't think we ever have.  Usually there is a sale on something, like other expansions or the base game, though.

Yeah, that's what I mean. Will there be a sale on at least the base game, if not the other expansions? My GF is a sale away from buying the game, so, I would like that to happen