It's been quite a saga, if you've followed along all this time. All that extra time paid off!

At this point we have what fans have nearly-universally hailed as a worthy successor to the original classic. We still have plenty more to do prior to 1.0 in Q2 of 2019, but the game is ready to play now and we hope you'll come enjoy it and give us further feedback.

Pick up the game now for 10% off!

The original AI War is widely considered one of the top strategy games of all time, with a central mechanic that no other title has replicated.

Humanity has already lost the war, and now you command the last remnants in a desperate campaign to take back the galaxy.

More than most strategy games, your actions have consequences: taking every minor outpost you see is a surefire way to alert the enemy and spell your own doom.

Strike smart, capture new technology, and bring down a foe that overmatches you in every way.

The sequel improves the UI, the graphics, the audio, and many of the core mechanics. It's an across-the-board upgrade.

But even more than that, it brings in new friends and foes alike -- large factions are now possible, with their own sophisticated AI, economies, and rules.

Marauders are now able to conquer territory, and build up their own bases if left un-checked. The nanocaust feeds on the strength of those around it, while the macrophage happily grows in the background, sending out spores...

Enjoy the classic human vs AI cage match, or expand to a much wider living galaxy.

If you own the original AI War, or The Last Federation, or Bionic Dues -- check your inventory on Steam! You may need to restart it, or log out and back in. Inside, you'll find a coupon for 25% off on top of the launch 10% discount. Both are only valid this week, so hopefully this isn't sitting in your inbox too long!

Be sure to stop by and wishlist AI War 2 to be notified when it launches into Early Access.

You can read about the most recent update, plus a lot of planned upcoming updates, here:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/573410/announcements/detail/1732082664630714967
Hopefully now you can see why we haven't pushed this game into Early Access yet. We're really wanting this to come out of the gate as something that we can be proud of and that you can be excited about, without us needing to go through a lot of revisions to basic mechanics after that point. It should be all content additions and bugfixing and refinement after we hit Early Access, hopefully.

At any rate, it's been a really fun ride recently with out kickstarter backers, who have their hands on the game already (they sure ought to -- it's been almost two years!). Despite the long road, this is really coming together.

Thanks for reading!
Chris

You can read all about that here:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/573410/announcements/detail/1699429118241526351
Be sure to pop by and wishlist the game, too!

There's a sequel on the way! You can wishlist it here to be notified when it arrives in Early Access in July.



We've uploaded a teaser trailer and listed a coming soon store page for AI War 2 (don't forget to wishlist)! To celebrate, all AI War classic products are on sale with deep discounts -- get AI War's base game or Collection bundle for 80% off, plus individual DLC for $1 each through May 5th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iyi-ZEiPow
This project has been in the works since 2016, and thanks to a kickstarter and a ton of support from all those alpha and beta testers, we're finally closing in on that ever-elusive Early Access point. After we hit EA in July, we hope to have an even wider array of testers, and then we'll be ready for a highly-polished 1.0 in October of this year.

Be sure to go in and wishlist it (and get anyone you know to do the same) if you have any interest in this, because otherwise you might miss those two release notifications when they do arrive. We can't wait to see you in there -- and for now, the massive original game, which we now refer to as AI War Classic, has hundreds of hours waiting for you. :)

Chris here!  Quick announcement about another title, but lots of AI War 2 notes further down, so read on! AI War 2 is coming together nicely to launch early this year, but we've also had a "volunteer brigade" working on something on the side: the first expansion pack for our rogue-lite shooter Starward Rogue -- Starward Rogue: AuGMENTED.



Developed by the "Arcen Extended" team, which is comprised of former contractors and modders from the community, the expansion has been nearly 2 years in the making, and adds a boatload of new content, including new mechs, new enemies, new items, new bosses and much more.  These folks have absolutely been pouring time and love into this project, but it hasn't been a diversion from AI War 2 for Keith, Blue, or me.



It’s probably one of the biggest expansions we have ever released for any title, and something we are very proud of.

The base game of Starward Rogue was something that people always loved to play, but got lost in the shuffle of the early 2016 market.  This expansion hopefully gets 2018 off on the right foot for Arcen as we lead into our big project for the year – AI War 2!

With that in mind…


The AI War 2 project has been an excellent example of "no plan survives contact with the enemy."  Visualization has required more engine work and re-work than we anticipated, and that’s one of a few factors that have slowed our schedule.

On the other hand, the actual game simulation is far more moddable than anticipated -- modders can create practically anything: new Units (with just a bit of XML); new Galaxy map types (with just a bit of C#); tweak existing factions, or create new factions that can completely change the gameplay; you can change the AI behaviour or add new AI types.  All of that alongside more obvious things like adding new units or visuals or sounds or similar.

In any event, the game itself has come a long way and we're narrowing down the list of things that need to be done before beta.  We’ve just released new builds with updated graphics, UI updates, balance tweaks, the first of the voice acting, and a whole lot more.  

There’s more of that sort of thing to come, and we’re working on a “graduated beta release schedule” at the moment in preparation for an April 1.0 official release.

• Well, before we sound the “everyone come for final polish testing!” klaxon, there are a number of issues that we’d like help on from smaller groups of people who choose to come in and help with testing, feedback, or even direct modding/art/code as the case may be.
• One of those areas, probably the biggest, is our AI War 2 GUI focus group, which we’d love to have as many people a part of as possible.
• We also have quite a lively discussion on our NAT Punchthrough discussion thread, although we now have a volunteer network expert (thanks, Admiral!) who is directly getting involved in this bit.
• And there will be other things as well, which we’ll be announcing through the forums and on kickstarter.  We won’t bother you with each of those through the newsletter, so be sure to follow us in one of those other locations if you want to stay in the know on these last pre-beta days.
• Speaking of, here’s what we’ve been up to lately.  Although that doesn’t tell the full story of some of the things that are in progress but not yet implemented.

We also wanted to make a special thanks to Windless Zephyr for inspiring the Zephyr mech, and also for providing us with so many episodes of your long-running Starward Rogue series! :)

Chris here!  Quick announcement about another title, but lots of AI War 2 notes further down, so read on! AI War 2 is coming together nicely to launch early this year, but we've also had a "volunteer brigade" working on something on the side: the first expansion pack for our rogue-lite shooter Starward Rogue -- Starward Rogue: AuGMENTED.



Developed by the "Arcen Extended" team, which is comprised of former contractors and modders from the community, the expansion has been nearly 2 years in the making, and adds a boatload of new content, including new mechs, new enemies, new items, new bosses and much more.  These folks have absolutely been pouring time and love into this project, but it hasn't been a diversion from AI War 2 for Keith, Blue, or me.



It’s probably one of the biggest expansions we have ever released for any title, and something we are very proud of.

The base game of Starward Rogue was something that people always loved to play, but got lost in the shuffle of the early 2016 market.  This expansion hopefully gets 2018 off on the right foot for Arcen as we lead into our big project for the year – AI War 2!

With that in mind…


The AI War 2 project has been an excellent example of "no plan survives contact with the enemy."  Visualization has required more engine work and re-work than we anticipated, and that’s one of a few factors that have slowed our schedule.

On the other hand, the actual game simulation is far more moddable than anticipated -- modders can create practically anything: new Units (with just a bit of XML); new Galaxy map types (with just a bit of C#); tweak existing factions, or create new factions that can completely change the gameplay; you can change the AI behaviour or add new AI types.  All of that alongside more obvious things like adding new units or visuals or sounds or similar.

In any event, the game itself has come a long way and we're narrowing down the list of things that need to be done before beta.  We’ve just released new builds with updated graphics, UI updates, balance tweaks, the first of the voice acting, and a whole lot more.  

There’s more of that sort of thing to come, and we’re working on a “graduated beta release schedule” at the moment in preparation for an April 1.0 official release.

• Well, before we sound the “everyone come for final polish testing!” klaxon, there are a number of issues that we’d like help on from smaller groups of people who choose to come in and help with testing, feedback, or even direct modding/art/code as the case may be.
• One of those areas, probably the biggest, is our AI War 2 GUI focus group, which we’d love to have as many people a part of as possible.
• We also have quite a lively discussion on our NAT Punchthrough discussion thread, although we now have a volunteer network expert (thanks, Admiral!) who is directly getting involved in this bit.
• And there will be other things as well, which we’ll be announcing through the forums and on kickstarter.  We won’t bother you with each of those through the newsletter, so be sure to follow us in one of those other locations if you want to stay in the know on these last pre-beta days.
• Speaking of, here’s what we’ve been up to lately.  Although that doesn’t tell the full story of some of the things that are in progress but not yet implemented.

We also wanted to make a special thanks to Windless Zephyr for inspiring the Zephyr mech, and also for providing us with so many episodes of your long-running Starward Rogue series! :)

Um... wow?  Folks are absolutely amazing in their support, and I'm just agog at this.  I'm going to be out most of the weekend, but I just wanted to say thanks in advance if we hit any stretch goals before Monday.  At the moment we seem likely to hit the stretch goal for new music sooner than later.

So, other stuff -- first I'd like to share one new video with you:

So just what is this "AI War" thing, and why should you be excited about it?

Hopefully the kickstarter campaign page answers that question, in a general sense at least. ;)  But prior to launching this campaign I was working on this video, and I finally finished editing it today (with Pablo's help cleaning up some unfortunately peaky audio because my mic gain was off), so I thought I'd share it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IluP7KEx0xk

If you're wanting to explain to someone first what this game is, then why it's frickin awesome, maybe this video will help.  Or maybe I'm just longwinded -- 9 minutes is pretty concise for a game like this, though. :)

First Stretch Goal: Soundtrack!

So... right!  We're funded. :)  Now we're working on the first stretch goal off our list:



Up Next

Next week I expect to release a video actually showing combat, and some other cool visual effects, and we'll show you more of the GUI, and Pablo has a video for you, and Keith has some written updates...

Busy times, in the best sense. :)

I'm personally not going to be around much this weekend because I'm both trying to have a better work/life balance in general and also we're celebrating my mom's birthday, but I'll be back in force on Monday.  I'll peek in some over the weekend, of course, and I imagine Keith will be around some Saturday off and on.  But just so you don't wonder where we are if we're quieter than usual.

Thanks again for all your support!

Best,
Chris

Um... wow?  Folks are absolutely amazing in their support, and I'm just agog at this.  I'm going to be out most of the weekend, but I just wanted to say thanks in advance if we hit any stretch goals before Monday.  At the moment we seem likely to hit the stretch goal for new music sooner than later.

So, other stuff -- first I'd like to share one new video with you:

So just what is this "AI War" thing, and why should you be excited about it?

Hopefully the kickstarter campaign page answers that question, in a general sense at least. ;)  But prior to launching this campaign I was working on this video, and I finally finished editing it today (with Pablo's help cleaning up some unfortunately peaky audio because my mic gain was off), so I thought I'd share it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IluP7KEx0xk

If you're wanting to explain to someone first what this game is, then why it's frickin awesome, maybe this video will help.  Or maybe I'm just longwinded -- 9 minutes is pretty concise for a game like this, though. :)

First Stretch Goal: Soundtrack!

So... right!  We're funded. :)  Now we're working on the first stretch goal off our list:



Up Next

Next week I expect to release a video actually showing combat, and some other cool visual effects, and we'll show you more of the GUI, and Pablo has a video for you, and Keith has some written updates...

Busy times, in the best sense. :)

I'm personally not going to be around much this weekend because I'm both trying to have a better work/life balance in general and also we're celebrating my mom's birthday, but I'll be back in force on Monday.  I'll peek in some over the weekend, of course, and I imagine Keith will be around some Saturday off and on.  But just so you don't wonder where we are if we're quieter than usual.

Thanks again for all your support!

Best,
Chris

Good grief!  People are awesome.  I didn't mean to update folks here "late," but the new campaign for AI War 2 has already reached half of its (admittedly much more modest) funding goal.

https://youtu.be/CPrhD-_SNpo

I've already written a first update post that has a large Q&A based on early questions.  Apologies that the video above is just a teaser-style one, but one of the Q&A topics (way at the bottom) touches on the reasons for that.  Basically perfectionism on my part, I guess.

This is a very different project from the one that we were pitching in the first kickstarter, but I'm really excited about it.  Keith has written up a new design document that explains what is planned.  There's another document that compares the new vision for the sequel to the original AI War, for those wanting to see that comparison.

One of the last updates to the original campaign does probably the most concise job of outlining the differences between the two campaigns, the changing roles of Keith and myself, and the current configuration (so to speak) of Arcen.

Anyhow!  Hope to see you around soon. :)

Best,
Chris

Good grief!  People are awesome.  I didn't mean to update folks here "late," but the new campaign for AI War 2 has already reached half of its (admittedly much more modest) funding goal.

https://youtu.be/CPrhD-_SNpo

I've already written a first update post that has a large Q&A based on early questions.  Apologies that the video above is just a teaser-style one, but one of the Q&A topics (way at the bottom) touches on the reasons for that.  Basically perfectionism on my part, I guess.

This is a very different project from the one that we were pitching in the first kickstarter, but I'm really excited about it.  Keith has written up a new design document that explains what is planned.  There's another document that compares the new vision for the sequel to the original AI War, for those wanting to see that comparison.

One of the last updates to the original campaign does probably the most concise job of outlining the differences between the two campaigns, the changing roles of Keith and myself, and the current configuration (so to speak) of Arcen.

Anyhow!  Hope to see you around soon. :)

Best,
Chris