Dawn of War 2 (DoW2) got slammed on launch by many fans of the original for its removal of base building. I found the base building in DoW1 to be shallow, so I never viewed DoW2’s removal of it to be a detriment and DoW2 is still one of my favorite RTS games. Base building in RTS is typically the manifestation of strategic investment, so it’s always meaningful in that you’re choosing to build an Armory over teching up into Tier2. Though base building isn’t always needed for strategy in RTS and DoW 2 clearly shows this. (Offworld Trading Company alternatively shows you don't always need units for strategy in RTS either!)

Continue Reading...

Set in the Ashes of the Singularity universe, the player takes on the role of commander of the defense of Earth's first colony on Proxima Centauri.  Stardock's new take on the classic genre comes by leveraging its new game engine, first seen in Ashes of the Singularity™ and more recently in Star Control®: Origins.

"With tens of thousands of enemy machines pouring toward your base, we want to give players a very new experience of what it means to defend yourselves against overwhelming odds," said Derek Paxton, lead designer of Siege of Centauri. "It takes little explaining to the player on the benefits between a rail gun that fires 1 deadly round every 10 seconds, and a high-speed plasma arc array that does low damage, but to dozens of enemies at once, when you can visibly see a huge mothership surrounded by hundreds of escorts coming at you."

The veteran strategy game developer is also incorporating some strategic elements to the genre, such as defending resources and deploying fast response teams to battle.

"Another feature we're pretty excited about is separating resource gathering from enemy destruction," said Paxton. "You are, literally, dealing with overwhelming enemy forces while simultaneously having to make some tough choices on what areas of a given map you need to defend and which ones you need to just let go in order to safeguard your resource production.”

The Founder's program is designed to allow fans of the genre to get early input into game mechanics, pacing, and balance.

"There are a lot of interesting questions that we want to engage with our fans with before final release," said Paxton. "And with this genre so popular, it presents such a great opportunity to tap into that collective experience.

The Founder's program will begin on March 28
Pre-purchase today and gain access to the beta when it launches in two weeks

Visit www.siegeofcentauri.com for more information.
Note: Ashes of the Singularity Lifetime Founders will receive Siege of Centauri for free.

Galactic Civilizations III v3.6 Community Update improves custom ship mod compatibility, adjusts commonwealth worlds, and more

We're launching a version update today that addresses the most important feedback we get: YOURS. We've addressed several community reported issues in our continuing effort to bring you the best GalCiv game possible. We put balance and bug fix work into both the base game and the Retribution expansion with this update. Some of the biggest changes we made include:

• Merging fleets no longer renames them
• Custom ships work better with mods
• Artificial life forms can no longer build farms because robots don't eat food 
• Your commonwealth worlds can no longer flip worlds in your empire (because that was treason!)

See the huge changelog below!

Don't have Galactic Civilizations III?
Buy from Steam  |  Buy from Stardock

Owners, the v3.6 update is ready and waiting for you in your Steam client. 
Don't forget to pick up the newly released Retribution expansion today!

www.galciv3.com | www.galciv3.com/retribution

v3.6 Changelog Notes

Gameplay

• Nerfed "Lossless Life Support" module
• Fixed typos in "Lossless Mining" module descriptions
• Updated Tourism bonus for the "Popular Race" trait to be flat 1 and 2% instead of multipliers of 10 and 20%
• Updated united planet tourism board to be flat with a 10% bonus (was multiplier of 100% which was crazy)

• Colonizing the Promethion Refinery precursor world now grants 5 Promethion
• Set "Virtual Vacation" to be a player wonder
• Changed "Influence Per Turn" from multiplier to flat on the Galactic Showcase
• Fixed mismatch of description and text in the "Antimatter Weapon Colonizing" event
• Tweaked pathfinding so that it doesn't attempt to find a path to the node closest to a blocked destination if the start tile is already the closest node
• Silicon-based life can terraform and colonize high level extreme worlds
• Removed farms for Synthetic lifeforms and enabled terraforming improvements and high end extreme world techs
• Fixed "Orphaned Improvements" and techs in the Retribution tech tree
• Fixed issue with Iridium tech tree failing on "Tariff Focus" specialization

UI

• Changed it so that when you merge a fleet, it will keep a custom name for the resulting fleet. If both fleets being merged have custom names, it keeps the fleet name of the bigger fleet.
• Adjusted "Economic Warning" flavor text to fit with new conversation popup font size.
• Fixed typo in "Precursor Research Node" description.
• Improved the text alignment on the UP Resolutions window

Bugs

• Fixed custom ship style sets having the wrong strategic icons. Players will have to re-save their ship style sets (and change the effect ships classes to what they want along with their text, since that is info that is saved off). Prevents players from having to remake the ship style sets and only deal with what was changed
• You can no longer assign commanders to planets
• Ships with "one per player" components can upgrade to ships with the same components
• Cleaned up code that clears/applies rebellion status to prevent edge cases where planets can flip when they shouldn't (like when the tile is owned by a commonwealth of the planet owner)
• Addressed a MP crash related to mismatched DLC
• Fixed mismatched strategic icons on some ship classes
• Fixed typos in "Plasma Arc" event

Mod fixes

• Ships created with mods now show up correctly
• Prevents crash if a tech unlocks more than 12 things at once (modders -- you know who you are!)

Retribution

• Fixed issue where Hypergates didn't fire any shots during battle because they didn't have range
• Changed the Hyperlane tool tip to account for the minimum move cost, so it will now show the max bonus as 900% instead of +-100%
• Removed extra space in the Korath faction description
• Added "lossless life support" back into the Retribution tech tree
• Updated Thalan conversation text to reflect that they bring in multiple ships now in mission 4
• Add basic Block Hulls to Korath Ship style

Ironclad Games and Stardock are happy to announce the release of Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion version 1.94 today on Steam and GOG. This newest update includes a number of fixes, improvements and enhancements for modders. For a full change log, see https://forums.sinsofasolarempire.com/493485

The epic space RPG, Star Control: Origins, is due to receive the second part of its 4 part expansion, Earth Rising, soon. Return of the Lexites presents the player with their most dangerous challenge yet -- a post-singularity species whose motives are a mystery.

The Lexites are impeding Earth's efforts to expand into known space. But why? Playing as the Captain of Earth's first interstellar starship, you will find yourself visiting new worlds, engaging in combat against strange new ships while trying to unravel the mysterious plans of the post-humans who left Earth.

"Because Star Control is a non-linear RPG, the Earth Rising expansion series doesn't require you to have completed the main story-line," said Brad Wardell, designer of Star Control: Origins. "As we release each part to the expansion, players get to experience an ever richer sandbox to explore."

Star Control: Origins - Earth Rising is $19.99. Part 1, Aftermath, is available now. Part 2: Return of The Lexites will release this spring. Part 3 arrives this summer, with the conclusion due this fall.

Get the Earth Rising Expansion Now:  Buy from Steam  |  Buy from Stardock

To get Star Control: Origins visit www.starcontrol.com, you can also get it on Steam.

Screenshots:

The Lexites have their own set of ships that you'll get to see first hand.

Of course the Tywom dress up like humans. Because: OF COURSE THEY DO.

New weapons and other goodies come with part 2 that you can experience in battle.

Encounter with a group of Lexites.

To learn more, visit www.starcontrol.com
Contact: press@stardock.com

Earth's first colony is under attack by an unknown enemy

Communications to Earth's first interstellar colony in Proxima Centauri have gone dark. In response, Earth has dispatched the Carpathia to investigate. Upon arrival, they find a colony under siege. Your mission, save the colony from these strange alien invaders.

Set in the Ashes of the Singularity universe, Siege of Centauri puts the player in command of the defense of Earth's first colony that is under attack by endless waves of alien invaders.

Seemingly unconcerned with self-preservation, the invaders are focused on annihilating the colony. Fortunately, the Carpathia has come with a host of defensive structures that it can drop from orbit to save the colony.

As the Commander of the Carpathia, you must determine the best strategy to defend the colony against the tens of thousands of alien machines that are approaching the colony. Each victory against the enemy expands the colony to a new part of the planet which is met by an increasing aggression by the enemy.

"We first got the idea for Siege during the development of Ashes of the Singularity," said Derek Paxton, General Manager of Stardock Entertainment. "With the engine's ability to handle tens of thousands of units, could we design the ultimate tower defense game?"

Siege of Centauri incorporates classic features from the tower defense genre and combines it with the unique features and capabilities first seen in Ashes of the Singularity.

"With our engine, there were so many new gameplay elements we could add," said Paxton. "For instance, our engine supports hundreds of simultaneous light sources allowing us to design interesting choices for players when it comes to map vision. Similarly, by supporting so many units, we can make defense choices in different situations much more compelling as there is a big difference between choosing a weapon that eliminates one unit at a time versus one that is designed to take out hundreds at a time."

Early Access, with a list price of $10, is coming soon, so keep an eye out on our website and the forums for more information.

Visit www.siegeofcentauri.com for more information.

Note: Ashes of the Singularity Lifetime Founders will receive Siege of Centauri for free.

The first expansion pack to Star Control: Origins, Earth Rising, is broken into 4 parts that is being delivered as a season pass (that is, a new part every season).  The first part, Aftermath, was released in December and added a whole new region of space to explore, as well as new quests for your crew and the beginning of Earth's journey into being an interstellar power.

Part 2 is arriving soon and it concerns itself mostly on the mysterious Lexites. The Lexites first appeared in Dawn of the Singularity and started out as a small group of humans that developed strong AI, resulting in a controlled technological singularity. The Lexites contributed greatly to humanity in the mid part of the 21st century, but then suddenly, they left, with very little reason given. Their departure was the original impetus for the formation of Star Control.

Now, the player will learn more about why the Lexites left and what this means for the future for not just humanity, but for all the worlds that exist in Orion's Spur (the part of the galaxy that we live in).

As we put the finishing touches on it, we thought we'd share some of the first gameplay screenshots.  Note: these aren't final shots, but you can get an idea of what the Lexites, or at least the beings you encounter, look like.

The Lexites have their own set of ships that you'll get to see first hand.

Of course the Tywom dress up like humans.  Because: OF COURSE THEY DO.

New weapons and other goodies come with part 2 that you can experience in battle.

Encounter with a group of Lexites.

If you don't already have Star Control: Origins, you can grab it at www.starcontrol.com.  Earth Rising is also available there as well.  The nice thing about Star Control being a non-linear "sandboxy" RPG is that you don't have to have finished the game to enjoy the expansion.  In fact, you don't even have to have started the game to start experience the new content. It simply builds out the universe. What you do in that universe is up to you.

Greetings!

Lots to go over this month so I will do my best to keep it short.

## NEW Ashes Game ##

We are about to announce a new game in the Ashes of the Singularity universe.  It's in the tower defense genre.  This originally was going to be released as a DLC for Ashes but the gameplay changes required made it impossible to keep it part of the same EXE so it's being released as a stand-alone game.  Lifetime Founders of Ashes will get this added automatically.

We'll have more details about this later this week.  The good news for Ashes players is that a lot of new tech was experimented with and implemented with this game that will be coming back to Ashes of the Singularity this Spring.

## NEXT Ashes DLC ##

Many of the engineers at Stardock have been working on porting the engine to Linux.  I've mentioned this elsewhere but we've got it running.  The challenge now is that we need to do more optimization with Vulkan before we can make it publicly available.  

While the Vulkan work goes forward, we are in the process of creating a new DLC for Ashes that includes new units and buildings that should result in some new strategies and greater strategic depth.  We'll have more on that also this Spring.

## Ashes of the Singularity v3.0 ##

The new core engine features and bug fixes that we've made to Star Control: Origins and the upcoming tower defense game will be collectively referred to as Ashes v3.0.  We have a lengthy list of player requests (I'm working on a Hades bomber targeting update myself this week) plus a lot of other changes that will result in what will almost feel like a new game in some respects.

Dominate the Free Martian Market and Snub Capitalism at the Same Time with the Offworld Trading Company FREE Multiplayer Client!
New "Market Corrections" DLC also released today.

You're able to join online lobby games or ranked games and play against other Offworld entrepreneurs, even if you don't own the base game. If you enjoy yourself, you can upgrade to the core version of the game to gain access to the campaign, daily challenges, and skirmish mode.

70% Off the Core Game*
Buy from Steam  |  Buy from Stardock

 

------ Market Corrections DLC ------

Mars used to be the place where the unwanted went. The criminals, the men and women who were a menace to society. However, a crisis on Earth forced even more humans to flee to the Red Planet in order to make better lives for themselves. Technology had failed them, and dwindling supplies was threatening to doom them.

Market Corrections is a new piece of downloadable content for Offworld Trading Company that features 12 brand new maps and 3 new character campaigns that share why humanity began to colonize Mars.

Reni-6: A sentient robot who has spent years serving humans, Reni-6 seeks to change humanity’s perception on robotics. By providing food and aid to the colonies, Reni-6 hopes they’ll see that not all technology is bad - in fact, it can even be helpful.

Ilana Kamat: A brilliant scientist, Ilana was there when a mysterious algorithm wiped out Earth’s technology. Her mentor, Silas, is keen to make certain that the same doesn’t happen to Mars, and for the time being she’s left in charge of the company to make sure things keep operating smoothly.

Frank Dawson: Frank doesn’t talk much about why he was sent to Mars - and most people are afraid enough not to ask. It is a reputation that he never asked for, one that he seeks to change for himself, as well as the rest of the colonists who first came to Mars as prisoners.

10% Off Market Corrections*

Also available from Stardock

NEW MAPS: Korolev Crater East The Eastern side of the largest ice-filled crater on Mars.  Two-Points Lakebed Pointed formations created by flowing rivers, which later formed a lake (now devoid of water) as the rivers were drying up. Atlantis Chaos An equatorial basin region filled with rugged features. Korolev Crater West The western side of the largest filled crater on Mars. Ma'adim Vallis An ancient riverbed. Thymiamata Part of the brightest desert region on Mars, heavily pocketed with craters.   Aurorae Chaos Sprawling rugged lands that were once underwater. Melas Craters A small section of land, marked by craters, located south of the solar system's largest canyon. Mangala Valles An intensely cratered area south of one of the ancient great seas. Korolev Crater North The northern side of the largest ice-filled crater on Mars. Masursky Crater A unique ancient crater, partially worn away by rivers that once flowed through and near it, all long dry. Mangala Fossa A deep canyon with one section filled in by intersecting flows of ancient lava.

To learn more about Offworld Trading Company, visit www.offworldgame.com 

 

*Sale ends March 7, 2019 at 1PM EST. Steam keys are issued when purchasing from Stardock.

 

 

Galactic Civilizations III: Retribution
is Now Available in a Galaxy Near You

What started as a crusade has become a war of retribution.
Save 10%* on Retribution and 70%** on the Core Edition!

Galactic Civilizations III: Retribution adds Hypergates, Precursor Artifacts, new major civilizations, and much more.

Across the galaxy, you and your rivals are discovering ancient alien artifacts that grant powerful new capabilities. Meanwhile, as civilizations try to carefully balance building an economy, funding an ever growing war machine, and engaging in diplomacy, the humans of Sol III have invented a game-changing new technology - Hypergates - which, when connected, allow for rapid transit across the galaxy.

With two new major civilizations and the concluding campaign to the Galactic Civilizations III backstory that serves this massive space 4X sandbox game, Retribution asks the question: How will you rule your galaxy?

The new features in Galactic Civilizations III: Retribution include:

• Artifacts - Powerful items buried on planets across the galaxy will give your civilization instant-access to new abilities.
• Hypergates - Construct powerful gateways that, when linked, allow your fleets to travel rapidly across hyperspace.
• Major Civilizations: Drath and Korath - The manipulative Drath pull the strings across the galaxy while the Korath rely on extermination. Each has its own set of special abilities, bonuses, and ship parts.
• Supply Ships - Supply ships can be constructed to deliver goods and services to your other planets to aid in their development.
• New Technology Tree - A top to bottom overhaul of the technology tree adds depth and sharpens the strategic choices in your research options.
• Retribution Campaign -The malevolent Drengin Empire made a terrible mistake underestimating humanity’s strength, and the climactic battle that will follow may end in their extinction.

For more information, visit www.galciv3.com/retribution

About Galactic Civilizations III
Galactic Civilizations III is the largest space strategy sandbox ever made. Start with a single world and expand across the galaxy through diplomacy, trade, cultural hegemony, or military conquest in this single or multiplayer 4X strategy game. How will you rule your galaxy?

*Sale ends 2/27/19 at 1PM EST. Steam and Galactic Civilizations III is required to play this expansion.
**Sale ends 2/23/19 at 1PM EST on Steam and 2/27/19 at 1PM EST direct from Stardock. Steam required to play.