Current Status of AI War

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As of 4/14/2009, AI War is currently in closed beta.  We expect to release around the first of June, unforeseen events notwithstanding.  We'll let you know if there are any changes, and will provide more information as the release date draws nearer.

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As of 5/5/2009, AI War is nearing the end of its closed beta.  We now expect to release on May 15, barring unforseen events in the meantime.  We'll keep you posted as the release date draws nearer!

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As of 5/8/2009, AI War is now available to the public as an Advance Release!  What this means, in detail, is that the game has not yet hit version 1.0, so not quite everything is in place yet.  However, the game is quite stable and it really is a blast to play -- we decided to do this advance release due to requests from players who didn't make it into the beta. 

We thought about just releasing a demo, but then wondered why not just release the entire thing -- all patches are free to all players, and are very easy to apply!  The only content really missing from this version is about half of the music -- what's in the game already is amazing, though, and the rest will be out in the 1.0 release next Friday.

Even though this release is very stable, there may also be a few small bugs or other issues hanging around in this advance release copy.  If you see something, let us know in the technical support forum!  We currently have zero known issues with the game, and have for the better part of a week (after several weeks of a low bug count), so we're not expecting anything serious.  We aren't one of those developers that releases a broken product and then relies on patches so that people can play the game they bought!

[x4000]

Okay, time to un-sticky this.  The full game and demo have been out for a couple of weeks now, are plenty stable, have come to Impulse, and are spreading through some great word of mouth on a variety of other forums, etc.  Lots more to come, though (lots of free DLC releases, news about the expansion that will be coming out late this year, other distribution platforms, etc)!

[T-Bone Biggins]

I got this on Impulse, sadly AI War isn't getting the attention it needs. They had a sale with Corporate Machine and Lightweight Ninja going for $1 each and took your thunder in my opinion. And some odd looking game called Azteka or something is now in their spotlight. Still, keep the DLC's going because I'm spreading the word about your work.

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I got this on Impulse, sadly AI War isn't getting the attention it needs. They had a sale with Corporate Machine and Lightweight Ninja going for $1 each and took your thunder in my opinion. And some odd looking game called Azteka or something is now in their spotlight. Still, keep the DLC's going because I'm spreading the word about your work.

Thank you so much for spreading the word!  that's incredibly helpful to us, it's positive word of mouth that will really help us become better known.  It's very hard to get the word out as an indie developer, but things are progressing in a lot of ways thanks to all the awesome support and feedback we're received from people like you, spelk, Sorceresss, and many others.

[spelk]

In addition to the community sites where AI War has already been mentioned there are some sites specifically setup for indie games exposure

Heres a list of the ones I know and visit regularly..

TigSource
Bytten
GameTunnel
Indiegames
GameTrove
Indie Game Mag

It might be worth a submission to these sites, for review or just the news of AI War's release and updates. Its definitely worth getting Indie recognition as well as trying to poke your head into the world of the general gaming newsites.

[x4000]

In addition to the community sites where AI War has already been mentioned there are some sites specifically setup for indie games exposure

Heres a list of the ones I know and visit regularly..

TigSource
Bytten
GameTunnel
Indiegames
GameTrove
Indie Game Mag

It might be worth a submission to these sites, for review or just the news of AI War's release and updates. Its definitely worth getting Indie recognition as well as trying to poke your head into the world of the general gaming newsites.

Thanks very much for the links, spelk!  That's very helpful.  With a lot of these sites, it just takes time.  TigSource, GameTunnel, and Indie Game Mag already have a notice from me; Bytten is already doing a review (will come out July 3 -- the reviewer seems pleased so far, though); and the Indie Games Blog has already posted once about us, but it was brief and they didn't really play it, just published a press release.  I was not aware of GameTrove, I'm going to submit there now.  So thanks!

There are a dozen other sites with press releases, too, but it's very hard for an indie developer just starting out.  As player enthusiasm is growing, with conversations happening on a lot of boards, with having an article on slashdot and the game on impulse, stuff is picking up.  We really did come out of nowhere with the game all completed and ready to go, so I know that it will just take a bit of time for word to spread.  Your efforts have really helped tremendously on that front -- thanks so much for that.

[T-Bone Biggins]

This is the guy I go to for most Indie and Major game reviews, he has a very similar opinion as me but tends to be more critical because that's what he does, he reviews games down to the pixel. Maybe send him a copy to review if you want.

Out of Eight PC Game Reviews

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Awesome suggestion T-Bone, I've sent him an email.  Thanks for the tip!

[spelk]

Another site that come to mind, specifically addressing co-operative play is

http://www.co-optimus.com/

They have a game index of co-operative games, and since your multiplayer experience is primarily focussed on co-op it might be worth a shot at an entry there also.

I've managed to persuade my brother to grab a copy so we had a very brief session in co-op, after opening a port on my routers firewall. Its not too bad, some 'waiting for player' messages, now and then, but the game seems to run ok.. I popped the AI on level 6 and no sooner were we in the game than they made their first waves of attacks... come as a bit of a shock as I was trying to voice coach my bro through the basics.. still he'd had a few jars and was very tired, so I saved the game and we can carry on where we left off. I can see this becoming a massive time investment for us, if I can infect him with the AI War bug

Is it straight forward to restart up a multiplayer game from a save game? He was using a direct IP connect.. and I can't guarentee the IP address will be the same next time.

[x4000]

Another site that come to mind, specifically addressing co-operative play is

http://www.co-optimus.com/

They have a game index of co-operative games, and since your multiplayer experience is primarily focussed on co-op it might be worth a shot at an entry there also.

Yep, one of the guys there is looking at it.  I emailed him a while ago, and he sent back a note saying it was on his list for soon, but he's just very busy right now.  Being so into co-op games myself, I've used them for years, and found the database really helpful.

I've managed to persuade my brother to grab a copy so we had a very brief session in co-op, after opening a port on my routers firewall. Its not too bad, some 'waiting for player' messages, now and then, but the game seems to run ok.. I popped the AI on level 6 and no sooner were we in the game than they made their first waves of attacks... come as a bit of a shock as I was trying to voice coach my bro through the basics.. still he'd had a few jars and was very tired, so I saved the game and we can carry on where we left off. I can see this becoming a massive time investment for us, if I can infect him with the AI War bug

Haha, awesome, glad that was a hit.  The "waiting for players" message pops up only when the TCP connection is lost and has to rebuild itself.  That can happen (in this or other RTS games) when playing on a wireless connection, or with an ISP that has occasional trouble.  On the plus side, unlike games like AoE3 or SupCom, the game isn't just over if the connection is completely lost.

The AI on level 6 is definitely getting up there, carrying a new player on that level can be a fun challenge, haha.  Hope you get him infected nice and good with the bug, that should be really fun if you do.  I was so surprised to be able to get my wife into the game, because she normally doesn't go for this sort of thing and had been avoiding actually playing it for most of the alpha process, but it didn't take but a little while to hook her.  Especially in co-op, this has a bit of an addictive quality like only turn-based games have for me (I intentionally avoid the really addictive games like MMOs, because I know they'd get me).

Is it straight forward to restart up a multiplayer game from a save game? He was using a direct IP connect.. and I can't guarentee the IP address will be the same next time.

Yep, no worries.  You just load the game like you would in single player, and he connects on over (with whatever IP you both have at the time), and that's all there is to it.  There's no lobby or anything when doing this.  The game identifies you by player name, not by IP address, for the sake of simplicity and flexibility with reconnects like this.