AI War 6.0 Trailer (Also Featuring Ancient Shadows)

Version 6.0 of the cult classic strategy game AI War: Fleet Command arrives this Friday the 19th, along with its fourth expansion: Ancient Shadows.  One of the best-reviewed PC games of 2009, AI War has continued to grow each year with new expansions, new free content, and continual refinements to the deep strategic gameplay it already boasted.

Selected Reviews

AI War breaks most of the genre's rules. Which is precisely why it's incredible... This out-of-the-blue one-man passion project is one of this year's finest strategy games.
- Alec Meer, PC Gamer UK, November 2009

It's a balancing act, with your own strength on one side, and the AI's opinion of you on the other. Piss it off before you're ready to face it, and you're going to get squashed. That moment, when you're finally in a position to turn the tables, is about as glorious as gaming gets.
- Phill Cameron, Eurogamer, February 2011

I think I've stumbled across this year's Really New Thing. There's a lot of 2009 to go, but I'll be surprised if anyone else twists the RTS formula this dramatically and this effectively. And I'm hoping it'll be the Next Big Thing, because it's big, different, entirely unprecedented and an exciting way to play an RTS.
- Rush, Boom, Turtle: And Now for Something Completely Different, by Tom Chick (Crispy Gamer)

Want more reviews?

More About Ancient Shadows

Not Even The Machine Sees All...

Introducing Champions: These modular behemoths can be upgraded, gain EXP, and lend powerful aid to your main forces.  But champions possess a unique power that sets them even further apart from other units: they can explore entirely new parts of the galaxy where the AI cannot reach.  Splinter factions of humans, zenith, neinzul, and spire all dwell in those backwater nebulae.  Some are hiding.  Some are plotting.  Some have gone totally insane.  It is there, in the shadows, that your champion can find relics from the ancient race which constructed it.  What power awaits?  At what cost?

Key Features:
* 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.
* Several new sub-races dwelling in the backwater parts of the galaxy for your champions to interact with.
* Modular fortresses.
* 9 new bonus ship classes.
* 3 core AI guard posts and one new minor faction.
* 2 new AI types.
* 2 new map types.
* 98 minutes of awesome new music by Pablo Vega.

For the release notes from version 5.0 to 6.0 (warning: 65k+ words!): http://arcengames.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=AI_War_-_Current_Post-5.000_Beta

New AI War Screenshots (base game + all expansions)

It's been a couple of years since we've updated our screenshots for AI War: Fleet Command, and version 6.0 really improves the visuals of the space backgrounds.  So here's our new selection of screenshots.

As a reminder, version 6.0 of AI War is going to be coming out officially on this Friday the 19th, along with the latest expansion -- AI War: Ancient Shadows.  This will also be the debut of the latest expansion on Steam and Gamestop (which has thus far been available only through our site and GamersGate while in beta).

One more reminder: if you've had the beta of the expansion, don't forget to download the full installer on Friday.  That's the only thing that will include the new music for the expansion, which you won't want to miss out on!

Meet Some Of The Monsters Of Valley 2 (Concept Art)

I thought that folks might enjoy seeing some more of the concept art sketches for various of the 120 new enemies that are coming for A Valley Without Wind 2.  These concept sketches are done at Heavy Cat for purposes of informing the final sprites that will be created of each monster; these aren't the actual sprites themselves, in other words.

The Overlord And His Henchmen

 Demonaica -- The Evil Overlord

 Slender

 Fanzara

 Lilith

 Vorgga

Wordrak

A Few Monsters

 Swamp Thing

 Wall Crab

 Pigman

 Clockwork Blockade

Floating Bone Mass

 

 Hungry Ghost

 Insect Fiend

 Steam Cannon

 Steam Flyer

 Urban Tackle Droid

 Submersible Suppressor

 Slug Fiend

 Owl

 Deepwoods Gargan

 Landshark

Ceiling Vampire

 Flying Eyeball

 Clockwork Avian

Auroch Warrior

AI War: Ancient Shadows Includes Almost 100 Minutes Of Music!

Reminder: AI War: Ancient Shadows is going to come out of beta and arrive on Steam on October 19th!  You can currently preorder and get in on the beta at the above link if you wish.  All of the features are now in place for it, and we're just going through final polishing.

Well, except for the music -- we never release the music for an expansion until it comes out of beta.  Makes it all that much more exciting, we think. Speaking of music...

Previously, we simply said that AI War: Ancient Shadows would include "a lot" of music.  Internally we were actually shooting for 90 minutes of music, which is almost double what any of our other expansions for AI War have ever had.  We didn't say that publicly since we weren't sure that we could pull it off in such a crazy short time period -- that was certainly asking a lot of our composer!

But Pablo, true to form, not only met the goal but came in with 98 minutes and 5 seconds of music in all.  Here's the full track list:

AI War: Ancient Shadows
Music by Pablo Vega

Chapter I: The Human Awakening

1. Arise Sleeping Warriors
2. An Unfamiliar World
3. A War Worth Fighting
4. Ambitious Design
5. AI Revolution
6. Ancient Shadows

Chapter II: The Zenith Revival

7. Immortal
8. Imminent Annihilation
9. Inquisition Of The Stars
10. Incarnate Race
11. Imitated And Integrated
12. Ironclad

Chapter III: Revenge Of The Spire

13. Waking To Darkness
14. Worshipped Wasteland
15. Watching The Night Sky
16. Whispers Of Hope
17. Wrath Of The Spire
18. Welcome To The End

Bonus Track: 19. Ancient Shadows - Title

And here are some previews on soundcloud, the first two of which are being shown for the first time today!