AI War 2 v0.891 Released! "Vast Tracts of... Ship Graphics"

[x4000]

Release notes here.

Release Date For 1.0 Coming Up!

We're closing in on an official date for launch of 1.0! At this point we're tentatively thinking October 22nd, which would be the 10 year anniversary of AI War Classic arriving on Steam. I suddenly feel very old, thinking about how large a span of time that is; when I was younger I remember thinking the gap in time between Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander was unthinkable, but that was... literally also a 10 year gap.

So that date seems very fitting, and it seems like a good spot in the market, and it seems like it would give us enough time to get all our ducks in a row as far as 1.0 being fully up to snuff goes.

Note that this isn't 1000% firm of a date yet, so this isn't a full announcement, but it's a heads up.

Now... About This Actual Release?

• There are actual ship graphics now for 35 new ships and structures that were just using repeat stuff. This has been on my todo list since May 2018, so that's a pretty big win. Huge thanks to Puffin for making this go so much faster.
• There's another batch of ship graphics almost as large coming this week still, plus the macrophage and parasites need some more work out of this current batch, and there's a whole host of improvements to the planet visuals in the backgrounds coming this week, too. Then we can start taking final trailer footage and final screenshots, hopefully.
• The balance of the Dark Spire has been adjusted a TON, to make it so that they are less likely to come kick your butt for reasons unrelated to you actually doing badly. There were too many little side things that you had no control over that were feeding the Vengeance Generators energy, but no longer. Thanks to Badger for solving this, and as he put it, "thanks to NRSirLimbo for a spirited lament." In seriousness from both of us, it's exactly the sort of thing we need when it comes to factions and whatever other sort of balance.
• The tech unlock hack no longer charges you science, which was a whoopsie. Thanks to WeaponMaster for fixing that!
• Badger has also been working on the Intel menu, working adding color and so forth to make that more readable and less overwhelming.
• Queued wormhole orders can also now be seen on the galaxy map in the style of AIWC... although this seems to have uncovered an actual bug with queued wormhole orders themselves, so any reports that can help us find a way to repro that and nail that bug are appreciated.

More to come soon. Enjoy!

Problem With The Latest Build?

If you right-click the game in Steam and choose properties, then go to the Betas tab of the window that pops up, you'll see a variety of options. You can always choose most_recent_stable from that build to get what is essentially one-build-back. Or two builds back if the last build had a known problem, etc. Essentially it's a way to keep yourself off the very bleeding edge of updates, if you so desire.

The Usual Reminders

Quick reminder of our new Steam Developer Page. If you follow us there, you'll be notified about any game releases we do.

Also: Would you mind leaving a Steam review for some/any of our games? It doesn't have to be much more detailed than a thumbs up, but if you like a game we made and want more people to find it, that's how you make it happen. Reviews make a material difference, and like most indies, we could really use the support.

Enjoy!

Chris

[zeusalmighty]

Monty Python fan? 

But seriously, these last few patches have been tremendous! Lots of great QOL improvements and overall the game feels quite robust in content, with more to look forward too!

[x4000]

I was a Python fan until the front fell off, and then I... was still a fan, but it was just nothing out there.  Just sea, and birds.

I actually am enough of a fan that I realized quickly after writing "vast" that the line is "huge."

Glad you're enjoying all the recent releases!  I'm really liking how there's a feeling of things coming together.  I had been against the planets work that I just finished as superfluous, but the next release shows how important that was, I think.

[Vinco]

On the subject of ship graphics, any chance of Belle Prime being hooked up as in-game content prior to 1.0?

[x4000]

No more Arks prior to 1.0, I don't think.  The main thing is that there are still about 6 or 7 of them outstanding, and there aren't enough unique mechanics to really go around for them yet.  Originally they were just intended to be the same ship with different visuals, but since that changed... well, I'd rather do them proper justice, and that takes more time.

Right now, my plan is to split some of the latent kickstarter content (things that were promised as stretch goals, or that were backer rewards not yet fulfilled) and make those part of a paid expansion to release in Q1 or Q2 of next year.  All kickstarter backers would get the expansion for free (of course, since it includes stuff that they already were promised), but it would give an added revenue stream for me.  Right now I don't remotely make enough money to support myself on a monthly basis as well as being out about $200-300k of money spent in addition to what the kickstarter raised.

So while I hope 1.0 is a smashing success and starts rebuilding things in general so that there is actual income instead of debt, I'm planning ahead knowing that the game market is pretty tough for indies right now.  While working on the paid expansion, there would be updates for the base game for free of course, ranging from bugfixes to multiplayer (that's not something I'd put in an expansion despite it being huge).

Anyhow, so probably the Belle Prime would be an exciting new ship in that expansion, along with a new mechanic introduced with that ship and then available to use to make yet more ships later on.  That's the thought at the moment!  I apologize for you having to wait on that reward...

[Vinco]

No worries, Chris.  I'm patient.

If possible, just reach out to me when you start working on the expansion so that I can have input on which of the awesome new mechanics match up to Belle Prime.  Either way, best wishes on everything.

[x4000]

Of course I'll reach out!  And yep, it will be fun to wire new things up and have more Arks and so on that use new mechanics.