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Ara Dev Journal #8: Quotas & Priorities

Version 2.0 keeps players in control without the overwhelming micromanagement. The crafting queue is gone. The crafting quotas and priorities system is in. It is very straightforward: Set how much of a thing you want Decide what priority it has, if any, of the things the crafter can build. There is no step 3. This lets you set your nation up as a well-oiled machine. Once you set it up, you will never be interrupted with a “crafter idle” message again because they a... [read more]

9/18/2025 By Frogboy in Ara: History Untold Dev Journals

Ara Dev Journal #7: Culture & Influence

Culture & Influence in History Soft Power. Strategy games favor focusing on warfare, but culture and influence have mattered far more in shaping the world. While this may seem, to some, to be a change in the post-World War II era, it has been true going all the way back to the Bronze Age: culture and influence matter. Civilization IV lead designer Soren Johnson made cultural influence a major focus of Civ IV, forever changing 4X strategy games. In fact, when we teamed up to make Off... [read more]

9/11/2025 By Frogboy in Ara: History Untold Dev Journals

Ashes II Dev Journal #6: Setting the Stage for Battle

When designing a real-time strategy game, most people think first about the units: the soldiers, tanks, aircraft, and other powerful pieces that players use to dominate the battlefield. But as the art director on Ashes of the Singularity II , I know that the real star of the screen is the environment itself. The terrain is what players spend the majority of their time looking at. It’s not just a backdrop - it’s the stage where every battle is fought, every strategy unfolds, and every story eme... [read more]

9/10/2025 By Oxide_JaseH in Ashes Dev Journals

Sins II: Reinforcements - Command Class Ships Pt. 1

In late September, a new class of warships will be deployed into the Sins of a Solar Empire II universe with the release of the Reinforcements DLC. While not required for play, these new units are designed to expand the background lore of each faction and bring new dynamics to the gameplay. War Year 36 As the long conflict between the TEC, Vasari and Advent factions enters its 36th year, tensions have been rising even higher. Diplomacy has broken down utterly, with only minor fringe groups w... [read more]

9/10/2025 By Yarlen in Sins Dev Journals

v2.0 Revolutions Update for Ara: History Untold Releasing September 24

Ara: History Untold v2.0 Revolutions Update Expands Historical Strategy Through Culture and Influence Ambitious historical strategy game prepares for first anniversary by adding nation specific units, unique leader traits, cultural conquest, AI updates and much more Get Ara: History Untold Stardock Entertainment and Oxide Games, in partnership with Xbox Game Studios, announced Ara: History Untold – Version 2.0 today. Dubbed the Revolutions Update, version 2.0 i... [read more]

9/10/2025 By wasabi_md in Ara: History Untold News

Dev Journal #6: The Great AI Awakening

The Truth about AI in PC Strategy Games Multiplayer will not save your game. Strategy games must have computer opponents as a first-class game mode. They aren’t there to be “practice bots”. Even in games that are allegedly “multiplayer-centric”, fewer than 20% of players will press the multiplayer button, let alone actually play it. Yet many strategy games just handwave, putting in interesting computer opponents. You, reading this, know the folly of that, and yet they still do it. W... [read more]

9/4/2025 By Frogboy in Ara: History Untold Dev Journals

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