Important! This version of the game now uses
.NET 2.0 instead of .NET 3.5. You probably already have this installed, but in the event not you will need to download that from the link just mentioned (either the x86 Redistributable if you are on a 32bit OS, or the x64 Redistributable if you are on a 64bit OS). Please see
here for more information about why this shift was made.
The latest prerelease is available at
http://www.arcengames.com/share/AIWar2001Q.zipThat version is an upgrade from version 2.000, so you have to already have 2.000 (or greater) installed. Just unzip it into your game folder (usually C:\Program Files\Arcen Games\AI War\ unless you specified something else). Please make sure that your unzip process keeps the folder structure from the zip file, rather than just unpacking all of the files into the base target directory.
F.A.Q. Answers:Note: This prerelease is intended for both customers of the expansion AND customers of the base game only. Please see below for details.1. If you have the base game, and install this, you will go into trial mode of the expansion. Feel free to explore the expansion that way, but if you want to go back to full mode without buying the expansion, simply go into Settings, Expansions, and turn off the expansion.
2. All upcoming prereleases for the next few months (until the expansion fully releases) will have a mix of both expansion and non-expansion content. If you just want the latest non-expansion content, see #1.
3. If you want to preorder the expansion (and get your full license key), see
this page. It's $9.99 USD (or equivalent), and requires a valid copy of the base game to play.
4. If you want to know all about the expansion in general, see that same page.
5. This prerelease version is compatible with any other version of the game -- Steam, Impulse, whatever.
6. If you use this with your Steam copy of the game, however, you will be asked to enter your AI War CD key (which Steam provides, but normally you do not have to enter), and also the integration with Steamworks leaderboards and achievements may be disabled. So you may want to make a separate install of the preorder version if you use Steam, at least for the moment.
7. PLEASE NOTE: The new ships for the expansion are extremely preliminary at this stage. They are fully functional when added, but they are not well balanced at all just yet. The balance takes time, playtesting, and a fuller view of more of the ships. So certain expansion ships are currently underpowered, while others are overpowered. Your feedback on this is extremely valuable, as this is something we are adjusting at present based on community feedback as well as our own testing, but we don't expect to have things even close to perfectly tuned until sometime in December. Our first priority is to get everything working and implemented, while honing the balance as much as possible, then to really heavily polish the balance once all the ships are in place. Just FYI!
8. If you want to update an old savegame to the expansion, simply type "cmd:activate expansion 1" (without quotes). This includes enabling the expansion ship classes, as well as enabling golems and other new capturables, although the population of those capturables is likely to be different from what it would have been if the expansion had been turned on from the start of the campaign given the same seed and other settings. There is no way to disable the expansion for an existing game, however, so be sure not to save over your existing file if you want to go back to the non-expansion version of the game.
What's new since 2.001N:(Cumulative release notes since 2.000 are attached at the bottom)
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-All remaining usages of LINQ have been replaced with raw list sorts instead, which are faster.
-The Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 is now used instead of the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1. This should ease installation woes for those who have trouble installing the bulkier .NET 3.5, and it should also provide better compatibility with Linux and Mac-based systems under WINE and/or Mono. Players who previously had .NET 3.5 installed but not .NET 2.0 will be inconvenienced by having to install .NET 2.0, but in general this should be a positive change for the playerbase, especially over time.
-A new font is now used for the game text, giving it a more professional sci-fi look: Gputeks.
-The resource display has been adjusted a bit with how the unused metal/crystal harvester spots and the exhausted science labs show. These should now be easier to see at a glance.
-The function of F1 has been altered somewhat to account for the large amount of new ships in the game:
F1: Cycle through pages of planetary summary help icons.
Shift+F1: Jump back to the non-help view of the planetary summary.
-Planets that are cloaked via a planetary cloaking device now have a special cloaked graphic for the planet itself.
-There are now two different destroyed planet graphics that are used for various destroyed planets.
-Three new general-use planet graphics have been added to the game.
-Previously, damage smoke could give away the position of large damaged ships on planets that a player did not have visibility to. Fixed.
-In the past release, the starting color of players was not being shown correctly in the lobby. Fixed.
-A wide variety of new player colors have been added. Some of them are a bit too close together to be comfortably used in the same game as one another (depending on player monitor settings and vision in general), but having more options will allow players to get a setup more like they want, color-wise, in general.
-Previously, non-combat ships were drawing an attack range. Fixed.
-The version number of the game is now shown on the splash screen as the game is loading; this should make it more obvious to players what version they are running when questions come up.
-In recent releases, when players connected to a host with a different version of the game, they would erroneously go into an empty lobby. Now it properly kicks them back out to the "find lan games" window with a message about what version they need to run in order to connect.
-The expansion-related text has been moved into a more final format that will be easier to handle with localization partners.
-The effectiveness of melee ships is no longer decreased by their being under protecting force fields.
-New Ship Class (expansion only): Zenith Viral Shredder. Melee ship that generates build points as it attacks, spawning a free copy of itself when enough are accumulated.
-New Ship Class (expansion only): Impulse Reaction Emitter. Attacks with ammo that reacts with enemy energy sources, doing much higher damage to ships with higher energy usage.
-New Ship Class (expansion only): Acid Sprayer. Fires an acid shot at close range. Excellent at dissolving organic components found in all Zenith ships.
-Previously, the metal/crystal costs of core ships was irrelevant, because players could never build them. Now the cost of core ships is normalized to 3x the cost of the mark iv version of its ship type.
-The StrongWeak.xml export now only includes the actual main ship types and bonus ship types once again, as it was always supposed to.
Changes from prior prereleases.
------------------------------
-IKP_VulcanDiamond and IKP_RockyDarkMoon have been updated by the author.
-Zenith Mirrors are now unable to reflect missile attacks. This makes them still extremely formidable in general, but not so much so against every ship class.
-Cutlasses and Vampires now have a bit of a bonus against Zenith Mirrors, to make them prefer targeting them more.
Updates in version P:- The description of the Impulse Reaction Emitter has been corrected; it was saying it does more damage to those ships with "higher shielding" in version O, which was incorrect.
-There is now a FontSizesInPixels.xml file in the Fonts folder. This lets people manually adjust the font sizes (in pixels) used by the game. This is particularly useful when players may wish to use an alternate font beyond the default.
Updates in version Q:-A more descriptive error message is now thrown when a font size could not be properly parsed by the game engine.
-Command station cores are now selectable via the B hotkey.
-Beam weapons now interact properly with force fields. A beam that cuts across many ships in under a forcefield will hurt the forcefield more, but will no longer erroneously hurt the ships under the forcefield.
-The attack power of beam frigates has been halved.
-Beam Frigates now have a mild attack penalty against starships, a middling attack penalty against command stations, and a heavy penalty against heavy defenses and force fields.
-The attack power of beam frigates is now adjusted properly for each ship that it hits with its beam.
-The ship cap of beam frigates has been reduced a bit more, given their power.
-Ship bonuses/penalties against command stations also now apply to command station cores.
-The sizes of the fonts used have been improved some from version O and P.
-In versions O and P, the cloaked planet graphic could be used to tell if a planet had a planetary cloaker on it without scouting. Fixed.
-In version P, non-American number format settings on the OS could cause the game to crash. This should now be fixed.
