Okay, this is where I'm going to make a brief post about what is currently going on with the game, and what my intentions are and what you can expect from Arcen at this stage as far as development goes. I think this will be helpful, and I'll keep updating this post as the situation changes. Right now I'm really scrambling to work on some really big features for no less than three major new distribution partners that AI War is going to have (Steam, one other major digital distribution portal for sure, and one other possibility), and we also have other products that we actually need to work on at some point, so I think that this is a good time for me to make the upcoming schedule public -- it's a bit nebulous in many ways, but this is the schedule as best I know it.
Primary Goal: AI War 2.0
Right now, we're working towards a big "2.0" release of the game, which will mark the completion of our graphics updates, and will also include the cumulative new features that have been inwork since the original 1.0 release.
Update 9/30: At this stage, Phil is still working on some ship graphic upgrades, but we don't consider those "must-haves" for 2.0 itself. I'm working on a new self-updater, Steam integration, plus other small features and bugfixes/balance fixes, and that's pretty much my focus. I hope to also get yet more marketing materials updates in place this week (this also takes a lot of time, but is integral to the success of 2.0).
Next week, the week of the 5th, I'll be working on yet more marketing materials, and possibly will be still working on integration with Steam (so that achievements and leaderboards are online with them, etc). That may take me most of next week, we shall see. Marketing materials includes new training videos, and our third trailer, which Pablo will be doing an original score for. The Features and Gameplay pages on the site have already been updated, with new graphics and updated info (boy were they out of date).
The revised goal is to have 2.0 ready for the week of October 12th, and if it has to it might slide to the week after that (it has already slid once). But in the meantime, I'm not taking on many new non-critical features for the game unless they are very fast, everything else is either going to be post-2.0 DLC, or part of the expansion, etc. Release on Steam will probably be around two weeks after the 12th, and release on one other major new partner (which I can't yet name) will hopefully happen well before then.
Secondary Goal: Free DLC, Player Suggestions
The suggestions have always been very important for AI War, and will continue to be so in the future. However, the number of "really big" features that we can do while also focusing on AI War 2.0 and the localization project are somewhat limited. This makes me a bit more selective than I have been in the past about what features will really make it into free DLC.
Honestly, things like build templates, saving queues, and other complicated interface additions are pretty far out of scope for me anytime soon. These are things that would go on the future DLC list, or in the future expansions list, to be looked at later -- so keep the suggestions coming, but I just want to make sure the expectations are right for when things like that might happen (basically not for a while, if ever -- because there is a lot on that future DLC list, and it continues to grow, so not everything is going to actually get done most likely).
Suggestions that will see implementation very soon are those that quick to implement, and/or are highly useful for a large number of players, and of course bugfixes. You can expect to keep seeing a high volume of new features for another month at least, because a lot of those things fall under the banner of AI War 2.0. Individual features that are pretty much in the "nice to have" category, but which take a significant amount of time to implement, will just go on the future DLC list for later evaluation, though, since time is becoming increasingly scarce and I have to do something about that in order to make my deadlines.
Next Primary Goal: AI War: The Zenith Remnant (Expansion 1), Feedback
Immediately after AI War 2.0 is out, the current plan is for Arcen to shift its focus to the Zenith expansion, and a puzzle game called Feedback that is currently just past the prototype stages. The goal is to get at least the expansion out before the end of 2009, but it is also a very big goal for us to get Feedback out as soon as makes sense -- by the end of 2009 if things proceed smoothly with it, or in early 2010 if it needs more polish time.
These other products are going to be vital to Arcen's longterm financial stability -- unfortunately, as much as we might like to continue developing AI War out at the current rate indefinitely, it's just not feasible. You'll still have free DLC and new features coming in for AI War even while we are working on other projects (that will last for several years to come), but the weekly amount of content won't be nearly on the level as it is now, and you won't be seeing daily updates to AI War itself most likely. Again, we're committed to continuing to extend AI War through free content as well as a long series of massive expansions that come at an additional cost, and our long-term plans for the game have not changed.
This is just fair warning that we are in a hyperactive state of development for AI War right now, as we have been for some time, to improve it and make it a better product that will attract an ever-larger audience. We're starting to hit the point where the game itself is extremely solid and just doesn't need so many changes, so an increasing number of the suggestions are falling into the "nice to have" category. We'll continue doing the quick ones as a thank-you to our fans, and then the more time consuming ones will either be part of expansions or meted out as part of smaller DLC releases to come after AI War 2.0.
Anyway, hopefully this makes sense, but if there are questions please ask away! AI War is always going to be a living, growing, project even if you never buy an expansion pack for it, but the rate of growth can't stay at this early honeymoon level indefinitely or we'll never be able to stay in business. A single hit product does not a successful developer make!
Open Alpha/Beta For Expansion With Preorders
On a side note, I've decided that once work really gets going on the expansion, I'm going to open that for preorder through the Arcen website. That will allow anyone who preorders to gain access to the public beta of the expansion and help shape it if they are so inclined. For others who do not preorder, they can of course get it once it comes out for real, or they will be able to play the expansion beta in a time-limited demo mode if they so desire. That way, even after the 2.0 version comes out, you can help to shape the expansion and get your ongoing "AI War fix" as it goes.
I may well also do something similar with other games, such as Feedback and Alden Ridge, but only once they are getting further along in their process since they are new products and not riding off a huge existing codebase. I think that will be a good way for Arcen to get early feedback before release on products, as well as a way for players who would buy the final products anyway to get involved earlier and help to shape them, which seems popular.
