AI War 2 News

New build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:The_Great_Refactor#Beta_3.768_Ironman_And_Doomsday

This one has a lot in it! First of all, lots of bugfixes and performance improvements, getting us closer to being out of the beta branch. Hopefully next week, knock on wood!

Perhaps even more exciting, this one adds some new features to the base game and to DLC1:

The "ironman mode" (where you can't savescum) was previously part of DLC3 for testing, but is now part of the main game and ready for use by anyone.

In DLC1, there is now an optional "Doomsday Mode" you can turn on, which causes the galaxy to progressively collapse around you as you play. You can make it more or less intense. Thanks to Puffin for coming up with the cool idea, and to Badger for implementing it!

Expert mode has also seen a lot of balance updates, thanks to vigorous discussion on discord, advice from Strategic Sage in particular, and thanks to Tom for implementing the changes. Fuel should be more interesting and challenging now, is the short of it, and there's also some options for trying out a few different balance variants of it.

Tadrinth has added yet another cool AI type for DLC3, which is the "Speedster" this time. This one uses fast ships in waves, has speed magnifiers on all planets, and has special speed booster guardians in the warden fleet.

Also in DLC3, the necromancer, templars, and elderlings have gotten a whole heap of updates to make them more balanced and fun. Lots of cool additions from Zeus in particular, and also a lot of balance adjustments from Badger based on discord feedback.

More to come soon.
Enjoy!

New build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:The_Great_Refactor#Beta_3.767_Elderling_Sanity

We're suddenly VERY close to being able to come back out of the beta branch! Our remaining todo items for that milestone are here: https://bugtracker.arcengames.com/view.php?id=25884 If you know of any bugs that are important to have fixed before we get off the beta branch, then please do let us know! Comment on the bugtracker issue of note to bump it to the top, for instance (you can use your steam login if you want).

When it comes to coming out of the beta branch, that's a major milestone because we've been on the beta branch since July, good grief. Literally six months as of... today, actually. I'm hoping to be out of beta mid next week, but it depends on what people mention in the meantime. Out of beta won't mean that Expert mode or the new DLC1 and DLC3 items are all done, but it will mean that folks can play the most-stable version of multiplayer yet, as well as just generally having all the awesome improvements from the last six months.

Speaking of awesome improvements, there's a lot going on with DLC3 features and factions still, too.

Tadrinth has added a super intense new Panopticon AI type, which comes complete with a bunch of new unique AI Eyes just for it.

Badger has been rebalancing and expanding the Neinzul Elderlings, which now have a sanity meter and can basically go insane in certain circumstances (overcrowding). Elderlings are a really terrifying enemy in general, but they're also a really dynamic and interesting ally when you choose to set them up that way. The maddening of Elderlings works a little bit differently when they are neutral or antagonistic to you compared to when they are your allies, but both are very exciting and help give even more of a lovecraftian feel to this DLC.

StarKelp has been working on the Neinzul Wild Hives, making them drastically more fast-acting and violent, like an infection.

I've been focused on bugfixes, and other blockers for coming out of beta. Hovering over icons in the planet view now works properly again (was a recent regression), the intel sidebar no longer jumps all around like an insane elderling, and tutorials are now fully functional again. Plus other smaller items!

More to come soon.
Enjoy!

New build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:The_Great_Refactor#Beta_3.766_The_Red_Harvest

This one has a bunch of necromancer and templar and sapper improvements for those testing DLC3, plus many other balance items.

For those on the beta branch for pre-DLC3 stuff, this has a number of significant bugfixes, most notably around reloading the xml for switching what your enabled mods and/or expansions are. This is the first time that has worked since the start of the Great Refactor, and it's a relief to have that done because it was the single most complicated thing on my todo list prior to us being able to get back off the beta branch.

This build also improves raiders and raid starships a bit, and adds some exciting new foes when you're playing a fallen spire game in DLC1.

Yesterday I spent most of the day organizing items on our bugtracker so that everything is in one place and I can see what is needed to finish out the beta period, the DLC3 test period, expert mdoe, and the complete edition in general. That helps a lot!

More to come soon.
Enjoy!

New build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:The_Great_Refactor#Beta_3.765_Easier_Upgrades_And_Necromancer_Surge

This one feels fairly game-changing just because of one QOL feature in it, which is that you can upgrade your fleets (and see more details about them) right from the techs tab. Various folks had requested that over the years, and having that in now is really awesome. You can still use the upgrade on the fleet details popout as well, but now you can basically do it whichever way is more convenient.

DLC3 is getting a ton of refinement in this build for our testers to enjoy, and the necromancer is really coming together. Metal and energy (and thus also fuel) are no longer things that necromancer needs to worry about; it's all hacking, science, essence, and hexes. The necromancer is definitely feeling increasingly great to play, and it's definitely a simpler (but potentially brutal) mode, which was the idea.

There are a fair number of bugfixes in this build as well, including some of the more prominent ones that were annoying people in the prior build. Mainly thanks to Badger and Tom for those fixes.

There's lots going on, and a lot of the new and revised factions and features are really hitting a point where they are being close to being feature complete. Quite exciting!

More to come soon.
Enjoy!

New build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:The_Great_Refactor#Beta_3.763_Necromancer_Reanimation_And_Refinement

This one has a number of bugfixes, and a number of extensions for player types and map generation. It also has some improvements for total conversion mods, which is letting Puffin get a lot further along with his Classic Fusion mod.

The necromancer is now nearing completion, pending testing at least. They are better balanced in a variety of ways, and they are now able to reanimate AI guard posts to use for their own defenses (instead of the usual turrets), which is a really cool idea that Puffin had.

Tom has been killing it with lots of bugfixes and refactors and modding-framework extensions and so on.

I also started the behind-the-scenes data additions that are required for the upcoming ship encyclopedia, and got the first bits of data in for that. These are also useful for the search on the galaxy map for units, as we can search by thematic tag, now.

More to come soon.
Enjoy!