In the dark, distant future, when the universe has suffered heat death, all that will remain will be Arcen Games, stubbornly releasing new patches for their epic space startegy, AI War. The next patch is due tomorrow, it’s called 6.0, and as I understand the patch coincides with a new expansion: Ancient Shadows. That’s been available in beta for a bit, I think, but tomorrow should the full roll-out. They’ve been expanding and patching this beast constantly since 2009 and they show no signs of stopping. Needless to say, the expansion has tonnes of new features, including: “A whole new kind of human player. It’s possible to control champions alongside your main fleet, or to have a friend or family member control just one single massive ship.”

Trailer below. (And there’s sixty-five thousand words> worth of release notes here.) (more…)

It’s fair to say that Arcen fell of the pace a little with A Valley Without Wind, but then AI War was one of the most accomplished debuts any studio could hope for. If A Valley Without Wind had a stumbling gait, AI War was striding along like the coolest cat in town. It doesn’t have the nattiest threads and but none of that matters once you sit down and play. Ancient Shadows is a new expansion coming for the game, which pits emerging intelligences against players in conflicts that feel as much chess as tower defense or RTS. That’s a new expansion three years after release and it looks like a significant one. The beta is available now for pre-orderers. Details below.

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There’s no looking back for A Valley Without Wind now – its new, side-scrolling look is signed and sealed, as the below humungo-chunk (17 minutes!) of in-game footage proves. Also now on show from this time-straddling exploration and survival game are brand new character models, plus assorted armour for them to find, craft and wear.

I’m still not entirely sure what to think about the side-on perspective, but it’s definitely growing on me. As it is, this is a game I’m increasingly excited about – procedurally-generated world-roaming with, apparently, a proper layer of game on top of it.
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Today, Arcen Games wants you to get in spire(d). Light of the Spire is the biggest expansion for AI War to date, and with its release today it brings with it the series’ first story-driven campaign, a new Defender mode that should take “minutes instead of hours” to play, new AI types, new factions, new music and 180 new ships, which is great, as I was just sat here thinking that AI War really needed even more sodding ships. Just look at the size of the update they released back in October! Madness. (more…)

It’s Saturday, so that means it’s time for another…..Hang on, it’s not Saturday! Never mind. The lovely folk over at Arcen games have just sent word that they are lopping off an entire 60% off all of their games. Not only does buying DRM-free direct from the developers come with a free warm fuzzy feeling deep in your belly, but in this instance you can (optionally) also use the code you get from Arcen to register the games on Steam if you prefer. Best of all worlds. (more…)

Christ. Not last week I posted about Arcen Games’ colossal update of their maximalist space strategy game AI War, which included hundreds of new ships and porting the entire game to a new engine>. Guess what? They’ve just announced a new pay-for expansion, Light of the Spire, will be released next month. Arcen say they’ve got some “some seriously cool ideas for this one, too”.

What’s happening with Arcen’s finances? Weren’t they in trouble? Well, in a recent blog post they’ve once again displayed a remarkable degree of transparency. (more…)

Thanks to everyone who wrote in about this. Arcen Games has released an update for A.I. War of such magnitude that I’m not sure our long-running A.I. War diary will ever be the same again.

Arcen Games describe the free 4.0 update as “unreservedly huge”, which sounds fair: 147 new ships, a new interface, total overhauling of most of the game’s rules and mechanics, updated tutorials, more advanced “teach-yourself-to-play-better” features AND a graphical overhaul. A.I. War now runs in Unity, meaning it’s not just prettier but Mac and Linux compatible. Oh, and the $4 Children of the Neinzul expansion’s been released, too. 3 new Neinzul factions, 6 new AI types, 36 new ship and 6 new AI special weapons. Christ. Trailers after the jump. (more…)

I’ve been meaning to post about this for a couple of weeks now. The ever-busy Arcen Games are working on another micro-expansion for their AI War: Fleet Command. It’s currently in Beta, and if you order now for four dollars (or about two quid sixty) you gain access to it. Planned for a September release, AI War: Children of Neinzul will add 36 new ships, 6 new AI types, 3 new minor-alien-factions, two extra map styles and more. Perhaps it’ll even add some Iron for Quinns. All sounds lovely and affordable, even before you realise the twist. All the profits for this expansion pack will be donated to the Childs Play charity. Arcen are making no money from it whatsoever. Crikey. Here’s the trailer for the last expansion, to give you a taste, but it’s a game that’s well worth investigating in its expansive demo. In short: it was one of the strongest indie strategy games of last year. (more…)