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AI War 2 News

AI War 2 - 5.616 Fixes And Difficulties - And Heart of the Machine Released!!

New build for AI War 2! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:Post_Completion_Part_II#5.616_Fixes_And_Difficulties

This one has been a bit longer coming, because I've been slammed with the launch prep for the new game. Everything in here is from Badger and Dismiss, and there's a lot of goodies.



  • There's been a bug with flagships lingering with a "tractored" debuff in some cases that were really annoying, and that should now be fixed. Big thanks to Dismiss on that.
  • A couple of fixes to some other edge cases with ships stuck outside the gravity well or regenerating improperly.
  • Another couple of edge cases with ships losing behavior mode when being loaded into transports and then having that order canceled, and things of that nature. All Dismiss on these items and the above!
  • Badger has made a number of fixes to the Sidekicks mod factions, most notably the Scourge Empire and Ark Empire.
  • And then the most exciting feature of all, which had me facepalming that I had not thought of it: Badger has added four new AI Difficulties that can be used with any AI, as part of the Sidekicks mod. (If you have not tried this mod yet, you really should. It's free, and basically a giant DLC4.) Anyway, the general goal of these is both to be interesting, but also to use fewer ships than normal. This is highly valuable for multiplayer games that are large and have a lot of players in them, to reduce the amount of data transferred and otherwise keep things running smoothly. That said, even in solo play, these give a different experience that should be quite interesting.


In other news, Heart of the Machine released into early access yesterday! If it looks of interest, please swing by and pick it up! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2001070/Heart_of_the_Machine/

Reviews are always greatly appreciated, as they really help out. Also extremely cool, there's a new video that shows you some of the time travel shenanigans you can get up to in chapter 3 and onwards of the game. That's 10-15 hours in for most people, so it's nice to be able to see that before you even start the game -- it is very spoiler-lite, and just gives you an idea of what you're in for:

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

As a final note for this build, let me just say thank you for all the years of support for Arcen in general, from AI War 1 all the way through many other titles to AI War 2, and now on to Heart of the Machine! It means a lot, and I've been so happy to see so many familiar faces from 14, 15, or even 16 years ago for the first time in a while!

Sidekicks Mod Updates

Full release notes: https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:Post_Completion_Part_II#5.615_Sidekick_Mod_Updates

For the most part, this is just some balance and bugfixes so the Dark Zenith Empire, plus in general a fix to the Scourge Bane. All of these are part of the excellent Sidekicks mod, aka the 4th unofficial (free) DLC for the game, by Badger.

In unrelated news, getting closer and closer to Heart of the Machine! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2001070/Heart_of_the_Machine/

It has seen a number of updates to the demo for everything from localization to bugfixes and balance lately, too.

5.614 Classic Fusion Returns

New build! https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:Post_Completion_Part_II#5.614_Classic_Fusion_Returns

This one gets Classic Fusion working again. That's a total conversion mod that makes this game function like a hybrid of AI War 1 and 2. Some other mod updates had broken this one, and it's been broken for a while, but now it's back. Big thanks to Badger for getting the code in place for those fixes, and to Puffin for recompiling it.

Badger's Sidekicks mod has a variety of cool updates in this one, including various balance and bugfix updates to the new features in the prior build. This includes improvements to the Dark Zenith Empire, which remains such a cool new way to experience the game.

In other news! Heart of the Machine is coming to early access on January 31st. Be sure to wishlist it to hear about updates! It is seriously huge for launch, and I'm excited to explore it more with you during EA: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2001070/Heart_of_the_Machine/

Also the demo is updated recently, and there's a new trailer. The language translations are increasingly excellent in the demo, but still have another week or so of going through LQA.

5.613 Dark Zenith Empire

New build with updates to the sidekicks mod. Full release notes: https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:Post_Completion_Part_II#5.613_Dark_Zenith_Empire

If you haven't tried the Sidekicks mod, it's really worth a go -- more each build. It's by one of the main developers of the game itself, so as far as mods go... well, it's practically like a fourth expansion, but for free. I take no credit for any of that, it's all Badger and what he's wanted for his own multiplayer sessions.

This particular build adds a full "Dark Zenith Empire" option, alongside the sidekick version of the same idea. You've played as the spire, but have you ever played as the Zenith? It's worth noting that the developer behind this mod is literally the same person who developed out the Zenith factions for the main game, so this is... prime stuff. Seriously, more people need to play it!

In other news, Heart of the Machine has an official release date: coming to Early Access on January 31st! If you haven't wishlisted it yet, be sure to do so! https://store.steampowered.com/app/2001070/Heart_of_the_Machine/

There's also an updated trailer for the game, AND a fully updated demo with new content, a complete ui overhaul, and a ton of other goodies.

5.612 More Sidekicks Mod Updates

Fairly small update, with just changes to the very-cool Sidekicks mod. As I've mentioned a few times, it's by one of the main developers of the game, and at this point rivals the size of a DLC -- for free. So if you haven't given it a try, and are interested in some morecontent, it's really worth a look.

Full release notes are here: https://wiki.arcengames.com/index.php?title=AI_War_2:Post_Completion_Part_II#5.612_More_Sidekicks_Mod_Updates

In other news, Heart of the Machine keeps drawing closer and closer. And we do still have slots open for the beta test!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2001070/Heart_of_the_Machine/