Related Sections: Patches Strategy Games
Sci-fi strategy game AI War acquires new level of sentience
Have you heard of a real time strategy game called AI War: Fleet Command? You have if you read my column on real time strategy games. What began as mostly a one-man project to make a different kind of RTS -- and boy is it different -- has just gotten a substantial makeover.AI War 2.0 is live now, adding new graphics, new explosions, a high score list, achievements, interface improvements, and, of course, a better AI. But that's just scratching the surface of the differences between AI War 1.0 and AI War 2.0.It really takes the full release notes to convey the magnitude of all the improvements. That document, compiled in one convenient text file, contains 46,573 words of release notes. Thats 175 pages if you paste it into Microsoft Word, or the equivalent of 186 of a printed novel. It's a shortish novel, a novella perhaps, but for a post-release change log, it probably takes the cake.
If you're interested, I should warn you that it's not your standard RTS. It's detailed, involved, and takes a long time to play. It uses a completely different model of gameplay in which you have to carefully work your way through a hostile galaxy, searching for your enemy's homeworld without alerting him too much to your presence. It's a game about scouting, surgical strikes, and calculated risks instead of simply sweeping from planet to planet with a massive fleet. Although that's in there, too.
You can try the demo and then buy a license to activate the full game if it turns out you like it. Get AI War directly from the developer, or from Steam or Direct 2 Drive.
By Ginger Yellow at 3:33 PM ON 10/22/09
It's also on sale on Impulse for $15 this weekend.
By DragonIV at 5:06 PM ON 10/22/09
Impulse is selling Fleet Command for $15. Does this get you AI 2.0 as well (is that an upgrade to Fleet Command, or a sequel)?
By Solice at 6:28 PM ON 10/22/09
Im getting this via bigdownloads.com:
"Steam has put ArmA II on sale this weekend for a mere $24.99. They also have the new version of AI War: Fleet Command on sale for $14.99."
So it should be the new version
By joesocwork at 10:03 PM ON 10/22/09
I see the sales on Steam and Impulse and I read your review in your article Tom, but how does it really differ from Sins of a Solar Empire (which I've played) and Gratuitous Space Battles (I love that name btw!) other than playing against an AI that matches your level?
By Tom Chick at 4:29 AM ON 10/23/09
Mr. Socwork, if you click on the link up there to my RTS column, I break down what sets AI War apart. In a nutshell, it plays nothing like Sins of a Solar Empire, which plays by the conventional RTS of exploiting resources to expanding your map control to exploit more resources. AI War subverts that formula by making the enemy stronger based on how much territory you hold. You have to balance your aggression vs. the strength of the enemy's reaction. It might sound dry -- and it can be at times -- but it's really nothing like any other RTS.
By joesocwork at 2:35 PM ON 10/23/09
Mr. SocWork! LOL! Cool! Maybe I'll put it on my kid's birth certificates! (It'll beat "The Social Workers"! ;P)
So the equation that changes everything is how much territory you own. So it pays to grab only enough for resources asl you get to the enemy's flag.
By DragonIV at 9:32 PM ON 10/25/09
OK, played the demo for a while. Couldn't get over the interface issues--just bugged me, and reminded me far too much of MOO2's poor game interface. Which, of course, dates me, doesn't it? :)
By x4000 (AI War Developer) at 9:15 AM ON 10/26/09
@DragonIV: Do you mind if I ask what the interface issues you describe are? This would be useful information for me, since a few people routinely call the interface very poor even while the majority call it very good. I usually find that this is based on expectations set from other games, and that people with a similar background in strategy gaming to mine (SupCom, CivIV, AoE3) are the ones who really like the interface here. So when people with different backgrounds offer feedback on what their expectations are, that's useful to me.
By DragonIV at 5:10 PM ON 10/26/09
Sure, but let's do this offline. I'll need to reinstall the demo and fire it back up for a bit to give you some meaningful feedback (or enough for you to decide I'm a nutjob with very specific tastes, hehe).
You can reach me a dragoniv dot greg at gmail. Shoot me an email there and we can continue the discussion.
By x4000 (AI War Developer) at 5:20 PM ON 10/26/09
Sure thing, I just sent the email. Thanks for taking the time!
x4000 (AI War Developer):
Sure thing, I just sent the email. Thanks for taking the time!...More »